One thing I see over and over again is that voting anything other than Conservative or Labour is a waste of time even if your chosen party wins. While this is understandable, my argument is that there is a very good reason for voting Liberal Democrat anyway, even if that means that your MP will be part of the third largest party in England. Is a vote for us a wasted vote? I don’t think so, and here’s why.
Effective Opposition
In our current system of First Past the Post, the long term system is such that the expectation is that there will be two parties largely sharing power. Indeed, this is shown by the fact that generally we refer to the government and the opposition in the House of Commons, where the opposition is entirely represented by the second largest party. It is vital for our democracy that the opposition is both credible and strong so that the government is rightly held to account for its actions or lack thereof. Given the rampant dishonesty and cronyism that we have seen over the last decade, I believe that the Conservatives in this role would be useless.
Because of how the current system works, the expectation for the next General Election is that Labour will be the single largest party, the Conservatives second, and the Liberal Democrats third (in England – the SNP are likely to continue to be the largest party in Scotland).
This means that, in official terms, the Conservatives are expected to be the official opposition. To me, this is intolerable. The Conservatives have shown themselves to be utterly incompetent in every aspect of running the country. I do not trust them to offer a credible opposition to the government following their near inevitable defeat in the next general election. I believe that it is time for another party to start making moves towards being the official opposition.
The Overton Window
The Overton Window describes the range of political views expressed within the legislature. With our existing system, that practically means the right- or left-wing tendencies of the Conservative and Labour parties, as it is mostly their positions which are expressed into national policy. The generally accepted understanding is that as the party in charge moves in one direction or another, the other moves in that direction to accommodate. Given the Conservatives are currently in charge and have largely become dominated by the lunatic frings on the hard right, the Labour party has responded by moving into the space left unoccupied by the Conservatives, making them much more right wing than they were under Corbyn in the hope that they can entice some of the swing voters from the middle ground to their cause.
As a consequence Labour will likely be the government, and based on their existing announcements, I believe that means that they will represent the centre, possibly even the centre-right of UK politics, as they have shifted in that direction in recent years. This leaves a vacuum for a genuinely left-wing parties who care about social issues, economic fairness, protection of workers’ rights, etc. To my mind, that wholly describes the Liberal Democrats.
Can We Win?
If the question is can we win nationally, while it is possible it is highly unlikely while we still have the First Past The Post system of voting. As such, we need to look at a strategy spanning several parliaments rather than focusing on whether we can win a majority at the next election. This is similar to the Japanese concept of kaizen, or little steps of gradual improvement.
Across the country you will see this type of strategy employed by local Liberal Democrat parties. Some seats are broadly unwinnable, others there is a strong chance. You will tend to see the party put more effort into these winnable seats than into those where the outcome is already nearly certain.
In the case of Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner, I believe this seat is winnable. I believe that the incumbant MP, David Simmonds, is tainted by his party to the point where his continuing role as an MP is untenable. Labour have not even announced their candidate for the constituency, showing that they do not care much about the area.
Campaigning in Eastcote
We have started campaigning already. We are getting out and seeing constituents in the areas and listening to problems that are caused by both the local Conservative council and the national Conservative government, and we are listening.
Help us win in Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner. Help us to become the voice of reason in Parliament.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public's best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: " Ok I would trust that guy".
Luca M, fellow speakers' club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I've seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He'll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
I have recently found out that Hillingdon Council is trying to very severely limit the freedom of users of their public spaces from handing out information to others, regardless of whether or not they are causing a nuisance or obstruction. I have therefore decided to launch the following petition which I plan to present to Hillingdon Council when completed. If you agree, please sign, and if you live in Hillingdon please indicate as such so that this data can be presented to the Council.
An illegal gathering, if the new law goes through as written.
Hillingdon Council is currently consulting on the introduction of a new Public Space Protection Order as the last version is expiring. Most of the terms of the new PSPO are uncontroversial, but hiding in the clauses is a direct attack on our freedom of speech.
Section 2 clause d says that “No person(s) shall place a table/stand/signage or similar within any part of the public area without written authorisation from the Council”.
This is a blatant attack on our freedom to talk to one another as users of the Hillingdon public spaces, and it is far out of proportion to any problems that might be solved by any such law. In addition, the UK has signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which contains the following Sections:
18) Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
19) Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
20 (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
27 (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
29 (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
This restriction affects religious groups, entertainers, political activists and anyone wanting to put up a poster or hand out flyers. Clearly this is an overreach of authority, and the Council must withdraw Section 2 clause d completely to avoid a major Human Rights violation.
