Westminster Daily

By London_Nick Last edited 216 months ago
Westminster Daily
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Londonist aims to give you a concise yet informative idea of the daily goings on at Westminster (and the rest of London's political sphere) with this, the Westminster Daily post.

Speaker Martin has Heart Op

The first big story so far this week is the absence of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin. Mr. Martin was admitted to hospital in his native Glasgow during last week's parliamentary recess after suffering chest pains. He has since undergone an angioplasty operation (to widen narrowed arteries). He is now recovering at home, with his duties being taken over by his three deputies. Martin is expected to return after the Easter recess.

Jowell's Future Uncertain

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's future looks in doubt after allegations of sleaze. Her husband, an international lawyer, and obviously a dodgy bloke (he has already been in trouble for alleged dodgy dealings with Italian PM, Silvio Berlusconi), has now allegedly accepted a bribe, and the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell is now investigating Ms. Jowell's conduct. Ms. Jowell's mortgage arrangements are also causing ructions in the press. Watch this space to see if she survives.

Lib Dem Leadership Polls Close

If there are any Lib Dem members who have not yet made up their minds about which of the three leadership candidates to vote for, they might as well burn their ballot paper now - the polls have closed. With all three candidates claiming that they can still win (get real, Simon Hughes), it's going to be a close run thing. Londonist predicts that the announcement tomorrow will be in favour of Chris Huhne, the dark horse, who will only very narrowly beat Ming Campbell (1-2% in it, we reckon), but we could well be wrong. We will bring you the result when it is announced at 3pm tomorrow at the party's spring conference.

Ken Returns

The Lord Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has had his suspension frozen by a High Court judge, pending an appeal. Ken seems determined to take this all the way, even claiming that he is willing to spend "a couple of hundred thousand pounds" on the appeal process. Londonist will keep you updated with the news as it comes in.

Last Updated 01 March 2006