May local election prediction shows Lib Dems overtaking ConservativesStephen Fisher's latest annual predictions for how the parties will do in the May local elections are out, and they predict that the Liberal Democrats will overtake the Conservatives as the second party of local government. Stephen Fisher is an elections expert who is one of the brains behind the BBC exit poll and the annual projected national vote share calculations done for each set of local elections. Taking as a starting point the latest councillor number totals from Open Council Data (which will change slightly between now and the first Thursday in May), then the result after Stephen Fisher's ... (more) |
New pilot schemes aim to make voting easier but...I don't know about you, but the news that the Government had announced four pilot schemes to make voting "easier and more convenient" during this year's local elections had rather passed me by. To quote the release from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; In Milton Keynes, voters can have their say in the city's main shopping centre – Midsummer Place – rather than being restricted to a single designated polling station. This could eventually be rolled out across the country in future elections along high streets and in town centres. People in Cambridge, Tunbridge Wells and North ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Today even their gaunt ruins have been razedAs it happens, I really did have tea at Betty's and then go to Evensong in the Minster when I arrived in York for the conference. I used to listen to Choral Evensong on Radio 3 while I was washing up after cooking for my mother on Sundays, and formed the opinion that no vicar ever got sacked for choosing something from Isaiah and Paul for the two readings. So I was pleased that the Old Testament reading I heard in the Minster came from Numbers, though it made no mention of badgers. Friday Much as I love York, the ... (more) |
We need to do more to sell the story of a Liberal BritainI know that I'm not alone in contemplating what our next steps as a party are. We see the Greens and Reforms cut through on the media circuit and their memberships have seen stark rises as a result. Whilst each of these parties have almost diametrically opposed platforms, they do have one thing in common: having a vision for the country they want to see. Reform is selling a "return" to a rose-tinted view of the past, where Britain stood alone and strong and where their interpretation of traditional values made the world less confusing. As Liberals, we understand that ... (more) |
Two seats change hands in council by-electionsFour principal authority council by-elections this week, all with a Lib Dem candidate. That full slate is up one on the last time these seats were up (and here is why that is good news). However, after a Lib Dem gain in the Vale of White Horse two weeks ago, this week brings: Stanford (Vale of White Horse) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🌳] CON: 45.9% (+2.5) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 27.2% (-17.0) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 18.0% (New) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 7.9% (-4.5) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 1.0% (New)Conservative GAIN from Liberal Democrat.Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-03-27T00:32:25.173Z The Lib ... (more) |
Reform's Senedd campaign in chaosNation Cymru reports that members of Reform UK have warned of growing "chaos" behind the scenes in Wales as infighting erupts over candidate selections for the Senedd election. Farage's party has just announced all its candidates for the election on 7th May, but the process appears to have thrown up the usual problems of insufficient vetting and infighting, a problem that also haunted the UKIP group in the 2016-2021 Welsh Assembly: One senior Reform UK source said: "The selections have been disastrous from the moment they began - all of the promises Zia Yusuf made when Farage put him in ... (more) |
Two railway lines used to cross on the level at Retford stationAt Retford the line from Sheffield to Gainsborough and beyond used to cross the King's Cross main line to Scotland on the level. In 1965 a dive-under was constructed so this crossing could be removed. Our History Underfoot has been to Retford to tell this story and look for traces of the earlier arrangement. If you're interested in Midland railways this is a good account to subscribe to. Eighteen miles to the south of Retford, the King's Cross main line still crosses another line on the level. This is at Newark, where it meets the Nottingham to Lincoln line. The ... (more) |
26 March 2026 - today's press releasesScottish Liberal Democrats launch election campaign in seat they will take from SNP Greene comments on Reform's Scottish campaign collapse Greene comments on latest wave of ferry chaos Labour missing golden opportunity to set up Port Talbot industrial supply chain EU-US Turnberry deal: Renew Europe backs Parliament's firm mandate Scottish Liberal Democrats launch election campaign in seat they will take from SNP Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today launched his party's campaign, setting out how his party can win ten constituencies to deprive the SNP of a majority and win big on the peach regional ballot in order ... (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2025-2026Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2025 and the May 2026 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [17] +2 (+2/0) -9 (+3/-12) +2 (+2/0) -20 (+2/-22) -1 (0/-1) – +2 (+3/-1) -24 Lab -2 (0/-2) [16] -5 (0/-5) -7 (0/-7) -30 (+1/-31) – -2 (0/-2) -7 (0/-7) -53 Lib Dem +9 (+12/-3) +5 (+5/0) [35] +2 (+4/-2) -1 (+2/-3) +2 (+2/0) – +3 (+3/0) +20 Grn -2 (0/-2) +7 (+7/0) -2 (+2/-4) [8] +1 (+1/0) – – -1 (0/-1) +3 Ref +20 ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1495Christopher M. Cruz says US Democrats have failed to offer a vision of a liberal education: "This is not just bad for Democrats, but bad for the world as we have seen the country slip into chaos. If liberals want to see things change in 2028, they (and everyone else) should concern themselves more forcefully with the role of the liberal arts in educational institutions and invest to become the primary champion of books in the public square." "This is not what I wanted to write. I wanted to write about how I'm about to go on book tour for ... (more) |