Former Green Mayor Ian Conlan joins Lib DemsFollowing the news of a Green councillor joining the Lib Dems, there is now also news of former Mayor Ian Conlan doing the same: Liberal Democrats on North Yorkshire Council say they are aiming to take control of the authority in next May's elections as they welcomed a former Green Party mayor into their ranks. Ian Conlan, who served as Mayor of Malton for three years, has defected to the Liberal Democrats and announced plans to stand as a candidate in the May 2027 local elections. [Richmondshire Today] Liberal Democrat councillor Steve Mason welcomed the decision, saying: I have known ... (more) |
Scottish Lib Dems defeat SNP on Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence BillThis week Scottish Lib Dems inflicted the first parliamentary defeat of this session on the minority SNP Government. SNP candidates had championed the idea of a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence Bill for years and it was in their manifesto for the elections in May. I represented the party at numerous hustings on disability, including specific ones to do with supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and neurodivergence, and there was unanimity amongst all parties. Earlier this month, the SNP Government said that it would no longer pursue this, claiming that they could make change more quickly as though these ... (more) |
The Manchurian Candidate (the 1962 version)The 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: Get the books As well as covering some books in the podcast, we also mention others in the newsletter's bonus content. You can browse all the books mentioned and get them for yourself via my Bookshop.org page (affiliate link) including the original novel version of The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon. The (original) Manchurian Candidate [IMG: ... (more) |
The Red Lady of PavilandGreece may want us to return the Elgin Marbles, but they are not the only misplaced historical artifact. There are people in Swansea who want the red lady of Paviland returned to South Wales as well, though this aint no lady. As the BBC reports, two-hundred years ago scientists unearthed one of the most intriguing and controversial finds in Welsh archaeological history: On 18 January 1823, The Red Lady of Paviland was discovered in a cave on the Gower peninsula, Swansea, by William Buckland, a reverend and Oxford University's first ever professor of geology. "She" was immediately transported to the ... (more) |
How housebuilding can tackle the cost of living crisis and boost growthThis article draws on "Hitting housebuilding targets would reduce rents by £251 a month" published by the Centre for British Progress, written by Rob Blackie, Tim Leunig and David Lawrence. Andy Burnham's recent promise to tackle the cost of living pitch ignored the most practical approach: increasing housebuilding to bring down rents. This week the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that people will get poorer in the next few years. If Britain focuses on cutting rents we can reverse that trend. The typical British renter spends three times as much on rent as on food, and five times as much ... (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 BMG 21% (+1) 31% (+3) 8% (nc) 8% (-1) 22% (-1) 9% (vs Ref) 28-29/10 GB Find Out Now ... (more) |
The Independent View: Nobody falls in love with a manifestoLast week on this site, Maria Linforth-Hall asked a question that has stayed with me: what are the Liberal Democrats for? One line in particular. "Having individual policies is not necessarily the same as communicating a coherent political vision." She then asked whether ordinary people can recognise liberal values in the practical answers the party offers to their everyday problems. I should say where I'm writing from. I'm not a party member. I write for LibDem Dating, an independent dating site for liberal-minded singles in the UK, which has no connection to the party and no endorsement from it. So ... (more) |
Retro.1Driven, I moved away from home (deep roots) and in the tearing, left some blood behind although I was a stone; a pliant rock since modified by alchemy of years to straw and dust, now scattered in the fall (more) |
Bridges MatterThe road bridge infrastructure in London is creaking and inadequate, and ownership and responsibility is fragmented. The soundness, or not, of these bridges has consequences. However, we, Liberal Democrats, do not yet have a policy for London's bridges and we need one. London is a massive centre, drawing people, and with them goods and other resources, from right across the country, but particularly from across the southeast of England. And this creates a need to cross the river that flows through the heart of that centre. Whatever we do with public transport, road traffic will always be part of this ... (more) |
An altercation in the HouseThe media are reporting an "altercation" in the Commons between Nigel Farage and Caroline Voaden. It happened at the State Opening of Parliament last May when MPs were queuing on a staircase to leave the chamber. Caroline told the Guardian: He was trying to get out of the chamber and instead of just asking if he could go past, he said: 'Let me past'. I turned round and said: 'No, you can wait your turn like everyone else'. He grabbed me by the arm or the shoulder, pushed me to one side and tried to push past me. One of ... (more) |