(NOT) Alan Milburn: MP for Darlington

Do you want to hear from Alan Milburn?

2005-10-21T15:36:00.000+01:00

</radiosilence>

Hear from your MP is a new service in beta testing, trying to encourage our MPs to talk to us. If Alan doesn't want to blog, maybe he'll like this more?

If you enter your details, we'll add you to a queue of other people in your constituency. When enough have signed up, your MP will get sent an email. It'll
say “20 of your constituents would like to hear what you're up to – hit reply to
let them know”. If they don't reply, nothing will happen, until they get an
email which says there are now 100 people; 200 people; 500 people – until it is
nonsensical not to reply and start talking.

Sounds good to me; I've signed up.

<radiosilence>

Alan Milburn Blog: the final curtain

2005-05-06T11:16:00.000+01:00

As I said earlier, now that Alan Milburn has been re-elected as MP for Darlington, I will no longer be actively writing on this blog; it's original purpose was to try to convince Alan that a blog was the best way for him to engage with the people of Darlington. He either doesn't agree, or doesn't think this is important. To be fair, even with a slightly reduced majority, he's way ahead of the other parties in the polls, so why does he need to bother trying to convince us he's doing a good job for us?

If Alan has a change of heart about blogging he and Kath know where to find me, if they need a hand setting things up.

See ya.

Election results in: Alan Milburn retains Darlington

2005-05-06T11:07:00.000+01:00

The results are in, and Alan Milburn has retaken Darlington, albeit with a reduced majority.

He has also announced, again, that he doesn't want a place in the new cabinet, but will instead spend more time with his family, again. Now that the election is over, there obviously isn't a need for a tax-payer-funded election coordinator with a silly title.

Perhaps Alan might also like to spend some more time in Darlington, since he'll be only an hours drive away? Will the new free time also mean he's able to use his website/a blog as a means of communicating the day-to-day life of a constituency MP to the people of Darlington?

Press Association - Elections 2005 - Constituencies in estimated declaration time order

2005-05-04T22:29:00.000+01:00

Press Association - Elections 2005: "174 Darlington 00:01"

Darlington will be one of the first constituencies to declare. Use your vote tomorrow.

Constituency versus ministry?

2005-04-28T11:07:00.000+01:00

There an interesting comment about MPs who work for their constituents versus MPs who are ministers on a post about Brian Sedgemoor's defection at Chicken Yoghurt.

Especially interesting for Darlington and Sedgefield residents.

More leaflets

2005-04-27T19:03:00.000+01:00

We had the leaflets for Veritas (Candidate: David Davies) and UKIP (Candidate: John Hoodless) posted through the door today.

Darlington Election Round-up

2005-04-26T16:30:00.000+01:00

Despite stating the opposite, it appears that I am still going to post here occasionally after all. I've been prompted to do so, in part, by recieving an email from the British Library asking permission to archive the site, as a site relevant to the 2005 General Election! If anyone from the BL is reading this, you have my permission; I'll get around to sending the form back soon.

We've recieved a few more election leaflets from the Lib Dems and Conservatives, but still nothing from Labour.

My wife was stopped in the street by the Conservative candidate and asked if he had her vote, when he asked her why not her reply, which was along the lines of her not wanting to vote for a party of bigots left him unable to say anything other than "I can see I won't be able to change your mind".

In the same locality, my wife also saw a lasy dressed all in red, with a big red rosette and a big red flag asking people in the Post Office queue at 10:30 one morning if they would "be voting for Alan". Most people apparently just looked confused (most of the older folk were strugling to use the chip and PIN pension cards, which occasionally leave them in tears, so were probably not sure what she was on about).

I'll blog anything else I see/hear.

Alistair Campbell Blogger Outed by The Times

2005-04-26T16:26:00.000+01:00

The Times have outed the Alistair Campbell blogger, and she's even written a piece for them about it.

Well done Anna, join the club.

FT.com - Milburn's welcome is tempered by some home truths

2005-04-18T23:27:00.000+01:00

FT.com - Milburn's welcome is tempered by some home truths : "It is six in the evening at the end of a wet and blustery day in Darlington. In the fading light, a pair of black Volkswagen Golfs weave their way through the narrow streets just outside the town centre and come to a halt on an anonymous Victorian terrace."

Breaking election silence for a newspaper mention of Alan Milburn in Darlington!

(Not) Alan Milburn: Election Special!

2005-04-14T20:39:00.000+01:00

Election time is upon us, and I will not be blogging any of it; I have far more important things to do...

[NB. Once parliament was disolved, Alan Milburn ceased to be the MP for Darlington, and the banner at the top of the site has been changed to reflect this. Alan Milburn's official site has been taken down almost completely for the duration of the election!]

Alan seems to be keeping a high-profile low-profile at the moment, appearing on both the Today programme and BBC Breakfast recently, but with Gordon Brown appearing alongside Tony Blair.

Campaign leaflets are starting to appear; I've recieved them from the Lib Dem candidate, Robert Adamson, and the Conservative candidate, Anthony Frieze, but nothing from Labour as yet.

