Blogging a Re-arrange

Last week I was looking at my blog and realised how little on here over recent months has actually been about politics. See as that was the initial main thrust of the blog the revelation did rather startle me. Of course I do blog a lot of local political stuff either at Northern Ireland Lib Dems or LBGT Lib Dems Northern Ireland.
I also

It may have something to do with not being in work, as I used to commute in every day while composing something political to write about. it may also have something to do with my last job being one where I was limited to a small area of political activity and I limited my other political views.

But largely it was because I have blogged so much about sport.

Therefore I have set up a separate blog to archive my sport contributions (past ones will still remain here) and dedicate this one more to politics (though other stuff will make occasional appearances). Therefore I'd like to introduce Stephen's Sporting Almanac for your sporting pleasure. Although the transfer of the archive is a bigger task than I first thought.

This blog will once again I hope become a focus of my liberal and Lib Dem political views first and foremost.

Five Posts from Five Years at Five

Somehow I missed Caron coming up with the idea of posting about what she was blogging about at this time of year in each of the last 5 years. Thankfully Daddy Alex posted his list yesterday so I thought I'd play along with the meme.

Here is what I was saying on or about 24th May in:

• 2011 It must be the time of year but I was blogging about objections to Lord's Reform on this time from Labour's Chris Bryant. I also did a pedant's check on Jim Allister's reciprocation in naming conventions for the other 26 counties of Ireland.
• 2010 there was some disquiet amongst the Scottish Tories that they didn't seem to have anyone in charge.
• 2009 The SNP were planning how they were trying to win the outgoing speaker's seat, Michael martin, but focusing on school closures. So I decided to point out how their concordat was delaying school building in some councils where the SNP were part of the administration.
• 2008 I didn't actually post on 24 May 2008 but on the 26th I did do a round up post of what I would have said in a busy week. Disputes with the wording of Alex Salmond's independence referendum, Chelsea in the Champions League Final, a PM having rebels within his ranks over a key policy and looking to reign them in. Wow! What a week, didn't we just do all of that again. If so Lewis Hamilton to win in Monte Carlo at the weekend.
• 2007 the blog was on a sabbatical so....
• ....how about 2006 instead. Rangers were in trouble. Can't help thinking that there is more deja vu UEFA were fining them for sectarian abuse during their Champions League run to the equivlanet of 25p per fan for the whole season's attendance. There was also mention of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State (yet more deja vu) but this was about the DUP looking at the obstacles to devolution.

I'm quite shocked to see how some of the same things I have seen in the news this week were also in the news this week in previous years!

Back to the Long Term Blog Park

Ok I had a little bit of an excursion because of World AIDS Day which carried over into the FIFA World Cup announcements yesterday.

But just at this moment my employer* for the last 9 years, 1 month and 1 week is no longer my employer. I am now working full time on the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign.

Therefore as one friend said to avoid me getting out my "Lib Dem thing" and waving it about while I am part of a campaign that is reaching across political divisions I am parking this blog once more.

It will also affect the way I use Twitter and Facebook, somebody else pulled me up on that earlier as well.

I've given my reasons previously more fully in case you haven't already read them.

So long, see you all again on 6th May 2011.

* Yes this is the first time in all the public utterances or writings as a politician either here on this blog or elsewhere that I have actually revealed who they are.

Lights Mr Producer......Drumroll Please.....

Ok folks I dropped the teaser last night. Promising to keep you informed I am doing so now.

Regular readers will know that was in for a job interview at the start of this week. Last night just after 6pm I was offered the position and took no hesitation in accepting it.

The role is as the Northern Ireland Campaign Manager for the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign. Yes if you told me at 3:30 on the morning of May 7th as my votes were being read out that I would be doing this and doing it here I would have laughed at you.



However, I totally agree with the words of Margaret Ritchie MP, MLA the leader of the SDLP from 6th July:

"The British Government is right to give people the opportunity to choose a fairer system for electing their MPs. The current system is completely unfair as it favours the larger parties and discriminates against smaller parties who can get hundreds of thousands of votes but no seats in Parliament.

"My preference would be to extend the STV system of Proportional Representation to Westminster. This system is much fairer and we are already well used to it in Northern Ireland in our Assembly and Council elections.