This is important because it affects our freedom of speech as a society. If communication and advertising for events and movements is limited such that it requires the permission of the Council, then such permission can be withheld for issues that the Council does not approve of, including religions that they do not practice or political parties of which they are not members.
This is a genuine worry that the law as written is sufficient to effectively block the right to free speech and free exercise of religion or political party.
To give an idea of what would be banned, the picture shown above is of a recent Action Day in Eastcote, where we set up a stand outside the station and talked to people that wanted to engage with us. We didn’t block anyone’s route or force anyone to engage with us, but if this order goes through we would have been subject to removal by the police. For wanting to talk to people.
I spent four hours in a car yesterday, so was already in a pretty foul mood. When I reached my destination, I saw that my messages contained a really ugly article by the Express. This concerns a fellow Liberal Democrat candidate, Katy Sykes, and I have had the pleasure of being on a panel show with Katy in the last few months. At no point did I think the accusations sounded like her usual persona at all, so I thought I would go back to her to get the real story.
My appearance with Katy on the My appearance with Katy on the Global Atheists show
The Offending Article
To call this an article would, in my view, be overly generous. It isn’t. It’s a very biased hit piece. Noteably, the Express did not bother to ask Katy for her side of the story before going to print with this garbage, so naturally it was entirely one-sided.
In 2013 Ms Sykes said: “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I really really want to kill something.” Two months later she posted: “You better fn have nine lives coz I fn have eight knives.”
She also threatened: “One more person calls me a weirdo or filthy c*** then I think I’m going to rip their vocal cords out and use them to slice their knackers off.”
Ms Sykes posted in May 2013: “I hate the fg northeast, why is it I seem to attract the fg b*d scum everywhere I go, feel like either hurting them or killing myself.”
Frankly, it is brutal that the Express trawled through Katy’s old posts like this to find anything that could possibly be held against her. We have all said things we didn’t mean online, and the fact that Katy has not been in the news for “ripping out someone’s vocal cords and using them to slice their knackers off” would certainly imply to me that this was an example of someone venting, not making actual legitimate death threats.
Transparent Faux Outrage
In response to finding these comments, naturally the responsible thing to do as a serious journalist would be to message Katy asking for an interview to discuss the comments. Naturally that’s what the Express failed to do. In fact, they went straight to a Conservative MP, Simon Clarke, for his view. His statements were:
Approached by the Express for a reaction, local Conservative MP Simon Clarke said the posts from Nikita Sykes are “horrifying”.
He said: “These quotes are horrifying, most especially in their repeated references to, and threats of, extreme violence.
“It is very obvious Ms Sykes is totally unsuitable for public office and I hope the Liberal Democrats will act immediately to withdraw her candidacy – she ought never to have been allowed to stand in the first place.
“I hope she can now find the help she clearly needs.”
Simon Clarke
Clearly Mr Clarke is new to the internet if he thinks that comments like that are horrifying (if he needs an education, then a quick visit to Reddit introducing himself as a Conservative MP will likely show him what horrifying really is!). I personally wonder what sort of environment he has found himself cushioned in where freedom to vent on social media has been so badly curtailed, especially as he is in the party that boasts about freedom to cause offence with their bigoted views.
More to the point, the idea that this is a threat at all is entirely unfounded. A threat is directed against a person or group of people, and arguably it must be perceived as potentially real. Venting online and talking about wanting to harm or even kill “someone” is not a threat, it is merely venting.
Now, you could argue that the language was inappropriate, especially if the meaning was actually literal. But in order to do that, you would have to actually approach the person who uttered those words and expressed those views, and you would need to be satisfied that a) they were actually meant to be a credible threat (they weren’t) and b) that they represent current views (they don’t).
In short, this isn’t journalism, it’s a thinly-veiled hit piece against a candidate who made a number of statements a decade ago that she now doesn’t identify with.
For fairness, I must mention that the article states that Katy was contacted for comment, but she tells a different story and says that the paper never actually made any effort to get in touch with her. To my mind, I am more inclined to believe Katy here, as most of us candidates have numerous ways for people to get in touch with us, and it is very unlikely that we would miss an opportunity to speak to the press.
Conclusion
This article really irritated me for a number of reasons:
Katy’s actual policies were barely mentioned. Her approach now is one of tolerance and inclusion for everyone, so comments like this are not in any way current.
