Ben Bradshaw involved in a total farce

Oh alright, it’s not the Shadow Culture Secretary. Some while back I was catching up on the boxset of The Office, and noticed in the credits that one of the extras was called Ben Bradshaw.
I knew Exeter MP had worked at the BBC but did not think he had spent time at Wernham Hogg.

Now my Google alerts of Westcountry MPs have solved the problem.

This is Ben Bradshaw.

Or rather, it is Brian Stewart, who has just written and directed a farce - All in Vein – which gets its first performance at Abbey Theatre in St Albans shortly.

Brian’s stage name, as this local paper story points out, was Ben Bradshaw, and he appeared in most episodes of The Office.

Problem solved by a Google Alert.

Less easy to explain is why the email alert for Sarah Newton – new Tory MP for Truro and Falmouth – keeps throwing up a link to a story which describes her being “naked in a tubof marijuana”.

I assume it is not the honorable member, but I daren’t follow the link on work computers.

Culture Secretary becomes paperboy delivering WMN

Jeremy Hunt had his first outing in the Commons as Culture Secretary this afternoon, teasing his opponent Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter, about their role reversal.

Hunt told Bradshaw his local newspapers were still be delivered to his old ministerial office, before throwing a copy of the Western Morning News across the Dispatch Box.

(On assumes he read the Westcountry’s favourite daily read first)

For his part Bradshaw had a decent comeback, saying Hunt’s tickets for the Royal Opera House for him and his wife were still being delivered to Bradshaw’s office.

Looking down on a sea of Lib Con heads - but where's the Labour Wally?

The WMN perch in the press gallery gives me a fine view of the opposition benches. Almost directly above where the Prime Minister sits, for the last three and a half years I have been able to survey the dozen or so Westcountry MPs on the Tory and Lib Dem side.

Now, I have a problem. In the whole of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset there are just two Labour MPs.

Ben Bradshaw is shadow culture secretary – for the time being at least – leaving Alison Seabeck as the sole backbencher. I shall resist the temptation to suggest this presents me with a political game of Where’s Wally.

Alison’s attempt to stand out during the election of the new Speaker – by wearing an ultra-loyal Labour Red jacked and matching specs – was limited in its impact with the bulk of her female colleagues doing the same.

As it was she was on a green bench near the front and gave me a wave. I suspect in the coming weeks she will be vital voice of opposition in the region.

On the Lib-Con side it was positively bulging, though I laregly only had a view of the top of their heads.

Newly-appointed ministers and very green MPs jostled behind the Speaker’s Chair. Conservative Sarah Wollaston, the GP-turned-MP for Totnes, stood at the door behind the Speaker clutching what appeared to be some forms from IPSA, the expenses watchdog. Very sensible.

East Devon Tory MP Hugo Swire, newly-installed as Northern Ireland Minister, was in the thick of it too.

Amid the mêlée, one impertinent Tory was trying to barge them all out of the way.

“Can I just squeeze through?” inquired… oh… it’s our new Prime Minister, David Cameron.

Punctuality man! At least he was there, though. Gordon Brown, having attracted respect for staying on as an MP, let himself down by not showing up for this parliamentary formality. Indeed, in all the gushing of congratulations to the elections winners and losers, he was completely forgotten.

On the Lib-Con frontbench, the behind-the-scenes struggle for government jobs became all too physical.

It began as the senior ministers returned from a brief but constitutional visit to the Lords.

Business Secretary Vince Cable parked himself on the bench first, tactfully leaving a large space either side, resisting the temptation to cuddle up to his new Tory friends.

Next came Theresa May, new Home Secretary but not a natural bedfellow of Mr Cable.

Things were looking tight when Justice Secretary Ken Clarke spot an inch of green leather between Cable and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond, plonking himself down with a real “oomph”, sparking cheers from the press gallery as if a champion wrestler had just sat on a floored opponent.

Just when it was all looking a bit like sardines in a tin, new Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman came along and somehow found a slither seat to perch on. Though it may actually have been Mr Hammond’s knee.

This is the cosy consensus in action.

Sir Peter Tapsell becomes Father of the House, having first been elected an MP in 1959. He had previously served as an aide to Eden, and frankly knows the place inside out.

Presiding over the re-election of John Bercow as Speaker, he had to endure some truly dreadful jokes at his expense, which he did with good grace.

In the end, Bercow was elected without a fuss. Attempts by Tory troublemakers including Nadine Dorries to force a vote were scuppered by Sir Peter.

We were told to be back for 3.10pm tomorrow. Obviously someone has a big lunch planned.