"The 'alternative vote' is, nonetheless, a clear step forward and I hope that people will support it in the referendum next year. In Northern Ireland this would have the effect of rebalancing politics towards candidates of the centre and away from the extremes.

"Given the kinds of stalemates and brinkmanship we have endured in our politics in recent years, anything that supports parties in the centre is to be warmly welcomed as it is in the best interests of our people.

"The SDLP will campaign vigorously in favour of progressive electoral reform."

I look forward to working with Margaret, the other candidates for the position I now hold and everyone in Northern Ireland who believes in getting fairer votes for Westminster over the next six months. That will be people from all parties or none, across each of the 18 current Westminster constituencies.If you haven't already sign up through this link, if have invite your friends, if you've invited them all make more, or start to ask your neighbours or the people on the bus beside you. Start talking about AV and why it is fairer and lets go out and win this on 5th May 2011.

Indeed one of my first roles, even before I work my current notice period will be attending the SDLP's party conference this weekend. Shows that this really is cohesion, sharing and integration in action and how cross communities this campaign here is. That the first party conference in Northern Ireland from this son of a man raised in Derry's Fountain area and attending First Derry Presbyterian should be to the party that owes a lot of its founding to the struggle of the other community on that side of the Foyle.

As I said last night this will obviously have an impact on the blogging that I do here, probably over the whole of the next six months. I will try and do updates here from time to time, just to give me some down time, but don't expect the same alacrity of posting.

Busy Day for Northern Irish Bloggers

Considering that both Michael and I were taking a 'break' from blogging over the weekend (somehow we still managed the odd one here and there). Today was almost as if we were unleashed back unto the world with a vengeance or possibly it was displacement theory while we're both waiting to find out who may have got a certain job. I'd also managed to wake up three hours before my alarm clock.

Anyway speaking of the job Michael and myself both managed a post about the Alternative Vote, hmm, I wonder why? On the subject of AV Michael also had an issue with Nick Clegg and Simon Hughes' email to members yesterday evening, I know I heard his disgust as he read it. I on the other hand looked at what Nick said, or rather didn't say about the emails that had gone to him about tuition fees. I'd also blogged about prisoners being given back the right to vote. While Michael blogged about getting another Golden Dozen, so I guess I need to up my game again or else he might just overhaul me.

Northern Ireland formed the remainder of the blog posts, firstly the bomb alert in North Belfast affecting the community where Michael lives, some waylaid campaign literature of mine. However, the most pertinent question after the discovery of the body of another of the 'disappeared' what effort to find the perpetrator or this and other disappearances?

Last night I did blog that I was off to "rescue a friendship, hopefully" well a peace treaty was signed in the Pizza Hut at Victoria Square. However, I was truly concerned at one point on Sunday. Although we have also just had another pleasant evening after an LGBT Consultation Forum meeting.

PS By the way this is also a post from Michael as indeed is this.

Parish Notice Update My Future Blogging

As you may have noticed if you read my Parish Notice at the weekend I'll so be heading over the water to Northern Ireland. Some of you have been concerned about what that means to the blogging.

What? You think I won't have stuff to blog about just because I am over the Irish Sea. Don't Panic! The blogging will carry on. Heck I've even been welcomed by the Liberal Democrats in Northern Ireland prior to my arrival on the strength of my blogging. No pressure at all then when the local party chair says:

"Stephen is a well-known LibDem blogger, so hopefully he will bring some life to
this blog."

As this was the first post on the blog I may be consulting my sister-in-law, who is a midwife, for some post natal advice. Although saying that I seen a number of baby blogs grow out of the seed of an idea inspired by myself and others.


I'll no doubt be posting a Northern Irish slant on things more on that blog while keeping my national and Scottish focus probably more on here. Watch out also for me probably posting some more stuff on Slugger O'Toole which transcends party politics.

I may also get around to finally completing the revamp of my blog. Yeah you may have thought it had been finished but don't you believe it. I still have a few ideas that I never quite got around to with all the campaigning over the last few months.

