https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jamesgraham Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voice en-gb Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2026 Tue, 09 Jun 2026 01:09:57 GMT 2026-06-09T01:09:57Z en-gb Guardian News &amp; Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2026 https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/13/the-play-that-changed-my-life-how-a-pratfall-in-a-student-fringe-farce-made-james-graham-a-playwright <p>Performing in Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist during A-levels was a lesson in low-art laughs and political anger that unites an audience</p><p>It was 1999. I was doing A-levels in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, the former mining community I depict in my TV series <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/aug/25/sherwood-series-two-review-even-more-spellbinding-than-the-original-masterpiece">Sherwood</a>. My comprehensive school was one of the biggest in the country, one of a very small number with a working theatre. I wouldn’t be doing what I get to do now without that massive bit of luck.</p><p>I started doing loads of acting, and the department decided to do the first A-level drama they’d ever done because there were about a dozen of us who wanted to keep going after GCSEs.</p><p>As told to Lindesay Irvine</p><p>James Graham’s adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s <a href="https://boysfromtheblackstuff.com/">Boys from the Blackstuff</a> is on tour until 5 July. Punch runs <a href="https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/punch">at the Young Vic, London, until 26 April</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/13/the-play-that-changed-my-life-how-a-pratfall-in-a-student-fringe-farce-made-james-graham-a-playwright">Continue reading...</a> Stage Culture Theatre Dario Fo Comedy James Graham Festivals Thu, 13 Mar 2025 10:06:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/13/the-play-that-changed-my-life-how-a-pratfall-in-a-student-fringe-farce-made-james-graham-a-playwright Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian James Graham 2025-03-13T10:06:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/31/lib-dem-peers-lords-reform The Lib Dem party has danced with the devil long enough. If it's serious about reform, it must stop appointing peers<p>That the House of Lords itself is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/31/lords-united-against-nick-cleg-reforms" title="Guardian: Lords united against Nick Clegg's reform plans">strongly opposed to reform</a> should not surprise anyone. That most peers feel it would be "unconstitutional" to press ahead with reform anyway shows quite how difficult pushing reform through will be.</p><p>The word "unconstitutional" has no agreed meaning in a country with an uncodified constitution. Regardless of what legal niceties the Lords may be tempted to use to thwart the will of the Commons, they should look to the principles that lie at the heart of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Convention" title="Wikipedia: Salisbury Convention">Salisbury convention</a> and ask themselves if they are really prepared to presume to impose an <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2011/05/31/is-thwarting-the-will-of-the-lords-really-unconstitutional/" title="Liberati: Is thwarting the will of the Lords really 'unconstitutional'?">undemocratic veto</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/31/lib-dem-peers-lords-reform">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrats Politics Lords reform Constitutional reform House of Lords UK news Nick Clegg Tue, 31 May 2011 17:00:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/31/lib-dem-peers-lords-reform Photograph: Martin Argles/Guardian 'A party committed to reforming the second chamber should resist the temptation to appoint members to it and thus lend it the veneer of legitimacy.' Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Photograph: Martin Argles/Guardian 'A party committed to reforming the second chamber should resist the temptation to appoint members to it and thus lend it the veneer of legitimacy.' Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Photograph: Martin Argles/Guardian 'A party committed to reforming the second chamber should resist the temptation to appoint members to it and thus lend it the veneer of legitimacy.' Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian James Graham 2011-05-31T17:00:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/24/lib-dems-nick-clegg-tories-coalition Nick Clegg should admit our economic differences with the Tories in public or the coalition will become rudderless<p>Pity the poor Liberal Democrat. Denounced by Labour politicians and supporters and accused of immorality by our own party leader for having the temerity of happening to believe that the economic policy in our own manifesto is still essentially correct, it can feel pretty lonely at times. Back in May when Nick Clegg and David Cameron promised us a bold era of untribal, undogmatic "new politics" this isn't, truth to tell, what I thought they had in mind.