Without a doubt, Katy was going through a tough time when she made these comments. Taking advantage of that seems extremely low to me.
If we want an example of “horrifying” look instead at what the Conservatives have achieved in their time in power. The NHS is failing, education is really struggling, democracy is on its knees, we have destroyed our international standing, and our waterways are being flooded with human waste. That’s just the start of what the Conservatives have done to the UK, and that to me is truly horrifying.
It’s easy to find out what views a candidate has these days. As an example, if anyone wants to find out what I advocate, they can look at my manifesto. They certainly don’t need to go back through my social media history looking for moments which don’t necessarily still represent my views today. By our nature we are a changing species, and as James O’Brien states “there’s no point in having a mind if you never change it.”
The Express should be ashamed of themselves. This article isn’t journalism, it’s a pathetic hit piece that tries to take advantage of someone’s poor mental state from a decade ago as an attack on them now.
Simon Clarke should be ashamed of himself. He took this opportunity to pass judgement on someone now based on a series of venting posts made during a period of mental fragility a decade ago. Rather than doing the right thing and reprimanding the “journalist”, he took the opportunity to attack someone for daring to have been vulnerable in the past.
Anyone who reads the Express should consider buying another paper. If this is the quality of their journalism, then their paper is fit only to be used if you run out of toilet paper or firelighters.
For the record, I plan to have a chat with Katy in an interview about this over the weekend, so her side of the story will get out.
UPDATE: Katy has messaged me to say that the journalist in question did send her a message on Facebook, but as with so many such messages, this was filtered straight to the junk folder. No follow-up seems to have been attempted, and the initial contact was made with a completely arbitrary deadline of 5-6 hours. Whether this is genuine incompetence or a wilful decision not to carry out a full review, I don’t know.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
So what should we do differently? How can we reclaim government that best represents us, the people who read this and are incensed by the sheer arrogance of these authoritarian despots who have decided to abuse their constituents for personal gain?
If the above sounds angry, it’s because I am. Livid, in fact. The amalgamation of all these scandals frankly makes me sick. I want to see our country governed responsibly, and the Conservative party has shown over the last 13 years that they simply cannot be trusted with any aspect of our country. The fact that a former Conservative Prime Minister is quoted as saying “The NHS is about as safe with them as a pet hamster would be with a hungry python” says it all.
So I have a few suggestions for making our politicians more accountable.
Recall Petitions
At the moment an MP is an MP until they die, reach the end of their term, or are recalled. The last one of these is extremely limited in scope, and can only be brought into effect if the MP is found guilty of one of a small number of offences or if they disappear. The fact that an MP can entirely misrepresent their constituents, lie during campaigning, or be entirely absent from the constituency and Westminster is a fundamental failing of the electoral system that could be addressed with a simple option of allowing a recall petition at any time.
The caveat to this is that under normal circumstances, I would expect that an MP should only be recalled if more people opt for a recall than voted for them in the first place. For example, if an MP obtained 45% of the vote in the last election, they would be safe unless 45% or more of the electorate signed a recall petition. This would give them much more safety if they did their job correctly, but would mean that if they became embroiled in scandals that their constituents didn’t appreciate, they could be subject to a recall even if they do not trigger one of the mandatory triggers that currently exist.
Uxbridge & South Ruislip constituents are stuck with their absentee MP until the General Election (or an earlier recall if he is suspended from Parliament for more than 2 weeks)
An example of this is Boris Johnson in Uxbridge & South Ruislip. I have asked repeatedly for information on how many constituency surgeries he has hosted since 2019, but his office has refused to provide this information. Constituents on my Twitter thread generally seem to agree that he has been wholly absent, with a common joke being that he likely doesn’t even know where Uxbridge is, he has visited so infrequently. Under current rules, he is not subject to a recall for this absence, though this may change if the Privileges Committee finds that he lied to the House of Commons over Partygate.
More Disqualifications from Parliament
As an added measure to the above, I believe it would be fair to list a set of standards that, if breached, automatically trigger a by-election. Off the top of my head, this would include:
Tax evasion.
Threatening investigators with frivolous lawsuits.
Abusive behaviour towards fellow MPs or Parliamentary staff.
Lying to the House.
Issuing false information to the electorate.
I’m sure there are plenty of others. Please note that I do not propose adding “any crime” to this list, as I would not want to see someone stopped from being an MP for, say, speeding, but our MPs should pay their taxes without complaint and should be wholly open and truthful with the electorate.