In other news with Blogger's new comments tab and as I'm currently not standing for any party position I have returned to an unmoderated comments policy for new postings. If you wish to comment on anything over 7 days old that will still be moderated. Just keep behaving in the comments folks.

Alex Cole-Hamilton Selected for Edinburgh Central

Candidate selection is an odd campaign. For a start it is one of the most lonely because it is you who has to get around all the electorate as best you can and that can be every evening for four weeks and still not get everyone in, or even gain access to every stairwell.

When you add on the fact that you are doing it in Edinburgh with it hills, the gorgeous weather that we had in June and the fact that I do not own a car I can fully recommend it for a cardio workout. You do however, meet some amazing people who are members of the party who live in the area you represent who do not all get or want to get to party events. It also doesn't matter if some of them only know the candidates as the double-barrelled one, the ginger one, the Irish one or the woman, they'll be using their methods to identify which one you are or the others are when you meet them.

It was also a fun campaign between the four candidates. Text messages, Facebook status updates and Tweets going back and forth kept the campaign on a friendly footing. We then attended the hustings the only time all four of us were actually in the same place at the same time. I know that if I had entered that room undecided at the start I would have still be scratching my head at the end of it all.<

As I said it can be a lonely existence but I'd like to thank Caron who allowed me to come to hers to relax every once and while and Kieran for the odd post canvassing drink. Also the support of others from near and far. It may have been lonely however there was one glorious evening that I got a message from Alex Cole-Hamilton that said that he must have been following in my footsteps that evening, I know for a fact that at the end I was also following in his. I suspect that I stated at the southern end of Comely Bank and worked my way clockwise round to Stockbridge and he may have started in Stockbidge and worked he way around as well. Another time I was sat in a members kitchen when John Loughton rang them on the phone.

Anyway earlier today the Edinburgh Central selection was declared and Alex won a very amicable contest. Now all we have to do is go out then and win the seat next May, I'll be offering my support in whatever way I can as this is a key seat for the Lib Dems over the next 10 months.

I Could Be Shameless, But I'm a Little Vote Weary

You know I've spent too much of recent months asking people to vote for me.

First there was the Westminster election. Then there was the shortlisting panel for Edinburgh Central who in their wisdom made for a very interesting contest (including me). Then it was the Liberal Democrats of Edinburgh Central and it may not be over yet of course.

So therefore I'm all out of shamelessly asking people to vote for me. I know that in recent months I have been very busy with all of the above and this blog has suffered as a result. But as Iain Dale is asking for your votes for the annual Total Politics Blog of the Year Award may I ask one small favour.

I want to finish ahead of the Stephen Glenn Position©. This is about a full year and there has been some good stuff. As well as an awful lot of it. Like when I was laying into Jan Moir's unpology over her Stephen Gately comment. For the sake of balance I also laid into Stonewall for their hypocrisy about some gay people who wish, for whatever reason, to keep that private. There was also my concern over the extreme right American Family Association's personal hygiene over something they wrote.

Warning for Caron don't click next link*. There was also the story of Kerry Robertson and her baby Ben snatched from her in Ireland by Fife Council. I also stood up for Science in the face of Labour's flat earth society. And oh so much more.

But as ever dear reader I leave it up to you. After all some of you may be getting me asking you to for for me far too often over the next few months if you haven't already.

* At least not without copious amounts of tissues.

The Race is On

As I said yesterday I've been neglecting this blog a little bit in recent days. The reason for that is that on Monday night I was attending a shortlisting interview for the Edinburgh Central seat at next May's elections.

Well things went well and I was named as one of the five who the Lib Dems living in Edinburgh Central will be voting on to be their candidate. So the next few weeks will be a busy time, as the last few months have also been.

Next years election is going to be an interesting one for Lib Dems standing in Scotland and especially in Edinburgh. We'll be defending a record of working with one party in Westminster and another in City Chambers. Across the city where we are challenging or defending our main challenge is coming from the other party. So we will have a challenge of defending a record in other places while challenging for Edinburgh Central.

There are five able candidates that the good Burghers who agree with Nick will have choose from, so I know that I have a lot of work to do to show people why I think I am best for the job. It is the reason that yesterday I made some subtle changes to the look of the blog which by the way you can also point your servers towards as http://stephenglenn.org.uk it was a domain I set up in advance of the Westminster Election but never got the time to develop as I intended then, but things may well change in the near future.

