Lib Dems in the King's birthday honours 2026Congratulations to the following Liberal Democrats spotted in the 2026 King's Birthday honours: Clare Apel: "Chair, Chichester District Council. For services to the Voluntary Sector, to Local Government and to Holocaust Education" Elizabeth Plummer: "Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, House of Lords. For services to Parliament" Terry Stacy: "For services to the LGBTQ+ Community" Ruth Williams: "For Political and Voluntary Service" As ever, apologies for anyone I have not spotted in the list so far, and please do let me know of any omissions you notice. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis ... (more) |
Party leadership plotting: Yes, Minister's Party Games episodeThe latest edition of the email newsletter for my podcast, Political Fictions, is out and you can 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: [IMG: Party Games - Yes Minsiter episode] Happy Leadership Plotting, er... Christmas! The latest episode of Political Fictions is out. It's about a Christmas special featuring plotting to become Prime Minister. So we'll let you decide if our scheduling is way off or spot on. Here are the details: Mark and Cory talk about the O.G. ... (more) |
From cinema to book shopSwansea is starting to get its act together in repurposing old and listed buildings and one of the best examples of that is the former Carlton Cinema in Oxford Street. A website called Cinema Treasures has more information on this building: Situated on Swansea's Oxford Sreet, next door to the now demolished Empire Theatre, the theatre opened as the Carlton Cinema de Luxe on 31st January 1914. The Carlton Cinema has a very beautiful facade with bay glass windows on the first and second floors. There are decorative freizes in Doultonware featuring dancing cherubs. Inside the foyer was a very ... (more) |
District council backs a parish council for Market HarboroughAn extraordinary meeting of Harborough District Council has voted unanimously in favour of a parish council for Market Harborough, reports BBC News. This vote, which took place on Monday, followed a public poll in which 86 per cent of those who voted supported the establishment of a new council. I was one of them. The BBC report makes great play of the fact that only 24 per cent of those eligible cast a vote, but I wonder if this is such a bad figure for such a poll. Given the possibility that Market Harborough will be governed from Glenfield in ... (more) |
New by-election poll gives Burnham 5 point leadWe've already had two Survation polls for the Makerfield Parliamentary by-election, putting Andy Burnham first three and then ten points ahead. Now a new More in Common / UCL Policy Lab poll puts him five points ahead: [IMG: More in Common graph of Makerfield Parliamentary by-election poll] The sample size of just over 500 for the mixed phone and online poll is, as with the earlier Survation polls, large enough that any problems with the sample are almost certainly going to be due to its quality rather than its size. The fieldwork dates for this poll, understandably, stretch over time ... (more) |
Lib Dems force government to end Russian sanctions exemptionA party press release brings the news: The Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Lords, Lord Purvis, has secured a commitment from the government that it will close the previously open-ended exemption on the ban of trade in Russian refined oil products. A previously open-ended exemption on the ban of trade in Russian refined oil products will now cease no later than the end of the year. After pressure from the Liberal Democrats the government has announced it will now set a clear end of January 1st 2027, with a sunset provision, which had not been in place when ... (more) |
Bobby Charlton and Arnie Sidebottom at Stamford BridgeBobby Charlton played his last game for Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on 2 April 1973. Thanks to a rather flukey goal from Peter Osgood, Chelsea won 1-0. You can see brief highlights and Charlton's exit in the video below, but first take a look at the photo above. Who is the United player looking on as Charlton plays the ball? It's Arnie Sidebottom, who was to play one cricket test for England 12 years later. His son Ryan played many more. Arnie Sidebottom, a centre back, played 16 games for United before joining Huddersfield Town and then Halifax Town. ... (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% (+1) 16% (+1) 13% (+2) 17% (nc) 25% (-2) -9% (4th, vs Ref) 10-11/6 GB ... (more) |
ALDC's By Election Report 11.06.26[IMG: 4 parallel white vertical lines on orange background ALDC logo] Three principal authority by-elections took place this week in Cheshire West and Chester, Dacroum and Slough. Cheshire West and Chester Council - Christleton and Huntington Our first by-election was triggered by the sad passing of the sitting Conservative councillor. At the last election in 2023, Christleton and Huntington was closely contested, with all nine candidates in the two-member ward finishing within 12.5% of each other and extensive split voting across the ward. The two Conservatives edged out the third-placed Green candidate by just 24 votes. The Lib Dem candidates ... (more) |
We need a tax rise to fund additional defence spendingI am an "Orange Book" Lib Dem - I think we should have taxes as low as possible because people make the best decisions about how to spend their own money. That doesn't of course mean that we don't need taxes - there are lots of things the state needs to do to ensure everyone a decent society - and tax as a % of GDP is currently a Post war high. But it's very clear that our failure to adequately fund our Defences is putting our future as a safe, democratic nation at risk. John Healey's resignation letter could ... (more) |