Archive for the ‘Election Issues’ Category

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.

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Election Issues for 2010

mardi, décembre 15th, 2009

The next election could be called as early as March 2010 and ahead of the local Council ones if e.g. the economy has improved and the prime minister considers the timing particularly propitious.
Already the Conservative Party has unveiled MyConservatives.com on which David Cameron is effectively shown launching his campaign and talking about how the internet which is changing society and our lives, can also change politics. MyConservatives.com (also click on Useful Links on our website) provides a campaigning platform for candidates and on particular issues, as well as a means of attracting small on-line donations rather in the  »Obama way ».
A number of key issues are emerging:
– To the fore is the Economy and the critical need to fill the holes in the government budget, whilst having a credible plan to reduce overall debt to manageable proportions and satisfy the financial markets.
– Closely related is protection of public services and the need to care for e.g. schools, hospitals and the unemployed, whilst still balancing the books for an electorate more used to gain today and pain for tomorrow.
Since the prime minister has already introduced the issue of « class » into the above mix, it is important to have a positive values-based message e.g. of reform, to avoid being labelled the hard-hearted party of « cuts in public services » by Labour. Viewed from our position in France, the British NHS could benefit from reform by the perhaps more affordable introduction of a wider and complementary network of private, not-for-profit insurers such as the French Mutuels, a similar model also being explored by the Democrats for their new Health Bill in the United States.

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