When the GIs came to SwanseaToday, Singleton Park is a large green space on the seafront in Swansea used for a huge number of activities ranging from dog walking and park runs to outdoor concerts and car shows. It was bought from the Vivian family by the County Borough Council in 1919 for use as a public park and was transformed by Daniel Bliss, who was trained at Kew Gardens, to include a botanical gardens and boating lake amongst other features. As you can see from the map below, large areas of the park have since been sacrificed to accommodate the university campus and a ... (more) |
What's he got?Right, so Andy Burnham is elected to Parliament and, assuming there are no unforeseen circumstances, he will be Prime Minister by mid-July. There will be a coronation for King Andy as Labour are unable to find anyone within the 410 Labour MPs elected at the last general election capable of taking on the prime ministerial role. Remember however that a coronation may not be a good thing. Labour had (more) |
St Mary's fairLast Saturday, St Mary's Church in Whickham held their summer fair. Always a good opportunity to buy homemade cakes. Photo above of Councillors Peter and Susan Craig and myself.Cllr Marilynn Ord chats to stallholdersWider shot of the fair.On the tombola where all the prizes were alcoholic, Cllr Marilynn Ord won the mouthwash! (more) |
What remains of the locations where Hue and Cry was filmedThe best-known scene from a British film involving children and bombsites is the climax of Hue and Cry (1947), where the office boys and errand boys of London stream across a ruined cityscape to confront the villains. It feels more Roberto Rosselini than Ealing. Here, you sense, is the exotic London captured by Rose Macaulay in her novel The World My Wilderness (1950). A city where the bombsites are bright with flowers and lush with vegetation. A city of sudden unaccustomed vistas of Italianate churches. A city where the displaced sleep at night among the ruins. That was me writing ... (more) |
Franz Kafka in North West LeicestershireFrom BBC News: Barbara Skedd was in "absolute horror" when she opened a letter addressed to her executors offering them condolences on her death. The 74-year-old received a letter to her Ibstock home, in Leicestershire, from North West Leicestershire District Council in May to update its council tax records following the family's "recent bereavement". And that's not all: Skedd said she was in tears after the initial shock of reading that she had died in the council letter, dated 21 May. She said anger then followed when she discovered all her benefit money, including her Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Industrial ... (more) |
Latest voting intention and leadership ratings opinion pollsWelcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Find Out Now 18% (nc) 21% (+6) 12% (nc) 15% (-2) 24% (-3) -3% (vs Ref) 24-25/6 GB BMG ... (more) |
The Lib Dem strategy reviewThe party's ongoing strategy review is welcome. But collecting feedback is only the beginning. Turning it into a successful long-term strategy requires us to answer four fundamental questions. 1. What's the point of the Liberal Democrats? I've been asked this question, sneeringly, more than once. But, we do need to be clear what we want to achieve. More seats and votes are important, but they are not our ultimate aim. This question might seem quite abstract today – but it will be critical in the years to come. We are going to have to make difficult decisions when we are ... (more) |
Author's introduction to "Sliding Scales"Sliding Scales is a history of modern democracy from a liberal perspective. The dramatic transformation of the 19th century British Empire into a 20th century Commonwealth was a triumph of diplomacy. It had many setbacks and failures, but it did not lead to the havoc caused by the collapse of similar 19th century empires, which led to the wars in Algeria, the Congo, Vietnam and now Ukraine. It was not a sad down-sizing of power, but one which saved lives and civilizations. Its strengths were to be found in 'Free Trade' (Imperial Preference). It encouraged mutual aid among its member ... (more) |
13 seats change hands in council contestsTwenty-three (!) principal authority contests this week, for twenty-four seats, and although it has been a good start to this 2026-7 cycle of by-elections and deferred contests for the Liberal Democrats, this week alas was a bit different. There was though some good news: Dawlish South West (Teignbridge) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 45.3% (+6.6) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 29.5% (New) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 15.1% (+3.8) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 10.1% (-12.8)No Ind (-27.1) as previous.Liberal Democrat HOLD.Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-06-26T06:37:37.371Z These by-election results round-ups cover principal authority by-elections as it's only those for which comprehensive ... (more) |
Our voting system isn't just unfair. It's becoming dangerous.Soon after I was elected in July 2024, I was approached by a man in Cirencester Market Place who congratulated me on my win. He'd voted in every general election since 1974, he said, and this was the first time he had ever voted for a winning candidate. For most of that time, he told me, he had barely bothered looking at the names on the ballot paper. He already knew who would win, but had voted out of habit – "or maybe just stubbornness" – but knew that it would, in effect, be a wasted vote. South Cotswolds is ... (more) |