Why Holborn and St Pancras deserves our allIt is no secret that Liberal Democrats have become one of the first and foremost Parties in Local Government, having consistently made gains for the last seven years of Local Elections and this strategy was successful in giving us 72 MPs in 2024. But one place where we have suffered a great absence of success has been in Parliamentary by-elections, where we haven't made a gain since 2023. This is obviously bad for a few reasons, by-elections often indicate loudly and clearly to the public who has momentum, and seeing a major victory can translate into added strength, for example, ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1572"How did a former lawyer-turned theologian become Reform UK's lead ideologue and political heavyweight on so many issues? To understand that, you have to follow a covert combination of faith and finance, of evangelical doom-mongering and disruptive tech and media, from the two real kingmakers in right-wing British and American politics - the deeply religious and deeply wealthy owners of GB News and Palantir: Sir Paul Marshall and Peter Thiel." Peter Jukes and Nafeez Ahmed map the strange rise of James Orr. Elaine Craig has researched family carers' attitude to the use of restraint in mental hospitals: "A mother discovered ... (more) |
Observations of an Expat: Bonds and the WorldThis week's G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville ended amid unusually bitter divisions. Behind the arguments over China, tariffs, Iran and Russia lurked another problem which affects every country represented around the table: the world's bond markets are in turmoil. The practicality of funding the business of governments is an excellent demonstration of the interconnectability of the world. The fact is that no matter how high a tariff wall is built, the bond holders will find a way to scale it and their demands are based on global conditions. At the moment, the global bond market is in tumult. This ... (more) |
Why Ofcom and the government need to up their game on parcel deliveriesThe latest edition of my email newsletter about work in Parliament, A Lord's Eye View, 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: Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords. This time it's back to parcel delivery services, as well as a quick update on a political finance loophole. The regulation of parcel delivery firms is not up to scratch [IMG: An Amazon parcel in a letterbox] Photo by Olivier Rouge ... (more) |
Giant's Grave, GowerI once tried to walk through the valley to the Parc le Breos burial chamber, known locally as Giant's Grave, but abandoned the attempt after being bitten by a horse fly. As this site tells us Giant's Grave is a Neolithic (4000-3000bc) tomb belonging to the so-called Severn-Cotswold group: The burial site was first located in 1869 when it was plundered for stone and re-excavated in 1960-61 by R J C Atkinson. Bone fragments belonging to 40 individuals have been recovered. All were adults except for three, also discovered were two rims of Neolithic pottery. It is thought that the ... (more) |
Green asks Offord if Reform UK Scotland has benefited from foreign donationsScottish Liberal Democrat public service reform spokesperson David Green MSP has today written to Reform UK's Scottish leader Malcolm Offord, asking if he will categorically rule out ever having accepted or benefited from foreign donations. It follows a Channel 4 News documentary showing Nigel Farage and Reform UK advisors discussing how to secure a foreign donation for the party. Two senior Reform UK officials have stepped down in the wake of the documentary. Foreign donations to UK political parties are banned to make sure that democratic decisions reflect the will of UK citizens, not those from overseas. David Green MSP ... (more) |
John Rogers takes us on a fantastic stroll around South KensingtonJohn shows us Exhibition Road, the French district of Kensington and Benny Hill's blue plaque. (more) |
Burnham, Andy: Could do betterAndy Burnham became PM by surfing a wave of dissatisfaction with the Starmer government. This is now his honeymoon period. The whole thing is extraordinarily like the arrival of a new Labour government after a long period of Conservative domination: think 1945 and 1997, and maybe 1964 - not 2024. There are lots of hopes and not all can be realised. Starmer's managerialist centrism had opened up a gulf on the liberal left which the Lib Dems seemed unable to fill and into which the Greens were advancing; but the many questions about them left many currently Labour-inclined people deeply ... (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 20% (nc) 26% (+4) 10% (-1) 14% (+1) 21% (-4) 5% (vs Ref) 2/9 GB YouGov ... (more) |
ALDC by-election report, 3rd SeptemberSix principal authority by-elections took place across England, Scotland, and Wales on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd September. The Liberal Democrats were defending two key seats - one on Stroud District Council and another on Oxfordshire County Council. The SNP were defending two seats in Edinburgh, while the Greens defended one seat in Somerset and the Conservatives defended one seat in South Wales. It was a fantastic week for the Liberal Democrats as we successfully held both of our defended seats with strong performances. We earned a commanding 64% of the vote in Stroud and surged by nearly 9 percentage ... (more) |