Ben Bradshaw smiles as Adam Boulton almost loses it - again*

I have some sympathy for Adam here. I have had infuriating conversations with Labour candidates, MPs and activists who fail to accept the outcome of the election. One even told they were "absolutely ecstatic" with the result.

It's like trying to get Granny to start making arrangements for Grandad's funeral, but she refuses to accept that he is dead.

And the maths being peddled by Labour is bonkers. They say that if you add the Labour and Lib Dem vote together it is more than the Tories, which proves the majority of the nation are anti-Tory, so the Rainbow Coalition is the only option.

But the Tories got more votes than Labour on their own, and combined with the Lib Dem votes is double the Labour vote.

It is true no-one won this election outright, but that is because voters turned their back on Labour in favour of the Tories and the Lib Dems, who both saw their vote share rise.

The idea that voters all got together on Wednesday night to conspire to create a hung parliament - as some on all sides seem to suggest with all this "the people have spoken" stuff - is equally bizarre.

As an aside, a colleague noted that it is only a matter of time before a cartoon appears saying: "We have been without a government for three days - and things have never gone more smoothly."

* In case you haven't seen it elsewhere, here is the Adam Boulton v Alastair Campbell row which happened yesterday.

Lib Dem: You can’t trust the f***ing Tories

It seems we are inching towards a deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with both leaders due to meet their MPs today.

They should not underestimate the unease and distrust in their ranks at the – especially among the Westcountry contingent who have just spent four weeks slogging it out in one of the dirtiest election campaigns many said they had seen.

Today’s Western Morning News contains a number of juicy comments from both Tories and Lib Dems – some on the record, some off – which should give the consensual negotiators pause for thought.

It seems to have brought out the potty-mouthed worst among them.

Liberal Democrats

One Lib Dem in the region said a deal with the Conservatives would be a "f***ing travesty". This morning on the way into a sun-drenched Parliament, a Lib Dem MP told me: “You can’t trust the f***ing Tories.”
Another frontbencher said: "Not many Lib Dems joined the Lib Dems to help the Tories, but every party lost so we are where we are. There are probably quite a lot of Tories who are not thrilled by the prospect of working with Liberal Democrats."

On electoral reform, a Devon Lib Dem source said: "This is what we have been waiting for, for 80 years. The economic crisis is huge but will continue for a few years. Constitutional reform would last 100 years. I am left with the slight sense the Tories are just leading us a dance and don't really want a deal at all."

Conservatives
Tories in the region seem no keener to cosy up to Lib Dems.
Hugo Swire, Tory MP for East Devon and a former member of the Mr Cameron's shadow cabinet, ridiculed the idea that the Lib Dems are "the new, fresh party", saying they had been a "disaster" when running Westcountry councils.
"The reason we kicked them out of overall control in Cornwall, the reason we kicked them out of Devon County Council and Somerset County Council… is we know how completely useless they are when they are in power."
One option understood to be being considered is a "confidence and supply" deal, under which the Lib Dems would undertake not to bring down a minority Conservative administration in return for assurances on certain policy areas.

"Given how flaky the Liberals are, how long that will last, who knows," Mr Swire added.

Labour

A Labour source claims Lib Dems in the region will defect to them on mass: "There will be mass insurrection among the Liberal Democrat grassroots."
And Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said: "I still find it hard to believe that the Lib Dems would agree to a deal with the Conservatives without a referendum on electoral reform and if they fail to reach a deal with the Conservatives then our door is always open.

"We support a fair voting system. It was in our manifesto. There is an alternative to a Con-Lib collation, in a progressive alliance of Lib Dems, Labour, possibly the moderate Northern Ireland parties, that could deliver that historic political reform and manage the country and the economy stably for the next two or three years."
2pm UPDATE: All morning I have been speaking to MPs, new and old, of all three parties. A selection of their views:
Labour: "Brown must go, it's just a question of when. He was toxic on the doorstep."
Tory MP on Lib-Dems: "They will sh*t on you, they will be b*st*rds and then they will stab you in the back."
Lib Dem MP telling Tories: "Play your cards right and I'll make you my PPS."

Westcountry results so far

4am
Really am clocking off now. Back from 9am
03.45am Plymouth Moorview: Lab HOLD
Alison Seabeck has held this safer of the two Plymouth seats, though Matthew Groves slashed her majority from a healthy 7,740 to just 1,588. The Tories had made noises to suggest they could have taken this.