I do intend to keep blogging on the issues as I have always when the opportunity arises, but for the next couple of weeks in particular my time may be tight.

However, I do promise to tell you more later.

Campaign Diary Finale: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Ok at around 2:15 this morning the final result for Linlithgow and East Falkirk was declared. In case you did not see the result here it is:

Michael Connarty Labour 25,634 49.8%
Tam Smith SNP 13,081 25.4%
Stephen Glenn Liberal Democrat 6,589 12.8%
Andrea Stephenson Conservative 6,146 11.9%

So for a final round up of events I'm splitting things into three categories.

The Good

First off there were 6,588 of my fellow constituents who voted along with me for the Liberal Democrat change in our constituency so thank you one and all.

Of them there have been a number of you who have asked about and actually joined the Liberal Democrats, so welcome. There have been many offers of help and indeed some offers today of help for the next time, yes there will be a next time, and I look forward to working with an even bigger team next time to get the message out there.

The local media has been excellent. It was nice to see and indeed talk to so many of them last night at the count. Central FM interviewed me to go on air last night as did the Herald and Post and Falkirk Herald. The local media have actually been innovative in upping their contribution to this election campaign. Central FM did their radio hustings for the four local seats that they cover. The Falkirk Herald had us answering questions from the constituents and the Herald and Post asked us for comments about the first TV Debate.

One of my favourite comments from the night was from Michael Connarty. Who said that the people from his camp who had seen us in the debates had agreed with some earlier comments I'd heard that there were two candidates worthy to be heard in the Commons, they agreed that I was the other one. His agent actually came up to me saying I was in second at one point, until he looked properly through his box counts.

On a Northern note as I mentioned in my speech last night the success of Naomi Long in becoming the first Alliance Party MP pulling off a 22.9% swing in Peter Robinson's seat to take out the DUP leader. Also back home though there wasn't a change in MP North Down has returned to an Independent. Having resigned from the Ulster Unionist over the cosying up to Cameron Lady Sylvia Herman was returned in North Down.

Also thanks for all the kind comments on the doorsteps, via email and twitter. I even won the twitter exit poll with 66.7%. It is a pity that all my Internet aware supporters have an MP who singularly fails to understand the full implications of the Digital Economy Act 2010.

The Bad

The bad included actually trying to avoid speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News on Tuesday. My friend Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting had inadvertently 'leaked' postal verification data for some seats including my own and none to subtly pointed the finger at me. I couldn't have made comment easily without breaking electoral law myself and that was the dilemma I'd found myself in on Monday night.

In the end the three seats in question were not as tight as the news indicated, it does lead one to wonder if the SNP deliberately wanted that information out there to boost their share of the votes on polling day in those locations to avoid an embarrassment on the day. The fact that the national press did comment on the thrust of Jeff's blogpost and mention the Linlithgow name in each means that there was third or even fourth hand misinformation being circulated. If so that may have had a squeeze effect on me losing 511 votes from last time, there was surprise from both Labour and Conservatives that I wasn't doing a lot better against the SNP.

There is also the sad loss of Willie Rennie in Dunfermline and West Fife, having worked hard to win that seat in the first place and been there for that joyous night last night was the antithesis. Also the failure of good friends Kevin Lang, Fred Mackintosh and Katy Gordon to take their seats, the former two managing to reduce the Labour majorities heartbreakingly in Edinburgh South from 405 to 316. Also the loss of Paul Holmes, Dr Evan Harris, Sandra Gidley, Susan Kramer, Julia Goldsworthy and Lembit Opik.

The Ugly

As I blogged the other day the SNP had issued an accusational indeed potential libelous comment from their agent about accusations of defacing their posters by the teams of the other three parties. Aggravated by the leaking of the postal verification would have been ugly enough, however, I was also told by a constituent of a incident on their doorstep when an SNP canvasser used a homophobic message to try to dissuade them from voting for me, I'm glad to report that plan backfired. The SNP accused the other parties of using gutter politics, I'm not sure if this is an isolated or widespread method they used on the doors, but it suggests that they were anything but the positive campaign they claimed.

