They seek him here, they seek him thereWhere exact;y does the leader of Reform UK in Wales live and will he be eligible to stand for the Senedd? Nation Cymru claims that the Farage's parachutist hasn't moved back to his home town in the Valleys, but has bought a £1m house near Bath. They say that Dan Thomas, the former Conservative leader of Barnet council in London, was introduced on February 5 by Nigel Farage as his handpicked leader in Wales but there is speculation has as to whether the claim that he is living in Islwyn is correct: Thomas resigned at the end of last year ... (more) |
A picture of the Sisters at the Convent of Our Lady of the Ballot Boxes, High LeicestershireAnother illustration from the Lord Bonkers universe reaches us. I wouldn't like to tangle with this lot in a closely contested by-election. Now read about an early encounter with these redoubtable nuns. (more) |
Morgan McSweeney's kitchen cabinet met at Roger Liddle's homeA ghost from the SDP is haunting the Guardian Politics Live this evening. The blog quotes Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, as welcoming Morgan McSweeney's resignation but saying more needs to be done to tackle factionalism within the party: "It is a start, but we need to know how decisions have been made in the Labour party, including the role of Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney's 'kitchen cabinet', and how this whole culture will turn away from the factionalism to an inclusive culture which seeks to listen and engage MPs and prevent future errors over policy." And ... (more) |
What's happening in York? Lib Dem Spring Conference agenda now publishedIt's less than five weeks to York Spring Conference. Many of us will be looking forward to returning to the beautiful city to debate, be trained and to learn from exhibitors and discuss issues at fringe meetings. The agenda has now been published. This is your chance to go through it now and work out what motions you might like to amend, to plan out your diary for the weekend and not to just leave it till you're actually on the train to York. You can go to debates on access to driving lessons, preserving trial by jury, revitalising town ... (more) |
Bat for Lashes: LauraBat for Lashes is the stage name of Natasha Khan, who wrote this beautiful song with Justin Parker. To prove that there's no justice in this world, it reached only number 144 in the UK singles chart in the summer of 2012. I didn't know there was a number 144. But cheer up, because Natasha Khan also provides us with out Trivial Fact of the Day. In the Seventies, when there was an upsurge of interest in the game of squash, we heard a great deal about the "Khan squash dynasty" from Pakistan, and it turns out that Natasha is ... (more) |
Agenda published for Lib Dem Spring Conference 2026The combined agenda and directory for the forthcoming Lib Dem Spring Conference 2026 in York are now out. Taking a look through, I was glad to see that a change I introduced as President has stuck. We used to do Party Awards only every other conference, and I changed that to having awards at every one instead. That is continuing in York. Good news – and good luck to everyone who gets nominated for one. You can download the agenda and directory booklet here. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis (more) |
McSweeney's think tank paid PR firm to investigate journalistsThe website Democracy for Sales reports that the organisation Labour Together paid a controversial PR firm at least £30,000 to investigate journalists that were digging into how its undeclared funding bankrolled Keir Starmer's successful Labour leadership campaign. They say that according to documents they have seen, the influential Starmerite think tank, once run by Morgan McSweeney and then by Josh Simons, now a minister in Starmer's government, hired APCO Worldwide to investigate journalists from the Sunday Times, the Guardian and other outlets and to identify their sources: ACPO was hired in 2023, when Simons ran Labour Together. Sources close to ... (more) |