</p><p>Clegg's suggestion that it is "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2010/aug/16/nickclegg-liberal-conservative-coalition" title="Guardian: Nick Clegg's first day – as it happened">morally wrong</a>" to pass a debt on from one generation to the next deserves some scrutiny. Of course, in an ideal world, we would want to avoid this, but we don't live in one. The UK finally <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/britain-pays-off-final-instalment-of-us-loan--after-61-years-430118.html" title="Independent: Britain pays off final instalment of US loan - after 61 years">paid off its last instalment of the Marshall Plan</a> at the end of 2006. Far from feeling disgusted at my grandparents' generation for such irresponsibility, I think most people are pretty grateful they saddled us with it. Equally, if the choice amounts to living debt-free as one of the long-term unemployed or paying slightly higher taxes in return for a decent job training scheme, I suspect most young people would prefer the latter.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/24/lib-dems-nick-clegg-tories-coalition">Continue reading...</a> Liberal-Conservative coalition Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg Economic policy Politics Social mobility Society UK news Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:10:15 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/aug/24/lib-dems-nick-clegg-tories-coalition Photograph: Handout/Getty Images 'It is not tribal or anti-coalition to admit that the two coalition parties are divided on the overall direction of government.' Photograph: Getty Photograph: Handout/Getty Images 'It is not tribal or anti-coalition to admit that the two coalition parties are divided on the overall direction of government.' Photograph: Getty Photograph: Handout/Getty Images 'It is not tribal or anti-coalition to admit that the two coalition parties are divided on the overall direction of government.' Photograph: Getty James Graham 2010-08-24T13:10:15Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/28/labour-self-defeating-gerrymander-accusations Jack Straw has put party interest above public good. The voting reform bill deserves more serious scrutiny<p>Every time a Labour politician uses the word "gerrymandering" a puppy dies. There is a lot of cant being fired off on both sides of the debate raging around <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/parliamentaryvotingsystemandconstituencies.html" title="Parliamenet: Parliamentary voting system and constituencies bill">the parliamentary voting system and constituencies bill</a>, but <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jul/27/shadow-cabinet-to-oppose-voting-reform-bill" title="Guardian: Shadow cabinet to oppose voting reform bill">the "gerrymandering" charge</a> is perhaps the most overblown aspect of it.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering" title="Wikipedia">Gerrymandering</a> is the act of deliberately fixing a boundary in order to give a political party an unfair advantage. Yet the proposed changes will not to lead to any more political interference in the boundary review process. If anything, by speeding up the process and narrowing the scope of the Boundary Commission, they will lead to less interference.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/28/labour-self-defeating-gerrymander-accusations">Continue reading...</a> Electoral reform Labour Jack Straw UK news Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:43 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/28/labour-self-defeating-gerrymander-accusations James Graham 2010-07-28T13:00:43Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/02/alternative-vote-referendum-electoral-reform To suggest there is a viable alternative to the alternative vote system is simply naive<p>Last Saturday, Earl Kitchener, great-nephew of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Kitchener,_1st_Earl_Kitchener" title="Wikipedia: Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener">famous military commander</a> who never quite worked out that it is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Kitchener_Wants_You" title="Wikipedia: Lord Kitchener Wants You">rude to point</a>, rose to his feet at the annual general meeting of the Electoral Reform Society to speak on one of the weighty issues of the day. The topic? To deplore the fact that the society had taken no action over the past year to implement its commitment "to prepare a comparative account of the method of <a href="http://www.cix.co.uk/~rosenstiel/stvrules/" title="Cix: How to conduct an election by the single transferable vote">Newland and Britton</a> and that of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_Single_Transferable_Votes#Meek.27s_method" title="Wikipedia: Meek's method">Meek</a> for counting STV elections".</p><p>To democracy campaigners, it is an eerily familiar situation. Far too often individuals – generally a minority but sometimes not – get completely obsessed with the detail and subsequently confuse the wood for the trees. To the extent that the outside world cares at all, we must look utterly bizarre.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/02/alternative-vote-referendum-electoral-reform">Continue reading...</a> Electoral reform Politics UK news Alternative vote AV referendum Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:30:34 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/02/alternative-vote-referendum-electoral-reform James Graham 2010-07-02T09:30:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/12/lib-dems-coalition-labour Overall, the deal with the Tories looks a good one, but I feel let down by Labour, which has retreated to introspective opposition<p>This is a truly historic moment. The first Liberal or Liberal Democrat members of a UK government since 1945; a whole swathe of Liberal Democrat policies to be implemented; a Conservative party largely defanged. So why do I feel (and I am by no means the only one) as if someone has just died?