I’ve interviewed the Labour leader!

Within the last hour the result came in. After weeks of campaigning, Ed Miliband has become the 23rd leader of the Labour party.

And it was the closest of votes.

Ed had been trailing his brother all the way through the various rounds of the election, only edging the victory in the final round of the ‘alternative vote’. It’s interesting to see how this AV vote works in action (especially with the Lib Dem’s call to use it in general elections), as it meant the original victor from the round one vote, David, did not win out overall.

Of course the mass media are now jumping on the story, claiming there’ll be a divide in the party. That’s quite possible as nearly half the party wanted David over Ed and the fact that Ed won on the UNION’s vote alone.

But that’s for the coming weeks to show us, as for right now, I’m happy for another reason. I’ve met Ed Miliband before, in fact I’ve interviewed him only a few months ago. Back then he was in Stoke-on-Trent, campaigning during the general election. It was a flying stop so I was only able to get a few questions in, but he gave very full answers and came across as a genuinely nice guy.

Now he is a politician, so how genuine he really is is up for massive debate, but you can decide for yourself from my original interview for StaffsLive below.

Now of course the real work begins for Ed, but with the coalition already starting to crumble, maybe it’ll be easier than he thinks…

Staffordshire Hoard Comes Home

Very exciting day for me today! As part of my work for StaffsLive, I got to go and see The Staffordshire Hoard this morning ahead of it’s public opening tomorrow.

The Hoard was discovered seven months ago and has been touring the country for museum-goers to see. It’s valued at almost 3.3 million pounds. There’s currently plans to raise money to keep the find in Staffordshire.

The selection of the treasure in Stoke will remain there until 7th March.

I went along this morning to find out why the Hoard is so important.

Locals Outrage Over Filthy Streets

Here’s a piece I made for StaffsLive recently about litter on the streets of Stoke-On-Trent… enjoy!

People from Stoke-On-Trent have been complaining about littering in the street and some believe that the council don’t do enough about it.

In 2006 the City Council first started a campaign to tackle the issue saying there would be zero tolerance on those found littering in the streets. This campaign was re-launched in 2009 with £50 fines introduced.

But people say this isn’t working.

One local told StaffsLive: “The council don’t spend enough money tidying [Stoke] up.” “Newcastle [is] a lot cleaner”

Others suggested that the scheme doesn’t work because there aren’t enough people to enforce it.