Posts Tagged ‘Coalition’

NEW BOOK!!! A Citizen’s Guide to Electoral Reform by Alan Renwick

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

Last year a lot of things changed. The election gave us a new government, introducing many of us to the idea of a hung parliament and its consequences, Biteback moved to fancy new offices, it snowed on Christmas, and (sorry for the spoiler, for those who haven’t seen Toy Story 3) Buzz and Woody got a new owner. I still don’t know how I feel about all this change.

However, just when you thought you’d caught up with everything, 2011 has rolled round, promising its own changing landscape, with little time to stop and admire the scenery. We at Biteback aren’t entirely sure about what kind of changes this year will bring, maybe the British public will all show their discontent with the coalition by voting Green, but then again electoral reform is probably a much more distinct possibility.

The ballot box is the only thing guaranteed to make politicians listen. Electoral rules shape the nature of our politics and the first nationwide referendum for over 35 years is on the horizon. Although May seems like a long time away (especially when the morning weather forecast is reporting rain and ice), but it can easily come and even more easily go, and with British politics facing its greatest change for 35 years, it is important to know all about the reform before it happens.

But don’t worry, Biteback and Alan Renwick are here to help with a new title, A Citizen’s Guide to Electoral Reform. This easy-to-read guide cuts through the obscurities and lets you know what’s really at stake when the referendum comes.

Now the change won’t be too much of a shock. Unfortunately, we can’t do a book on Toy Story 4, you’ll have to just prepare yourself mentally for that one.

A Citizen’s Guide to Electoral Reform by Alan Renwick is released this week and you can order it here for £9.99

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The future’s bright for David Laws, but we can’t guarantee the same for the weather

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

Now, we promised ourselves we weren’t going to mention the snow, but dammit we just did in the first bloody line. Ignoring the various reports of what the snow (dammit, again) has done, including airport sleepovers (not as fun as it looks in the movies) or queues outside St Pancras, the biggest piece of news today was Vince Cable’s slip up (no pun intended) and his suggestion of rifts in the coalition government.

The national news is captivated by Cable’s admonition that he could resign his position if arguments with others members of the coalition became more severe. With each mention of a disagreement, the coalition seems more unstable and the issues covered by the Business Secretary in his recent disclosure are multiple and wide-ranging, from education and dealing with the banks, to benefit and winter fuel allowances.

As the national press question the stability of the coalition, the country has to start asking how we ended up in this position in the first place. Under what principles and arrangements was the coalition conceived? Is this friction surprising or, looking back, is it inevitable?

David Laws was there at the conception of the coalition and his book, 22 Days in May, provides the necessary look back. A key figure in the negotiations between his own party, the Liberal Democrats, and both the Conservatives and Labour, Laws later wrote his insider account of the talks.

And now, who knows what’s in store for him…

22 Days In May by David Laws is available to buy in paperback for £9.99 and e-book format for £4.60

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Round Two

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

It has come to that time of the week, as both pugilists straighten their ties and position their cufflinks, for the political debate to begin. The crowd rustles expectantly, hoping that every tap of their tense foot will send some of their building energy into the ground. Two key political figures sit up in their seats, staring determinedly forward and not letting their eyes move at the speed of their circling thoughts, and both begin to write.

I know, you thought we were talking about Prime Minister’s Questions. Well, we did try to make it sound like that. What we were, rather dramatically, referring to was the debate currently raging between David Laws and Lord Adonis. The New Statesman recently published an article by Laws in retort to Lord Adonis’s review of his new book, 22 Days in May.

22 Days In May is Laws’s account of the formation of our current coalition government and its early days as the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives came together in one of the most unlikely unions in British political history.

Lord Adonis, one of the key Labour negotiators had some reservations with Laws’s portrayal of the events that unfolded in the days following the General Election. Laws responded by countering his claims in his retort in the New Statesman – both said something about each other’s mum – and the debate, about what exactly happened during the negotiations which led to the formation of Britain’s first coalition government in decades, still rages.

Find out what all the fuss is about – 22 Days in May by David Laws is available in paperback and e-book format for £9.99 and £4.60, respectively.

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Mission Impossible 22: Days In May

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Potential reforms to education are on the political horizon and the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties will vote on Thursday on the hitherto most divisive issue since the formation of the coalition. As the ideological cracks appear, one question is how the country ended up with a government made of two parties that differed so significantly in the first place.

