Saturday 30 August 2008

Wee bits and wee pieces

I like a few bits and pieces here and there but sometimes you've just got to squish them together like jam.

Helen Eadie
I bring sad tidings that Helen has decided not to run for the Labour candidature in Glenrothes. Such a missed opportunity for Labour, I think.

Labour Membership
My good friend (who remains a Labour member in spite of being an intelligent woman) tells me that I may have both overestimated and underestimated Labour's membership. Not being totally up to speed with it herself, she was a little unsure but tells me that she thinks that the MPs' levy is quite hefty so membership could be as little as 7,000 or so but that you don't tend to lose your Labour party membership just for not paying any dues so membership could be as high as 14,000. She does say she could be entirely wrong - she could also be winding me up.

Labour Leadership Election
Same source. You can get a vote through your trade union even if you've opted out of the political levy. She knows because she's opted out (took her ages to get out - good Labour member that she is) and she checked that she hadn't been opted back in when she got her ballot paper in - she's got two votes, one through her union and one through her membership of Labour. It seems unions are supposed to only ballot levy-payers but that's a lot of extra effort for some of them.

Lib Dem Candidate Glenrothes
There's more to come about the Lib Dems' candidate in Glenrothes, I suspect. I'll be watching the Sunday papers for news.

Glasgow East MP joins Glenrothes Campaign
John Mason MP, SNP winner of the bye-election in Glasgow East, was out on the stump in Glenrothes today, lending support to Peter Grant, the SNP candidate in this bye-election.

US Election
Am I the only one who thinks that Obama is mince and that the Republicans are currently stomping all over his campaign from what should be a position of weakness? It seemed to me that the speeches during the convention showed just how much of a gulf there was between Bill Clinton and the new kid on the block. Hillary Clinton was far better than the candidate (perhaps the Dems got the wrong candidate?) and even Al Gore showed up better (that's going some). The VP nominee, Joe Biden, brought new depths to the word leaden - outshone by John Kerry of all people. Couple of friends of mine are Democrats and were right behind Obama in the primaries, but I haven't heard a cheap since he started tacking for position - I must email them and see if I can get a reaction...

SNP still the best party in Scotland
Standing up for Scotland's interests, making Scotland a better place (on purpose, according to George Foulkes), and receiving plaudits for good governance. Not really news, but I thought I'd repeat it anyway.

Right then, mind how you go

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