Alex any news on website
Alex is there any news on the website yet?

Yes. I will post a link later but I have been working on it. It's nothing fancy - at the moment it's simply a replacement for this forum but the architecture is such that we can expand on this more easily.

Im looking forward to it
The hopes of us in the progressive side of this party rest with this new look website vehicle. No pressure honestly. Keep up the good work. Karl-James

Any news on how preparations coming on for trying to field a candidate in the Henley by-election? How is the website progressing?

by-election
NEC meeting in 2 weeks, so that is the time, we will know if we have a candidate for henely. As for website. I await alex instructions. karl

I certainly hope the Liberal Party decides to put a candidate up for election in Henley.

I do hope we field a candidate here, we need to get the official liberal party out and the people of henley talking about us. I am not one for fighting all by-elections but believe with all the media attention on this one when it happens it is one we cant miss.

Straight after Boris won the Mayoral election, the Tories in Henley implied that a by-election might not be called until the Autumn or even maybe until next Spring. However, the morning after the Crewe and Nantwich by-election I read in the Evening Standard (I think it was) that the Henley by-election might be only a few weeks off.

Boris will have his chance to take the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead, stepping down as an MP next week when parliament is in session. Though I seem to remember suggestions he would wait until the local Conservatives have selected their candidate to replace Boris. I can't imagine that taking too long, not with the Liberal Democrats already having an active candidate.

Ah speak of the devil, the Conservatives have chosen their candidate; John Howell who is a county councillor in Oxfordshire. Other parties have also been selecting their candidates: Chris Adams United Kingdom Independence Party Stephen Kearney Liberal Democrats Richard McKenzie Labour Party Peter Owen Official Monster Raving Loony Party Mark Stevenson Green Party Ian Parker-Joseph Libertarian Party (I didn't even know there was a Libertarian Party :? ) I would imagine that the English Democrats will also field a candidate and there usually are a couple of independents in parliamentary by-elections as well. I guess if the Liberal Party field a candidate they should be aiming to get about 6th place behind UKIP and the Greens. Beating either of those would be a pretty good result.

At this stage, the most likely outcome seems to be Conservatives 1st, LibDems 2nd. IF the Liberal Party stands, I wonder if the best approach might not be to focus on repeatedly clobbering the LibDems for their disgraceful record on the Lisbon Treaty Referendum. The LibDems and Tories will be sharing most of the publicity; therefore us attacking the LibDems over this (and boy, they deserve it!) might get some media coverage, reminding people of our party's existence and simultaneously fixing in their minds one of the ways in which we differ from the LibDems. I know Appius wouldn't approve, but I think this is a legitimate complaint on which to focus in a by-election: in fact this is exactly the sort of way in which the electors are enabled to use by-elections to have their say on great public issues.

It’s not a matter for me because I’m a not a Liberal Party member; however I can’t help thinking this will all end in tears. With the well-funded Libertarian Party standing, the opportunities for confusion are legion. Remember the Literal Democrat who cost the Lib Dems the Devon Euro seat. In terms of resources both financial and human, the Liberal Party punches well above its weight in local government, despite set backs this year, and the urgent need to develop a succession strategy – (getting new people elected when long serving councillors retire, or defectors come up for re-election) – about 10% of the party membership hold elected office and through it put liberalism into action. Whereas the party does disproportionately well, in council elections, it does disproportionately badly in parliamentary by elections. Even when the party had the benefit of David Blackburn’s money and a larger membership the party got derisory votes, even being beaten by two rival Loony candidates. This doesn’t mean the Liberal Party shouldn’t fight by election, it means choosing the ground you wish to fight on. Henley has no Liberal councillors, no Liberal Association (that I’m aware of), and the party didn’t contest the seat at the last GE. If this by election was in Liverpool, Exeter, Cornwall etc it would make sense to stand. I suspect the Liberal Party will have to join a queue to attack the Lib Dems over Lisbon, the Tories and UKIP will head that queue, and the media will only be interested the Tory attack, not smaller parties. For reasons I’ve posted on ‘Lib Dem Hypocrisy’ this is not a very strong card for the Liberal Party to play anyway, having opposed referenda ‘on principle’ for most of its post-merger existence. An 'attack the Lib Dems strategy' will only reinforce the ‘Life of Brian’ caricature that many Lib Dems use to explain away the continuing Liberal Party: I remember a letter in Liberal News pointing out the folly of the party’s obsession with attacks on the Liberal Democrats; “having a go at the party we most resemble and where most of our members came from does not advance the cause of Liberalism” (or something like that).

Well Boris is no longer an MP and a by-election will follow soon. So, will the Liberal Party stand or not?

The by-election will be on 26th June: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7437494.stm Henley goes to the polls on Thursday, 26 June in the by-election to replace Tory MP and London mayor Boris Johnson. One surprise to me is how short the time is between the by-election being called (yesterday) and polling day. This is only 22 days. In that time there presumably has to be some official period for candidates to submit their nomination papers, then there has to be time for the campaign. It all seems rather rapid. Still, live and learn.

Heard on BBC South Today that candidates have until this coming Wednesday to hand in their nomination papers.