A View from the Island of MullI am clearly not alone in sharing a sense of deflation at the election results UK wide. While in Scotland there was some degree of recovery it was from an appalling position. It is sobering to note we are now the sixth party in Scotland. We should bear in mind too that our gains in the Highlands and islands were aided by the ferry fiasco which the SNP has overseen. Ferries are the lifeline of not simply the islands they serve but integral to the economies of the communities from which they leave. The scale of utterly avoidable devastation to ... (more) |
Opposition on a knife edgeThe election results in Gateshead last week were horrendous for Labour and disappointing for the Lib Dems. Labour dropped from 48 seats to 12. The Lib Dems dropped from 18 to 13. It means the Lib Dems remain the official opposition as the party has a single seat advantage over Labour. The Lib Dems' 13th seat, in Dunston Hill and Whickham East, was a tight race. Reform took the other 2 seats in (more) |
The most unfortunate result possibleIn my view the results of this week's local elections are the most unfortunate possible. They illustrate perfectly the limitations of our strength and of the nature of our offering to the public. We made enough gains for the party leadership to pretend to be victorious - and, yes, eight gains in a row is something to be very proud of. But our gains were incremental on a night when Reform and the Green party hoovered up millions of votes. (The limits of Reform's success are not lost on me by the way - they reflect Reform's current standing in ... (more) |
The Liberal Democrats and Yesh Atid: a fundamental incompatibility?In 2021, I wrote a Lib Dem Voice article warning that our Party's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is misaligned with that of our 'sister' party in Israel, Yesh Atid. Over four years later, those concerns have not diminished. Yesh Atid continues to pay occasional lip service to a two-state solution. In practice, however, the party has repeatedly aligned itself with the assumptions and priorities of the Israeli nationalist mainstream, while failing to meaningfully challenge, and at times actively enabling, the blatantly illegal actions of the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government. Lapid's hardline rhetoric on territorial expansion and Palestinian statehood, admonishment of ... (more) |
From commenting to campaigningThe 2026 Senedd elections have come and gone. Labour is out of power, Plaid is seeking to run a minority government, Reform made many gains, and the Greens have made their Senedd debut. While we were hoping for better results, this election cycle will remain especially significant to me forever, as it was the first time I've gotten involved in politics beyond just voting (an important task in itself). I volunteered to work on Sam Bennett's team in Gwyr Abertawe, where we faced strong opposition from Labour, the Tories, the Greens, Reform, and Plaid Cymru. From my very first day, ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1517"In 2026 our vote share in inner London boroughs was the worst since 1978. We aren't running any inner London boroughs. We are only even the main opposition party in one, Brent. This isn't just a London, or a city, problem though. Our 2026 local election vote share of 14 per cent is worse than in the coalition year of 2011 - and our lowest in 8 years."Rob Blackie argues that if the Lib Dems are again to appeal to young voters we must march towards the sound of gunfire. Jason Cobb says the Starmer project was born in Lambeth ... (more) |
We need to talk about Gorton and DentonAlthough the party consolidated our voter base in areas such as Surrey, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire at the local elections, something which stuck out to me was the way that despite the best efforts of all our amazing hard-working volunteers, the party lost ground in Labour-facing urban areas such as Manchester and Sheffield as a result of being leapfrogged by the Green Party and I think part of the reason for this leads back to the Gorton and Denton by-election. At a Q&A back in March, current Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was asked about the by-election, "wasn't it the sort ... (more) |
First thoughts on the Lib Dem results (LDN#210)Liberal Democrat Newswire #210 came out at the weekend and you can now also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Welcome to Lib Dem Newswire #210, which focuses on first thoughts for what this month's elections mean for the Liberal Democrats. But first, a huge thank you to everyone involved in the Liberal Democrat campaigning, especially those for whom there aren't victories in their patch this time to take the edge off the exhaustion. We'll have much to examine as ... (more) |
Muller corner yoghurts used to block Powys public toiletIn awarding Headline of the Day to the Oswestry & Border Counties Advertizer, the judges were at pains to remind us that most "funny" headlines aren't funny at all if you think about them for even a moment. Some poor sod had to clean this mess up. (more) |
Re-electedOn Friday last week, the election counts for Gateshead were held. I am pleased to report that I was re-elected alongside my two Lib Dem colleagues Marilynn Ord and Jonathan Mohammed. Marilynn topped the poll with 1711 votes, I was second with 1692 votes and Jonathan M was third with 1572 votes. So there were fewer than 150 votes between the three of us, indicating that most people voted for the (more) |