In the 10 days or so since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, the Conservatives have risen in the opinion polls. This is almost entirely because some traditional Tory voters who had defected to the Brexit Party have drifted back because of Johnson’s Brexit pledge — though Jeremy Corbyn’s terminal uselessness as Leader of the Labour Opposition has also played a part. Nonetheless, yesterday the Liberal Democrats were able to seize the parliamentary seat of Brecon and Radnorshire in a by-election, with the Welsh LibDem Leader, Jane Dodds, achieving a majority of over 1,000. Inevitably some Conservatives are now wondering whether it was wise to readopt Chris Davies as their candidate in the by-election, as he had been the subject of a successful recall petition because of dodgy expense returns. But the real problem for Boris Johnson is that his technical parliamentary majority (even with DUP support) is now down to just one. And several pro-Remain Conservative MPs who are horrified by the prospect of a No Deal Brexit on 31 October, as the Prime Minister has threatened, are poised to defect or else maybe even to bring the government down. Today the psephological guru, Sir John Curtice, was predicting that the LibDems could win as many as 50 seats if there were a snap general election this autumn or next spring, which would bring the party back to the sort of level it was at under Charles Kennedy and Nick Clegg. A heady prospect for new Leader, Jo Swinson. It will be interesting to watch the national opinion polls following the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election. Those of us with long enough political memories will recall that on several occasions in the past by-election triumphs led to a period of resurgence for the LibDems (and previously, the Liberals). So whereas Boris may indeed be enjoying a bounce in the polls, the Liberal Democrats could end up bouncing higher, especially if the Remain Alliance that worked so well in Brecon is maintained.
Posts Tagged ‘Chris Davies’
Boris Bounces but LibDem Trounces
Posted by jonathanfryer on Friday, 2nd August, 2019
Posted in UK politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: Boris Johnson, Charles Kennedy, Chris Davies, Jane Dodds, Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson, John Curtice, Nick Clegg | Leave a Comment »
The UK’s Future in the EU
Posted by jonathanfryer on Wednesday, 18th September, 2013
At the LibDem Conference in Glasgow this week, Ben Jones, Chair of the Party’s Europe Working Group successfully proposed a motion on the EU. Here is his text, first published in a blog piece for the European Movement (UK) euroblog:
The UK’s future is in a prosperous, sustainable and secure European Union.

But neither must we forget that the peace and prosperity we enjoy today did not glide effortlessly out of post-war Europe. Nor was it underpinned by the military might of NATO alone.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Ben Jones, Chris Davies, Ed Davey, EU, European Movement, European Parliament, eurozone, George Marshall, Likberal Democrat Conference, Sharon Bowles, UKIP | Leave a Comment »
Rebecca Taylor to Be New LibDem MEP
Posted by jonathanfryer on Tuesday, 31st January, 2012
After several days of uncertainty, it has now been formally announced by Liberal Democrat headquarters that Rebecca Taylor will become the new LibDem MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside following Diana Wallis’s sudden resignation. Diana’s move came as a shock to friends and strangers alike, particularly as she had only just stood unsuccessfully to be President of the European Parliament, but she feels that twelve-and-a-half years of hectic Euro-political life is enough. Given the strain of all the travel and dealing with a massive Euro-constituency, one can easily understand that. It was assumed that in keeping with previous practice the seat would then pass automatically to the next person down on the LibDems’ 2009 regional list, Stewart Arnold, who happens to be Diana’s husband. Indeed, that is what was announced in last Friday’s edition of the weekly party newspaper Liberal Democrat News. But eyebrows were raised in some quarters and there were some pretty hard-hitting comments, not least from North West MEP Chris Davies, about how seemly it was for a husband to inherit his wife’s seat (despite the fact that he was well qualified, as he had been working for her in her office). Anyway, after due consideration, Stewart Arnold declined the seat, which meant that it was offered to the third person on the list, Rebecca Taylor, instead. Though Yorkshire born and with strong family links to the region — she also stood for Rotheram in the 2010 General Election — Rebecca has carved a career out for herself in London, so not surprisingly she had to give the matter some consideration before deciding what to do. However, she has now agreed to take on the responsibility — and brilliant opportunity, I might add. She is being thrown in the deep end at age 36, but it will do no harm to the British LibDem group in the Parliament to have an energetic new person in their ranks.