</p><p>That bittersweet feeling is partly because I wonder what might have been. Despite everything, right up to the last minute I did feel that Labour would have made more natural allies. The Social Liberal Forum executive, of which I am a member, <a href="http://socialliberal.net/2010/05/10/slf-statement-on-the-opening-of-formal-talks-with-labour/" title="Social Liberal Forum">issued a statement</a> welcoming the start of formal talks with Labour on Monday evening. What we did not know at the time, however, was that at that same moment Labour negotiators were making it clear they had nothing to offer. Over the weekend, it would appear, Labour's appetite for power evaporated, and that rather than interpret Gordon Brown's resignation as a sign that a deal with the Lib Dems could be struck, they took it as a starting gun for an introspective leadership contest from the safety of the opposition benches.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/12/lib-dems-coalition-labour">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrats General election 2010 Conservatives Labour Welfare Politics Electoral reform Tax and spending Hung parliament Liberal-Conservative coalition Wed, 12 May 2010 09:59:54 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/12/lib-dems-coalition-labour James Graham 2010-05-12T09:59:54Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/07/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats The young people who said they'd vote for the party stayed at home. Yet we seem to have increased our share of the vote<p>What can I say about <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/07/liberal-democrats-failure-convert-votes">this result</a>? I'm bereft. It isn't even a result so awful that the Lib Dems could sit by the sidelines and let everyone else sort out the mess the country is in. That, at least, would be easy. In fact, just to make things even more galling, we seem to have actually increased our share of the vote to a level that we would have been delighted with a month ago. What a cruel result.</p><p>What we have instead is a big muddle and one which is unlikely to even be sorted out by holding another election. If elections using this broken system are going to throw up such random results, it isn't merely that it is manifestly unfair; it no longer serves as a viable mechanism for deciding on who should govern the country.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/07/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats">Continue reading...</a> General election 2010 Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg Electoral reform Politics Fri, 07 May 2010 06:31:10 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/07/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats James Graham 2010-05-07T06:31:10Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/05/hung-parliament-change-lords The reformed upper house has become an effective legislative chamber – but this is under threat<p>With all the excitement about hung parliaments during this election, a crucial fact has been missed: we have had a hung parliament since the majority of hereditary peers were thrown out of the House of Lords in 1999.</p><p>Over the past decade, the government has repeatedly been forced to make concessions to the Lords – often on quite fundamental aspects of civil liberties. It has transformed the upper house from a tawdry combination of gentlemen's club, retirement home and rubber stamp, to an active and effective legislative chamber.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/05/hung-parliament-change-lords">Continue reading...</a> General election 2010 Politics UK news House of Lords Lords reform Conservatives Wed, 05 May 2010 11:48:54 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/05/hung-parliament-change-lords Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP The Conservatives would have to appoint 300 life peers to stop the House of Lords being hung. Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP The Conservatives would have to appoint 300 life peers to stop the House of Lords being hung. Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP The Conservatives would have to appoint 300 life peers to stop the House of Lords being hung. Photograph: Stephen Lock/AP James Graham 2010-05-05T11:48:54Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/liberal-democrats-labour-sweat Labour are waking up to the fact Nick Clegg will be nobody's patsy, and must stop arguing themselves into political oblivion<p>It is a clear sign of the pressure Labour politicians and their media supporters are facing that Nick Clegg now only has to state the bleeding obvious to send them into a tailspin. Yesterday, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/apr/26/nick-clegg-electoral-system-election" title="Guardian: Clegg: I will not prop up Labour if they come third">Clegg declared</a> that the party that comes third in terms of popular vote (note, not second) in this election will have no right to govern. Rather than take this as a clear signal that they need to redouble their efforts, Labour politicos have reacted with shock. It is a genuinely curious response.</p><p>Up until this point, it would seem, Labour had assumed that as long as the electoral system could deliver them the most MPs, it didn't really matter how people actually voted. Regardless of the eccentricities of our broken voting system, why did they think for a second that was remotely a political possibility? Just to compound matters, Labourites have now concluded that Clegg is angling to form a coalition with the Tories.