Posts Tagged Conservative Party
Unionist Spring?
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, DUP, Elections, General, UUP, Unionism, Westminster on January 30th, 2010
Recent events in Northern Ireland have raised the possibility that there may be an Assembly election before a Westminster election. Depending on how current talks at Hillsborough and elsewhere progress, and for other electoral factors, it may not be Sinn Fein that seeks an election either before or at the same time as the Westminster poll.
There will be an election in 2010
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, DUP, Elections, General, SDLP, TUV, UUP, Unionism, Westminster on January 3rd, 2010
While generally there is nothing certain about the future, one 99.99% certainty for 2010 is a British Parliamentary Election. Voting must take place before the summer, and the general consensus is for a May poll, though March may still be possible if Gordon Brown wants to avoid an unpromsing budget and go for it.
Picture: parliament.uk picture gallery
The opinion polls are erratic, as discussed on thedissenter earlier, and the potential for a tightly hung Parliament is real. A party holding a small number of seats may gain considerable importance. So the performance of local parties is of national interest: though notional until the counts are complete.
Education and ideology conflict
In his speech to the recent Traditional Unionist Voice conference, Chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, Robert McCartney, focused on the underlying conflict at the heart of the education debate in Northern Ireland.
Conservative Practicality.
Conservative policy generally seems to be one of practicality over principle, which would also seem to sum up David Cameron’s approach to most issues. Just as the new Conservative group in the European Parliament probably has more to do with domestic Party necessity than usefully making friends and influencing people (thedissenter), the Cameron policy of offering a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty is similarly practical.
Electorally, the Conservatives need a substantial swing to ensure a majority. UKPollingReport provides a fun way of keeping in touch with what the latest poll means with a simple swing calculator. A simple exercise on this swingometer shows the volatility of the electorate, and the electoral challenge that faces the Conservatives until May 2010.
This graph was grabbed on the 6th October.
European Election – AFTERSHOCK
The final outcome of the Northern Ireland European Election poll is not that much different to that anticipated by thedissenter in early May. Even so, the election has none the less shaken the consensus on which the Belfast Agreement stands or falls. It was a better than expected election for Jim Allister of the TUV.
UUP win/lose with Conservatives in Europe.
Posted by Editor in Conservatives, Europe, Unionism on May 25th, 2009
The UUP presents its link with the Conservative Party as a way of being at the centre of UK politics. At the same time that link is likely to push the UUP to the margins of Europe.
The UUP alignment with the Conservatives is presented as part of a wider vision for ‘The Union’, and for the UUP to be at the centre of national discourse. As we edge towards the European Election, should Jim Nicholson win one of the three Northern Ireland seats he will return to Europe as part of a Conservative led group at the margins of European discourse. Read the rest of this entry »
Lady Sylvia Herman expresses doubts.
The sole Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Westminster MP Lady Sylvia Hermon finally, publicly, confirmed the widely held belief that she is unhappy with the Ulster Conservative and Unionist New Force (UCUNF). Following a BBC interview, the Belfast Telegraph has followed through with a series of points on which her disquiet may be founded: Read the rest of this entry »
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