Photo: stevegalloway.mycouncillor.org.uk
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Chris Davies, Diana Wallis, European Parliament, Liberal Democrats, Rebecca Taylor, Rotheram, Stewart Arnold, Yorkshire and Humberside | 1 Comment »
The MEPs’ Code of Conduct
Posted by jonathanfryer on Thursday, 27th November, 2008
Today I signed and sent off the Liberal Democrat Code of Conduct for (prospective) MEPs, which has been drafted to ensure that the highest standards of public service are maintained by the LibDem Group (LDEPP) in the European Parliament. Without mentioning any names, there have been spectacular examples of the misuse of Euro-parliamentary allowances by some Conservative MEPs in particular and the general record of some of the people who got elected on the UKIP ticket is worthy of a Jeffrey Archer novel. It is essential that LibDem MEPs adhere to the stricter guidelines now being finalised by the European Parliament regarding the Payment of Expenses and Allowances to Members (PEAM), details of which will shorty be published on the European Parliament’s website.
The activities of MEPs tend to get scant coverage in the British Press, except when scandal is involved, reinforcing the distorted impression among the general public that people go into European politics to ‘join the gravy train’. Chris Davies, LibDem MEP for North West England, has done a fine job at exposing some of the worst abuses (to the annoyance of some of his colleagues in the European Parliament). And Nick Clegg, as party leader, is quite right to insist that LibDem MEPs should lead by example.
Link: www.europarl.europa.eu
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Chris Davies, Code of Conduct for MEPs, European Parliament, Jeffrey Archer, LDEPP, Nick Clegg, PEAM, UKIP | 2 Comments »
Tory Leader’s Whoops-a-Daisy Moment
Posted by jonathanfryer on Thursday, 5th June, 2008
The leader of the British Conservatives in the European Parliament, Giles Chichester, has resigned, after informing an alarmed Central Office that he would not be able to justify by 4pm tomorrow apparently paying nearly half a million pounds of pounds of his expenses to a company of which he is a director. The company, founded by his father, the round-the-wolrd yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester, is said to have received £445,000 from EU taxpayers’ money since 1996 ‘in connection with secretarial and assistant services for the European Parliament, constituency and committee work’ for the MEP. Mr Chichester has admitted this flaw in his financial arrangements, but has dismissed it as a ‘whoops-a-daisy moment’. The irony is that David Cameron recently gave him the job of drawing up a code of conduct for Tory MEPs’ expenses.
Once again, Chris Davies, the LibDem MEP for the North West, has been calling for a tightening up of the European Parliament’s rules, and he is understandably frustrated that many continental MEPs, not least from Italy and Greece, are determined to keep as much in the dark as possible. However, there will be changes for the better next year, in time for the 2009 Euro-parliamentary elections, thanks to new rules and I will be campaigning hard for full transparency.
One party which will be particularly pleased with today’s Tory clip-up, however, is UKIP. A little bird tells me that yet another of their MEPs will no longer be sitting with them as from today, not to follow his former colleague Ashley Mote into prison, but to join Robert Kilroy-Silk into the political wilderness. Watch this space!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Ashley Mote, Chris Davies, David Cameron, European Parliament, Francis Chichester, Giles Chichester, Robert Kilroy-Silk, UKIP | 1 Comment »
Chris Davies and MEPs on the Fiddle
Posted by jonathanfryer on Wednesday, 23rd April, 2008
Chris Davies, LibDem MEP for the North West of England, has made himself pretty unpopular amongst some of his colleagues with his campaign to open up MEPs’ expenses to greater scrutiny. But that doesn’t stop him being right. The fact that MEPs have now voted 442 to 209 against the publication of reports which uncovered widespread abuse of staff allowances can only result in greater public disdain for the European Parliament, which is anyway an institutuion of which few EU citizens know much. The cover-up is handing the issue on a platter to anti-European forces such as UKIP. But Chris Davies has rightly won the press coverage on this matter, and LibDems should champion their core belief in transparency and honesty in politics and its funding.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: Chris Davies, MEPs, UKIP | Leave a Comment »