Posts by Caleb D'Anvers

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  • Hard News: Friday Music: Out there in…,

    Went out to see Django Django at Koko Tuesday night, which was predictably bubbly and fun:

    Looking forward to seeing them again at Field Day in a couple of weeks, along with local Bermondsey boys Happyness:

    and nugazers Cheatahs:

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to Ben Austin,

    Interesting to see Labour’s vote share in London was soft too.

    Really? My understanding was that London was one of the only areas of the country where Labour made significant gains in vote share over 2010, with some high-profile pick ups, like Bermondsey and Old Southwark.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Well, when you add 12% for UKIP, you end up with a very healthy and unassailable working majority for a Con-Kipper coalition, with nearly 50% of the vote between them. So yes: a different story, but not necessarily a nicer one.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad,

    Wow. 1992 all over again. Now if only Lush would reform, I could be slightly happy. As it is, though: what a grim result. Not unlike the last NZ election, really.

    On a more unexpected note, our votes actually counted, as the long-time Lib Dem local MP lost his seat. So at least there's that.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad, in reply to Ben Austin,

    They don't call the Evening Standard the Evening Boris for nothing.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad,

    Ah, ’96. I tried to explain NZ First to a Brit recently by doing a Google Image search of “Winston Peters” on my phone and endlessly scrolling down while repeating, “Look! It’s Winston Peters!” Suspect something may have got lost in translation. In other news, I miss my party vote so very much.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad,

    I had a similar experience. Voting this morning reminded me of my first ever vote, back in NZ's last FPP election, which I cast wearing cricket whites after coming off the field. Old school. My electorate's a prominent Lib Dem one that's predicted as a potential Labour pick up every election, but never ultimately goes that way. We'll see what happens today.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad,

    While it’s probably no surprise that The Guardian has endorsed the Labour Party,

    It actually is a surprise, because it's essentially a Lib Dem paper.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: #GE2015: Proper Mad,

    As the token New Zealander, I’ve had plenty of left-leaning Brits ask me about proportional representation. I keep saying it’s a no brainer: your vote actually counts no matter what electorate you’re in and smaller parties actually have a shot at parliament. At this point, pretty much everyone starts Britsplaining to me that, “oh, that only works if you have nice parties, like in New Zealand. We can’t have MMP here because we have the BNP and the EDL and UKIP.” At that point, I start talking about the 5% threshold and the very slight influence such parties would have even if they crawled their way over 5% of the vote, but then their eyes start glazing over.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

  • Hard News: About Campbell Live,

    I've been away from NZ too long to judge the reliability of this, but is the information about Mark Weldon collected here at all accurate? Because, if so, and adding Barclay's and Hooton's comments to the mix, it's hard not to conclude that there's at least some level of party politics at play here.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report

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