Nick Clegg

Amelia’s Magazine | Voting Reform: An interview with Amisha Ghadiali

by

Yes to Fairer Votes Vice-Chair Amisha Ghadiali wearing Ada Zanditon. Illustration by Sam Parr

On May 5th 2011, this the United Kingdom will be asked – in the first referendum since 1975 – to vote on the following question:

“At present, price the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?”

The referendum on the Alternative Vote is the first time in our lifetimes that the citizens of the UK have been able to have a say in how we elect MP’s to the House of Commons.

Currently, viagra 100mg this historical moment to discuss voting reform – amongst a broader analysis on the current state of Britain’s democracy – is being lost amidst (speculated) Coalition tensions and fear mongering on the cost of moving from FPTP to AV. Whilst to some, AV may be “a miserable little compromise” that fails to push voting reform far enough, by voting Yes! on the 5th May we, the citizens of the UK, can register our disquiet with the current system (FPTP) and enable the discussion on voting reform to stay at the forefront of the political agenda.

To find out more about what the Alternative Vote is compared to the current system of “First Past The Post” Amelia’s Magazine interviewed one of the Yes Campaign’s Vice-Chair’s: Jewellery Designer, Ethical Fashion Campaigner and Founder of Think Act Vote – Amisha Ghadiali.

Photography by Anna Gordon

What is a referendum?

A referendum is when we are asked to vote, not in an election, but on a single issue. Many of us would like to see more of these on a variety of issues. However they are not that common, the last UK-wide referendum was in 1975 asking the question “Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?”

What is the Alternative Vote?

The Alternative Vote is a voting system, it means that instead of putting one X on our ballot paper, we rank our candidates in order of preference. You can rank all the candidates, or just one, it’s totally up to you. What this means is that if there are three candidates that you would be happy to represent you, you can communicate this. Or if your first choice is a smaller party, that under the current system would have little chance to getting in, you can vote for them, but also somebody from one of the main parties, without having to vote tactically.

 The person who wins the seats needs to have the majority of the vote, so what they do is count the votes. If nobody has 50% of the vote, they eliminate the candidate that comes last, and add their second preferences to the remaining candidates. This repeats until somebody has over 50% of the vote. It means that no votes are wasted.

What are the benefits to AV compared to FPTP?

The current system FPTP means that who ever gets the most votes wins. This sounds fair but what it means in reality is that 2 out of 3 MPs in our parliament have less then 50% of the vote. This means that most of us are represented by people most of us voted against.

The Alternative Vote will mean that MPs will have to be voted for by the majority in their constituency, and so will have to work harder to make sure that they are listening to all of their constituents and representing all of their views, rather then pandering to their core voter support which many of them do.

How are the ‘winners’ in FPTP Elections often opposed to by the majority of voters?

Because the candidate who gets the most votes wins, it doesn’t matter how much of the vote they got. For example some have as little as 32% of the vote in their constituency, meaning that over two thirds of their consistency didn’t vote for them.

Why are you voting Yes to AV?

I think that the Alternative Vote will make our democracy more honest, make all of our votes count, make our MPs have to work harder to gain wider support in their constituencies, make our MPs more accountable to us and make our experience of voting simpler. We will still have our one local MP, but will have more of a say on who that is.

The way that we vote is how we take part in our democracy, and so having more of a say in this part of the process is vital to making ours a fairer politics.

I believe that voting yes in this referendum is the most important vote that we have ever been asked to cast.


AV – A Historical Perspective

Why do you believe this is the most important vote we have ever been asked to cast?

I have taken part in two general elections where I know that my vote didn’t make any difference to the result. Although voting in both general and local elections is an important part of our citizenship, this is us voting on the future of our democracy. It’s the first referendum that I have ever taken part in. It’s not about party politics and politicians but about how we take part in politics and have our views represented. What could be more important than that? After all they do work for us.

What is your role within the Yes campaign?

I am a Vice-Chair of the campaign. When I thought about it over Christmas, I realised how passionately I felt about this referendum, and contacted the campaign asking if I could help. They invited me to be a Vice-Chair along with other supporters including Eddie Izzard, Martin Bell and Greg Dyke. It means that we campaign and speak out about the issues to the media and at events, and as I have discovered in the pub too!

Yes to AV illustration by Mike Harman

 What are your thoughts on how both the Yes to AV and No to AV campaigns have been run?

To be honest, I have found the whole debate in the media really depressing. The focal point often is about how it is going to affect the politicians, but this is not about them, it’s about us and our experience voting. It’s about our future, not about the present.

Of course, I am a supporter of the Yes Campaign, but feel that I would have been deeply disappointed in the No Campaign tactics even if I supported FPTP. Their campaign messages are built on actual lies, and I can’t believe that people are spending millions of pounds spreading lies, rather then on creating an honest open debate about the two systems. There has been so much ‘mud slinging’ which I find shocking, because I thought our politics was better than that.

Their three arguments are that it is expensive, it will give extremist parties (ie the BNP) more power and that it is too complicated for us to understand. None of these things are actually true. They have said it will cost £250 million which is the cost of the referendum whatever the result and the cost of counting machines that we are not getting. They have said that it will encourage the BNP, when the BNP are supporting a No vote, as they know the current system works better for them. And the idea that it is too complicated is frankly insulting. We can all count to three!

The Yes campaign has had to respond to a lot of the allegations that have been made, using time when we would have preferred to talk about relevant issues. I am really enjoying the energy of the Yes campaign, it has brought together a group of passionate, committed people from a variety of backgrounds. The local groups that have been running phone banks and doing local actions are really energetic and inspiring. 

Photography by Anna Gordon

 Why do you think the Conservatives, headed by David Cameron are campaigning against AV, though Cameron himself won the party leadership through AV?

It’s baffling isn’t it. I find it shocking that he is saying that AV is a bad system when it gave him his job. If the Conservative Party leadership deserves AV, then so should we. It is a system that is used a lot in Westminster, not just for leadership contests but also other votes such as how MPs join select committees. I think it is because this change breaks down the tribalism of the Conservatives vs Labour Party, which has served the conservative party well. I thought Cameron was more progressive, but seeing him campaign on this, my personal view is that Cameron doesn’t actually want us to have more say, he is happy with the system as it is, as it works for him.

Will AV tackle the culture of tactical voting and ‘safe seats’? Thus uprooting the current system of members of parliament being parachuted intp safe constituencies?

Yes it will. There is a website called Voter Power, where you can find out what your vote is worth with AV compared to FPTP. From their analysis AV will reduce the number of very safe seats by 60, and increase the number of very marginal seats by 44. So this will make a big difference.

Safe seats are definitely a problem in our current system, as is the fact that political parties openly target the marginal seats only. In the last election the votes of only 1.6% of the electorate in 111 of these marginal seats decided the result. This is something that we have to change.

There will be no need for tactical voting. You can vote with your real preferences, and don’t have to think about voting ‘against’ people.

Why do you think the number of people who vote at each General Election is falling? What needs to change within our political system that will encourage people to use their vote?

I think that there are many reasons why voting turnout is falling, a lack of trust in politicians, declining numbers of political party membership, the number of safe seats held by MPs, feeling that votes don’t count, as just a few. I think that people need to feel more connected to politics, and feel that their voice is really heard through voting. I think the Alternative Vote will help solve these issues. It will not solve all the ills of politics in this country, but it is a small change we can and should make for the better.

Photography by Anna Gordon

In the media there have been mutterings on both the reduction of the number of MP’s and the redrawing of constituency boundaries, what effect will this decision have on politics and what is it relation to the referendum on the alternative vote?

So it has nothing to do with the referendum. This happened earlier in the year, it was part of the same bill that the referendum was on when it went through parliament, and was not something that we had a say on. This has happened, and will take effect at the next general election. There are going to be 50 less MPs which means that some of the current boundaries will be re-drawn and made bigger. The idea is that it keeps the cost of politics down.  It has been quite controversial as they are dividing some traditional boundaries and local areas. At the same time Cameron has appointed 117 new peers in the House of Lords since last May, which is actually putting the cost of politics up despite cutting the number of MPs.

Any website or article recommendations for those interested in finding out more about the referendum?

Electoral Reform
 
Yes to Fairer Votes

Elegance Rebellion

If you get the X Factor you’ll get AV – Johann Hari

You can join the campaign on Facebook and Twitter too!

Written by Silent City on Wednesday April 27th, 2011 1:45 pm

Categories ,5th May 2011, ,Amisha Ghadiali, ,Anna Gordon, ,Conservatives, ,David Cameron, ,Ed Milliband, ,FPTP, ,General Election, ,House of Commons, ,Labour, ,Liberal Democrats, ,May 5th, ,Mike Harman, ,MP, ,Nick Clegg, ,No to AV, ,Referendum, ,Sam Parr, ,Think Act Vote, ,Yes to AV, ,Yes to Fairer Votes

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Voting Reform: An interview with Amisha Ghadiali

by

Yes to Fairer Votes Vice-Chair Amisha Ghadiali wearing Ada Zanditon. Illustration by Sam Parr

On May 5th 2011, this the United Kingdom will be asked – in the first referendum since 1975 – to vote on the following question:

“At present, price the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?”