The negotiations in May between the three major parties happened behind closed doors, in a soundproof room, with a succession of deadbolts keeping it secured and some of those palm- and pupil-reading device thingys to restrict entrance… like they have in the movies. This meant that no one except for the party leaders, a select group of negotiators and Tom Cruise could know what happened. Unfortunately, Tom was busy, so we got David Laws – a key member of the Lib Dem team at the time – to write a book instead.

The result, 22 Days in May, is his absorbing account of those fascinating events. Not only do we think that it provides an important insight into the complex dynamic of our coalition government, but Jonathan Powell – aide to ex-PM Tony Blair – seems to agree with us calling the book both “interesting and valuable for future generations” in his review of the book in the Observer this weekend.

You can buy David Laws’s revelatory 22 Days in May in paperback and e-book format for £9.99 and £4.60, respectively.

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Learning from the history books

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

As the snow settles on the ground and we find ourselves in the winter months, there are people running through the streets away from police. Whether they’re police or protestors, we just hope they take care, because any full-pelt, Hollywood-style sprinting could end tragically on the ice.

Today saw the third national protest against the proposed rise in tuition fees for university education, an issue that has sparked debate about whether the Liberal Democrat Party have reneged on their pre-election promises from their current position in the coalition government. Steve Richards, writing today in The Independent, discusses how David Laws’s new book 22 Days In May sheds light on the events that led to the unlikely paring of a Lib Dem – Conservative government.

‘The Liberal Democrat MP has written a brilliant, multilayered work of art in which nothing is quite what it seems.’

However much the weather improves (and, according to Carol from BBC Breakfast, it’s unlikely to very soon), the country is still left with a financial deficit that is bound to inspire more debates about the coalition and its methods for coping with the debt. As Steve Richards finds out, David Laws’s informed account of the early days of our current government contributes to the discussion and reading the book helps us understand those leading us through the blizzard.

22 Days In May by David Laws is available in paperback for £9.99 and e-book format for £4.60

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Every Little Helps (in no way affiliated with Tesco)

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Whether it’s five days, three men or one document, the 2010 general election showed that even the smallest things can change the face of history. Remember the film The Butterfly Effect? Well, it’s like that, but with more politics, less Ashton Kutcher and, you know, actually interesting.

In his new book 5 Days To Power, Rob Wilson studies the negotiations that led to the political earthquake of a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, collating information from key figures in all three political parties who were involved in the discussions and crafting the most comprehensive account of the talks that shaped our current political climate. And he comes to the conclusion that the most important figure of those tumultuous days in May was… the guy from the civil service.

No really, Rob says it in this article on ConservativeHome.

Now, we don’t know if it’s just because he’s a great writer (shameless PR), but the theory, which says that without a chapter in the Cabinet Manual entitled ‘Elections and Government Formation’ our history could have been dramatically different, does make sense. Alright, so without Gordon Brown or David Cameron or Nick Clegg or David Laws (another person who we have a book with, another moment of shameless PR) or any of the major negotiators, then we wouldn’t have our current situation. But we at Biteback like Rob Wilson for celebrating the men behind the scenes, because the men on stage get all the press these days.

You can now buy Rob Wilson’s full account of the five days (and butterflies) that changed the country forever, 5 Days To Power in paperback and e-book format for £9.99 and £4.60, respectively.

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Two authors, two books, one event. People might think we planned this.

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

With the recent release of two big Biteback titles, David Laws’s 22 Days in May and Rob Wilson’s 5 Days to Power, we got to go to a fancy event with the authors (so we should, they’re our books!) Both books deal with the formation and early days of the Liberal Democrat- Conservative coalition government and, just as each book complements the other, the discussion worked brilliantly, with Wilson and Laws melding research and ideas for a balanced and comprehensive recreation of those enthralling days in May that shaped our current political climate. Also, Nick Robinson was there! Excuse us for being geeky enough to squeal like teenage girls.

(more…)

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Dinner with David

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

We love it when you buy the exclusive insider story of one of the most exciting moments in modern political history and the author, as well as producing his fascinating report of the birth of the coalition government, cares enough to add flavour to the already delicious menu of events.

