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* 17% (-1) 15% (nc) 10% (-2) 21% (+3) 27% (+1) -12% (4th, vs Ref) 4-6/3 GB ... (more) |
The Elections Bill isn't good enough for a democracy under threatOur democracy is under sustained attack. Repeated scandals and corruption have hollowed out trust, while powerful men who hate our democracy – from Silicon Valley to the Kremlin – undermine our social fabric and institutions. It is nothing short of a national crisis. It has therefore been deeply frustrating to see the litany of lost opportunities in the government's "Representation of the People Bill". What is called for is transformation – to restore trust and make our brittle, fragile democracy more resilient. This bill does not meet that moment. In all its 186 pages, it manages to avoid measures that ... (more) |
ALDC by-election report, 5th MarchThere were five principal council by-elections this week, four of which had a Liberal Democrat on the ballot, up from just one last time these wards were contested. In Kent, Ashley Wassall and the Sevenoaks team earned a quarter of the vote from a standing start, as the Conservatives picked up the seat from Independent. This is a good base to start from in the next campaign here. Good effort! Sevenoaks District Council, Hextable Conservative: 600 (38.9%, +19.3) Reform UK: 406 (26.3%, new) Liberal Democrats (Ashley Wassall): 367 (23.8%, new) Independent: 108 (7.0%, new) Green Party: 62 (4.0%, new) Conservative ... (more) |
Why is anti-youth abuse in politics getting worse?I'm lucky to represent an amazing area as a district and town councillor. Since I was elected at the age of 19, becoming Huntingdonshire's youngest ever councillor, I've had a huge amount of support from the community, friends, family, officers, and councillors of all parties. At the same time, I've also heard every "are you old enough for big trousers?" and "did you finish college last week?" jibe you can imagine. Let's be honest – most of the time that's good humour. Young people in politics are rare, people find it unusual, and people are excited to see a young ... (more) |
Southwark shows how the Liberal Democrats win cities againThis week Southwark Liberal Democrats launched our manifesto for what will be our largest local election campaign in decades. After 16 years of Labour control, many residents feel the borough has been taken for granted. Southwark also illustrates a wider challenge facing the Liberal Democrats: how we rebuild our presence in major cities. Much of the party's recent growth has come in Tory-facing suburban and rural areas, but cities like London remain politically competitive and full of liberal minded voters looking for an alternative to Labour. If the Liberal Democrats are serious about becoming a national force again, we must ... (more) |
Liberal populism could be our missing political languageAmong liberals, "populism" is a warning sign. It brings to mind angry speeches, conspiracy theories, and politicians who promise easy answers while blaming outsiders. Many of us instinctively reject it. That instinct is understandable. Yet it may also be a mistake. Populism, at its core, is a simple claim. It says that power has become too concentrated in the hands of a few people, and that ordinary citizens deserve more control over the decisions that affect their lives. That idea is not automatically extreme or dangerous. In fact, it fits comfortably within the liberal tradition. Liberals have always believed that ... (more) |
A rare Labour by-election gain from ReformFive principal authority council by-elections this week, with four of them having Liberal Democrat candidates. That's up an impressive three on the previous time these wards were up, and in fact in all three of those wards it had previously been a long run of Lib Dem no shows as you'll see from the details below. The results also brought us the first Labour council by-election gain from Reform in this cycle of by-elections (i.e. since the last May local elections). Given there were none in the previous cycle it is possible that this is the first ever such one ... (more) |