Also on ugly I was considering posting a picture of the blisters on my feet. Some of which have been there for almost 2 weeks now but want to spare you the horror.

Again thank you for all the support during the campign and the offers of continuing support. As you may be aware we now have an hung parliament and we as Liberal Democrats have a roll in helping Parliament to move forward in the way you the people want it to. Feel free to either tweet or email your opinions on what that should be, after all the Liberal Democrats may call a special conference of members to decide and I want to know what you think about that in advance.

Final 48 Hours #lef #ge2010 #libdems

I have been neglecting this blog a little over the last few weeks. I hope my regular readers will appreciate that this is because I have been dealing with the hundreds of email and letters that I have received in the course of this campaign. (I still actually have a few to reply to now)

I would like to thank the many people who have offered me their support either in person about the constituency, via email or twitter. All have been greatly appreciated and if you haven't already sent in a postal vote remember to turn up to vote between 7am and 10pm on Thursday. Your polling station will be on you polling card.

For the many of you who I've met or written to but are still undecided I'd like to remind you of why your vote is important in this election.

You can make a change in this election, you can make our country a fairer place. A vote for me would ensure that your local voice in Westminster will make sure that you have:

• Fair Taxes that put money back in your pocket
  
• A Fair Start for every child
• A Fair Future creating jobs by making Britain greener
• A Fair Deal by cleaning up politics

For taxes the Liberal Democrats would make the first £10,000 you earn tax free, a cut of £700 for most people, lifting 3.6 million low earners and pensioners free from tax completely. It will be paid for by closing loopholes that unfairly benefit the wealthy and polluters.

For our children that includes ensuring children get the individual help they need by cutting class size. Made possible by investing £2.5bn in schools targeted to help struggling pupils. Plus we'll give schools the freedom to make the right choices for their pupils.

To enable a fair future we will break up the banks and get them lending again to protect real businesses. We have been and will be honest with you about the tough choices needed to cut the deficit. We'll encourage green growth and jobs that last by investing in infrastructure.

Finally as part of that fair deal we'll put trust back in politics by giving you the vote the right to sack corrupt MPs. Restore and protect hard-won British civil liberties with a Freedom Bill. Overhaul Westminster completely; fair votes, an elected House of Lords, all politicians to pay full British taxes.

As I said in closing in the last hustings on Sunday night a vote for the Lib Dems will give Britain the government and the voice that the people actually want. Of course the above are just the highlights of our manifesto, as many of you who have spoken or written to me know there is a lot of details into specific areas, you can read more details here in our manifesto.

I probably won't be online much between now and the close of poll at 10pm on Thursday so I may not get back to you by email, but you can find my contact details on the party website and I will try to give you a quick answer.

Despite what you may have heard speculated about in the press this election in Linlithgow and East Falkirk is wide open. It's why one of the parties appears to be making silly, or maybe deliberate, mistakes. None of the parties can really tell you how it going to go because that is up to you if you vote here. There are still a lot of people making up their minds how to vote, even now, so vote for what you believe.

Also despite what the others are telling you a vote for the Lib Dems here can lead to you getting a Lib Dem MP. You don't get either of the other two, you'll get Nick Clegg and Vince Cable and the team, with your new Scottish voice (with a Northern Irish accent) standing up for you.

This Thursday you can make your vote count for real change and vote Liberal Democrat. I'm the second name on the ballot paper.

I'll see you online again in the wee hours of Friday morning.

An SNP MP Will Cut Your Local Voice

The SNP are standing as they say at this election your local champions, saying that more Nats will get a stronger voice in Westminster. However, one of the answers from our local SNP candidate throws serious doubt on their ability to achieve that.

One of the questions asked at the Linlithgow hustings last night was is £180,000 in expenses an appropriate amount for an MP. This was £7,000 short of the greatest amount our Labour MP had claimed when he was the UKs most expensive member.

As I pointed out none of the four of us sat at the table would have a say in what was the appropriate limits of your MP's expenses from now on, or on their salaries, this was a matter for an independent commission.

