LibDem MP Greg Mulholland is doing little to dampen speculation he is running for leader of his party. He’s twanking any mention of his ambitions and being coy with the press:

I am not taking media calls today (helpfully I am in the #QuietCoach!) but will announce my intentions having spoken to colleagues.

— Greg Mulholland 📉 (@GregMulholland1) May 12, 2015

So it was a surprise to see him dining with Tim Farron late last night in that really good curry place on Rochester Row, SW1.

Could we be about to see a Farron/Mulholland ticket?

Guido was particularly pleased to hear of another guest at last night’s ‘Poppadom Plot’: Lembit.

Is everyone’s favourite LibDem back in the game?

Slightly bitter taste…

So how did former LibDem Lord Oakeshott do in his £600,000 donation spending spree that he described as “doing his bit to save UK from Tory government cringing to Ukip”. Just six candidates he backed financially won their seats. As for the rest? Well have a look:

Jessica Asato (Norwich North) – LOST
Catherine Atkinson (Erewash) – LOST
Nick Bent (Warrington South) – LOST
Louise Baldock (Stockton South) – LOST
Polly Billington (Thurrock) – LOST
Lisa Forbes (Peterborough) – LOST
Victoria Fowler (Nuneaton) – LOST
James Frith (Bury North) – LOST
Sophy Gardner (Gloucester) – LOST
Jamie Hanley (Pudsey) – LOST
Sarah Jones (Croydon Central) – LOST
Uma Kumaran (Harrow East) – LOST
Amina Lone (Morecambe and Lunesdale) – LOST
Jo McCarron (Kingswood) – LOST
Natasha Millward (Dudley South) – LOST
Lara Norris (Great Yarmouth) – LOST
Sarah Owen (Hastings & Rye) – LOST
Nancy Platts (Brighton Kemptown) – LOST
Lucy Rigby (Lincoln) – LOST
Will Scobie (Thanet South) – LOST
Lee Sherriff (Carlisle) – LOST
Joy Squires (Worcester) – LOST
Will Straw (Rossendale and Darwen) – LOST
Sharon Taylor (Stevenage) – LOST
Janos Toth (Cannock Chase) – LOST
Julia Tickridge (Weaver Vale) – LOST
Norman Baker MP (Lewes) – LOST
Lorley Burt (Solihull) – LOST
Helen Flynn (Harrogate & Knaresborough) – LOST
Martin Horwood MP (Cheltenham) – LOST
Ros Kayes (Dorset West) – LOST
Tessa Munt MP (Wells) – LOST
Julie Porksen (Berwick-upon-Tweed) – LOST
Jackie Porter (Winchester) – LOST
David Rendel (Somerton & Frome) – LOST
Dan Rogerson MP (North Cornwall) – LOST
Adrian Sanders MP (Torbay) – LOST
Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset & North Poole) – LOST
Dorothy Thornhill (Watford) – LOST
Jenny Willott MP (Cardiff Central) – LOST

Smirk.

During the election campaign Danny Alexander claimed that he would be leaving a reply to Liam Byrne in the drawer of the desk of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. It wasn’t very witty:

Well sadly it seems he’s broken that promise. Incoming Chief Secretary Greg Hands has found the drawer empty:

Is nothing sacred?

Following the agreement of the Liberal Democrat Federal Executive and the party’s returning officer please find below the timetable for the election of the new party leader of the Liberal Democrats

• Opening of nominations: 13th of May 2015
• Close of nominations: 3rd of June 2015
• Dispatch of ballot papers: 24th of June 2015
• Deadline for ballot papers to be returned: 15th of July 2015
• Count and declaration of the winner: 

Shouldn’t take too long to count the votes.

LibDem Duncan Hames got down and dirty in 2010, blasting his Tory opponent for being “a Devon farmer who splits his time between his three homes, leaving him out of touch with local people”. Five years on and the MP defending a perilous 2,000 majority has done rather well for himself during his time in parliament.

Hames declares on his Statement of Persons Nominated that he lives at an address in Holt, in his Chippenham constituency.

His wife, fellow LibDem MP Jo Swinson, discloses on her election forms that she lives in Bearsden, in her East Dumbartonshire constituency. Mr and Mrs Hames either live separate lives or must be spending time at each other’s ‘main’ homes.

Swinson also claims on expenses for another property in London, where they live together during the week.

Five years after attacking his opponent for the very same thing, Hames is now: “Splitting his time between his three homes, leaving him out of touch with local people…”