Alison Seabeck (Lab) 15,433 (37.16%)
Matthew Groves (C) 13,845 (33.34%)
Stuart Bonar (LD) 7,016 (16.90%)
Bill Wakeham (UKIP) 3,188 (7.68%)
Roy Cook (BNP) 1,438 (3.46%)
Wendy Miller (Green) 398 (0.96%)
David Marchesi (Soc Lab) 208 (0.50%)
Lab maj 1,588 (3.82%)
Notional 7.77% swing Lab to C
Turnout 41,526 (61.74%)

03.35 West Dorset
Despite the high hopes of Paddy Ashdown yesterday, Oliver Letwin clings on

Oliver Letwin (C) 27,287 (47.59%, +1.07%)
Sue Farrant (LD) 23,364 (40.75%, -1.15%)
Dr Steve Bick (Lab) 3,815 (6.65%, -1.09%)
Oliver Chisholm (UKIP) 2,196 (3.83%, +1.79%)
Susan Greene (Green) 675 (1.18%, -0.61%)
C maj 3,923 (6.84%)
1.11% swing LD to C
Turnout 57,337 (74.59%, -1.70%)

03.35am Tiverton & Honiton: Con HOLD
As expected, former Tory MEP Neil Parish has held the seat vacated by Angela Browning

Neil Parish (C) 27,614 (50.30%)
Jon Underwood (LD) 18,294 (33.33%)
Vernon Whitlock (Lab) 4,907 (8.94%)
Daryl Stanbury (UKIP) 3,277 (5.97%)
Cathy Connor (Green) 802 (1.46%)
C maj 9,320 (16.98%)
Notional 0.28% swing C to LD
Turnout 54,894 (71.47%)

03.25am Bridgwater & West Somerset: Con HOLD
No shock here.

Ian Liddell-Grainger (C) 24,675
Theo Butt Philip (LD) 15,426
Kathryn Pearce (Lab) 9,332
Peter Hollings (UKIP) 2,604
Donna Treanor (BNP) 1,282
Charles Graham (Green) 859
Bob Cudlipp (Ind) 315
Electorate: 76,560 — Turnout: 71.18%


03.25am Newton Abbot: Con GAIN
Confusion reigns. The BBC (who are winning the battle for my TV viewing) reported the Lib Dems held this seat. It has now been confirmed that Richard Younger-Ross is out, and Anne Marie Morris has take it - apologies.

Anne-Marie Morris (C) 20,774 (43.03%)
Richard Younger-Ross (LD) 20,251 (41.94%)
Patrick Canavan (Lab) 3,387 (7.01%)
Jackie Hooper (UKIP) 3,088 (6.40%)
Corinne Lindsey (Green) 701 (1.45%)
Keith Sharp (Ind) 82 (0.17%)
C maj 523 (1.08%)
Notional 5.79% swing LD to C
Turnout 48,283 (69.63%)

03.00am THOUGHTS
The Tories so far have not had a good night in the Westcountry. While big Labour majorities have fallen elsewhere and the Lib Dems seem to be struggling, here in the Westcountry the Tories have failed to take a seat yet. Exeter stayed Labour. So-called easy wins like Taunton, Somerton & Frome and Torbay have stayed Lib Dem and increased their majorities.
No results from Cornwall yet, but the Lib Dems in the region could yet stand between Cameron and a victory/majority. I could yet be wrong of course...
I am clocking off now, in search of sleep. I'll be on BBC Somerset at 9am and back in the office and online all day working up our full round-up of results for Saturday's WMN.
I bid you adieu...


02.57am Taunton Deane: Lib Dem HOLD
Jeremy Browne has held this seat, despite being high on the Tory target list. Mark Formosa fought North Cornwall in 2005 and failed there too. This is a coup for the Lib Dems, and even some Tories will privately welcome Jeremy's return to the Commons on a substantial 3,993 majority

Jeremy Browne (LD) 28,531 (49.06%)
Mark Formosa (C) 24,538 (42.20%)
Martin Jevon (Lab) 2,967 (5.10%)
Tony McIntyre (UKIP) 2,114 (3.64%)
LD maj 3,993 (6.87%)
Notional 1.78% swing C to LD
Turnout 58,150 (70.45%)

02.48am Totnes: Con HOLD
Dartmoor GP Sarah Wollaston has held the Totnes seat vacated by retiring MP Anthony Steen, almost doubling the Tory majority from 2,693 to 4,927.