Before me however Tam Smith plucked a figure of £60,000 out of the air. He was going to save money by not running a local constituency office and only holding one surgery a week. It would also appear from that amount that he would be hard pressed to employ more than one member of staff whether that was at Westminster or locally to help him out. He had already agreed with me that answering all the election correspondence by yourself was a time consuming matter, so one wonders just how he would survive on such a tight self imposed restriction.

There are ways to save money under the independent expenses cap and I will be aiming to do that. Booking travel tickets well in advance to save money. Looking for London accommodation that is accessible from Westminster but not necessarily within walking distance of the Commons where rents*are extortionate. So that would be somewhere that is within cycling distance, having cycled in London as a student I know that things have improved since then. I'll also use panniers to carry my papers etc not a chauffeur driven car like David Cameron.

Yes there is a limit, but that is not what you should spend to. You can be frugal within the rules and within the limits and that is what I aim to do if elected. But you also need to provide a suitable level of service to your constituents.

That is why if I am elected on May 6th I will also run a local office. Just the one mind, I don't agree with Michael Connarty that you need two to be able to deal with two different council areas, two health boards, two police authorities etc. You merely need staff that are able to pinpoint which part of the constituency someone is in and deal with the correct authority. I think it is important to have a staffed local office so that local constituents do not have to call a London or mobile phone number to get hold of you during working hours.

What Tam is looking to do is cut the service you would receive from an MP if he were elected, rather than aim to give you value for money. He is also going to be cutting the effective voice of local people.

* Yes under the new rules I would have to rent once elected, no more buying of second homes.

Are You Voting Today? #LEF

Thousands of postal ballot papers across Linlithgow and East Falkirk (and indeed the country) will be arriving on doorsteps, including mine, over the next 30 hours.

Many people are likely to be filling them and sending them off when they receive them. I obviously want the majority of them to look like the above.

Read this blog, read the Liberal Democrat Manifesto to find out what I'm standing for if you don't already know.

Campaign Diary: What Would Yoda Do?

I got home today to find amongst the mail a letter which says:

"As someone who has had cause to visit me at one of my regular constituent consultations or contact me by telephone within the past five years, I hope you will agree that I have done my very best to resolve the complaints or problems that you have contacted me with.

"I have not always been successful but I hope you will accept that I never give up until all avenues have been pursued on your behalf."

Well actually I wouldn't agree and as I get around the constituency, read my emails, open other letters I know I'm not the only one. As for giving up, I'm sure Yoda who like me you have mentioned in the house would say, "Failure to succeed have you, given up easy have you. The force weak in you is. Need someone who force is strong in after May 6th."

So as for the final line:

"I hope I can count on your support on polling day."

I'm sorry Michael, you can't I voting for the best guy for the job, as are thousands of others, maybe even thousands of others who have recieved your letter (I don't know how many you've sent), that would be Stephen Glenn.

Well that is at least one vote I know is in the bag.

Campaign Diary: Gather The Nominations While Ye May

Each candidate for a Parliamentary Election needs to be proposed and seconded plus gather the assent of 8 other individuals living in the constituency. While some parties may do this as a quick grab the first ten activists they can I think this is a time for a little bit of personal time with the members or supporters of the party that are going to sign.

It is a change of pace. When you are out canvassing you generally want to find out a few basic answers and more on to the next door. When you are delivering you tend to have checked out the location of the next letter box on your way up to the one you are delivering, and then are folding the next one as you make your way between them. With getting nominations there is time for a chat, sometimes a cup of tea (although best only to accept at alternate houses) and for the member to engage with you as isn't always possible in party events.

They get one (or two) on one time with you, and you do get a little bit of time to relax. Although you sometimes find yourself answering policy questions that you had voted on at some point in the last few years that are now in the manifesto.

It was time well spent though and I'm sure the members appreciated me finding out how they were and them being able to ask how the campaign was going. A temporary slowing down from the frenetic pace that the next 4 weeks have in store.


However, that was Thursday and now it is all go, go, go again. I own 4 clipboards, one is set up for canvassing, one for hustings, one has the paperwork for the council, the other is the diary, to do list and contact details. I generally have two of them on me at any one time, sometimes three.