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/liberal-democrats-labour-sweat">Continue reading...</a> General election 2010 Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg Labour Gordon Brown Electoral reform Politics UK news Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:17:53 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/liberal-democrats-labour-sweat James Graham 2010-04-26T16:17:53Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/18/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats1 When my computer freezes, I hit reset. Voting Lib Dem this time is the equivalent of pressing a bloody great reset button<p>I got incredibly excited by the <a href="http://www.today.yougov.co.uk/politics/latest-voting-intention-16-april">Sun/YouGov poll</a> published yesterday - and then despondent when I put the figures through the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8609989.stm">BBC's seats calculator</a>. What the latter showed was that despite Labour coming third with 28% in that poll, if it was repeated in real votes on 6 May, Labour would end up the largest single party with the Lib Dems languishing in third place and struggling to get representation in three figures. Regardless of how hopeless calculators based on universal national swings are, this is a terrible indictment of the electoral system. It also opens up the debate about whether a Lib Dem vote outside of target seats are wasted or not.</p><p>Except... maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. That result would be a travesty, and I wouldn't be the only one to think that. What would happen if we found ourselves in that situation on 7 May? A lot of Labour people <a href="http://twitter.com/UKLabourParty/status/12304692931">seem to think</a> it would be a glorious victory for them. For the political establishment (right and slightly less right), what matters is not how people voted but bums on green leather benches. But why would the public think the same way? Would they calmly accept that the election had been stolen? Or would they be outraged?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/18/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats1">Continue reading...</a> General election 2010 Liberal Democrats Electoral reform Nick Clegg Politics UK news Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:11:47 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/18/general-election-2010-liberaldemocrats1 James Graham 2010-04-18T16:11:47Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/08/digital-economy-bill-exposes-broken-system The Lords had no expertise. The MPs' attention was elsewhere. We ended up in this mess. Time to vote for new politics<p>You would be hard pressed to find a better example of how broken our current political system is than the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/apr/08/digital-economy-bill-passes-third-reading" title="Guardian: Digital economy bill rushed through wash-up in late night parliamentary session">passage of the digital economy bill through parliament</a>. A vast sprawling bill made to order on behalf of the so-called creative industries in the face of opposition from pretty much everyone else, it has all the hallmarks of legislation carved up between Sir Humphrey and a minister with an ego of monstrous proportions (only Lord Mandelson would consider Henry VIII-style powers as something to aspire to in the 21st century).</p><p>One modern myth is that the existing "semi-reformed" House of Lords, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords_Act_1999" title="Wikipedia: House of Lords Act 1999">post-1999</a>, is a bastion of expert sobriety that stays above the party political fray with a view to curtailing the government's worst excesses. In reality, the government only fails to get its own way when the Lib Dem and Tory whips unite to thwart it. In the case of the <a href="http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/digitalbritain/digital-economy-bill/" title="BIS: Digital economy bill">digital economy bill</a>, the lack of expertise in the Lords about how the internet works in practice was all too apparent. Rather than hear evidence from all sides in the debate in the way most democratic senates around the world do, the Lords' own self-importance lead them to fall back on their own inadequate experience instead. As a result they only succeeded in getting into <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/16/digital-economy-lords" title="Guardian: Concern as Lords pass digital economy bill to Commons">even more of a muddle</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/08/digital-economy-bill-exposes-broken-system">Continue reading...</a> Digital Economy Act Intellectual property Internet Technology Electoral reform Constitutional reform House of Commons House of Lords Lords reform Law UK news Liberal Democrats Peter Mandelson Politics Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:00:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/08/digital-economy-bill-exposes-broken-system Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Lord Mandelson's digital economy bill has been passed by the Commons. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Lord Mandelson's digital economy bill has been passed by the Commons. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Lord Mandelson's digital economy bill has been passed by the Commons. