Why Nobody Wants the Job that Everyone Wants

Everyone wants to be Prime Minister, but nobody wants to be Labour leader!

The problem is Labour are, more than likely, going to lose the next election. If they have a change of leader now, then the pressure to call an election to get a mandate from the people would be immense. Therefore, someone who takes over the leadership before the next election, could find themselves being the shortest serving PM in British political history. More than that, though, they'd probably be replaced as leader within a couple of years of taking the job, as they'd be branded as a loser (having lost the general election).

David Cameron, of course, would like to be PM; but not quite yet. He'd quite like the current economic climate to improve just a little, preferably around the Spring of 2010 when an election would have to be called, if it hadn't been done already. He'd rather that his party didn't have to sort out the mess of the economy, but still get the credit for it!

In summary, everyone wants to be Prime Minister, but not until we're on a path out of the woods with the economy; and nobody wants to be Labour leader until after the next election.

Gordon's safe for the moment, but how long can he hang on.

JR

When Will the Next General Election Be?

When do you think the next General Election will be held? David Cameron has called for it to happen straight after Parliament's summer recess. In reaction to the Glasgow East by-election result, he said;

I think the prime minister should have his holiday but then I think we need an election.

Holding it in the Spring next year will follow the pattern of four year terms (11 June the most probable date as that is the same date as the local elections are set for), whilst April 2010 will be five years since the last election. The last date the election can be held (in normal circumstances) is 3 June 2010.

I think that Labour will wait as long as possible before calling an election, after all they're probably going to lose it!

The poll (on the right of the page) will be open until 8 August.

JR

Labour Lose Glasgow East

The results of the Glasgow East by-election have just been announced;

John Mason, Scottish National Party - 11,277
Margaret Curran, Labour - 10,912
Davena Rankin, Conservatives - 1,639
Ian Robertson, Liberal Democrats - 915

This is the SNP's first by-election victory over Labour since 1995. It is also very bad news for Gordon Brown (well, what isn't these days).

The Conservatives nudged out the Lib Dems for third place, a excellent achievement for them in a seat they were never likely to win.

JR

Obama - The Next President of the United States?

Barack Obama made a speech to crowds in Berlin today, and one of the things he spoke about is the need for the world to set aside it's differences with race, religion and culture. Indeed he is right to tackle this issue; there is no person on Earth more listened to than the President of the United States of America.

Using the comparison of the Berlin wall in his speech, he said;

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

This is something I saw whilst attending two World Scout Jamborees, firstly as a participant in Thailand (2002/03), and then last year here in the UK as a member of the International Service Team. At both events I cannot recall one incident of racial or religious discrimination, if only that was the case in the outside world. I hope that those who attended the World Scout Jamborees will be the ones running the countries of the world in years to come.

Obama, however, is a good start to this new world. McCain is a safe pair of hands, but those very hands are ones that I distrust when it comes to healing the world and giving the US a better reputation.

As with 95% of commentators on the US presidential elections, I cannot vote in them, but if I was an American, I'd vote for Obama as the man the world will listen to.

JR

All work and no play makes JR a dull boy

Over the last two weeks I've been working for a robemaking company who hire out graduation gowns, and tomorrow I'm going to Ormskirk to work at the graduations of Edge Hill University.

I was in Plymouth on Thursday and Friday, and on Monday I worked for 16 hours when I travelled to Falmouth where the Cornwall campus of the University of Exeter is.

As the saying goes ...

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Of course, the overtime I've accrued will look very nice in my bank account on Thursday! However, I won't have much energy left until I'm able to sleep for a day.

JR

St. Swithun's Day

Today is St Swithun's Day, and according to the proverb the next forty days weather should be the same as today.

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

The good news (for me) is that it's been dry and sunny where I am today, so there should be very little rain in the next six weeks!

What has it been like where you are?

JR

Car Tax to Hit 9.4m Motorists

I got my Road Tax renewal reminder today, so with the recent revelations on who will be effected, I thought I'd comment.

Now my vechile won't be effected at all, as it's a P reg and therefore too old to be included in the new law. I suspect that my car wouldn't have a rise in tax anyway, but those that own a car registered after 2001 will come under the new rules.

I have no problem with the new law itself, but with the way it will be implemented. Because of it applying to cars made after 2001, rather than just new cars, millions of people who have already bought their vechiles will be hit with a cost they weren't expecting, plus the second-hand value of the car will be considerably less.

This is no longer a green tax but a stealth tax, and one that gives green taxes a bad name.

I think Gordon Brown has just lost the plot. Does he want to win the next election?

JR

Conservatives Popular With Students

The most interesting bit of information I've found out recently, is that the Conservative Party have been found to be the most popular political party with students currently. In a poll of students in May (details of which you can find here), the Tories gained support from 45% of those questioned, with the Lib Dems on 31%, and Labour 24%.

The figures have been recalculated to only include the three main parties, probably because of the disproportionately high numbers going for Respect, SWP and the like, although this is unlikely to have helped the Conservatives that much.

Oh, those of you who are students at MMU and happen to support the Conservatives, then good news. There is a branch of Conservative Future being set-up for September. Check us out at the Freshers Fair, or join the facebook group for more info.

JR

Are my lecturers stingy with their marks?

According to an article in yesterday's Manchester Evening News, tutors in MMU's Department of Computing & Mathematics have been asked to bear in mind that the university doesn't award as many top class degrees as other post-1992 institutions, when marking work.

That's my department!! They're my lecturers!!

So the obvious questions are;

• Have my lecturers not given me the credit I deserve for my work?
• Have other institutions been awarding degrees much more lightly than MMU?
• Should my degree be worth more than those from other new universities?

I'm not about to speculate about the reasons behind this, especially as it looks as if the comment was made in an email from "a member of staff below the level of head of department", and you can prove anything with statistics.

I believe that "top grade" marks relate to the awarding of first and upper second class degrees. It is unfortunate that you probably require at least a 2.1 for your degree to be considered worthwhile, particularly if you studied at a post-1992 university!

I'm going to reserve further comment until I've spoken to the union's officers, but please comment yourselves by clicking on the comments link below. Now you don't even have to register to leave comments!

JR