Ending First-Past-The-Post
At the moment, there is a concept of “safe seats” for all parties. This is essentially a seat where an MP can do almost anything and still expect to be re-elected because the electorate in the area will vote for one party or another regardless of behaviour, policies or scandals. This is a consequence of our First-Past-The-Post system, because people are so disenfranchised that they want to vote for the winner to avoid wasting their vote, so they stick with the existing winning candidate purely because so many others around them vote that way.
Doing away with this archaic system would eliminate the concept of safe seats, which would mean that unpopular MPs would be eliminated from the political process by their electorate, increasing the accountability between elections as well as at the ballot days themselves.
Truss and Kwarteng
I haven’t included any of the issues around the Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng abomination. I could of course include that whole premiership (all 44 days or so) as a scandal, but honestly, I didn’t need to!
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
I am not a political scholar, just someone who quite enjoys a good argument and who wants to help. One of the things I am most passionate about it electoral reform, specifically into a form of proportional representation. What this essentially means is that the system must be set up to make the power in Parliament match the national vote, e.g. democracy. Arguments immediately start over the exact proportional representation implementation that should be used.
I don’t know precisely what my proposed system of proportional representation would be defined as, so I welcome any comments from actual academics within the field of politics.
Before the Ballot
In my system, the election starts well before the ballot, with each party wishing to stand generating a list of up to 650 potential politicians. This them means that if they miraculously win 100% of the vote, they have the candidates to fill the posts. This then allows voters to look at what the party is looking to achieve, and where their preferred candidates sit in the party list.
It will remain down to individual parties to determine how they put together their lists, but the expectation is that this will end up being a democratic process of some sort. That said, if a party decided to choose an entirely arbitrary means of creating their list, that would be entirely fine as long as their methodology is fully disclosed to an electorate.
The Election
One of the criticisms of many proportional representation systems is complexity. In my example, voters would still vote for only one party, but the list of parties would include every party that had created a 650-person list.
The tally of votes would be counted, the proportion of support calculated for each party, and the number of seats would be directly generated from that level of support. For example, 2% of the votes would be 13 seats (2% of 650). Some rounding would be needed, but as a single seat is 0.15% of the number of MPs, the number of MPs could very closely match the votes cast in terms of proportionality.
The constituency link can be something of an illusion anyway. I live in a constituency with a Labour MP, and am campaigning in a constituency with a Conservative MP. Neither of these two represent my core views, especially on the principle of democracy that I stand for. So the question is “am I actually being represented now?”, and the answer has to be “no, not really”.
So how might we change this to keep a link to the constituencies?
There are 650 constituencies to match the 650 MP seats in the Commons. If each part assigns each constituency to one of their MPs, then each MP can look after multiple constituencies depending on the level of support their party received. For simplicity, let’s consider the situation where a party gets 25% of the votes, that would mean that each MP in that party would be assigned 4 constituencies. The beauty of this is that the total number of constituents that the MP is looking after for their party would be broadly equal to the number of people who actually voted for them, meaning each MP looks after around 70,000 voters for their own party, whether that be entirely localised or across the entire country.
In my situation, I live in a constituency that voted 8.8% for Lib Dems (historically this is a very Labour-loyal area, so James Murray got 56.5% of the vote). Under my system, this would mean that I could choose to approach my Labour MP, who would represent my constituency and probably one other, or I could go instead to my Lib Dem MP, who would likely represent my constituency and around 10 others, but the total number of constituents who actually voted for them would be approximately the same.
What Might Proportional Representation Implementation Do?
So what might this have resulted in when we last had a General Election in 2019? The table below shows the seats that were awarded to each part and compares it to a proportional representation implementation of some sort:
Party
Vote Share
Seats
Seats Under PR
Conservative
43.6%
365
283
Labour
32.1%
203
209
Liberal Democrats
11.5%
11
75
SNP
3.9%
48
25
Green
2.7%
1
18
DUP
0.8%
8
5
Sinn Féin
0.6%
7
4
Plaid Cymru
0.5%
4
3
SDLP
0.4%
2
3
Alliance
0.4%
1
3
Other
3.5%
0
23
So who benefits? I have listed below the parties which benefit from this situation by having more than their fair share of MPs, and next to them I have listed the parties which suffer. I have excluded those which don’t have an appreciable difference:
Parties which benefit
Conservative SNP DUP Sinn Féin
Parties which suffer
Liberal Democrats Greens Other
Labour didn’t really benefit in the last election, but historically they certainly have.