The referendum on the Alternative Vote is the first time in our lifetimes that the citizens of the UK have been able to have a say in how we elect MP’s to the House of Commons.

Currently, viagra 100mg this historical moment to discuss voting reform – amongst a broader analysis on the current state of Britain’s democracy – is being lost amidst (speculated) Coalition tensions and fear mongering on the cost of moving from FPTP to AV. Whilst to some, AV may be “a miserable little compromise” that fails to push voting reform far enough, by voting Yes! on the 5th May we, the citizens of the UK, can register our disquiet with the current system (FPTP) and enable the discussion on voting reform to stay at the forefront of the political agenda.

To find out more about what the Alternative Vote is compared to the current system of “First Past The Post” Amelia’s Magazine interviewed one of the Yes Campaign’s Vice-Chair’s: Jewellery Designer, Ethical Fashion Campaigner and Founder of Think Act Vote – Amisha Ghadiali.

Photography by Anna Gordon

What is a referendum?

A referendum is when we are asked to vote, not in an election, but on a single issue. Many of us would like to see more of these on a variety of issues. However they are not that common, the last UK-wide referendum was in 1975 asking the question “Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?”

What is the Alternative Vote?

The Alternative Vote is a voting system, it means that instead of putting one X on our ballot paper, we rank our candidates in order of preference. You can rank all the candidates, or just one, it’s totally up to you. What this means is that if there are three candidates that you would be happy to represent you, you can communicate this. Or if your first choice is a smaller party, that under the current system would have little chance to getting in, you can vote for them, but also somebody from one of the main parties, without having to vote tactically.

 The person who wins the seats needs to have the majority of the vote, so what they do is count the votes. If nobody has 50% of the vote, they eliminate the candidate that comes last, and add their second preferences to the remaining candidates. This repeats until somebody has over 50% of the vote. It means that no votes are wasted.

What are the benefits to AV compared to FPTP?

The current system FPTP means that who ever gets the most votes wins. This sounds fair but what it means in reality is that 2 out of 3 MPs in our parliament have less then 50% of the vote. This means that most of us are represented by people most of us voted against.

The Alternative Vote will mean that MPs will have to be voted for by the majority in their constituency, and so will have to work harder to make sure that they are listening to all of their constituents and representing all of their views, rather then pandering to their core voter support which many of them do.

How are the ‘winners’ in FPTP Elections often opposed to by the majority of voters?

Because the candidate who gets the most votes wins, it doesn’t matter how much of the vote they got. For example some have as little as 32% of the vote in their constituency, meaning that over two thirds of their consistency didn’t vote for them.

Why are you voting Yes to AV?

I think that the Alternative Vote will make our democracy more honest, make all of our votes count, make our MPs have to work harder to gain wider support in their constituencies, make our MPs more accountable to us and make our experience of voting simpler. We will still have our one local MP, but will have more of a say on who that is.

The way that we vote is how we take part in our democracy, and so having more of a say in this part of the process is vital to making ours a fairer politics.

I believe that voting yes in this referendum is the most important vote that we have ever been asked to cast.


AV – A Historical Perspective

Why do you believe this is the most important vote we have ever been asked to cast?

I have taken part in two general elections where I know that my vote didn’t make any difference to the result. Although voting in both general and local elections is an important part of our citizenship, this is us voting on the future of our democracy. It’s the first referendum that I have ever taken part in. It’s not about party politics and politicians but about how we take part in politics and have our views represented. What could be more important than that? After all they do work for us.

What is your role within the Yes campaign?

I am a Vice-Chair of the campaign. When I thought about it over Christmas, I realised how passionately I felt about this referendum, and contacted the campaign asking if I could help. They invited me to be a Vice-Chair along with other supporters including Eddie Izzard, Martin Bell and Greg Dyke. It means that we campaign and speak out about the issues to the media and at events, and as I have discovered in the pub too!

Yes to AV illustration by Mike Harman

 What are your thoughts on how both the Yes to AV and No to AV campaigns have been run?

To be honest, I have found the whole debate in the media really depressing. The focal point often is about how it is going to affect the politicians, but this is not about them, it’s about us and our experience voting. It’s about our future, not about the present.

Of course, I am a supporter of the Yes Campaign, but feel that I would have been deeply disappointed in the No Campaign tactics even if I supported FPTP. Their campaign messages are built on actual lies, and I can’t believe that people are spending millions of pounds spreading lies, rather then on creating an honest open debate about the two systems. There has been so much ‘mud slinging’ which I find shocking, because I thought our politics was better than that.

Their three arguments are that it is expensive, it will give extremist parties (ie the BNP) more power and that it is too complicated for us to understand. None of these things are actually true. They have said it will cost £250 million which is the cost of the referendum whatever the result and the cost of counting machines that we are not getting. They have said that it will encourage the BNP, when the BNP are supporting a No vote, as they know the current system works better for them. And the idea that it is too complicated is frankly insulting. We can all count to three!

The Yes campaign has had to respond to a lot of the allegations that have been made, using time when we would have preferred to talk about relevant issues. I am really enjoying the energy of the Yes campaign, it has brought together a group of passionate, committed people from a variety of backgrounds. The local groups that have been running phone banks and doing local actions are really energetic and inspiring. 

Photography by Anna Gordon

 Why do you think the Conservatives, headed by David Cameron are campaigning against AV, though Cameron himself won the party leadership through AV?

It’s baffling isn’t it. I find it shocking that he is saying that AV is a bad system when it gave him his job. If the Conservative Party leadership deserves AV, then so should we. It is a system that is used a lot in Westminster, not just for leadership contests but also other votes such as how MPs join select committees. I think it is because this change breaks down the tribalism of the Conservatives vs Labour Party, which has served the conservative party well. I thought Cameron was more progressive, but seeing him campaign on this, my personal view is that Cameron doesn’t actually want us to have more say, he is happy with the system as it is, as it works for him.

Will AV tackle the culture of tactical voting and ‘safe seats’? Thus uprooting the current system of members of parliament being parachuted intp safe constituencies?

Yes it will. There is a website called Voter Power, where you can find out what your vote is worth with AV compared to FPTP. From their analysis AV will reduce the number of very safe seats by 60, and increase the number of very marginal seats by 44. So this will make a big difference.

Safe seats are definitely a problem in our current system, as is the fact that political parties openly target the marginal seats only. In the last election the votes of only 1.6% of the electorate in 111 of these marginal seats decided the result. This is something that we have to change.

There will be no need for tactical voting. You can vote with your real preferences, and don’t have to think about voting ‘against’ people.

Why do you think the number of people who vote at each General Election is falling? What needs to change within our political system that will encourage people to use their vote?

I think that there are many reasons why voting turnout is falling, a lack of trust in politicians, declining numbers of political party membership, the number of safe seats held by MPs, feeling that votes don’t count, as just a few. I think that people need to feel more connected to politics, and feel that their voice is really heard through voting. I think the Alternative Vote will help solve these issues. It will not solve all the ills of politics in this country, but it is a small change we can and should make for the better.

Photography by Anna Gordon

In the media there have been mutterings on both the reduction of the number of MP’s and the redrawing of constituency boundaries, what effect will this decision have on politics and what is it relation to the referendum on the alternative vote?

So it has nothing to do with the referendum. This happened earlier in the year, it was part of the same bill that the referendum was on when it went through parliament, and was not something that we had a say on. This has happened, and will take effect at the next general election. There are going to be 50 less MPs which means that some of the current boundaries will be re-drawn and made bigger. The idea is that it keeps the cost of politics down.  It has been quite controversial as they are dividing some traditional boundaries and local areas. At the same time Cameron has appointed 117 new peers in the House of Lords since last May, which is actually putting the cost of politics up despite cutting the number of MPs.

Any website or article recommendations for those interested in finding out more about the referendum?

Electoral Reform
 
Yes to Fairer Votes

Elegance Rebellion

If you get the X Factor you’ll get AV – Johann Hari

You can join the campaign on Facebook and Twitter too!

Written by Silent City on Wednesday April 27th, 2011 1:45 pm

Categories ,5th May 2011, ,Amisha Ghadiali, ,Anna Gordon, ,Conservatives, ,David Cameron, ,Ed Milliband, ,FPTP, ,General Election, ,House of Commons, ,Labour, ,Liberal Democrats, ,May 5th, ,Mike Harman, ,MP, ,Nick Clegg, ,No to AV, ,Referendum, ,Sam Parr, ,Think Act Vote, ,Yes to AV, ,Yes to Fairer Votes

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Greenpeace need your help to find 100,000 owners for Airplot by May 1st!

by

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani da silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Born in Brazil but resident of Milan, case Cristiane Chaves brought us a ‘subliminal message of seduction from Italy’ with her Cyberwitch look. A google search on this designer throws up an intriguing website Temporary Label, visit web which suggests that Cristiane puts a lot of thought into the execution of her work, more about using dissolvable labels that remove all trace of the original designer’s input. I think you’d want to remember who’d designed these highly accomplished draped and roped garments if you managed to get your paws on one.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Cristiane Chaves.