After the election, if Alan is reelected, I've decided not to continue this site; it's original purpose was to try to convince Alan that a blog was the best way for him to engage with the people of Darlington. He either doesn't agree, or doesn't think this is important. If, however, another candidate wins, I will create a blog about/for them, and hope they decide to take it over or start their own.

Anyway, some links, then I'll leave you:

Alan Milburn, Labour
Anthony Frieze, Conservative
Robert Adamson, Liberal Democrat
Backing Blair, Darlington voting advice page
Militant Moderate, who have discussed the Darlington election in the past, specifically Anthony Frieze's 'local' credentials
Don't Vote Milburn (the name of the site, not necesarily my view)
Darlington Town, local website, including discussion boards

PM to visit voters' homes

2005-04-07T17:49:00.000+01:00

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | PM to visit voters' homes: "Tony Blair's election campaign will include direct communication with voters by email, 'spontaneous' five-minute visits to voters' homes, a personal video diary and national political surgeries in shopping centres, Labour said yesterday.

Alan Milburn, the party's election coordinator, said the aim was to bring the campaign closer to the people by using better ways of communicating than 'traditional press conferences and media scrums'."

No mention of blogging, but the videocasts are just video blogs aren't they?

Of course, these campaign blogs are not as effective as long term blogs and do not give the same advantages.

Daily Mail: Alan "Milburn's banana republic"

2005-03-21T07:46:00.000Z

Milburn's banana republic: "Cocky Alan Milburn is supposed to be a Minister and uses taxpayer-funded officials and premises to help him in his task. Yet it is clear he is really a political commissar whose job is mainly pro-Labour propaganda.

When the Tories, justifiably, asked the National Audit Office to investigate this strange use of public resources, the reply from the Milburn bunker was, 'None of your business.'

But it is public business, and there could be no better illustration of the disease that has infected our formerly fair and honest parliamentary system. The governing party's power is so unchallengeable that the State's own auditors can be brushed aside while trying to conduct a legitimate inquiry.

If Mr Milburn gets away with this, then we will be several steps closer to becoming a banana republic."

Interview with Alan Milburn in new Esquire magazine

2005-03-16T21:00:00.000Z

There's an interview with Alan Milburn in the new Esquire magazine.

Alan Milburn losing favour with party?

2005-03-10T09:08:00.000Z

There are lots of stories in the news at the moment at the implying Alan Milburn is to be ousted as 'Election Supremo' and replaced by Gordon Brown, including this article in The Scotsman about a campaign by Labour MPs against Alain Milburn becoming the next leader of the Labour Party.

Not Louise Ellman MP

2005-03-02T20:41:00.000Z

Not Louise Ellman MP: "Not Louise Ellman MP. This is not the offical blog for Louise Ellman MP, it's a blog about Louise Ellman MP."

Alan Milburn Blog in the national press. Again.

2005-02-26T23:56:00.000Z

I'm a serial blogger! Whodathunkit? This article mentions my full name, unfortunately, which is something that, as a teacher, I'd tried to avoid happening and have never mentioned here. Thanks Philippe Naughton.

The reason there have been few post here recently, by the way, is because I'm quite busy and because, other than stuff about being the Chancellor of the Duchy of Somewhere-Else-He-Doesn't-Live or being the new Gordon Brown, there's been very little in the press about Alan Milburn recently. For some reason, my job, which pays considerably less than being a backbench MP, doesn’t give me the opportunity to write well-paying articles for The Times, or act as an over-paid consultant.

The article also says I've only posted here four times this year; I make it five but one was the day before the article was published, so I suppose Philippe can be fogiven for missing that one. That's only 50% of the number of posts on Alan Milburn's official diary this year, but I'm me, and he's him plus 1 and two-half constituency workers, and a parliamentary researcher (and however many extra people he now has as Duke Whatever), but if you ignore the press release fluff not related to Darlington, and the PM's press releases about the tsunami, it's about the same number of posts as the official diary.

Mr Naughton misses the point about blogs. I, a teacher from Darlington with a budget of nil, have received mentions in the Times, the Guardian and the Journal, plus on BBCi, through the simple act of blogging a few thoughts and links, with no press releases, interviews or adverts. My communication method also allows two way communication; it’s a conversation.

My email from Tony Blair

2005-02-25T18:58:00.000Z

My email from Tony Blair:

I sent the question "When will the Prime Minister publish full and comprehensive details of the advice he was given by the Attorney General regarding the legality of the invasion of Iraq in 2003?", which is partly answered in the transcript.

BBC/Mail: Alan Milburn and Alistair Campbell "meet four days a week"

2005-01-30T21:35:00.000Z

"The Mail on Sunday is pre-occupied by Labour's treatment of Michael Howard.

It says a 'secret hit squad' has been set up to mount personal attacks on the Conservative leader.

This group includes Alistair Campbell and Alan Milburn and, according to the Mail, will meet four days a week between now and the General Election.

The paper reckons there is a whiff of 'low totalitarian gangsterism' about this approach to campaigning, as the election looms."