David Laws, speaking last night on BBC Somerset, was asked by political reporter Ruth Bradley why he included so much detail, even down to times and locations of meetings, to which he replied that it adds to the “richness of the tapestry”. Yes David! We’re literature people, and we love that. Ruth herself even seemed to agree, noting that the mood came across effectively.

22 Days in May is the unique account of the days that formed our current coalition government, including some quite startling revelations about the negotiations of the Liberal Democrats with the two lobbying parties. Bradley wasted no time in getting to these “juicy bits” (her words, not ours, although they look great on this blog and work with this extended metaphor about food).

When asked whether Labour took the talks seriously, the author said that “Gordon Brown was quite serious about seeing if he could stay in power… as was Lord Adonis”. However, whilst the Conservatives were making “all sorts of concessions”, not only were various select members of the Labour camp “difficult to deal with” but Laws says he felt there were “a number of comments meant to sabotage the negotiations”. He even claims that Ed Balls directly stated “there are many Labour MPs who won’t like these ideas”, planting the notion that the Party would not be behind any form of coalition in its entirety.

(more…)

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The Harlow panel give their verdict

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Deborah Mattinson, Britain’s leading pollster and author of Talking to a Brick Wall, revisits the Harlow focus group for their verdict on the coalition government so far…

Talking to a Brick Wall tells the story of the New Labour years from the voters’ viewpoint.

Writing the final chapters during the 2010 election campaign, I set up a panel of swing voters in Harlow, Britain’s fifth most marginal seat. It was made up of people with consistent records of voting Labour (’97, ’01, even ’05) who were now undecided. They were the voters who would determine the election outcome. In the end, their own vote perfectly matched the result, with almost all switching to the Conservatives or Lib Dems.

My last panel session for Talking to a Brick Wall took place just after the Cameron/Clegg double act in the No. 10 Rose Garden. It received a warm reception:

Hopefully a fresh start for the whole country

In the last week of August I brought panel members together again to learn their verdict on the coalition so far. Had their expectations – so high in those honeymoon days – been met? (more…)

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David Cameron’s boldness: the overlooked clues

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

C9781849540308Writes author of Campaign 2010: The Making of the Prime Minister Nicholas Jones:

In his television documentary – Five Days That Changed Britain – the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson chides himself for his failure to have predicted that in the event of an inconclusive general election David Cameron might attempt to establish a coalition government.

I too was taken totally by surprise by the boldness of Cameron’s ‘big, open and comprehensive’ offer to Nick Clegg and his skill in negotiating a deal that paved the way for a joint Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration.

But just like Robinson I too overlooked vital clues. In his case, the BBC’s political editor says senior Liberal Democrats did tell him during the campaign that they thought Cameron was capable of repeating Disraeli’s bold risk-taking and pulling off a post-election deal.

‘If only I’d listened more to those two Lib Dems, I would also have predicted Cameron’s boldness’, says Robinson.

Immediately I heard the election-night exit poll suggesting that the Conservatives would fall short of an overall majority I feared my book – Campaign 2010: The Making of the Prime Minister – was about to become a car crash for my publishers Biteback.

But as a drowning author I still had one straw to clutch to: the year I spent researching Cameron’s background and early career had convinced me that if anyone could pull off a last-minute sensation, it was the leader of the Conservative Party.

From the moment Cameron took the initiative the day after the election and made his offer to the Liberal Democrats, I had a feeling that he would still make it to 10 Downing Street and I held to that view despite Gordon Brown’s counter offer.

What had so impressed me about Cameron was that whenever the chips were down, he held his nerve and took a risk. Speaking without notes to the Conservatives’ 2005 party conference – his first-ever speech at a party conference – was a gamble for any leadership candidate.

Nor did he over react when Gordon Brown dithered about the on-off general election of 2007. Cameron then risked all in the immediate aftermath of the scandal about the abuse of MPs’ expenses in 2009 by standing up to the Tory grandees and insisting they repay excessive claims.

On the eve of Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister and the Queen’s summons to Buckingham Palace, Cameron was still not sure he could secure an agreement with the Liberal Democrats; he told Nick Robinson he remembered saying to his wife Samantha ‘it’s not going to happen, I am going to remain Leader of the Opposition’.

I find it comforting now to hear Cameron come across sounding so relaxed about such a knife-edge moment. Needless to say a nerve-wracked author had nothing like the composure of the Prime Minister to be!

Campaign 2010: The Making of the Prime Minister is available to buy here, priced £9.99

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