I found Olivia Grogan‘s collection of stripy print dresses cute but nothing special. A textiles graduate from Northampton University, these were sweet halter neck outfits to wear to a summer party.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Olivia Grogan

Toni Ann Haines was quite frankly frightening: plastic coats over ill-fitting boned bodies. No thanks.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Toni Ann Haines
Toni Ann Haines.

From Germany, Wilfried Pletzinger showed a brilliant collection of recycled sportswear. Thanks to a bit of clever ruching, jumbling everything upside down this way and that, he gave us something new and highly desirable. From day to day clothes to evening wear he aims to challenge the role of ‘sportswear’ and he does a really good job of making this happen – take a look at his website to get inspired by more of his creations. This is how all sportswear should end it’s days (or merely start them once more, to be upcycled all over again?)

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Wilfried Pletzinger brings a whole new meaning to upcycling.

Immani Da Silva, inspired by the worlds of fetish and burlesque (no shit Sherlock), presented a truly frightening collection of clothing fit only for the most outrageous trannies. It didn’t hold together in any way at all, but I enjoyed shooting the models, posers, the lot of them.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Immani Da Silva models have fun with the photographers.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010
Does she belong with Immani? I’m not sure.

Make up artist Maya was lurking around backstage during the Immani show, looking fabulous again. And then I espied another young girl sporting amazing rainbow eye make up. Related? What do you think? I was too chicken to ask.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Make up artist maya
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Make up artist maya

And last but very not least I absolutely adored the collection – Sock it to Me (Make Do and Mend) – made by the students of Waltham Forest College, the entirety of which was made out of old socks and presented on the most hilarious gaggle of models shod in floral welly boots. In bright pink Barbara Cartland lipstick with zingy blue eyeshadow they were utterly brilliant exhibitionists who couldn’t stop posing once they’d left the catwalk. Who would have thought that recycled socks could be so sexy? Just gorgeous. I’d photograph these girls again any day.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College

For some good footage from the catwalk on Friday check out Ballad Of here.
You can read part one of this blog post here.
Look out for my last post, which will be ways in which to make the best impression at Alternative Fashion Week. Something to read for next year maybe!

If I have got any credits wrong please email me and let me know. I’ve done my best.
To celebrate the Easter break and an imminent change in our background design I am offering a special discount of £5 on the purchase of Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration – just insert the discount code EASTER in the appropriate field when purchasing the book. Offer expires on 9th April.

If you like Amelia’s Magazine and enjoy the content please do support this website by buying my book because sales from this are the main source of my income – adverts alone do not produce enough revenue for me to support the website. Think of this as a donation to keep the website running, approved with a fabulous book thrown in for free! I appreciate your help.
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If you would like to have something reviewed, viagra sale write or illustrate for the website, then please contact the relevant editor above.
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Born in Brazil but resident of Milan, cost Cristiane Chaves brought us a ‘subliminal message of seduction from Italy’ with her Cyberwitch look. A google search on this designer throws up an intriguing website Temporary Label, visit this site which suggests that Cristiane puts a lot of thought into the execution of her work, price using dissolvable labels that remove all trace of the original designer’s input. I think you’d want to remember who’d designed these highly accomplished draped and roped garments if you managed to get your paws on one.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Cristiane Chaves
Cristiane Chaves.

I found Olivia Grogan‘s collection of stripy print dresses cute but nothing special. A textiles graduate from Northampton University, these were sweet halter neck outfits to wear to a summer party.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Olivia Grogan

Toni Ann Haines was quite frankly frightening: plastic coats over ill-fitting boned bodies. No thanks.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Toni Ann Haines
Toni Ann Haines.

From Germany, Wilfried Pletzinger showed a brilliant collection of recycled sportswear. Thanks to a bit of clever ruching, jumbling everything upside down this way and that, he gave us something new and highly desirable. From day to day clothes to evening wear he aims to challenge the role of ‘sportswear’ and he does a really good job of making this happen – take a look at his website to get inspired by more of his creations. This is how all sportswear should end it’s days (or merely start them once more, to be upcycled all over again?)

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Wilfried Pletzinger
Wilfried Pletzinger brings a whole new meaning to upcycling.

Immani Da Silva, inspired by the worlds of fetish and burlesque (no shit Sherlock), presented a truly frightening collection of clothing fit only for the most outrageous trannies. It didn’t hold together in any way at all, but I enjoyed shooting the models, posers, the lot of them.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani da silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani da silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani Da Silva
Immani Da Silva models have fun with the photographers.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010
Does she belong with Immani? I’m not sure.

Make up artist Maya was lurking around backstage during the Immani show, looking fabulous again. And then I espied another young girl sporting amazing rainbow eye make up. Related? What do you think? I was too chicken to ask.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Make up artist maya
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Make up artist maya

And last but very not least I absolutely adored the collection – Sock it to Me (Make Do and Mend) – made by the students of Waltham Forest College, the entirety of which was made out of old socks and presented on the most hilarious gaggle of models shod in floral welly boots. In bright pink Barbara Cartland lipstick with zingy blue eyeshadow they were utterly brilliant exhibitionists who couldn’t stop posing once they’d left the catwalk. Who would have thought that recycled socks could be so sexy? Just gorgeous. I’d photograph these girls again any day.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College
Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Waltham Forest College

For some good footage from the catwalk on Friday check out Ballad Of here.
You can read part one of this blog post here.
Look out for my last post, which will be ways in which to make the best impression at Alternative Fashion Week. Something to read for next year maybe!

If I have got any credits wrong please email me and let me know. I’ve done my best.
Aniela Murphy Airplot
Illustration by Aniela Murphy.

Airplot is the name by which Greenpeace’s campaign to prevent Heathrow’s third runway from being built is known and is a piece of land near the endangered village of Sipson upon which great schemes are hatched to thwart and confound the BAA in their mission to destroy and expand. Anna Jones has been with Greenpeace, treat campaigning against airport expansion, adiposity for the past three years.

Could you give us a bit of background on the project? How did it all begin?
In about Spring 2008 we decided to try and buy a bit of the runway, essentially, to be able to take direct action and put ourselves in the way of the plans. It was quite a tall order to do that under the radar, as it were, top secretly. We were worried that BAA might find out and try and buy the bit before we got there. We spent quite a few months trying to find a piece of land that we could buy and in January 2009 we managed to pull it off and announced it to the world a couple of days before the government announced it was going to support the third runway. We knew all along that the government was going to support the runway because it had basically been a stitch up from the beginning, so they had said in 2003 that they wanted the runway to happen. Greenpeace and other groups did a lot to highlight the collusion that went on between the Department of Transport and BAA to fix the figures to try and argue that expansion wouldn’t create any more air or noise pollution. The key thing was that they didn’t really mention climate change; they thought as they were dealing with climate change through the climate emissions scheme theat they didn’t really need to worry about it, and that it was all fine. But of course, we all knew that it’s not all fine, and the new runway would massively undermine our ability to meet our climate change targets.

When we launched Airplot, we made it possible for anyone and everyone around the world to become an owner of the land. Now there are over 80,000 people signed up to become beneficial owners of the land, and we’re hoping to take this number up to 100,000 by the beginning of May. Our aim is, once the new government comes to power after the election, we’ll slap the deeds on their desk and show them the level of opposition, which will continue if they don’t drop the plans.

The recent high court decision that the airport expansion needs to be reviewed must’ve really helped.
That’s what we’ve been arguing all along; that they weren’t properly considering climate change. We had to take them to court to prove that and the judge ruled that the government hadn’t properly considered the climate change act when they were considering the third runway. Now they need to go back and do a whole review of their whole aviation policy of which the third runaway is a big part, and make sure that it’s in line with the climate change act. It’s a massive step-forward for the campaign but also hugely significant for climate change law & climate change policy.

Aniela Murphy Airplot
Illustration by Aniela Murphy.

How much danger is the village of Sipson in, at the moment?
A great deal of danger! The whole village would be completely destroyed.