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images James Graham 2010-04-08T08:00:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/mar/10/liberal-democrats-digital-economy-bill A Lib Dem-backed amendment to the digital economy bill would help make the internet less free, not decrease piracy<p>Have the Liberal Democrats been taken over by the Flat Earth Society? This weekend, Liberal Democrat conference-goers will have to put up with being <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2010/03/03/another-slap-in-the-gob-scientologists-to-proselityse-at-lib-dem-conference/" title="Quaequam blog: Another slap in the gob: Scientologists to proselityse at Lib Dem Conference">lobbied by the Church of Scientology</a> over their war on psychiatry; previously the Scientologists have only paid to exhibit at Conservative conference. Meanwhile, just over a week ago the party issued a statement – quickly retracted – denouncing the science and technology select committee's call for homeopathy to be assessed like any other potential medical treatment, insisting that instead it should be, um, treated <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2010/02/27/what-the-lib-dem-policy-on-homeopathy-is-not/" title="Quaequam blog: What the Lib Dem policy on homeopathy is not">like any other medical treatment</a>.</p><p>Doffing forelocks to Scientologists and homeopaths might be embarrassing but amounts to little more than that. More far-reaching is the fact that last week Lib Dem lords worked with the Conservatives to push through an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/mar/04/web-lockers-digital-economy-liberal-democrats-wrong" title="Guardian: My Lords, you can't please the entertainment industry and sustain privacy">amendment to the government's digital economy bill</a>. This amendment removes Lord Mandelson's proposals to grant himself open-ended powers that he can change at will and replaces it with a clause empowering the courts to block websites hosting a "substantial" amount of user-generated content (UGC) that is in breach of copyright. This move has resulted in a strong <a href="http://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/confirmed-web-blocking-in-digital-economy-bill" title="Open Rights Group: Confirmed: Lib Dems and Conservatives force web blocking into the Digital Economy Bill">reaction from digital rights campaigners</a>, <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/twentyfive-lib-dem-ppcs-sign-letter-asking-lib-dem-parliamentarians-to-think-again-on-digital-economy-bill-18185.html" title="Lib Dem Voice: 25 Lib Dem PPCs sign letter asking Lib Dem Parliamentarians to think again on Digital Economy Bill">Liberal Democrat bloggers</a> and prospective parliamentary candidates.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/mar/10/liberal-democrats-digital-economy-bill">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrats Politics Internet Intellectual property Technology Piracy UK civil liberties Law UK news Digital Economy Act Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:32:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/mar/10/liberal-democrats-digital-economy-bill James Graham 2010-03-10T16:32:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/03/electoral-reform-gordon-brown Gordon Brown has pledged a referendum on the alternative vote system – but who is passionate enough to campaign for it?<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/02/gordon-brown-electoral-reform" title="Guardian: Gordon Brown confirms plan to reform voting system">alternative vote</a> is a small but significant step forward in the ongoing campaign for a fair electoral system fit for the 21st century. On a good day. Maybe.</p><p>In many ways, AV is the perfect <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/vote-to-give-politics-back-brown" title="Guardian: Gordon Brown: A vote to give politics back">electoral system for Gordon Brown</a>. It enables him to look in two directions at once: supporting a system which ensures that fewer votes are wasted while being resolutely non-proportional. Superficially it sounds like a big deal, but in most elections it will probably only change the result in a handful of seats. And, like all Gordon Brown policies, it has a fair chance of blowing up in his face; because of AV's habit of <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom-theme/stuart-weir/2009/06/09/brown-and-the-av-stitch-up" title="Open Democracy: Brown and the AV stitch up">exaggerating swings</a>, the system is as liable to decimate the Labour party as much as the Conservatives.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/03/electoral-reform-gordon-brown">Continue reading...</a> Electoral reform Gordon Brown Conservatives Labour Liberal Democrats Politics UK news Alternative vote Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:00:00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/03/electoral-reform-gordon-brown James Graham 2010-02-03T07:00:00Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/17/simon-cowell-politics-x-factor Engagement via entertainment is a failed model – shouldn't we be talking about how to make politics less like the X Factor?