Conclusion
I think it’s pretty clear that proportional representation could work easily, and could also maintain the constituency link. I would be really interested in hearing from political academics to learn exactly what this system should be called – suspect it’s a modification of a list-based system.
Regardless of terminology, this is clearly much more democratic than our current system, as it would apportion seats in Parliament according to the actual votes received by a party.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
On Sunday 26 February at 18:00, I will officially be launching my campaign to be the next MP for Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner. As this is a special event for me, I wanted to make it a special celebration, so at the moment the plan is to have:
Canapés and perhaps a few drinks.
(Brief) speeches from me and Blaise Baquiche, candidate for Uxbridge & South Ruislip (i.e. Boris Johnson’s constituency).
Musical entertainment by the Morassi Quartet, playing string covers of various movie themes and pop songs (if you haven’t heard them before, they alone are well worth the entry fee).
Mingling with Blaise, me and others from the Hillingdon Liberal Democrats. A chance to tell us what matters to you so that we can better campaign for you.
A raffle, which will include some truly amazing prizes (as well as the dud prize of lunch with Blaise and me, which is mandatory if you win it!).
Venue will be Deane Park Hall in Ruislip, and tickets are on sale, so register now if you want to join me for a superb evening of entertainment, conversation and politics!
NB – if you are unable to attend but would like to make a donation anyway, please feel free. Blaise and I will be most grateful for any contributions to our campaigns.
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
I’m going to say something that might be deemed controversial by some (though hopefully not many) – MPs shouldn’t commit tax evasion! I know, I know, a radical suggestion that those elected to represent the country should be happy to pay the country what they owe in taxes. The news this week that Nadhim Zahawi, current Chair of the Conservative Party and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, has agreed to pay up an amount that he (may have) evaded summing to around £3 million is frankly outrageous. So how should we respond to alleged tax evasion by MPs?
In my view, this is yet another area that needs significant reform. It’s lower down my priority list than some other matters, but this seems like an easy thing to fix, so perhaps it will end up being higher on the agenda.
What Happened?
This story has really blown up in the last month, but it has been brewing for a long time. In essence, Nadhim Zahawi set up YouGov, and information-gathering firm. So far so good.
Where it goes wrong is that he deliberately created this in an offshore vehicle, owned in large part by his parents. While the exact technicalities of this are beyond me and well into the realm of tax professional, the exact structuring has been analysed by Dan Neidle at Tax Policy Associates for several months. Worth a read here. Dan and I definitely don’t see eye to eye on all matters of tax, but on this we are without question united in our rage.
Importantly, that’s not where this ends. Zahawi clearly didn’t like this analysis, so he challenged it. Not just by disagreeing with the analysis, but by instructing solicitors Osborne Clarke to essentially threaten legal action against Dan Niedle. Dan being a former partner at a very successful London law firm was not the ideal target for such a threat, and he responded wonderfully. Again, the whole saga is worth a read, but the long and short of it is that Osborne Clarke ended up not pursuing a claim against Dan, and were in turn reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for abuse of the legal system.
End Result
So how does this saga end? We have someone allegedly evading taxes of £3 million and only coughing up after months of analysis and questions from a very well-qualified outsider. His agreement to repay the taxes shows clearly that this amount should have been paid in the first place, and as such this looks like evasion rather than avoidance – the latter being legal use of things like ISAs and pensions, which HMRC would have no claim over.
Given this is – apparently – tax evasion by a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and the current Chairman of the Conservative Party, what should we expect to happen?
My prediction is “nothing at all”.
The Conservative Party has displayed very little interest in punishing tax evaders of a certain level of wealth. It seems that once you get above a certain level of wealth, you get carte blanche to behave however you like, with barely even a slap on the wrist if you get caught. In this case, paying back the tax that should have been paid in the first place is nowhere near enough. This is a man who served as the Chancellor and before that called for the tightening of tax loopholes under the former Labour government. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing and chose to deny millions of owed tax to the UK regardless.
Whether you support conservative principles or not, this sort of behaviour should not go unpunished. Zahawi should have to pay back considerably more than the tax he underpaid, and should right now be facing criminal charges to analyse whether his behaviour was egregious enough to warrant jail time.
At the very least, he should no longer be allowed to serve as an MP.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
I’m not sure this will catch on as a Christmas song, but it certainly gives me a good opportunity to talk about my favourite subject – electoral reform! Given the festive season, perhaps I can talk about Proportional Representation in a slightly different way than usual. I have talked about proportional representation before in an article about cake and also on an episode of Family Politics.