How are the government defending that? What are they suggesting the villagers do?
They’re shying away from it. People are going to have to find their own way. What’s worrying is that BAA have already started buying people’s houses, which shows that they are going to do whatever they can to try and get their runway. Up at Stanstead, where they were pushing for a second runway, they had been buying up properties in the area that they wanted to build the runway, despite the fact that they didn’t even have planning permission for it, so they’re a really underhand company who think they’re going to get their way by bullying people. They’re just going to bulldoze through people’s lives, essentially. It’s very tense in Sipson, it’s been a long time for people to be living with the threat of the runway, seven or eight years now, so it’s a really difficult situation for the residents, but there’s an incredible bunch of people down there who’ve been fighting all the way, and we’ve been joining with them, and all the other groups who’ve been involved in the coalition over the last couple of years. By joining together we’ve become a lot more powerful and are really looking like we’re going to win the campaign now, so it’s difficult but everyone’s feeling very confident that we’ll get there in the end.

On the website, you encourage people to really get involved with “astonishing actions“; what have people been getting up to?
People have been climbing mountains and putting the Airplot flag on top of them, Plane Stupid do bold actions where they break into airports and stop planes from taking off. Greenpeace activists got onto a plane at Heathrow and stopped a short-haul flight from going to Manchester. Not everyone wants to take direct action though, so people around the country have been baking cakes & planting trees and encouraging their MPs to become beneficial owners. We now have nearly 100 MPs who are beneficial owners of the land. Each of the trees in the orchard, that we planted in November last year on the land, have been adopted by different parts of the coalition, including MPs from all the four main parties – Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and The Green party- including David Cameron. Nick Clegg came down to plant his tree on behalf of the Liberal Democrats as well.

You describe the orchard, and the allotment, as ‘putting roots down’ in an action directly and symbolically opposed to the destruction BAA is prepared to wreak…It also meant you got to meet Richard Briers from The Good Life…
Yeah, he’s come down a couple of times. He came down to help create the allotment, as, obviously, he’s a champion of growing-it-yourself. He also came down to plant the orchard, and that was a good day. We had the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy down as well, who’s written a poem about the area which Alison Steadman read on the day – which you can see in the video on the main Airplot site – and Nick Clegg came that day as well. We’ve had some really great support from well-known people who are really passionate about the campaign. A lot of them live in West London as well, so they’re affected by the noise, and worry about the other consequences of the third runway too.

Have you sent veg from the allotment to every MP?
We just planted a load more; a lot of the villagers helped themselves to the veg last year, which was great, they were making soups and dishes for each other. We’ll be continuing to plant stuff in the allotment and get the produce to the next government.

With all the MPs who have trees in the orchard, do you think that if the Liberal Democrats or Conservatives get into power, they’ll take the campaign seriously?
Yep, I think so, we hope so! They’ve said pretty categorically that they won’t allow it and they’ll have to come and dig up their trees if they want to go ahead! So hopefully they’ll stick to their word. Governments have u-turned in the past, so we’ll have to keep up the pressure so that if they were to come to power they can’t go back on their promise and if Labour do get back into power, then we’ll be doing what we can to change their minds. I think we’ve got a really long way ahead in the campaign to the point where we do have the Tories & Liberal Democrats opposed to the expansion and the legal ruling on our side. We’re feeling very confident that we’re going to win, but we’re definitely not there yet and that’s why we want to get to 100,000 by the beginning of May to show that strength of grassroots power and public power across the country, and the world.

Anna Jones Aniela Murphy
Illustration of Anna Jones by Aniela Murphy.

How has the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull helped the project, aside from achieving the elusive goal of every environmental activist and grounding all Britain’s planes!
Well, it was a pretty amazing week, and a lot of people who were affected by the noise had a bit of a respite. Emissions will definitely have gone down in that time because millions on tonnes of CO2 go into the air from aviation. It also helped encourage debate about whether we’re too dependant on aviation for moving things around. People were realising that we can slow down a bit, it is possible, and we can make journeys by alternative means. What we’ve been arguing all along is that short haul flights shouldn’t be going at all when we’re able to take the train. There are loads of destinations that Heathrow is going to which are under 500 km which you can easily get to by train. I think its given people a different perspective and shown that we can make those journeys, we don’t have to fly. It’s highlighted the dual aspect of the project then; not just grounding planes but thinking about alternative means of travel and energy use… Greenpeace is always about championing solutions & alternatives as well as highlighting the things that are wrong and need to be stopped. A lot of our work on climate change is about energy and trying to move away from fuel-based energy systems, and reducing the amount of energy we use to begin with as well as improving energy efficiency and looking at renewable energy. That goes for transport as well; we’re talking about using alternatives and instead of flying somewhere, taking the train somewhere. Ultimately, we need to be thinking about whether we need to take those longer flights or how many we need to take. We need to be reducing the amount of miles that we’re travelling.

What are your thoughts on the solar planes in development, and other renewable energy technologies which are being researched in regards to the aviation industry?
It’s really interesting to see that happening, and obviously, if we can find those solutions that’s great, but what we’re worried about is the industry saying that we’re going to use biofuels and solar planes so we don’t need to worry and we can keep expanding now. The problem is that we can’t expand in the meantime because that’s still using oil and pumping emissions out into the atmosphere. We can’t see that as an excuse for expanding. We need to stop the expansion programme, see whether those alternatives are really viable. We have some concerns particularly about biofuels, as they’re linked to rainforest destruction and there isn’t clear evidence that they do reduce emissions. Ultimately, if we do find an alternative that really does work, then fantastic, but we’re very concerned about the industry using that as greenwash.

What else is going on down at the Airplot at the moment? Are there any more events planned for the future?
Potentially, if we keep up the pressure. We’ve been running a competition to design a fortress from the Airplot, which we’ll be judging in a month or so. There’s an exhibition happening at the beginning of June down at OXO which will showcase the winning designs. So if we have to we’re prepared to build a structure to enable us to take direct action, but hopefully we’ll win before then, so we won’t have to build it. We’re preparing for that stage now, in case we have to take direct action. The exhibition will be around the 2-6th June at OXO Barge Gallery.

There’s only a week left to go to grab a bit of the plot and become a beneficial owner before the start of May, so head over to the Airplot website for your own piece of the action, and don’t forget to spread the word among your friends too. It only takes a moment to fill in your details and read up on the legal ramifications of being a beneficial owner which I’m sure includes the right to play in a fort!

Written by Amelia Wells on Wednesday April 28th, 2010 8:53 pm

Categories ,Airplot, ,Aniela Murphy, ,Anna Jones, ,baa, ,Election, ,Greenpeace, ,heathrow, ,MPs, ,Nick Clegg, ,Orchard, ,sipson

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Amelia’s Magazine | Protest: Why We Support The Student Occupations

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Bust Craftacular
Josie Long and Darren Hayman support the occupations. All Photographs courtesy of UCLOccupation.

Since the first protest over two weeks ago, viagra 40mg there has been something palatable in the air; occupation, seek occupation, occupation! Across Britain students have left the streets and occupied their University halls in protest against the outcome of Lord Browne’s report: tuition fees to rise, the abolishment of EMA’s and the suggested removal of the state funding Universities receive to aid their research and teaching budgets.

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In the face of the Coalition’s seemingly never-ending barrage of cuts targeting every section of the welfare state, there has been the inevitable attempts to label the student protests as self indulgent (though what is self indulgent about fighting to preserve access to higher education for all, in perpetuity?!). I was disappointed to see the always readable Polly Toynbee state: “Sorry Students, but you’re low in the pain pecking order” we should be avoiding the desire to turn the terrifying breadth and width of the cuts into a hierarchical system of the most deserving.

Emmy the Great dropped by UCL…

Yet the students are fighting back against charges of indulgency, one of the demands made by the UCLOccupation is for all University employees to be paid the London Living Wage. The inclusion of this demand has lead to increased support from Toynbee and her more recent article “Thatcher’s Children can lead the Class of 68 back into action” signaled a change in approach. The Students are using their platform of occupation not only to campaign against sweeping changes to the perception of Higher Education, but to join forces -as I learnt whilst visiting UCLOccupation- with other groups (NHS, Library Workers, Legal Aid etc) to protest against these draconian, unnecessary and dogmatic cuts.

Céilí Dancing

Personally, I completely support the occupations of Universities, I’ve tasted the education cuts proposed by the Coalition and the impact they had on my student body was terrible, morale was low, people questioned why they were plunging into debt when they were receiving so little in return. It made many students question the worth of their courses, which is what The Browne report wants to achieve – the commodification of learning. Education is not about financial worth and society will quickly become lacking in innovation and discussion if this thinking becomes the norm.

This is the inevitable problem when turning education into a competitive market rather than an individual choice about whether or not to further their learning. Maybe I was idealistic at what university would offer, but the sly cuts in teaching, space and access to workshops was not what I was expecting. During my second year at Goldsmiths we spent the year fighting against bigger class sizes on a third of the teachers, compounded by the loss of workshops and studio space so small, people stopped coming into the studios. Luckily for our third year, we managed to claw back studio space and instigate a system of visiting tutors, but the depth of knowledge we lost with the axed tutors was unmistakable.