Scottish Lib Dem Campaign is Lauched

Speaking before today's official launch of the Scottish Liberal Democrat election campaign, UK Party Leader Nick Clegg said that the Liberal Democrats are offering real change for Scotland on the 6th May.

Nick Clegg said:

"In this election, the choice for Scots is clear.

"Vote for Liberal Democrats who will bring about real change and build a fairer Scotland.

"Or stick by a failing Labour Party that long since abandoned you.

"The SNP cannot make a difference at Westminster, and in Scotland the Tories aren't in the game.

"But the Liberal Democrats are set to make gains across Scotland.

"We start this election second only to Labour and we have them in our sights.

"Fairer taxes, political reform, a sustainable economy. This is the change we offer Scotland."

As for me I'll be through at the launch now (Yes this blog post has been post dated) look out for me on the news coverage.

Stephen Gately Tribute

I'm having a little down time watching the Stephen Gately tribute and as the show started I suddenly remembered another connection between the two of us.

• We're both Irish (though North and South)
• We're both Stephen Patrick G.
• We both sing.

But on his first birthday (St. Patrick's day) after his death that was also the day that I was selected to once again stand for Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Maybe this campaign is my own little personal tribute to that other Stephen Patrick whose memory I defended against a certain newspaper article on this blog back last year.

Election Campaign Diary Day One

Well yesterday was the first full 24 hour period of being selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk. So while I wasn't blogging I was busy with other stuff online which may to a casual observer seem trivial are none the less vitally important.

For example no longer am I merely a politico who blogs, I am a parliamentary candidate that blogs so certain subtle changes to my online presences had to be made to keep everything open, honest and legal.

One of the highlights for me in the first 24 hours was after letting the wider world know that I had been selected once again to contest this seat for the Scottish Liberal Democrats to find that when I went to Wikipedia to edit the constituency page that somebody had already beaten me to it. That is something that hadn't happened 5 years ago, much of the online presence outwith the party websites was promoted by myself.

There are, if we are facing a May 6th election only 48 days (and as I type at the Deer Park roundabout 10 minutes) until the polls open. Of course it is not that I haven't been doing nothing in the last 5 years. I have been attending public meetings, knocking on doors and talking to local people about local issues in the constituency, then taking these up with the relevant representative. Anyone who lives in the constituency and wants to ask me a question can either email me at stephen4linlithgow at gmail dot com [correct the anti spamming yourself] or as some did last night ask me a question through my Twitter ID either a DM or an @stephenpglenn.

This is one election where no party is able to take the people for granted. Many of our politicians made sure of that over the revelations of recent months. The Liberal Democrats had campaigned for openness in Government and in the summer of 2008 had voted for changes to the expenses system ahead of the mess that unravelled last summer. If elected I will continue to make sure that our politics at Westminster are properly cleaned up, not the half hearted efforts of Labour and the Conservatives when they were caught out, but giving real power back to the people.

Jeff's Crystal Ball Not all Wonky

No Jeff has been worried that his crystal ball has been a bit wonky of late. Well I thin that on this St Patrick's night this Irishman will be able to partly put his mind to rest.

Almost 18 months ago, conveniently on my birthday so I could remember the date, he blogged:

"Stephen Glenn is expected to stand in Linlithgow and Falkirk East for the Liberal Democrats. A very tough contest indeed for the genial Ulsterman."

My response to him at the time was:

"But I'm expected to stand then am I? You know the result of the selection process before I do, do you? ;)"

Because until tonight the good Liberal Democrat party in West Lothian hadn't selected their candidates for the General Election. However, they did prove Jeff right in deciding that there wasn't "a Lib Dem better credentialed than [my] good self" in given me another turn as the candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk. Jeff wasn't alone both Michael Connarty and Tam Smith have asked me am I the candidate, I've had to say only that my name would be in the hat before tonight.

The West Lothian have also kept up the continuity from 2005 by selection Fauldhouse's own Charles Dundas once again as the candidate for Livingston.

You may notice one or two changes around the blog to indicate this event, one of which much as a regret doing is putting comments unto pre-moderation. The main reason for this is that I cannot be always available to check comments that go up. In light of recent events on other blogs this an action I feel I have no alternative with my current position but to face. I apologise for the inconvenience.