Archive for the ‘Ethnic Minority Vote’ Category

An Economic Policy for the Many?

vendredi, octobre 11th, 2013

Despite the negative « Flat-lining Economy? mantra of the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and the opposition Labour party over the past three years, the British economy finally seems to be increasingly on the mend with the return to growth. This has also now been accepted by Labour which has been forced to reposition its attack on the government?s record, by focusing on the increased cost of living for the many not yet sharing the benefits of growth and suffering on incomes which, in real terms, have not kept pace with inflation.

As a result, a populist commitment by Ed Miliband the opposition leader to freeze consumer energy prices should he be elected Prime Minister in 2015, has received a favourable response from voters to which the government has responded to a degree by a proposed cap on rail fare increases.

Opinion polls suggest that while the public still trusts the Conservative party on its competence with the economy by a wide margin over Labour, the latter are still favoured by the many struggling with significant price increases in e.g. Council tax, food and energy bills. On energy bills, the response from one of the major suppliers is that ?wholesale energy, the delivery to homes, and government-imposed levies ? endorsed by all the major parties ? all cost more than last year. » A serious policy response to this is required from the government rather than a populist reaction.

Perhaps the real question is what policy message would the centre-left, swing voters like to hear in the must-win, marginal constituencies currently held by Labour or the Liberal Democrats and targetted by the 40:40 campaign to win in 2015?

David Cameron: Green taxes review to help struggling families
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10372413/David-Cameron-Green-taxes-review-to-help-struggling-families.html
Ed Miliband : This is my vision for building a new future for Britain
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/435972/This-is-my-vision-for-building-a-new-future-for-Britain

Winning in 2015?

vendredi, septembre 27th, 2013

Lord Ashcroft’s analysis of his polling results in marginal seats described in the article below, reveals how defections to UKIP are increasing the current Labour party lead. This is not good news for the 40:40 campaign of the Conservative party, aimed at winning the 2015 election by concentrating resources on holding 40 currently marginal Conservative seats, as well as capturing 40 other marginals from Labour or the Liberal Democrats.

However, with the British economy seemingly on the mend and the Labour party at its recent conference signalling a strong movement to the socialist left, there is more room for the Conservatives to occupy the election-winning, centre-ground of the marginals, while still maintaining a clear distinction in policies compared with Labour. That said, for final success in these marginal seats the underlying critical requirements are to hang on to traditionally Conservative voters, to convince those who have currently « defected » to UKIP that this is effectively a vote for Labour and to maximise the Conservative voter turnout.

http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/09/labour-still-on-course-in-the-marginals-but-its-not-over-yet/#more-2507

British Citizenship and Right to Vote

lundi, septembre 9th, 2013

The lack of a clear connection in law between British citizenship and the right to vote has permitted successive British governments to allow the following injustice.

Fellow but expatriate British citizens are rather arbitrarily in law deprived of their right to vote in UK elections after 15 years abroad but an estimated 1 million non-British citizens from 54 Commonwealth countries currently resident in the UK will be entitled to vote in , and possibly influence, the 2015 general election.

According to the press article referenced below, in 2007 the then Labour government ordered a review of British citizenship laws by Lord Goldsmith QC, the Attorney General, but did not act on his advice that it should make a ?clear connection between citizenship and the right to vote?. MigrationWatch, which campaigns for lower immigration, is also quoted in this article as suggesting that Labour refused to act because voters from black and minority ethnic communities were more likely to vote Labour than Liberal Democrat or Conservative.

Shouldn’t the Conservative party be pressing for a clearer connection in law between British citizenship and the right to vote in UK elections as part of its overall immigration policy?

Reference: Commonwealth citizens ‘should lose the right to vote’, The Times, 28th August, 2013

Ethnic Minority Vote and 2015 Election

mercredi, août 14th, 2013

The Conservative Party?s 40:40 campaign for success in the 2015 General Election, is focussed on the 40 marginal seats it needs to gain from Labour (19) and the Lib-Dems (21), as well as the 40 marginal Conservative seats it must hold.
Hopefully this focus on these 80 marginal seats has taken into account a study by the parliamentary cross-party group Operation Black Vote, which suggests that the number of seats where black and Asian votes could be decisive has increased by 70% since the 2010 election.
This research published in the Guardian shows that in 168 marginal seats, including constituencies beyond inner-city areas, the ethnic minority vote is now greater than the majority of the sitting MP.
These ethnic minority communities have traditionally represented an area of strength for the Labour Party which captured 68% of their vote in 2010, compared with 16% for the Conservatives, the latter support perhaps eroded further by the current government?s tough stance on uncontrolled immigration.
Jim Messina, the Conservatives? recruit from the Obama campaign which so successfully harvested the ethnic minority votes in the US Presidential Elections, should be well placed to provide some good advice on how to improve the appeal of the Conservatives in these communities.

Reference: The Times, Monday August 12, 2013, page 13: Ethnic vote may decide result of next election.