Who’s In Charge?
Santa’s Elves, or at least a close approximation
It goes without saying that Santa is the one in charge of his workshop. Of course, Mrs Claus is in charge of Santa, but for the purposes of this analogy let’s just consider Santa. This is effectively a hierarchy. What Santa says, goes. The elves have little say in how the workshop is run, despite making up the clear majority of the people present.
Where the leader in question is a benevolent and competent individual, this system can work. Unfortunately, here in the UK, we have no such guarantees. Our leaders have proved time and time again that they are neither benevolent nor competent.
So how might proportional representation fix this issue?
Power Should Reflect Support
As a basic principle, it is pretty clear that power should be based on support. Is that what happens now? The answer is no, as shown by the fact that the 2019 General Election resulted in the Conservatives getting 43.6% of the votes, 56.2% of the MPs and, as a consequence of getting majority control of the House of Commons, 100% of the legislative power.
What does this mean? It means that with a minority of votes, our government got all of the power. Smaller parties, including the main opposition, have no real power other than to question the government. This means that:
You can see from the table above that the Conservatives are only in a majority position now by essentially stealing the votes that were cast for smaller parties, most notably the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. This is a consequence of our First-Past-The-Post system for elections, and this distortion is why the Conservatives fight so hard against electoral reform.
If you look at this and think it’s fair, then I don’t know how to persuade you otherwise except to get you to think of how you would view it if your chosen party wasn’t a beneficiary of this system. Our current system is designed to give majority control to minority parties. Almost all other votes as discounted. This has the perceived advantage of allowing fast lawmaking, but that speed comes from a system which discourages co-operation for the good of the country. Indeed, the traditions and customs of the Houses of Parliament start with the assumption that there will be a government and an opposition rather than a collaboration.
Incidentally, do you know how the distance between the front benches in the Commons was decided? It is two extended sword lengths, stemming from a time when crossed swords were actually a possibility if the benches weren’t sufficiently separated!
Swordsmen getting ready for a fight
An Alternative
How might we fix this problem? A simple solution is just to assign seats according to votes. That would mean that the 2019 election would have resulted in the following:
In addition to this is the Speaker, who is an MP but does not participate in votes or elections for the most part, which means that his constituency is effectively unrepresented as well. This takes the total to 650.
If the system was adjusted to make seats match votes better, we would have 64 more Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons, and would be a very significant force that would need to be negotiated with and considered for all major decisions. On their own, the Conservatives would not have the power to implement any legislation, so this persuasion would be absolutely essential for introducing any new laws at all. This would give power to smaller parties in the form of influence to pass legislation for the price of support for their own initiatives at a later stage.
Under Proportional Representation we would see much better representation of a multitude of views and backgrounds within government debates, and views would actually need to be understood and accommodated before laws could be passed. I can only see this as a positive.
Close Representation
Actual enquiry from a potential constituent
One argument against a change is the break in ties between constituency and their MP. I would counter this by asking whether anyone considering supporting me feels well represented now. The current MP, David Simmonds, is a Conservative politician. I have already been approached by potential constituents that wanted to talk to me in preference to him because they felt that he did not represent their interests. As such, local representation is something of an illusion.
How might it work with a more proportional system? Let’s take the Liberal Democrats as an example. If we had won 75 seats in the General Election, we could assign each MP to, say, 8 or 9 constituencies. Assuming a constituency size of 70,000 and a vote share of 11.6%, this equates to 64,960 to 73,080 constituents who likely votes for Liberal Democrats. In other words, the number of people in their patch who voted for them is broadly equivalent to the current constituency size (deliberately so).
What this means for the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner constituency is that we would likely share a Conservative MP with one other constituency, so Conservative voters would still have near-undivided attention from an MP. Rightly so, as for some reason 55.6% of voters supported the Conservatives in 2019. Labour would likely assign a third of an MP to the constituency, Liberal Democrats around a ninth. This means that all residents would be able to approach an MP covering our constituency who also reflected their political beliefs.