Dr Sarah Wollaston (C) 21,940 (45.86%)
Julian Brazil (LD) 17,013 (35.56%)
Carole Whitty (Lab) 3,538 (7.40%)
Jeff Beer (UKIP) 2,890 (6.04%)
Lydia Somerville (Green) 1,181 (2.47%)
Mike Turner (BNP) 624 (1.30%)
Simon Drew (Ind) 390 (0.82%)
Dr Stephen Hopwood (Ind) 267 (0.56%)
C maj 4,927 (10.30%)
Notional 2.27% swing LD to C
Turnout 47,843 (70.42%)

02.37am Somerton and Frome: Lib Dem HOLD
Incredibly, David Heath has defied the odds and increased his slender 595 majority to a whopping 1,817. This should have easily fallen to Conservative Annunziata Rees-Mogg and was one of 12 seats in the Westcountry the Tories needed.

David Heath (LD) 28,793 (47.50%)
Annunziata Rees-Mogg (C) 26,976 (44.51%)
David Oakensen (Lab) 2,675 (4.41%)
Barry Harding (UKIP) 1,932 (3.19%)
Niall Warry (Leave EU) 236 (0.39%)
LD maj 1,817 (3.00%)
Notional 0.94% swing C to LD
Turnout 60,612 (74.33%)

02.20am East Devon: Con HOLD
No surprise this. Hugo Swire is returned as Tory MP, with a small swing to the Lib Dems

Hugo Swire (C) 25,662 (48.33%)
Paull Robathan (LD) 16,548 (31.17%)
Gareth Manson (Lab) 5,721 (10.78%)
Mike Amor (UKIP) 4,346 (8.19%)
Sharon Pavey (Green) 815 (1.54%)
C maj 9,114 (17.17%)
Notional 1.03% swing C to LD
Turnout 53,092 (72.62%)

02.10am Exeter: Labour HOLD
Not a huge surprise that Ben Bradshaw has hung on, his majority cut from 8,559 to 2,721, but even this week Tory strategists were hopeful of claiming a Cabinet scalp. Ed Balls has a similar majority in Yorkshire, but he must be looking safe too.

Ben Bradshaw (Lab) 19,942
Hannah Foster (C) 17,221
Graham Oakes (LD) 10,581
Keith Crawford (UKIP) 1,930
Chris Gale (Lib) 1,108
Paula Black (Green) 792
Robert Farmer (BNP) 673
Electorate: 77,157 — Turnout: 67.72%

01.45am Yeovil: Lib Dem HOLD
David Laws (LD) 31,843 (55.71%)
Kevin Davis (C) 18,807 (32.90%)
Lee Skevington (Lab) 2,991 (5.23%)
Nigel Pearson (UKIP) 2,357 (4.12%)
Robert Baehr (BNP) 1,162 (2.03%)
LD maj 13,036 (22.81%)
Notional 2.74% swing C to LD
Electorate 82,314; Turnout 57,160 (69.44%)

01.43am
Plymouth University elections guru Prof Michael Thrasher says Torbay results indicates that the Tories “will struggle to take tough Lib Dem targets” in the Westcountry.

01.33am Exeter
Ben Bradshaw has just been on Sky. Asked if he could work with the Lib Dems, he said: "I have always said I would be very happy to work with anyone."

He also admitted: "It may be that the Conservatives win an outright majority. If the exit poll is right it’s not possible for us to continue to govern on our own."

01.12am Torbay: Lib Dem HOLD
This was on the Tory target list. Should have fallen to them, and even this week Tory sources were saying they were confident. It looks like Labour seats are falling to the Tories easily, while the Lib Dems are putting up a strong fight, which raises a question about how much the Westcountry map will change.

Adrian Sanders (LD) 23,126 (46.99%)
Marcus Wood (C) 19,048 (38.71%)
David Pedrick-Friend (Lab) 3,231 (6.57%)
Julien Parrott (UKIP) 2,628 (5.34%)
Ann Conway (BNP) 709 (1.44%)
Sam Moss (Green) 468 (0.95%)
LD maj 4,078 (8.29%)
Notional 1.14% swing C to LD
Turnout 49,210 (64.62%)

Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell told the BBC: "Torbay was an interesting one. It's not going all the Tories' way."

What we have learned at the Exeter climate change hustings

LibDem Graham Oakes is allergic to horses.
Labour's Ben Bradshaw used to have an anti-nuclear car sticker.
Tory Hannah Foster likes waterskiing and flyfishing, though not at the same time.
Green Paula Black only has flour and vegetables to eat in her house.

Oakes & Black can both drive a tractor and milk a cow. Bradshaw and Foster dodged this important issue.

All eyes on the Westcountry this morning

This morning there seems to be a lot of media interest in the politics of the Westcountry.