<p>All hail <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/dec/16/simon-cowell-politics" title="Guardian: Can Simon Cowell save democracy?">Simon Cowell, saviour of democracy</a>. This all sounds a bit familiar. During the height of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/aug/26/big-brother-dropped-channel-4" title="Guardian: Big Brother axed by Channel 4">Big Brother</a> phenomenon, the then Endemol producer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bazalgette" title="Wikipedia: Peter Bazalgette">Peter Bazalgette</a> was similarly feted and even wrote a couple of pamphlets on behalf of the Hansard Society on how to give parliament a kick up its Mother of All Bottoms. Anyone who, at the time, suggested that maybe the appeal of Big Brother would pass after a while and that parliament should perhaps be looking at more than gimmicks risked being dismissed as elitist and out of touch. Yet, to the astonishment of everyone involved, Big Brother is now just a few months from being cancelled while parliament – warts and all – somehow endures.</p><p>It is faintly depressing to hear Cowell being talked about in similarly hushed and reverent tones. I'm not sure Cowell himself can be blamed for this – in his <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8413007.stm" title="BBC: Extended Simon Cowell interview">Newsnight interview</a>, he seemed more interested in making good television than sorting out politics. It is <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6404661.ece" title="Times: Brown phones Cowell to check up on Susan Boyle">Gordon Brown</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6818317/David-Cameron-politics-needs-talent-like-Simon-Cowell.html" title="Telegraph: Cameron: politics needs talent like Simon Cowell ">David Cameron</a> who have elevated him to this status.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/17/simon-cowell-politics-x-factor">Continue reading...</a> Simon Cowell The X Factor Entertainment TV Politics Media House of Commons Television Television & radio Television industry Culture UK news Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:30:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/dec/17/simon-cowell-politics-x-factor Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty Is this the future of politics? Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty Is this the future of politics? Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty Is this the future of politics? Photograph: Getty Images/ Photomontage Maxton Walker/Getty James Graham 2009-12-17T10:30:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/nick-clegg-hung-parliament The idea that the Lib Dems want to jump into bed with Cameron is a fantasy. But multiparty politics is likely to be the new norm<p>There has been much excitement at Nick Clegg's decision on Sunday to state the bleeding obvious. When asked by Andrew Marr if he would seek to work with whichever party got the strongest mandate at the last general election, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8372838.stm" title="BBC: Nick Clegg says poll shows next election 'not shoo-in'">Clegg confirmed that he would</a>.</p><p>This less than earth-shattering announcement has lead to some <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2741871/Nick-Clegg-I-would-back-Tories-in-hung-poll.html" title="Sun: Clegg: I would back Tories in hung poll">very excited headlines</a>, with <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-reveals-lib-dems-are-prepared-to-back-cameron-1825917.html" title="Independent: Clegg reveals Lib Dems are prepared to back Cameron">left and right leaning papers</a> all concluding that this clears the way for a Lib-Con pact. But does it even count as news? Clegg has been saying similar things for 18 months. Back when Charles Kennedy said something almost identical on the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4495759.stm" title="BBC: Kennedy rules out Blair coalition ">eve of the 2005 general election</a>, it was spun as meaning the party was ruling out the prospect of a coalition. Now we are told the same policy means the party is itching to jump into bed with David Cameron.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/nick-clegg-hung-parliament">Continue reading...</a> Nick Clegg Liberal Democrats Conservatives Andrew Marr General election 2010 David Cameron Politics Labour Media Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:30:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/nov/23/nick-clegg-hung-parliament James Graham 2009-11-23T16:30:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/22/problem-vince-cable The Lib Dem shadow chancellor remains popular, but his bewildering shifts on economic policy could damage the party<p>How do you solve a problem like St Vincent? His <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/ldv-preconference-members-survey-3-how-you-rated-the-lib-dems-shadow-cabinet-16220.html" title="Liberal Democrat Voice: LDV pre-conference members' survey">approval ratings</a> both inside and outside of the party are huge. Yet very little of <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-502505/After-quickstepping-Alesha-acting-Lib-Dem-leader-Vince-Cable-tells-dancing-gave-strength-endure-death-wife.html" title="Mail Online: After quickstepping with Alesha the acting Lib Dem leader Vince Cable tells how dancing gave him the strength to endure the death of his wife">Twinkle-toes Cable's stardust</a> seems to be settling on the Liberal Democrats in terms of improving poll ratings. It is a conundrum that is superficially quite puzzling but there's nothing magic about it. In his six years as party treasury spokesperson, this former economics advisor to Kenya and chief economist of Shell has failed to come up with a coherent and consistent economic policy for the Liberal Democrats. To paraphrase J K Galbraith, the answer is so simple the mind is repelled.