Summary
There’s a much better way to elect governments. I think that Proportional Representation is the way forward. This will better reflect the electorate in government, promote co-operation between parties and encourage longer-term political decisions than those with short-term reputational gains.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
Our current system is broken, in that it is essentially designed to make votes a choice between two major parties in charge of the country. In fact, this goes so far as to name the leader of the Labour party “the leader of the Opposition” – the assumption is that the Government and the Opposition are basically going to swap control of the country periodically, with no real prospect of third parties ever getting into power. In my mind, this system needs a major reform, but in the interim many people might say that the Labour party is better than the Conservatives. In one sense I agree, in another I wholly disagree. In this article I will talk about some of the problems with the Labour Party (ignoring the claims of antisemitism and focusing solely on their policies).
It is vital to improve our relationship with the EU to secure our economic future and allow us to have influence over one of the largest political blocs in the world. In likelihood, this means undoing the disaster that was the 2016 referendum, whether that needs another referendum or not. I believe it is also necessary to hold the originator of these lies to account, as a lie to influence a referendum is tantamount to election-tampering.
I strongly argue that the insistence on making Brexit work is one of the major Labour Party problems, as it is a wholly unachievable goal based largely on the wishful thinking of the rabid fringes of the Tory party and backed up by lies.
In short, a major change to the way that elections are run is vital if we want to ensure that the Conservatives never get to do what they have done to the country again.
Voter ID
Coupled with the refusal to get behind electoral reform, Labour has aided the Tories in restricting the access to votes that we mostly take for granted by abstaining in the Lords on the fatal motion introduced by the Liberal Democrats to forestall the introduction of ID requirements that will likely restrict minority groups disproportionately. Ultimately it was extremely disappointing to see Labour peers refusing to do the right thing here.
A UK Driving Licence, which will be accepted as ID if the current Bill goes into law.
Elected Second House
The Houses of Parliament
I believe Kier Starmer is right to state that abolishing the House of Lords as it currently stands is a good idea, but replacing it with an elected second chamber seems pointless, as we already have one elected chamber which should represent the whole of the UK. Instead, I believe it is vital to change the mandate of the second house to one of an advisory role filled with genuine experts in their field and tasked with reviewing the actions of the main House and publishing their findings.
Having two Houses with separate roles makes sense. Having two that are essentially elected in the same way seems pointless.
Sadly strikes have become a necessity for many workers to negotiate even reasonable terms. Nurses, for example. Labour have said many of the right things, but their insistence that their politicians do not join the picket lines is appalling. The Labour party should be completely on the side of workers, and while this may be a political game to win more votes from the Tories, it is purely a consequence of our broken electoral system, which the Labour leadership also oppose reforming.
Summary
I think the most powerful point I can make here is that a vote for the Labour Party and all their problems is merely deferring the time until the Conservatives get into power again. I see a lot of #GTTO hashtags these days, but if the goal is to get them out for good, a vote for Labour now won’t do it.
Instead I would argue that the Liberal Democrats make the most persuasive case, in that we are open to the same fairness that Labour espouse, but we accept that the system needs to be changed to make the UK a better, fairer and more welcoming place.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
I suspect everyone has already heard about Michelle Mone and her alleged involvement with the PPE scandal that has come to light at last. In this case, Michelle Mone, a Tory peer, seems to be inextricably linked to PPE Medpro, a company that, until the pandemic broke out, didn’t exist. The main contention here is that Mone specifically lobbied using the government’s “VIP” lane to get PPE Medpro awarded a contract for providing PPE because they could do so quickly. As such, I thought I would have a Moan about Mone and PPE Medpro.
So far, sounds good – we were in a crisis after all, so why is this a problem?
Well, the problems start to arise when you look at the details.
PPE Medpro Experience
As mentioned above, PPE Medpro was a brand new company. In fact, they had no history whatsoever of manufacturing and sourcing PPE. One would therefore be forgiven for completely discounting them as a potential supplier because they just didn’t have the track record to back up their proposal. One might also be forgiven for taking a look at their proposal and arguing that – despite their lack of track record – they were well placed to provide said equipment.
Value for Money
One of the greatest arguments for government procurement is to be able to show decent value for money for the taxpayer. If PPE Medpro had approached the government with an excellent deal, this would be a good reason to bypass the usual tendering process, as the taxpayer would ultimately be better off.
Example of PPE being worn
In this case, however, the underlying items in the contract were purchased by PPE Medprod for far less than they were then sold on to the government for. In fact, the Guardian reported in March 2022 that the items sold to the UK government for £122m were actually bought for £46m. It is genuinely hard to believe that a new small company would be able to achieve such favourable terms compared to the entire UK government, so that markup of £76m comes across as frankly greedy profit-gouging.
