The political year in pictures
[gallery ids="24161,27863,27870,21777,27864,27865,27866,27867,27862,27868,27861,27869"]Each week Prospect asks experts, and our readers, to come up with answers to the questions dominating the headlines.
This week, in a special end of year edition, we asked a range of prominent political figures to give us their favourite political moment of 2014. Plus we've run through some of the year's best political pictures, most memorable political tweets and key stats.
A future for social democracy
"18th September on the Hallglen estate on the outskirts of Falkirk—where I had already seen a public meeting attract 400 people, I now witnessed a wondrous spectacle indeed. Just before nightfall—droves of people voting in the Scottish referendum. Whole families came and went. I spoke to some in their 30s and 40s who had never been near a polling booth before. And the most passionate, forward-looking voices belonged to Yes supporters. The previous few weeks had suggested a crackling political energy that was not going to go away, whatever the result, and so it proved. If social democrats want a flavour of a viable future, this is where they need to look." John Harris, Guardian columnistUkip's “carnival”
"You can imagine the meeting at Ukip HQ. “I’m sick of people calling us a shower of comical racists. How can we show we respect the ethnics?” “I know! Let’s hold a special carnival, just for them! With reggae-type music and dancing! They love that sort of thing!” Quite unforeseeably, however, the carnival proved a disaster for everyone except the journalists gleefully covering it. The steel band refused to play (having only just discovered it was Ukip who’d booked them), protesters clashed furiously with supporters, and Nigel Farage abruptly decided he couldn’t make it along after all." Michael Deacon, political sketch writer at The TelegraphFeeling Reckless
"My favourite moment of the year has to be during the Ukip conference this year, when I called Mark Reckless from behind the curtain on stage. Mr Reckless announced, 'Today, I'm leaving the Conservative...' and couldn't even get the word 'party' out before the crowd were on their feet, cheering, chanting, and clapping. It was really quite extraordinary. Ukip have our most important fight ahead of us at the General Election next year, and I very much hope there will be similar moments of elation down the road." Nigel Farage, leader of UkipVisiting the head's office
"My highlight was meeting Michael Gove and getting him to agree to write to every school in England about the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation. It made me realise that ordinary people in this country do have a voice, and what I say can have an impact. Before we went in, the Guardian, who were involved with the campaign, had heard that Gove had decided he wasn't going to agree, so when we came out and told people the news it was a huge shock. In the meeting, we all played different roles: mine was to go into the anatomical detail. It was fun being the one who got to drop words like 'vagina' in a meeting with the Education Secretary." Muna Hassan, FGM campaignerTweets/twerps
[gallery ids="27871,27873,27872,27874,27889,27890,27891,27892,27893"]Gordon's revenge
"A staggering turnout of 85 per cent in the vibrant Scottish referendum reset the democratic and electoral bar in the UK. In an era of increased voter apathy, it was a reminder of how politics can capture the imagination of a nation, and it was deeply invigorating to all democrats. One particular highlight was Gordon Brown's cri de coeur in the final stages, a stirring reminder of the substance and strength of one of the UK’s last conviction politicians." Peter Mandelson, Labour peer and former cabinet ministerEd's blunders
"I know I shouldn’t have found it funny but I did. I sat watching Ed Miliband’s party conference speech and started wondering when he’d mention the deficit. Then I started asking if he would even bother. I tweeted my question. And then his speech had ended. He’d remembered the names of all the mysterious voters he’d met on Hampstead Heath but he’d forgotten the biggest issue in British politics. He forgot to mention welfare and immigration, too. It was an extraordinary—and revealing—moment." Tim Montgomerie, Times columnistThe power of radicalism
"One of my favourite moments was international. It was President Obama’s decision to open diplomatic relations with Cuba. It signals that, in the final two years of his presidency, he is determined to be as radical as he can be within his presidential powers. His election in 2008 was momentous. But he has had to endure six years of unreasoning hatred by forces like the Tea Party and others on the right of American politics. Fundamentally it has been a massive backlash at having a black man as president at all. So I am glad he has resolved to achieve as much radical change as he can unilaterally. Finally he is fired up and ready to go." Diane Abbott, Labour MP for HackneyA deep transformation
There were so many inspiring memories from my activism in the Yes campaign. The sheer energy and intelligence on display in community halls throughout Scotland; the expressions of solidarity from those beyond Scotland, sometimes from the most elegant establishment figures. Hugging voters at the polling station on the 18th of September in my hometown, and staggering dazed around Glasgow in the early hours of the 19th, would be my indyref alpha and omega. But when 16,000 activists across two Clydeside stadia turned up to reaffirm their commitment to independence, only a few weeks after what should have been a demoralising No vote, I was genuinely startled. There has been a deep transformation in Scottish life. We shall see how it expresses itself in 2015." Pat Kane, musician and writerBig numbers of 2014
92,187: SNP membership as of November, almost quadruple where it stood on the day of the independence referendum
(Almost) £3m: Ukip's spend on the European election campaign
1.4m: The number of UK children now living in relative poverty
11: the number of times the Liberal Democrats have lost their deposit this parliament
260,000: the net migration rate to the UK in the year to June. The Tories had pledged to reduce the number to the tens of thousands.
£34bn: the amount the Treasury lost on tax last year, relative to what it expected to get
Good old Gordon (again)
"The independence debate was the event of the year, but the most important moment was when Gordon Brown returned to the political stage—he changed everything. First, he transformed the referendum debate. He brought passion to the defence of the union, and values too. Second, he electrified the whole country and changed popular perceptions of his talents—from zero to hero. Third, he changed the direction of the referendum campaign, and arguably he saved the United Kingdom. What a second act and what a public service." John McTernan, commentator and Labour political strategistLabour adrift
"My favourite political moment of the year was the tweet of the Rochester home with the English flags, and the grief stricken panic of the reaction of the Labour leadership. It revealed just how out of touch with England they have become. The reaction was even worse than the original tweet, showing that Labour people think it strange or worrying from their point of view when they see harmless friendly English flags in support of our football team or just in support of our country. My Speak for England campaign has taken off despite Labour's hostility to English devolution, and despite their fear or disbelief at the wish to put out our flag." John Redwood, Conservative MP for WokinghamMaking it against the odds
"13th March—Royal Assent for my Gender Equality (International Development) Bill to protect and promote women in the Third World, putting legal duty on the Government’s £13bn development budget. As Chairman of the All Party Sanitation and Water Group I visited the rag pickers and women in slums in Delhi and Mumbai who raise money for sanitation and protect girls from traffickers. My bill numbered 17, with no chance—one MP calling 'object' kills it. I tackled the usual suspects with 'muscular magic.' That day one Bill after another bit the dust. Mine sailed through Scylla and Charybdis. Bingo." Bill Cash, Conservative MP for StoneThis week's Big Question is edited by Josh Lowe