</p><p>I've counted at least 11 very significant shifts in the Lib Dem front bench's <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2009/09/22/the-liberal-democrat-post-credit-crunch-economic-policy-a-blow-by-blow-account/" title="Quaequam blog: The Liberal Democrat post-credit crunch economic policy - a blow by blow account">position on the economy</a> in two years, most of which aren't actual party policy. Some of the blame clearly lies in Nick Clegg's tendency to manufacture hostages to fortune on an industrial scale. But there are no indications whatsoever that Clegg has ever acted without his treasury spokesperson's blessing. And then there is the question of how the never-published £20bn list of government "waste" being hyped up last year has transmogrified into a £14bn list of "savage" cuts which involve scrapping cherished liberal commitments such as universal child benefit.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/22/problem-vince-cable">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrat conference 2009 Vince Cable Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg Liberal Democrat conference Economic policy Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/22/problem-vince-cable Photograph: Guardian Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable … might he be thinking of another change in the party's stance on cuts? Photograph: Guardian Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable … might he be thinking of another change in the party's stance on cuts? Photograph: Guardian Lib Dem shadow chancellor Vince Cable … might he be thinking of another change in the party's stance on cuts? James Graham 2009-09-22T15:00:00Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/21/lab-lib-dem-ideas-coalition Labour and the Liberal Democrats are forming a coalition of progressive ideas at the grassroots<p>This weekend <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/20/david-cameron-libdems-tory-alliance" title="David Cameron">David Cameron</a> tried to find common progressive ground with the Liberal Democrats. But it is a hopeless task when he can't find such ground within his own party. The recession has created the space to slip back to old and more comfortable ways of attacking the state. Nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of a returning Tory government, and at one level it's no coincidence that talk is reviving of collaboration between Lib Dems and Labour. The combined votes of the two parties have averaged 55% since 1945; the Tories only 40%. It's never easy, but there is a progressive majority to be mobilised that is committed to redistributing wealth, opportunity and power.</p><p>But something much deeper and more important is at work than keeping the Tories out. A strong and enduring relationship is being forged between like-minded people at the roots of Labour and the Lib Dems. They are the social liberals and the liberal socialists, and they share substantial ground on issues like equality, the environment and democratic reform.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/21/lab-lib-dem-ideas-coalition">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrat conference 2009 Liberal Democrat conference Labour Liberal Democrats Conservatives Electoral reform Politics Proportional representation Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/21/lab-lib-dem-ideas-coalition Neal Lawson and James Graham 2009-09-21T21:00:00Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/20/libdem-conference-rennard With Chris Rennard standing down as Liberal Democrat chief executive, the party must rethink its campaigning strategies<p>It is no exaggeration to say that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rennard,_Baron_Rennard">Chris Rennard</a> is probably the most important person alive today in British politics you've never heard of. His influence extends far wider than just developing how the Liberal Democrats campaign and making our parliamentary party the largest liberal force in the country since the 1920s. After years of running some frankly laughable by election campaigns, the standard Tory approach is a carbon copy of the Rennard approach. Sadly, much of the BNP's literature is a bit too close for comfort these days as well.</p><p>With Lord Rennard standing down from his post as Liberal Democrat chief executive this month, <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/">Liberal Democrat Voice</a> ran a fringe meeting yesterday to discuss campaigning after Rennard. The meeting was addressed by <a href="http://hornseyandwoodgreen.org/">Lynne Featherstone</a>, one of the party's most successful campaigning MPs (and head of its technology board), <a href="http://liberalneil.blogspot.com/">Neil Fawcett</a>, one of the party's top campaign organisers, and me, one of the party's <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2007/10/30/community-politics-today-be-wolves-not-bees/">biggest loudmouths</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/20/libdem-conference-rennard">Continue reading...