The Guardian has a piece on Totnes, the seat vacated by Tory veteran Anthony Steen, in which the Conservative candidate GP Sarah Wollaston talks about "low moments" on the campaign trail:

"You wonder why you are giving up the nicest job in the world to do a job where it feels some days that everyone thinks you must be in it for the wrong reasons. I can't tell you the difference between knocking on someone's door as a GP and knocking on someone's door saying you'd like to be their MP. Sometimes you feel a wave of hostility."

The Daily Mail's brilliant Quentin Letts has been out and about in Exeter, with Ben Bradshaw:

"Strolling through Exeter with the Culture Secretary, Ben Bradshaw, is rather like going walkabout with the Queen. Passers-by wave. Cars toot. Grannies squeeze him as though testing shop plums."

And the BBC is in St Austell and Newquay all day. On Breakfast this morning, Tory Caroline Righton and Lib Dem Steve Gilbert had a bit of a ding dong on the issue of binge drinking.

Caroline saying she wanted to see more "bobbies on the beat" while appealing for more visitors looking straight down the camera, while Steve demanded she distance herself from comments made last year by a Tory councillor who tried to play down the impact of drunks on the town's reputation.

As the Western Morning News' election coverage says, the Westcountry Counts.

The leaders send mixed messages - no wonder voters are confused

So, Clegg won't prop up Brown. Brown needs Clegg. Cameron doesn't want to want Clegg, but Ashdown says Clegg can't work with Cameron.
Meanwhile, the Tories spin that they are now focussing on Labour seats in the north which they previously felt were out of reach.
But just when cats across the Westcountry thought it was safe to doze behind the front door, another 500,000 Tory leaflets are being sent to target Lib Dem marginals.
The ongoing excitement of the Lib Dems holding their place in the polls disguises the truly shocking picture for Labour, trailling in third in more polls than not.
Party managers are growing increasingly concerned about Ben Bradshaw's seat in Exeter, where aides admit it is "neck and neck" with Tory Hannah Foster. The Tory love-bombing in Plymouth could also pay dividends in Linda Gilroy's seat.
The Lib Dems hope that Nick Clegg's ongoing popularity on the national stage will save them in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, though activists admit they have not seen a huge surge in support on the doorstep in the last two weeks, in part because the Lib Dems are already well known in the region.
So, Monday morning on the train to Plymouth. While the final result will go down to the wire, this could be the week when the election is won or lost by one of the three main parties.

Bradshaw: I'd be "very comfortable" working with Lib Dems - it's what voters want

Gordon Brown is in The Independent today talking in code about forming a “progressive alliance” which is taken to mean Labour and the Lib Dems uniting to fight the Tories.

But in an interview in today’s Western Morning News, Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has been more explicit.

He said he would be “very comfortable” working with the Liberal Democrats, and even suggested the public should vote to force the two parties into a coalition.

“There is very little you could put between me and many Lib Dems.”

The Culture Secretary’s 8,559 majority in Exeter has been heavily targeted by the Tories, and success in retaining the seat could depend in part on wooing Lib Dem supporters.

He pointed to voting reform, the green agenda, overhauling the House of Lords, Europe and helping those on low incomes as common ground between Labour and the Lib Dems.
In an “unpredictable election”, he said he wanted Labour to win outright, but repeatedly stressed he could “work effectively with Liberal Democrats on those reforming issues”.
Speaking after a day campaigning in the city, Mr Bradshaw said:

“I work very well with local Lib Dems. I share a great deal in common with them.
“I get a lot of positive feedback from Liberal Democrats on the doorstep in Exeter who realise that the only way they will get real political reform and a fairer voting system is either by voting for a Labour government, or Labour working with the Lib Dems. The Conservatives are the no-change party.
“I think it is very exciting. I think we have a unique and historic opportunity in Britain for real change, that I have been arguing and campaigning for years – meaningful change to the electoral system and reform of the House of Lords.”

Recent opinion polls suggested a third of people wanted to see no overall winner.

“It is very interesting that the public would actually welcome a balanced parliament.
The public want change, they don’t want change to the Conservatives and the way they can get change they want is by making Liberal Democrats and Labour work together.”

He insisted Labour was “fighting very hard” and “not taking anything for granted”.
In the Westcountry, Labour’s best hopes of retaining power depend on the Lib Dems holding back the Tory party. In 10 of the dozen seats the Conservative need for a majority, 10 are Lib Dem/Tory battles.
THE FULL STORY IS IN TODAY’S WESTERN MORNING NEWS

UPDATE: The fightback begins. "Ben Bradshaw is no friend of the Lib Dems in Devon," is how Brian Greenslade, former Lib Dem leader of Devon County Council puts it.
"This is just desparate Labour trying to cosy up to the Lib Dems in the hope of hanging onto office."