ALDC by-election report, 22nd OctoberFive principal authority by-elections took place across England and Wales on Thursday 22nd October. Labour were defending two seats (in Leeds and Carmarthenshire), the Conservatives defended one in Wychavon, the Green Party defended one in East Hertfordshire, and an Independent defended one in South Kesteven. It proved to be a productive night for the Conservatives, who held their seat in Worcestershire and secured three gains from three different parties - taking seats from the Greens in Hertfordshire, Labour in Leeds, and an Independent in Lincolnshire. For the Liberal Democrats, it was an undeniably tough set of contests where our vote ... (more) |
The Burnham government: the shine dims.I the past few days the Government's image had lost some of its shine. First up is the decision to authorise the exploitation the Jackdaw natural gas field in the North Sea. The question is: Does, or doesn't, Mr Burnham's government regard the damage to the planet by further fossil fuel exploitation outweigh the alleged (in this case very short term) advantages. I understand that the pros and cons are finely balanced, but Burnham has voted in favour of the short term. As Guardian columnist Zoe Williams writes (22 October): "... it matters: it destroys our moral authority as a ... (more) |
This week, it's the Conservatives who prosper in by-electionsThere were five principal authority council by-elections this week, and it was a good set for the Conservatives this time: Grantham St Wulfram's (South Kesteven) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌳] CON: 38.3% (+4.6) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 25.1% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 13.1% (New) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 12.4% (-3.8) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 6.5% (-7.1) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 4.7% (New)No Inds (-21.8, -2.2) as previous.Conservative GAIN from Independent.Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-10-22T23:42:30.535Z Thank you to Caryl Tandy for being the Liberal Democrat candidate. Although this was a good week for the Conservatives, the overall picture is a little ... (more) |
Is kindness what we stand for?If what we're against, above everything else, is cruelty and the abuse of power... then are we for kindness? But before I get into this article, I want to address a few points. I'm talking about a kindness that is radical in the change it demands. A kindness that fights when facing down cruelty and those looking to concentrate and abuse power. We also need a vision of what a kind society could be. I'm not only talking about the how of doing politics. That radical, standing-up-to-cruelty type of kindness must flow into our policy and campaigns. I don't think ... (more) |
A.E. Housman on books and their authorsJohn Bayley once began a review of a book about Elizabeth Gaskell with: To an admirer who wanted to meet him on account of A Shropshire Lad Housman replied discouragingly that while most men might be more interesting than their books his book was definitely more interesting than its man. (more) |
The hopes of the world rest on the shoulders of libtards in the midterm elections in the USAAs we approach the midterm elections in the USA my best wishes go to all the liberals and social democrats who are fighting to get rid of Donald Trump's majority in the two Houses of Congress. This would effectively constrain Donald Trump as he becomes a lame duck president for his final two years in office. Why should I, a Lib Dem councillor in Liverpool, be concerned about this? Well, it's for three reasons really: Firstly, it's because the policies endorsed by trump and his spineless republican colleagues in the Senate and house are literally throttling the of billions of ... (more) |
Don't take Democracy for grantedWe're Liberals and Democrats, and we should be outspoken in support of both. And both have to be fought for to prevent our country sliding back into illiberalism and authoritarian government. At the end of the Cold War American liberals thought that democracy had triumphed, and that authoritarian states would move towards liberal democracy as they became more prosperous and more integrated into our open world society. 35 years later, things look far less rosy. Orban's illiberal regime in Hungary has thankfully just fallen, although it is still too soon to see how stable and constitutional its new government will ... (more) |
Plaid Cymru bottle council tax reformThe BBC reports that Wales' finance minister has announced that the Welsh government wants to delay a revaluation of homes for council tax to 2032. They say that Elin Jones claimed that the decision was made because she could not afford the kind of financial relief she would want to put in place if she went ahead with a planned revaluation in two years' time. However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank has described her explanation as "nonsensical" and "absurd logic", while the Welsh Labour finance spokesperson Huw Thomas accused Plaid of failing to back progressive policies in ... (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2026-2027Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [16] +2 (+2/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (+3/-4) -6 (+3/-9) -1 (0/-1) – +3 (+4/-1) -2 Lab -2 (0/-2) [15] -1 (0/-1) -1 (+3/-4) 0 (+8/-8) +1 (+1/0) – 0 (+1/-1) -3 Lib Dem -1 (+2/-3) +1 (+1/0) [19] +1 (+1/0) +2 (+2/0) -1 (0/-1) – +3 (+3/0) +5 Grn +1 (+4/-3) +1 (+4/-3) -1 (0/-1) [7] – +1 (+1/0) – – +2 Ref +6 (+9/-3) ... (more) |
Le Beaujolais Nouveau est disparuThe arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau was a thing, a big thing, in the Britain of the 1980s, with the media taking a huge interest. But then we were a country where wine bars were suddenly everywhere. I remember drinking in one on the High Street in Market Harborough. Loki remembers those days: The United Kingdom fostered one of the most legendary traditions: the Beaujolais Run. Starting in the late 1970s, British wine lovers turned the release into an automotive race - participants dashed from England to Beaujolais and back, aiming to be first to deliver a bottle to London. The ... (more) |