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Goldsmiths was the second university I tried, I left my first in protest against their education cuts. I bring up my experiences because despite Clegg’s lame protestations, it is not only the higher fees that would put me off if I was applying now, it is the slow destruction of our higher education system. The forcing of universities to act like businesses is not working and nor should it. Education is not a marketable commodity and we need to protect it alongside our incredible welfare state (the first hospital has already been all but privatised – Andrew Lansley’s white paper is a slippery slope), why are we allowing free universal access to medical care slip through our fingers? No-one in the Cabinet paid for their higher education and they experienced the best it had and still has to offer. We need to support the student occupations, we need to support the preservation of higher education.

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I visited the UCLOccupation“>UCL occupation on Saturday and it was amazing hive of activity (as all the occupied universities will be). This weekend the Slade are mobilising art against the cuts, you can see their manifesto here. Since my visit the protestors marched again on tuesday and ran circles around the police’s attempt to kettle them or in the words of newspeak, ‘detain.’ There are many excellent accounts of what happened available across the internet or join twitter for live updates.

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Rather disappointingly UCL Lawyers have been called in to secure an injunction to evict the students, a move being instigated no doubt by all Universities currently occupied. It would be a breath of fresh air for the University bodies to support the students who fill their halls.

Do check out what events are happening at the various spaces, during my visit to UCL I caught the end of Billy Bragg, saw the rousing support of the National Union of Journalists, sat through a book reading and the tutor’s rallying support for the plight of students across Britain and had the opportunity to listen to David Wearing discussing a brief and indept history to capitalism and Dan Hind talk about the ideas contained -democratising debate via a public editorial system, removing the power from the elite- within his latest book, The Return of the Public.

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This week Slade Art School students occupied in opposition to cuts that “threaten the existence of arts and humanities education in England and Wales…we vehemently oppose the transformation of the university system into a market based model; education should be a public debate, not a private economy.” Rather brilliantly the Slade are using their space as an assembly point for all art colleges to get together and organise “non-violent direct action” against the Government’s attacks on the arts. It is worth mentioning that course that appears de rigor for politicians -the PPE- would be considered a humanitarian subject and that the people who are forcing these changes on us, had free access to University, despite being millionaires. This weekend the Slade will be hosting lectures, events and workshops to “highlight the value of intellectual and cultural exchange within art courses.” Supported by the The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, the events run from the 3rd December to Sunday 5th.

This Saturday (4th) sees a national day of action against ALL cuts proposed by the coalition and another protest with teachers, students and parents is being planned for the 9th. This was originally and remains banking crisis, a crisis of capitalism, we can negotiate a new space if we work together. The government bailed out the banks and populations across the world are paying the price. This type of capitalism continually fails as do the unchecked belief in unregulated markets. Why would we let people involved in this crisis, advise us that the best model for Universities is one based on the market??

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Written by Sally Mumby-Croft on Thursday December 2nd, 2010 2:00 pm

Categories ,Billy Bragg, ,Cuts, ,David Cameron, ,Education, ,Falmouth, ,Fees Increase, ,Josie Long, ,kettling, ,Kings College, ,Little Miss Wilde, ,Nick Clegg, ,protest, ,slade, ,SOAS, ,The New Left Project, ,UCL, ,UCLOccupation, ,UEL Occupation, ,University of East London, ,Whitehall

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Amelia’s Magazine | The ballot box calls all the boys to the yard…

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Election Night Womens representation – jenny robins

Illustration by Jenny Robins

I didn’t plan on staying up so late on Election night. I had well-meaning plans involving a cup of tea, dosage my pajamas and being tucked up in bed with a book by 10pm. But like many people, hospital as soon as the exit polls rolled in, I was hooked. My emotions swung from disbelief to elation, despair to complete confusion, the latter being the prevailing feeling.

I am not sure if there is any other point in the year where this is the case, but all eyes were on Sunderland. Initially I was baffled by the focus on rushing to count the votes. I would rather it was accurate than rushed, it isn’t Total Wipeout (although how I wish it was! Imagine – the party leaders racing round the course, being pounded with mechanical fists and squaring up to the Big Balls?!) But as the first, second and third result came in, I realized that for a brief, bizarre moment, we had a 100% female government. Imagine that. And bloomin bizarre it was. But why? Why is it so hard to imagine an all female government?

The sad reality is that women are still dramatically under-represented in key areas of public, political and economic life: In the last British Parliament of 646 there were only 126 female MPs. This is abysmal. We lag far far behind countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Senegal and Latvia when it comes to women’s representation. The majority of UK senior civil servants, directors of FTSE 100 companies, senior lawyers, and key figures in the media are men. No wonder so many teenage girls cite Katie Price as their role model, though that does make me want to eat my own face. If women are excluded from the top jobs, half the talent of the nation is wasted.


llustration by Jenny Robins

I went to bed around 2.30am unable to keep my eyes open any more, with an excited, but admittedly naïve, confidence that this election would see a significant increase In women in parliament. According to the Centre for Women and Democracy and the Fawcett Society, Thursday’s General Election resulted in… wait for it….. drum roll…… 142 women MPs. Yes! That’s an extra 16! Oh- no, wait a minute… 142 female MP’s in a parliament of 649…. that’s only 22% of parliament. On a positive note, this included Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, and the election of Britain’s first ever female Asian MPs. A tiny bit better, but overall its pathetic, quite frankly. Fuck.

As I write this, there is speculation about the leader of the labour party. Oh, more white men? Déjà vu anyone? Will a women even stand? But more alarmingly, Cameron is currently forming his new cabinet, and according to the BBC, not a single women has been appointed to the cabinet yet, and I’m pretty sure that not a single woman has even been mentioned. Sweet mercy. From bad to dire.

UPDATE: 4 women were appointed to the cabinet, none in the top jobs. This still puts us far behind our European counterparts. Theresa May is the new Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, who, according to theyworkforyou voted against rights for gay people. Go figure.

This has to change. If women’s representation continues to creep up in 1 or 2 percentage points like it has done up until now it will literally take decades before women are fairly represented in our country. Women only shortlists may sound drastic to some but when you consider the state of women’s representation nationally, you realize that it’s drastically needed.

And then there is proportional representation. Oh sweet, fair, idolized proportional representation! How we long for you! It is a clear olive branch standing out from the mushy confused mess of the election result. (Lib-lab, lab-con, Con-dem anyone?) The case for voter reform is more convincing than ever.

There are apparently gazilillions of different proportional representation systems, but roughly it means that if a party receives 10% of the vote, they receive 10% representation, which is hundreds of miles better than the system we have now when a party receives 51% of the vote but 100% of the influence in parliament. The Electoral Reform Society explains one system thus; “At present, constituencies are represented in parliament by just one MP. Under a Single Transferable Vote system, each constituency is represented by a small group of representatives…This makes it possible for representatives of different parties to be elected in each ward, thus allowing more people to have representatives of the parties of their choice.” Having a group of representatives in each constituency will mean that it will be even more blindingly obvious if women are not represented there (same for other minority groups too). In other countries that operate proportional representation more women are nominated, and the more women are nominated the more they are elected. Proportional representation also means that people can vote according to what they actually believe in (like, for example, electing more women to parliament, amongst other things) rather than tactically to keep certain parties in or out.


Illustration by Sandra Dieckmann

So yes. Women are still dismally under represented. Yes, teenage girls are growing up saving for boob jobs. Yes, we heard more about the dresses of the leaders wives than we did the policies of the female candidates. But it is time to say no. We wont stand for our outdated, old fashioned, unfair voting system any more… Takebackparliament , a coalition of a range of different voter reform groups have organised a demonstration calling for voter reform on Saturday. When you’re talking to your kids and grandkids in years to come about this bonkers election, don’t say you watched it on facebook and TV. Say you got involved and made a difference.

Join them this Saturday At 2pm at Parliament Sq.

*climbs down off soap box and sneaks away quietly….*

Written by Hannah Bullivant on Wednesday May 12th, 2010 10:46 am

Categories ,activism, ,Cabinet office, ,David Cameron, ,earth, ,fashion, ,General Election, ,Jenny Robins, ,london, ,Nick Clegg, ,Theresa May, ,women’s rights, ,Womens representation

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Amelia’s Magazine | The ballot box calls all the boys to the yard…

by

Election Night Womens representation – jenny robins

Illustration by Jenny Robins

I didn’t plan on staying up so late on Election night. I had well-meaning plans involving a cup of tea, dosage my pajamas and being tucked up in bed with a book by 10pm. But like many people, hospital as soon as the exit polls rolled in, I was hooked. My emotions swung from disbelief to elation, despair to complete confusion, the latter being the prevailing feeling.

I am not sure if there is any other point in the year where this is the case, but all eyes were on Sunderland. Initially I was baffled by the focus on rushing to count the votes. I would rather it was accurate than rushed, it isn’t Total Wipeout (although how I wish it was! Imagine – the party leaders racing round the course, being pounded with mechanical fists and squaring up to the Big Balls?!) But as the first, second and third result came in, I realized that for a brief, bizarre moment, we had a 100% female government. Imagine that. And bloomin bizarre it was. But why? Why is it so hard to imagine an all female government?