</a> Liberal Democrat conference 2009 Liberal Democrat conference Liberal Democrats Politics Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:17:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/20/libdem-conference-rennard James Graham 2009-09-20T10:17:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/29/nick-clegg-liberal-democrats By going on holiday like everyone else, the Lib Dem's have missed a key opportunity to promote their agenda<p>Nick Clegg's back from his holidays then. On Thursday, the Lib Dem leader wrote an article <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6095350/We-cant-let-the-MPs-expenses-scandal-fade-away.html" title="in the Telegraph">in the Telegraph</a>, criticised Lord Turner's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8224548.stm" title="proposals for a banking tax">proposals for a banking tax</a>, visited <a href="http://twitter.com/nick_clegg/status/3577143143" title="a boxing gym in Islington">a boxing gym in Islington</a>, attended a public meeting <a href="http://meet.nickclegg.com/stalbans/" title="in St Albans">in St Albans</a> and even met with the <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?title=Pakistan_President_Asif_Zardari_meets_Liberal_Democrat_Leader_Nick_Clegg&amp;pPK=7fca3f56-7454-4c75-98d7-d3bc4896c635" title="President of Pakistan">president of Pakistan</a>. Yesterday he found the time to launch <a href="http://www.nickclegg.com/contact/intheknow/" title="a new website">a new website</a> aimed at <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/28/nick-clegg-lib-dems-public-spending" title="The Guardian: Making every public penny count">rooting out government waste</a>. This sudden flurry of activity is welcome, but sadly can't mask the fact that for most of August the Lib Dems have been all but invisible.</p><p>Where was Nick Clegg when <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=welovethenhs#search?q=%23welovethenhs" title="#welovetheNHS">#welovetheNHS</a> kicked off? He did, in fairness, manage to fire off <a href="http://twitter.com/nick_clegg/status/3284603933" title="a single tweet">a single tweet</a> – 24 hours late – but the party made no attempt to use this as an opportunity to carve out its own distinctive <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/policy_briefings_detail.aspx?title=The_NHS&amp;pPK=d19781d3-1539-45b4-b09a-64930e71830d" title="agenda on health">agenda on health</a>. Four days after his return to Libya, Clegg did manage to squeeze out <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?title=Gordon_Brown%E2%80%99s_silence_on_Megrahi_absurd_and_damaging&amp;pPK=0527bb69-ccab-42e5-a660-1f11253cc2fa" title="a press release">a press release</a> about Abdelbaset al-Megrahi but while criticising Gordon Brown for not making his own position clear declined to do likewise. Considering Clegg was calling for the summer recess <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/news_detail.aspx?title=Clegg%3A_PM_must_cancel_Recess_to_implement_political_reform&amp;pPK=90362c60-992a-48c3-8f55-a7710a47ff89" title="to be cancelled">to be cancelled</a> just a couple of months ago, this does smack somewhat of dropping the ball.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/29/nick-clegg-liberal-democrats">Continue reading...</a> Nick Clegg Liberal Democrats NHS Tax and spending Politics Society Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:00:00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/29/nick-clegg-liberal-democrats James Graham 2009-08-29T16:00:00Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/29/liberal-democrats-election-reform If Brown is serious about electoral reform Lib Dems should support him, but we must be wary of the proposed referendum<p>The idea of holding a referendum on electoral reform on the day of the next general election is very clever. But the reasons that make people like <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/26/neal-lawson-electoral-reform" title="Guardian: Gordon Brown's golden chance">Neal Lawson</a> think Gordon Brown should commit to it, make Liberal Democrat strategists nervous. It might make sense for Brown to do something that ties the Lib Dems into a "progressive consensus" but it is hard to see how that would help Nick Clegg one little bit.</p><p>There is also the risk that Brown will end up being too clever for his own good and try holding the referendum without having to worry about actual reform. That is what <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/26/referendum-constitutional-reform-labour-elections" title="Guardian: Labour plans election day poll">the Observer was predicting</a> over the weekend. Moving to the alternative vote system might be an improvement but it is a baby step, hardly worth having a referendum over at all. Even the Jenkins-designed <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/28/electoral-reform-referendum-labour" title="Guardian: 'Alternative vote' is not the answer">alternative vote plus</a> is not without its problems. Developed 10 years ago in a failed attempt to appease Tony Blair, it is a classic example of triangulation politics. As such it is not only one of the least representative electoral systems (barring first past the post and AV) but also one of the most complex. It certainly would be a step in the right direction but it is hard to see how serving up <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2009/05/28/av-eleven-year-old-reheated-westminster-leftovers-will-do-nothing-to-restore-trust-in-politics/" title="Quaequam blog: Reheated Westminster leftovers will do nothing to restore trust">decade-old reheated Westminster fudge</a> is going to sate an electorate driven to distraction by a discredited political establishment.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/29/liberal-democrats-election-reform">Continue reading...</a> Electoral reform Liberal Democrats Gordon Brown Labour UK news Politics House of Commons Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:30:00 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jul/29/liberal-democrats-election-reform James Graham 2009-07-29T14:30:00Z