Mike Ion

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Ambition drives success. When launched in February 2004, Building school for the future (BSF) was the largest and most ambitious scheme of its kind anywhere in the world. The aim was to transform education for some…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon If Labour is to have any chance of returning to government at the first time of asking then it could well benefit from looking closely at how David Cameron and the Tory Party successfully used a period in opposition…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon So there we have it, the Tory answer to making our schools better: let private companies run schools for a profit. According to Mr Cameron such a move is part of a 'progressive' agenda for government. Really? We have…

By Mike Ion Mark Seddon is a man I respect and admire but his piece in yesterday's Guardian about the selection of Labour's candidate for Stoke Central is unhelpful, distracting and, in my view, just plain wrong. Like Mark, I too put my…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Some recent research by the Hansard Society has found that although 83% of MPs have a personal website, only 11% of them blog, less than one in four use social networking sites and that the typical 'digital MP' uses…

By Mike Ion According to David Cameron it is his "patriotic duty" to remove Gordon Brown from office. Does this mean that anyone who votes Labour at the next election is being unpatriotic? It is Mr Cameron's pursuit of silly, 'catchphrase'…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Today, Gordon Brown will seek to portray the modern Tory party as right wing wolves in sheep's clothing. He will argue that David Cameron has succeeded in modernising his party - back to the age of Thatcher. Brown's…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Following on from the recent debate about voting reform perhaps now is also the time to begin a wider consultation with the electorate regarding the introduction of compulsory voting. In fairness the term 'compulsory…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Sooner or later, the Tories are going to have to deal with the "Ashcroft question". As it stands, the main issues appear to be: 1. There is still no clarity with regards to the the status of Lord Ashcroft as a UK…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon "At our best when at our boldest": the words of one Tony Blair to Labour's party conference in 2002 - whatever happened to him? Labour is - despite the cynics who may argue otherwise - a centre-left party, not a…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon Now that the 'snowstorm in tea cup' coup is over Gordon Brown, can use the coming weeks and months to more clearly define the dividing lines between Labour and the Tories. In politics, expectations are everything…

By Mike Ion / @MikeIon The voting age in Britain was last reduced nearly 40 years ago. Since then, there have been major changes in society's expectations of young people, and in young people's contribution to their local communities and…