The sad reality is that women are still dramatically under-represented in key areas of public, political and economic life: In the last British Parliament of 646 there were only 126 female MPs. This is abysmal. We lag far far behind countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Senegal and Latvia when it comes to women’s representation. The majority of UK senior civil servants, directors of FTSE 100 companies, senior lawyers, and key figures in the media are men. No wonder so many teenage girls cite Katie Price as their role model, though that does make me want to eat my own face. If women are excluded from the top jobs, half the talent of the nation is wasted.


llustration by Jenny Robins

I went to bed around 2.30am unable to keep my eyes open any more, with an excited, but admittedly naïve, confidence that this election would see a significant increase In women in parliament. According to the Centre for Women and Democracy and the Fawcett Society, Thursday’s General Election resulted in… wait for it….. drum roll…… 142 women MPs. Yes! That’s an extra 16! Oh- no, wait a minute… 142 female MP’s in a parliament of 649…. that’s only 22% of parliament. On a positive note, this included Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, and the election of Britain’s first ever female Asian MPs. A tiny bit better, but overall its pathetic, quite frankly. Fuck.

As I write this, there is speculation about the leader of the labour party. Oh, more white men? Déjà vu anyone? Will a women even stand? But more alarmingly, Cameron is currently forming his new cabinet, and according to the BBC, not a single women has been appointed to the cabinet yet, and I’m pretty sure that not a single woman has even been mentioned. Sweet mercy. From bad to dire.

UPDATE: 4 women were appointed to the cabinet, none in the top jobs. This still puts us far behind our European counterparts. Theresa May is the new Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, who, according to theyworkforyou voted against rights for gay people. Go figure.

This has to change. If women’s representation continues to creep up in 1 or 2 percentage points like it has done up until now it will literally take decades before women are fairly represented in our country. Women only shortlists may sound drastic to some but when you consider the state of women’s representation nationally, you realize that it’s drastically needed.

And then there is proportional representation. Oh sweet, fair, idolized proportional representation! How we long for you! It is a clear olive branch standing out from the mushy confused mess of the election result. (Lib-lab, lab-con, Con-dem anyone?) The case for voter reform is more convincing than ever.

There are apparently gazilillions of different proportional representation systems, but roughly it means that if a party receives 10% of the vote, they receive 10% representation, which is hundreds of miles better than the system we have now when a party receives 51% of the vote but 100% of the influence in parliament. The Electoral Reform Society explains one system thus; “At present, constituencies are represented in parliament by just one MP. Under a Single Transferable Vote system, each constituency is represented by a small group of representatives…This makes it possible for representatives of different parties to be elected in each ward, thus allowing more people to have representatives of the parties of their choice.” Having a group of representatives in each constituency will mean that it will be even more blindingly obvious if women are not represented there (same for other minority groups too). In other countries that operate proportional representation more women are nominated, and the more women are nominated the more they are elected. Proportional representation also means that people can vote according to what they actually believe in (like, for example, electing more women to parliament, amongst other things) rather than tactically to keep certain parties in or out.


Illustration by Sandra Dieckmann

So yes. Women are still dismally under represented. Yes, teenage girls are growing up saving for boob jobs. Yes, we heard more about the dresses of the leaders wives than we did the policies of the female candidates. But it is time to say no. We wont stand for our outdated, old fashioned, unfair voting system any more… Takebackparliament , a coalition of a range of different voter reform groups have organised a demonstration calling for voter reform on Saturday. When you’re talking to your kids and grandkids in years to come about this bonkers election, don’t say you watched it on facebook and TV. Say you got involved and made a difference.

Join them this Saturday At 2pm at Parliament Sq.

*climbs down off soap box and sneaks away quietly….*

Written by Hannah Bullivant on Wednesday May 12th, 2010 10:46 am

Categories ,activism, ,Cabinet office, ,David Cameron, ,earth, ,fashion, ,General Election, ,Jenny Robins, ,london, ,Nick Clegg, ,Theresa May, ,women’s rights, ,Womens representation

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Amelia’s Magazine | Behold, the Cleggeron Riseth.

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A selection of elephants by Paul Shinn

Allow me to introduce you to Marjorie, web picture below. She’s one of 258 fibreglass elephants in and around London decorated by some of the capital’s most prominent artists, more about designers and image makers.


Clare Bassett’s Marjorie (#81)

It’s London’s largest outdoor art event and it’s creating quite a stir in the capital. From people like John Shinn, who’s trying to photograph them all on Facebook, to work colleagues printing out lists of the elephants and checking them off, it seems that they’ve gripped London like nothing before.

So, where to start? Well, the aim of this project, whilst cheering up many a London street, is a simple one. It’s to raise awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant, dangerously close to extinction. Created by father and son duo Mike and Marc Spits, all the revenue from sponsorship and the auction of the elephants will go to the Elephant Family charity.

Here’s some you should see, and some you can just see here.

A range of fashion designers have applied their own style to the elephants, including this creation by red carpet luminary Julian McDonald.

It’s fun, no? It’s not the best one by a long shot, and I question the ethics of decorating one endangered animal in the beautiful coat of another, but I’m sure this is totally off McDonald’s radar. It’s suitably camp and stands perkily out Liberty, and this clump of Italian teenagers certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Other fashion names include Issa, Diane von Furstenberg, Matthew Williamson and Sir Paul Smith (one of my favourite elephants so far)


The Paul Smith Elephant by Sir Paul Smith (#173) at The Royal Exchange

The beauty of the project, besides raising awareness in a super fun way, is that you never know when you are going to bump into one of these creatures. They are literally everywhere – hell, they’d have to be to fit 250 of the buggers in our city. Just as you put your camera away after photographing one, you turn a corner and there’s another!


Illustration by Gemma Milly


Illustration by Matt Thomas


The Cartier elephant (#107) at the Royal Exchange by Rachel Liddington


The City in the Elephant by BFLS Architects (#255) illustrated by Lisa Billvik

This beauty is pretty simple on the outside, but peer inside any of its small transparent domes and inside you’ll see an incredible model of London featuring teeny tiny elephants, too!


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Thammakit Thamboon’s Polkadot (#12) at More London by Jenny Robins


Helen Cowcher’s Hornbill (#116) at More London by Naomi Law


Illustration by Eben Berj

Of course, this art project wouldn’t be complete with a good ol’ dash of politics. ‘Anonymous’ has created three elephants dressed in boxing gloves and silk shorts in the colour of the three main political parties – appropriately titled ‘Mr Brown’ ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’. The Elephant Parade haven’t yet confirmed, however, if they’re to remove ‘Mr Brown’, or indeed move ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’ together so they can whisper sweet nothings to each other.


Photograph by Paul Shinn

So, go out and enjoy some fun art right on the street. Tweet your pics @AmeliasMagazine !

A selection of elephants by Paul Shinn

Allow me to introduce you to Marjorie, website picture below. She’s one of 258 fibreglass elephants in and around London decorated by some of the capital’s most prominent artists, this web designers and image makers.


Clare Bassett’s Marjorie (#81) at More London

It’s London’s largest outdoor art event and it’s creating quite a stir in the capital. From people like John Shinn, who’s trying to photograph them all on Facebook, to work colleagues printing out lists of the elephants and checking them off, it seems that they’ve gripped London like nothing before.

So, where to start? Well, the aim of this project, whilst cheering up many a London street, is a simple one. It’s to raise awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant, dangerously close to extinction. Created by father and son duo Mike and Marc Spits, all the revenue from sponsorship and the auction of the elephants will go to the Elephant Family charity.

Here’s some you should see, and some you can just see here.

A range of fashion designers have applied their own style to the elephants, including this creation by red carpet luminary Julian McDonald.


Bertie by Julien McDonald (#139) on Foubert’s Place

It’s fun, no? It’s not the best one by a long shot, and I question the ethics of decorating one endangered animal in the beautiful coat of another, but I’m sure this is totally off McDonald’s radar. It’s suitably camp and stands perkily out Liberty, and this clump of Italian teenagers certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Other fashion names include Issa, Diane von Furstenberg, Matthew Williamson and Sir Paul Smith (one of my favourite elephants so far)


The Paul Smith Elephant by Sir Paul Smith (#173) at The Royal Exchange

The beauty of the project, besides raising awareness in a super fun way, is that you never know when you are going to bump into one of these creatures. They are literally everywhere – hell, they’d have to be to fit 250 of the buggers in our city. Just as you put your camera away after photographing one, you turn a corner and there’s another!