Four days a week is a lot, considering Alan spends only two days a week in Darlington...

Don't vote Milburn

2005-01-16T20:43:00.000Z

With this site, I try to be fairly neutral. It was set up as an attempt to get Alan Milburn to communicate better what he does for the people of Darlington, by encouraging him to set up his own blog (or take over this one). Despite a few posts hereby his staff, he's failed to do this. (He has a Blackberryhand-held email device, so he could post from that, it wouldn't take up much of his time).

Don't vote Milburn is a less neutral site...

(The link to here from that site, is slightly wrong; this site is nothing to do with local party workers, other than the posts by Kath.) He's fixed this now.

An election is looming

2005-01-15T20:10:00.000Z

"This proxy-blog is 2nd in Yahoo and 3rd in MSN for 'alan milburn', but best we can do in Google is 8th (and that's the Voidstar feed) for 'alan milburn mp' - so this weblog needs some serious Google-juice. This blog needs the most love. Please link to it."

Manic is scheming, ready for the election.

I never understood why I'm so far down the listings for Alan Milburn at Google. I was first/second within day of starting the site. So, give me your linkage!

Work permitting, I'll be blogging more here during the election, but if any other Darlingtonians want logins, drop me an email. The link's over on the right.

Alan Milburn and Gordon Brown

2005-01-12T21:41:00.000Z

Another link-dump, I'm afraid. I'm "busy, busy, busy" at the moment and Alan's busy manouvering for higher office and not appearing much locally, as far as I can tell (though there was a picture of him holding a clipboard in this month's Town Crier).

All stories about the really quite pathetic jockeying for position, I'm afraid.

Downing Street Says...: Alan Milburn's role

2004-12-31T10:41:00.000Z

Downing Street Says "Asked if we were sure that Alan Milburn was working for the taxpayer rather than the Labour Party the PMS said that this question had been answered several times before and his role in Government had been explained."

Latest Google News Alert email about Alan Milburn

2004-11-29T09:11:00.000Z

Roughly every other day I get an email from Google with links to any new news stories mentioning Alan Milburn (latest email quoted below). I generally don't blog these; there's usually very little in them about Darlington as mainly they're from national papers. However, the emails have been getting longer and longer since Alan returned to front-bench politics. He seems to be working awfully hard. But not for us, as Phelpe points out in a comment on an earlier post. Alan's response to the question of just what it is he does was part of his most recent appearance in parliament.

What do readers of this blog (there are one or two) think?

Revealed: how Blair and Milburn are sidelining Gordon Brown
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
Alan Milburn, Labour's general election supremo, has launched an unprecedented operation to sideline Gordon Brown and seize control of key powers across ...
See all stories on this topic

Minister may not be able to tough it out
Scotland on Sunday - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK
... In recent months, Blair has solidified his control on government, with the return of close ally Alan Milburn, after a period when many of his closest colleagues ...
See all stories on this topic

BUSH GURU GETS WORLD'S WORST JOB
Sunday Mirror - UK
... time. All of a sudden the decision to put novice Alan Milburn in charge of his re-election campaign doesn't look so clever. Many ...

Brown wants schools to take babies in private nurseries
The Sunday Times - UK
... strategy, which arose partly out of Labour's so-called "big conversation" with voters, has been championed by Tony Blair and Alan Milburn, as well as the ...

Blunkett battles visa scandal
BBC News - London,England,UK
... The Sunday Telegraph points to problems for Gordon Brown and his loosening grip on government as Alan Milburn makes his presence felt as election co-ordinator. ...

Fighting defeat with defiance
Scotland on Sunday - Edinburgh,Scotland,UK
... Not only would the Blairite arch moderniser Alan Milburn be advancing a strategy quite different to that envisaged by the Brownites, but he would also be ...
David Blunkett: Tough love
Independent - London,England,UK
... launch of his book Politics and Progress, after the 2001 election, looked very like a gathering of the Stop Brown campaign, with Alan Milburn, Peter Mandelson ...

(NOT) Alan Milburn: MP for Darlington

2004-11-17T13:16:00.000Z

(NOT) Alan Milburn: MP for Darlington

Trevor Phillips, the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, is coming to Darlington tomorrow (thurs) to address the Annual Darlington Lecture.

This is something Alan chairs and we as his staff organise. There is an invited audience of around 250 people - those with a special interest in community and ethnic affairs from across the region - and politically motivated people in Darlington.

It's quite exciting as Trevor is an influential and interesting speaker who is bound to make some controversial remarks on his chosen subject of 'Equality, Diversity & Choice: Why we can have it all'.

Alan is here on Friday as usual - busy day planned as he is opening the nbew Beehive offices at Lingfield Point, seeing the Leader of the Council, and joining the Darlington Alzheimer's Carers Support Group.

Next general election will be "fought locally"

2004-11-03T19:32:00.000Z

Times Online - Comment - "Labour’s campaign co-ordinator, Alan Milburn, said this week that the general election campaign will be 'as much fought locally as it is nationally. Messages about the record of national achievement tend to mean less than what is happening in Darlington, Derby or Dartford.'"