Quality of PPE
The above might be excusable if this particular source represented the best quality PPE known to man. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The gowns making up a good proportion of this order (£122m) were never used, as the quality was deemed to be below acceptable standards for frontline workers. In fact, the government has had to pay more to store these useless items since the provision. You might think that failing to come up to code would be grounds for the contract to be voided and the payment returns, but apparently not. The government is still in mediation with PPE Medpro to get money back for these useless items that were specifically bought at the insistence of a Tory peer.
A Genuine Mistake?
Did Michelle Mone make an honest mistake here? Did she really think that this company was best-placed compared to existing providers of this type of equipment? In short, no, she was not that stupid. Instead it seems she was greedy.
Recent reports show that, of the c. £200m paid to PPE Medpro, some £65m was paid out to Douglas Barrowman, Michelle Mone’s husband. From that, he then made a payment of some £29m into her personal control.
This brings the whole issue to a close in my eyes. In essence, Michelle Mone did not make an honest mistake, she deliberately recommended a firm that she and her family would personally benefit from and since taking taxpayer money has so far refused to give it back despite the products purchased being defective.
In short, she is a great example of why the House of Lords is utterly unfit for purpose. She is entitled to sit there for life and will never be subject to an election, but will have influence over the UK and its finances for years to come. For this reason, part of my personal manifesto is the abolition of the House of Lords*.
* incidentally my goal to abolish the House of Lords predates Kier Starmer’s announcement this week to do the same. However, his plan is to replace the House with an elected body, while my own view is that we should still fill a second chamber with experienced experts, but we should almost completely eliminate their actual political power. This would put the power in the hands of a single elected chamber, with some form of oversight or expertise from a fairly academic chamber with minimal actual power.
Hazeena A
Ian, thank you once again for your support. It means a lot.
Thank you so much for [creating this petition] and so amazingly quickly!!!
You did a brilliant job on both the blog and petition. Some of the NHS staff were even impressed with the speed at which you addressed this, and I have had varying positive comments from friends who have read your post.
Hazeena A – Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner Resident
Sheena Y
Having worked with Ian I can say that I found him incredibly transparent and honest which I think would be rare and much needed in today political arena. He is also very clever, direct and a great communicator.
Sheena Y, former co-worker
Andy H
Ian is a very smart individual, but more importantly is honest and truly cares about people.
He is an unselfish individual and would absolutely have the public’s best interests at heart.
Andy H, brother
Luca M
I met Ian a few months ago for the first time and straight away I felt confortable with him and I thought: ” Ok I would trust that guy”.
Luca M, fellow speakers’ club member
Francisco V
Throughout the 12 years I have known Ian, he has always demonstrated to be very bright, kind and upright. I’ve seen all of these attributes in his personal life, for instance, in our sport association he volunteered as treasurer where he improved the overall system and costs as well as championing charitable giving & generous donations. He’ll definitely make a difference in a bigger role in politics.
Francisco V, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Irene H
You have the moral integrity and high standards in all aspects of the requirements of your potential constituents. You will stand up to injustice and defend those deemed to have had injustice against them. You are committed to environmental change and to look after the less well off in society.
Irene H, mother
Graham C
First and foremost, your personal ethos of kindness and care for others is your top qualification. That you are also highly driven with a need to be productive, and understand very complex matters such as financial systems, makes you stand out.
Graham C, fellow jū jūtsu instructor and friend
Anonymous
You are one of the most principled people that I know. You are committed to making changes that support the most vulnerable in our society and you don’t give up when you know you’re fighting for what’s right.
Anonymous
Helen C
Integrity.
Unlike the rest of us who are disillusioned with the lack of honesty, morals, and the unfair and outdated ‘public schoolboy network’ displayed by this government, you have decided to stand up and make a difference.
Your constituents couldn’t have a better candidate.
Helen C, Aunt
Miles H
Having known Ian for a number of years during which we worked closely as Financial Advisers, I am confident that he would make an excellent MP. Ian is an intelligent man who has the ability to absorb, understand and manage complex information quickly; I have, on many occasions, witnessed him do this whilst retaining the ability to explain it, in a manner which is easy to understand.
I have seen Ian display the courage of his convictions on a professional level, where he has put the clients needs before that of the company and have no doubt he would carry this attitude into public life.
Ian and I have disagreed on politics in the past, but he has always listened carefully to any position and taken time to offer a thoughtful response. If he became an MP I am sure his constituents would benefit from an effective and hard working representative.
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