Illustration by Gemma Milly


Illustration by Matt Thomas


The Cartier elephant (#107) at the Royal Exchange by Rachel Liddington


The City in the Elephant by BFLS Architects (#255) illustrated by Lisa Billvik

This beauty is pretty simple on the outside, but peer inside any of its small transparent domes and inside you’ll see an incredible model of London featuring teeny tiny elephants, too!


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Thammakit Thamboon’s Polkadot (#12) at More London by Jenny Robins


Helen Cowcher’s Hornbill (#116) at More London by Naomi Law


Illustration by Eben Berj

Of course, this art project wouldn’t be complete with a good ol’ dash of politics. ‘Anonymous’ has created three elephants dressed in boxing gloves and silk shorts in the colour of the three main political parties – appropriately titled ‘Mr Brown’ ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’. The Elephant Parade haven’t yet confirmed, however, if they’re to remove ‘Mr Brown’, or indeed move ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’ together so they can whisper sweet nothings to each other.


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Eko by Paul Kidby (#195) in Green Park, illustrated by Rachel de Ste. Croix

So, go out and enjoy some fun art right on the street. Tweet your pics @AmeliasMagazine !
Cameron-Clegg-Antonia-Parker
Cameron and Clegg in bed together, mind by Antonia Parker.

Who watched the joint press conference given by David Cameron and Nick Clegg from the Downing Street back garden on 12th May 2010? Who else boggled at the back-slapping camaraderie of this sudden coalition? Within the space of just one week Cameron and Clegg have gone from flirtatious – or so it now seems, buy looking back – bickering to full on coitus. Watch them chuckle at each other’s jokes like old mates! See them smile lovingly at each other! Yes, I feared that a hung parliament would produce my least preferred coalition, but I never for one moment anticipated this classic bromance.

sandra dieckmann-lib-con love
Lib-Con Love by Sandra Dieckmann.

And I can’t help but think – how on earth is this love-in actually going to work? How many concessions will the Cleggeron make to keep the spark alive? These are interesting days, to be sure.

The opportunity to put out an open brief to picture this unholy union was just too irresistible. This then, is a blog devoted to the brilliance of illustrators. Enjoy.

bex_glover_nc_dc_tandem
The tandem by Bex Glover.

The Cleggeron-Lazarou Monkey Terror
The Cleggeron by Lazarou Monkey Terror.

Abi Daker - clegg - cameron
Illustration by Abigail Daker.

camerlegg-Colourbox
Camerlegg by Colourbox.

louise rowland-clegg cameron
Bathtime by Louise Rowland.

mel-elliott-clegg-cameron-krankies
Krankies by Mel Simone Elliot.

Reena-Makwana-Clegg-Cameron
Illustration by Reena Makwana.

tom_dench-layton_cleggcam
Cleggcam by Tom Dench-Layton.

simonwild_CLEGG&CAMERON
Surprise!! by Simon Wild.

pearl_law_cleggcam
Illustration by Pearl Law.

Nikki-Pinder-Clegg-Cameron
Illustration by Nikki Pinder.

If you fancy getting involved in my open callouts the best thing to do is follow me on twitter and get stuck in. Until the next one…

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday May 14th, 2010 3:53 pm

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Antonia Parker, ,Bex Glover, ,Bromance, ,Cleggeron, ,Coalition, ,Colourbox, ,David Cameron, ,Downing Street, ,General Election, ,Hung Parliament, ,illustration, ,Lazarou Monkey Terror, ,Louise Rowland, ,Mel Simone Elliott, ,Nick Clegg, ,Nikki Pinder, ,parliament, ,Pearl Law, ,politics, ,Reena Makwana, ,Sandra Dieckmann, ,Simon Wild, ,Tom Dench-Layton, ,twitter

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Amelia’s Magazine | Behold, the Cleggeron Riseth.

by


A selection of elephants by Paul Shinn

Allow me to introduce you to Marjorie, web picture below. She’s one of 258 fibreglass elephants in and around London decorated by some of the capital’s most prominent artists, more about designers and image makers.


Clare Bassett’s Marjorie (#81)

It’s London’s largest outdoor art event and it’s creating quite a stir in the capital. From people like John Shinn, who’s trying to photograph them all on Facebook, to work colleagues printing out lists of the elephants and checking them off, it seems that they’ve gripped London like nothing before.

So, where to start? Well, the aim of this project, whilst cheering up many a London street, is a simple one. It’s to raise awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant, dangerously close to extinction. Created by father and son duo Mike and Marc Spits, all the revenue from sponsorship and the auction of the elephants will go to the Elephant Family charity.

Here’s some you should see, and some you can just see here.

A range of fashion designers have applied their own style to the elephants, including this creation by red carpet luminary Julian McDonald.

It’s fun, no? It’s not the best one by a long shot, and I question the ethics of decorating one endangered animal in the beautiful coat of another, but I’m sure this is totally off McDonald’s radar. It’s suitably camp and stands perkily out Liberty, and this clump of Italian teenagers certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Other fashion names include Issa, Diane von Furstenberg, Matthew Williamson and Sir Paul Smith (one of my favourite elephants so far)


The Paul Smith Elephant by Sir Paul Smith (#173) at The Royal Exchange

The beauty of the project, besides raising awareness in a super fun way, is that you never know when you are going to bump into one of these creatures. They are literally everywhere – hell, they’d have to be to fit 250 of the buggers in our city. Just as you put your camera away after photographing one, you turn a corner and there’s another!


Illustration by Gemma Milly


Illustration by Matt Thomas


The Cartier elephant (#107) at the Royal Exchange by Rachel Liddington


The City in the Elephant by BFLS Architects (#255) illustrated by Lisa Billvik

This beauty is pretty simple on the outside, but peer inside any of its small transparent domes and inside you’ll see an incredible model of London featuring teeny tiny elephants, too!


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Thammakit Thamboon’s Polkadot (#12) at More London by Jenny Robins


Helen Cowcher’s Hornbill (#116) at More London by Naomi Law


Illustration by Eben Berj

Of course, this art project wouldn’t be complete with a good ol’ dash of politics. ‘Anonymous’ has created three elephants dressed in boxing gloves and silk shorts in the colour of the three main political parties – appropriately titled ‘Mr Brown’ ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’. The Elephant Parade haven’t yet confirmed, however, if they’re to remove ‘Mr Brown’, or indeed move ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’ together so they can whisper sweet nothings to each other.


Photograph by Paul Shinn

So, go out and enjoy some fun art right on the street. Tweet your pics @AmeliasMagazine !

A selection of elephants by Paul Shinn

Allow me to introduce you to Marjorie, website picture below. She’s one of 258 fibreglass elephants in and around London decorated by some of the capital’s most prominent artists, this web designers and image makers.


Clare Bassett’s Marjorie (#81) at More London

It’s London’s largest outdoor art event and it’s creating quite a stir in the capital. From people like John Shinn, who’s trying to photograph them all on Facebook, to work colleagues printing out lists of the elephants and checking them off, it seems that they’ve gripped London like nothing before.

So, where to start? Well, the aim of this project, whilst cheering up many a London street, is a simple one. It’s to raise awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant, dangerously close to extinction. Created by father and son duo Mike and Marc Spits, all the revenue from sponsorship and the auction of the elephants will go to the Elephant Family charity.

Here’s some you should see, and some you can just see here.

A range of fashion designers have applied their own style to the elephants, including this creation by red carpet luminary Julian McDonald.


Bertie by Julien McDonald (#139) on Foubert’s Place

It’s fun, no? It’s not the best one by a long shot, and I question the ethics of decorating one endangered animal in the beautiful coat of another, but I’m sure this is totally off McDonald’s radar. It’s suitably camp and stands perkily out Liberty, and this clump of Italian teenagers certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Other fashion names include Issa, Diane von Furstenberg, Matthew Williamson and Sir Paul Smith (one of my favourite elephants so far)


The Paul Smith Elephant by Sir Paul Smith (#173) at The Royal Exchange

The beauty of the project, besides raising awareness in a super fun way, is that you never know when you are going to bump into one of these creatures. They are literally everywhere – hell, they’d have to be to fit 250 of the buggers in our city. Just as you put your camera away after photographing one, you turn a corner and there’s another!


Illustration by Gemma Milly


Illustration by Matt Thomas


The Cartier elephant (#107) at the Royal Exchange by Rachel Liddington


The City in the Elephant by BFLS Architects (#255) illustrated by Lisa Billvik

This beauty is pretty simple on the outside, but peer inside any of its small transparent domes and inside you’ll see an incredible model of London featuring teeny tiny elephants, too!


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Thammakit Thamboon’s Polkadot (#12) at More London by Jenny Robins


Helen Cowcher’s Hornbill (#116) at More London by Naomi Law


Illustration by Eben Berj

Of course, this art project wouldn’t be complete with a good ol’ dash of politics. ‘Anonymous’ has created three elephants dressed in boxing gloves and silk shorts in the colour of the three main political parties – appropriately titled ‘Mr Brown’ ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’. The Elephant Parade haven’t yet confirmed, however, if they’re to remove ‘Mr Brown’, or indeed move ‘Mr Cameron’ and ‘Mr Clegg’ together so they can whisper sweet nothings to each other.


