… I find myself saying for the second time today, after noting that was the placing (shared) I took in Jim of The (Daily) Maybe’s poll of Top Green Bloggers. Congratulations to Paul Kingsnorth, the winner, and Life is complicated, my fellow runner-up.
And thanks to everyone who voted for me! (and to Jim for raising the profile of green bloggers).
Interesting piece on the lessons from the Antikythera Mechanism, the ancient Greek computer whose secrets were recently disentangled. It is a variation on the much explored “why didn’t the ancients invent the internet” discussion, but using that to ask “what is holding us back, and what could send us backward”.
The answer, and it seems like a pretty decent answer to me, is reliance on fossil fuels.
The final result (after two recounts requested by Labour) was: Lib Dem 1,098, Green 812, Labour 808, and Tory 198.
In an old Labour stronghold, second is a fine result. We just haven’t yet found a way to get around the sheer weight of a Lib Dem national swarm. They threw MPs around like confetti, hoardes of activists, and a forest of paper.
It was hollow electioneering pure and simple – and if it could be shown up as such, the vote would pop like a yellow balloon. (Very few people – outside the activists – want a Lib Dem poster in their window.)
BTW – I lost the bet on the turnout: it was something like 32% – still pretty high for a byelection.
I am now going to sleep. I may be some time.
The Carnival of Feminists No 28 is now up on Diary of a Freak Magnet, and Ginger has done an absolutely spectacular job, one that should put to bed once and for all the claim that feminists don’t have a sense of humour. It is huge, and it is comprehensive, and you should be over there right this second reading it.
… and a special thank you to Ginger for compiling the carnival with no help whatsoever from me. My regular readers will understand that I’ve been seriously distracted over the past couple of weeks!
Well I spent about five hours canvassing today, and three hours running a stall on Kentish Town High street, battered by a squally wind, and I think I could fairly say I’m shattered.
I’m feeling pretty happy with how the by-election campaign has gone – there are always things you would have done differently in retrospect, and there’s always the feeling that if you knock on one more door it might make all the difference, but overall I think the Camden Green Party did a good team job. And personally I finished the night by converting two Lib Dem voters, which made a nice final flourish.
Now it is up to the voters, whose verdict will be delivered about 24 hours. The fallout from tonight’s final bit of excitement – the arrival of a Tory leaflet that is flat-out wrong – it claims that Sian isn’t a school governor when she is, and that was clearly stated on several of our leaflets – could take longer. They have been contacted – and the media knows about it, so that one could run and run.
And it will be interesting to see how many voters turn out, after a pretty intensive campaign by four parties. (Even the Tories did a lot of phone canvassing and leafletting even though they haven’t got a hope.)
I’ve got a small bet riding on the turnout: I reckon it will be more than 40%, even though that is generally considered impossible in a by-election. (The general election in May in Kt was about 42%.)
One certain outcome is that a lot more “no junk mail” stickers have gone up on Kentish Town letterboxes, so you might call that a bonus.
The Telegraph today has a good round-up of suggestions for ethical Christmas presents. Mostly on the web – UK, but the goats for Africa etc are all there for purchase from anywhere.
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