The Conservative Party victor of the recent by-election in Medway’s River Ward has resigned after just 13 days in office the local newspaper reports: “Yourmedway approached Mr Craggs for a comment and was told that a full statement detailing the reasons behind his resignation would be released later this afternoon. However, we are led to believe that Mr Craggs was told he must choose b...

You'd have thought that Conservative Home would have learned about the art of timing after allowing its pro-42 days editorial to be used by Gordon Brown at PMQs last month on the very day Parliament was debating 42 days (a debate that saw only one Tory MP side with ConHome).It seems not: Conservative Home has chosen the very day of the by-election in Haltemprice & Howden to wonder aloud whether Da...

So it is now just 30 days until the general election. An election that will perhaps define British politics for a generation. The political context is actually quite complex, because although on a UK wide basis only the Conservatives or Labour are capable of winning sufficient seats to form a government, the monolithic nature of those

By Jerry Hicks, left candidate for general secretary In the final few days of the election I have been full of mixed emotions. We are surrounded by wholesale job cuts, short time working and attacks to pay and conditions. The union seems a mile off the pace, reduced often to platitudes and hollow demands. Yet, despite

It is rare for me to look back to anything that can be described as the good old days because as an historian (if only in my dreams most of the time) I know full well that those days did not exist. But there are occasions when one does wish that there was more of the politicians of yore. I do not sigh for more honourable, truthful or even patriotic politicians. Across the field they are now as the...

In the final few days of the election I have been full of mixed emotions. We are surrounded by wholesale job cuts, short time working and attacks to pay and conditions. The union seems a mile off the pace, reduced often to platitudes and hollow demands. Yet, despite these extremely difficult times I continue to receive messages of support, offers of help and requests for election materials. The el...

As you probably didn't notice, parliament is scheduled to sit for a mere 128 days in the coming session, well below the recent average of 155 and the 2006-07 total of 146. It may be the shortest session in a non-election year since the second world war, former Tory cabinet minister, Sir George Young, reminded Gordon Brown the other day. Do we care? Possibly not, but we should because the tren...

A Labour Matters reader in Wales sent us this example of Conservative hypocrisy: “Lots of our small businesses provide goods and services to local authorities, with payment normally coming within 30 days. But Brentwood and Castlepoint councils have led the way in reducing this to just 20 days. These 10 days can make all the difference

Well it's getting down to the last days before I leave and apart from regularly checking Sky News to see if Russia and Georgia have made up the only thing left to do is pack. The one thing that I loath with a full on passion, even more than I loath Gordon Brown which is really saying something! Mum and I spent the last couple of days buying clothes, currency, a suitcase etc and trying to gues...

It is difficult for me to convey the importance of the next four days to you folks, especially as its halloween tonight and Americans love celebrating this day and therefore I’m slightly drunk. Anyway. It’s 4 days until the election. For the Obama campaign its the culmination of 20 months of work and the next