Photograph by Paul Shinn


Eko by Paul Kidby (#195) in Green Park, illustrated by Rachel de Ste. Croix

So, go out and enjoy some fun art right on the street. Tweet your pics @AmeliasMagazine !
Cameron-Clegg-Antonia-Parker
Cameron and Clegg in bed together, mind by Antonia Parker.

Who watched the joint press conference given by David Cameron and Nick Clegg from the Downing Street back garden on 12th May 2010? Who else boggled at the back-slapping camaraderie of this sudden coalition? Within the space of just one week Cameron and Clegg have gone from flirtatious – or so it now seems, buy looking back – bickering to full on coitus. Watch them chuckle at each other’s jokes like old mates! See them smile lovingly at each other! Yes, I feared that a hung parliament would produce my least preferred coalition, but I never for one moment anticipated this classic bromance.

sandra dieckmann-lib-con love
Lib-Con Love by Sandra Dieckmann.

And I can’t help but think – how on earth is this love-in actually going to work? How many concessions will the Cleggeron make to keep the spark alive? These are interesting days, to be sure.

The opportunity to put out an open brief to picture this unholy union was just too irresistible. This then, is a blog devoted to the brilliance of illustrators. Enjoy.

bex_glover_nc_dc_tandem
The tandem by Bex Glover.

The Cleggeron-Lazarou Monkey Terror
The Cleggeron by Lazarou Monkey Terror.

Abi Daker - clegg - cameron
Illustration by Abigail Daker.

camerlegg-Colourbox
Camerlegg by Colourbox.

louise rowland-clegg cameron
Bathtime by Louise Rowland.

mel-elliott-clegg-cameron-krankies
Krankies by Mel Simone Elliot.

Reena-Makwana-Clegg-Cameron
Illustration by Reena Makwana.

tom_dench-layton_cleggcam
Cleggcam by Tom Dench-Layton.

simonwild_CLEGG&CAMERON
Surprise!! by Simon Wild.

pearl_law_cleggcam
Illustration by Pearl Law.

Nikki-Pinder-Clegg-Cameron
Illustration by Nikki Pinder.

If you fancy getting involved in my open callouts the best thing to do is follow me on twitter and get stuck in. Until the next one…

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday May 14th, 2010 3:53 pm

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Antonia Parker, ,Bex Glover, ,Bromance, ,Cleggeron, ,Coalition, ,Colourbox, ,David Cameron, ,Downing Street, ,General Election, ,Hung Parliament, ,illustration, ,Lazarou Monkey Terror, ,Louise Rowland, ,Mel Simone Elliott, ,Nick Clegg, ,Nikki Pinder, ,parliament, ,Pearl Law, ,politics, ,Reena Makwana, ,Sandra Dieckmann, ,Simon Wild, ,Tom Dench-Layton, ,twitter

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Amelia’s Magazine | Illustrators take on the Leaders’ Debate. Brown, Cameron and Clegg, watch out!

by

We are currently working under capacity without an earth editor intern. If you are interested in this position you would need to be available to work on it from Monday-Thursday every week for the next three months. Please email me with the title I WANT TO BE THE EARTH EDITOR and tell me why you would like the position, viagra ed what you currently do, and with some relevant examples of your writing. You would need to write and collate your own blogs, as well as co-ordinating contributing writers and illustrators. It’s a great section to work on if you care about the world we live in.
Nick-Clegg-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
Illustration by Antonia Parker.

Last week it occurred to me that if one drew something remotely funny and sent it around twitter at the same time as everyone was going mental with the hashtag #leadersdebate whilst watching the Leaders’ Debate on the TV, medications one was more or less garunteed a huge amount of retweets and a viral hit.

Except there was something that was irking me about this twitter phenomenon: and that was the poor quality of the drawings that were tickling the fancy of so many. So I sent out my own twitter message to see if anyone was up for drawing something satirical and vaguely amusing that we could send out on twitter at the appropriate time this week, and knowing that I hang out with lots of very talented illustrators on twitter.

Then I read in the Evening Standard that the election has already brought about a vast outpouring of artistic ingenuity: drinks (slightly poisonous looking concoctions in virulent red, blue and yellow), logo decorated jellies and even rag rugs have all been created with the election in mind. So it seems I am not the first to cotton onto a general feverish mood in the artistic firmament.

Here, then, are the results of my callout. This blog is not about my political leanings – though I’d happily take a pop shot at Cameron’s flabby potato head (sorry Sam) before I’d see him in power – but rather about an experiment in the way we communicate during election time in 2010. So these images will also be twitpic-ed out come 8.30pm tonight. Feel free to join in the fun and let’s see how far they travel!

With thanks to the lovely illustrators who answered my callout with such glee. It seems I touched a nerve…

jenny robins - leaders debate
jenny robins - gordon brown bigot
Illustrations by Jenny Robins.

Clegg, Cameron, Brown-Abi Daker
Illustration by Abi Daker.

Leaders Debate Katie Harnett
Illustration by Katie Harnett.

Gordon-Brown-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
David-Cameron-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
Illustrations by Antonia Parker.

Marnie Hollande-Leaders Debate
Illustration by Marnie Hollande.

DEBATE-Matt Thomas
Illustration by Matt Thomas.

Colourbox leadersdebate
Illustration by Colourbox.

kellie black leadersdebate
Illustration by Kellie Black.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday April 29th, 2010 1:04 pm

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Antonia Parker, ,Colourbox, ,David Cameron, ,General Election, ,Gordon Brown, ,illustration, ,Jenny Robins, ,Katie Harnett, ,Kellie Black, ,Leaders’ Debate, ,Marnie Hollande, ,Matt Thomas, ,Nick Clegg, ,TV, ,Twitpic, ,twitter

Similar Posts:






Amelia’s Magazine | Illustrators take on the Leaders’ Debate. Brown, Cameron and Clegg, watch out!

by

We are currently working under capacity without an earth editor intern. If you are interested in this position you would need to be available to work on it from Monday-Thursday every week for the next three months. Please email me with the title I WANT TO BE THE EARTH EDITOR and tell me why you would like the position, viagra ed what you currently do, and with some relevant examples of your writing. You would need to write and collate your own blogs, as well as co-ordinating contributing writers and illustrators. It’s a great section to work on if you care about the world we live in.
Nick-Clegg-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
Illustration by Antonia Parker.

Last week it occurred to me that if one drew something remotely funny and sent it around twitter at the same time as everyone was going mental with the hashtag #leadersdebate whilst watching the Leaders’ Debate on the TV, medications one was more or less garunteed a huge amount of retweets and a viral hit.

Except there was something that was irking me about this twitter phenomenon: and that was the poor quality of the drawings that were tickling the fancy of so many. So I sent out my own twitter message to see if anyone was up for drawing something satirical and vaguely amusing that we could send out on twitter at the appropriate time this week, and knowing that I hang out with lots of very talented illustrators on twitter.

Then I read in the Evening Standard that the election has already brought about a vast outpouring of artistic ingenuity: drinks (slightly poisonous looking concoctions in virulent red, blue and yellow), logo decorated jellies and even rag rugs have all been created with the election in mind. So it seems I am not the first to cotton onto a general feverish mood in the artistic firmament.

Here, then, are the results of my callout. This blog is not about my political leanings – though I’d happily take a pop shot at Cameron’s flabby potato head (sorry Sam) before I’d see him in power – but rather about an experiment in the way we communicate during election time in 2010. So these images will also be twitpic-ed out come 8.30pm tonight. Feel free to join in the fun and let’s see how far they travel!

With thanks to the lovely illustrators who answered my callout with such glee. It seems I touched a nerve…

jenny robins - leaders debate
jenny robins - gordon brown bigot
Illustrations by Jenny Robins.

Clegg, Cameron, Brown-Abi Daker
Illustration by Abi Daker.

Leaders Debate Katie Harnett
Illustration by Katie Harnett.

Gordon-Brown-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
David-Cameron-Election-2010-Antonia-Parker
Illustrations by Antonia Parker.

Marnie Hollande-Leaders Debate
Illustration by Marnie Hollande.

DEBATE-Matt Thomas
Illustration by Matt Thomas.

Colourbox leadersdebate
Illustration by Colourbox.

kellie black leadersdebate
Illustration by Kellie Black.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday April 29th, 2010 1:04 pm

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Antonia Parker, ,Colourbox, ,David Cameron, ,General Election, ,Gordon Brown, ,illustration, ,Jenny Robins, ,Katie Harnett, ,Kellie Black, ,Leaders’ Debate, ,Marnie Hollande, ,Matt Thomas, ,Nick Clegg, ,TV, ,Twitpic, ,twitter

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