There's more than one Reform politician who believes in UFOsThis video has received a lot of attention today, but don't mock Councillor Kieran Lay too hard. Because he's not the only Reform politician to believe in aliens and their UFOs. Regular readers will be familiar with Rupert Matthews, the police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire. He was elected as a Conservative but later joined Reform UK. And Matthews once told an American interviewer: "The evidence for UFOs and for the humanoid creatures linked to them is pretty compelling." Less amusing are Matthews' current plans for Market Harborough town centre. Rather than spend the money on more properly trained police ... (more) |
A review of Terry O'Neill's life story in a social work journalTwenty years ago, every branch of Waterstones had a section called "Painful Lives" that carried memoirs of abuse in childhood. The success of Dave Pelzer's A Child Called It in 1995 had awakened a public appetite for such literature, and publishers were happy to satisfy it. It was in this climate that Terry O'Neill, the younger brother of Dennis O'Neill, whose death I have often written about, posted his life story on the website Authonomy under the title Never Againin 2009. This was a site where authors could post their manuscripts in the hope that its owner Harper Collins or ... (more) |
The UK's political leadership deficitPolitical leadership is about changing the public agenda. Keir Starmer has failed to sway public opinion on major issues. Nigel Farage has been a much more effective political leader, albeit for a fraudulent project. He successfully made the argument for leaving the EU against the conventional wisdom of the majority of the British political elite and political commentators. Margaret Thatcher was in this sense also a highly effective leader. She defied the civil service, many within her own party and Cabinet, and wide sections of the public, and drove through a deliberate shrinking of the size and functions of the ... (more) |
Building Lib Dem groups that work for all membersThe last few years have been extraordinary for Liberal Democrats in local government. We have taken control of councils we hadn't held in a generation, broken Conservative dominance in places that looked permanent, and built a base of councillors larger than at any point in recent memory. The May 2024 general election was the visible peak, but the local story has been running longer and deeper. Now comes the harder part. Winning is one thing. Running things well, year after year, in a way that makes residents glad they voted for us and councillors proud of what they've built, takes ... (more) |
2026 Local Elections review: A Liberal perspective" Boys on the corner looking for their supper Boys round the green looking for some slaughter – We used to chase dreams now we chase the dragon Mine is the semi with the Union Jack on" Come to Milton Keynes - The Style Council I start this blog with the lyrics to a hit from 1985 that could very easily apply today. How many flags have been raised in your local area? My corner of Kent was plastered with them in the Autumn, some remain on higher lamp posts as the local admin body is too cowardly to take ... (more) |
The 2026 Locals were a bad result for the party, let's not pretend otherwiseLike many Lib Dems who stood in the 2026 locals, I've spent most of the last year walking around my ward knocking on doors, delivering leaflets and following the strategy that we were told gave us a really good shot. Our data looked great, we were making lots of contacts and many voters told us they were voting for us tactically against Labour. The race seemed like a clear two horse race, the Greens previously had less than half our vote and didn't campaign in the ward. It sounded like we had the perfect chance, right? Well, I thought so ... (more) |
Long-Term Planning in the Age of Weak Government"Long-Term Planning" is a term I hear thrown around a lot about Governance, usually because people feel it isn't happening. This isn't for lack of trying either, in 2024 Keir Starmer was making clear that his Premiership was going to last at least ten years; while that looks unlikely today, it does raise some serious questions about what long-term planning looks like in an era when leadership is highly fragile. To really put this in context, the last Prime Minister to serve a full-term was David Cameron during the Coalition from 2010-2015, and the last Prime Minister to serve a ... (more) |
Bad News: What the Headlines Don't Tell Us[IMG: Copies of Bad News by Mark Pack on a shelf] Buy Bad News from Waterstones, Amazon (paperback and Kindle), Biteback (including ebook) or Bookshop.org (supports independent bookshops).* Bad News: What the Headlines Don't Tell Us is my book about the media. (Though yes, politics and polls do feature too.) It's a popular guide that helps you make sense of the news wherever it appears – print, broadcast or online. Peppered with examples from around the world, the book turns a serious subject into an enjoyable read. Thoughtful and perceptive, Bad News is required reading for anyone who wants to ... (more) |
Ron and Chris re-electedGateshead's opposition Liberal Democrat Group have confirmed that veteran councillors Ron Beadle (Low Fell) and Christopher Ord (Whickham North and Swalwell) will lead them over the next year. Ron, who was re-elected with the highest individual vote of any Gateshead councillor last week, will be Leader of the Opposition because the Lib Dems are the largest of the three opposition (more) |
Vince Cable writes: Escaping the Brexit dilemmaThere is a Brexit dilemma: a growing consensus that Brexit was a bad mistake together with the fatalistic acceptance that nothing much can be done about it. For committed Remainers, there is the smug satisfaction of having been right all along. The predicted economic costs have duly materialised. The less predicted global upheaval has left Britain dangerously stranded in a geo-economic no-mans-land. Public opinion polls are increasingly negative about Brexit. If the mistake is so obvious, surely then Britain can and will re-join, with some urgency? But there is a big difference between the virtual reality of opinion polls and ... (more) |