Lib Dems get new by-election cycle off to a double winning start[IMG: Chris McSweeny] Winning Lib Dem by-election candidate Chris McSweeny. Four principal authority council by-elections this week to kick off the new cycle. Good to see a full slate of Lib Dem candidates, up one on the last time these seats were contested. Those candidates also scored two important wins for the Liberal Democrats: Alfrick, Leigh & Rushwick (Malvern Hills) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 25.8% (+10.6) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 22.3% (+3.2) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 19.4% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 16.9% (New) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 10.8% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 4.7% (New)No MHI (-65.6) as previous.Liberal Democrat GAIN from ... (more) |
Jake Austin picked as Liberal Democrat candidate for Makerfield[IMG: Jake Austin - Makerfield candidate] Jake Austin. A Liberal Democrat press release brings the news: Jake Austin has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Makerfield in the upcoming by-election, pledging to champion local issues that matter most to residents. Jake is passionate about revitalising our high streets, improving public transport across the North West, and providing affordable homes for the next generation. Jake was born and raised in Hindley, and has lived in Greater Manchester his whole life. Working in fundraising, Jake is also a Liberal Democrat Councillor. In 2024, Jake was the Liberal Democrat candidate in ... (more) |
Marching for Palestinian rights - and our ownWhen 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos addressed last Saturday's London peace rally for Palestine he confronted some upside-down thinking, and turned it the right way up. "These are NOT hate marches", he said, "Quite the opposite! These are NOT no-go areas for Jews...Quite the opposite! A majority of Jews of the world do NOT support Israeli policy...Quite the opposite!" A good number of Lib Dems attend these Palestine marches each month. We all know the misconceptions spread by journalists and politicians. Few have attended a march, yet they're happy to label them extremist, pro-Hamas, hate-led, and often predict arrests. This ... (more) |
The amended EHRC code is an attack on trans rights. Lib Dems should be at the forefront of challenging it.The amended Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice on services, public functions, and associations was laid before Parliament yesterday. It will become law in 40 days unless Parliament acts. That window matters, and Liberal Democrats should be using it. I have read the code carefully. The headline is this: it does not just reflect the Supreme Court's ruling in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers. It goes further, resolving almost every area of discretion against trans people and in favour of those who want to exclude them. It makes inclusion legally risky and exclusion legally safe. That ... (more) |
Lords Parliamentary Party reshuffle - who's who in the new Parliamentary sessionReaders may have noticed over the past few days a few personal announcements as to what certain Peers will be doing now, so we thought that we'd better provide readers with a complete list. And, with thanks to Humphrey Amos from the Lords' Whips Office, we can announce that our Lords Spokespeople are as follows: Leader – Jeremy Purvis Deputy Leaders – Kath Pinnock and Mike Storey Chief Whip – Dave Goddard Attorney General – Martin Thomas Business and Industry – Chris Fox Cabinet Office – Mark Pack Culture, Media and Sport – Jane Bonham-Carter, Dominic Addington (Sport) and Liz ... (more) |
Creeting St Peter: putting the administrative stuff to rights, one task at a time...In my eight years as Chair of the Parish Council, I've held a number of roles. At one point, I was Chair, Acting Clerk and Responsible Finance Officer, a period which caused me huge levels of stress and was, in organisational terms, highly unsatisfactory. But sometimes, especially with a micro-parish, needs must. The show must, if you like, go on. In my earlier incarnation, I was the Wildlife portfolio holder, which was a source of great amusement given that I still couldn't confidently identify even the obvious stuff and was still convinced that wolves stalked the land. Now, I hold ... (more) |
Mutant 'super pigs' breeding at uncontrollable levels in nuclear fallout zoneCongratulations to the Daily Star. Thanks to a nomination from a Liberal England reader, it has won our Headline of the Day Award. (more) |
Too much Tik Tok, not enough protocolIt is a sure sign that the government is getting too obsessed with social media when the Speaker of the House of Commons scolds Labour ministers for making major announcements on TikTok before Parliament. The Guardian reports that, speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, ahead of Rachel Reeves' cost of living plan announcement, Lindsay Hoyle criticised ministers for announcing policies on social media before updating MPs: The chancellor received a dressing down from deputy speaker Judith Cummins as she prepared to set out measures to mitigate the economic impact of the Iran war, several of which had already been ... (more) |
Council by-election results scorecard 2026-2027Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con – – – – – – – +1 (+1/0) +1 Lab – – – – – – – – 0 Lib Dem – – [1] – – – – +1 (+1/0) +1 Grn – – – [1] – – – – 0 Ref – – – – – – – – 0 SNP – – – – – – – – 0 Plaid – – ... (more) |
Rob Kenyon: Reform's vetting has failed in Makerfield[IMG: Social media post by Rob Kenyon] Just one of Rob Kenyon's many objectionable social media posts. Reform often boasts about how good its candidate vetting is. But even with plenty of examples of its failure already widely known, this is a shocking failure of vetting for their Makerfield Parliamentary by-election candidate: On a deleted social media account, Reform UK's candidate in the upcoming Makerfield parliamentary by-election, Rob Kenyon, made creepy comments about women, peddled baseless conspiracy theories, and called for a method of torture prohibited by international human rights law. After Rob Kenyon was announced as Reform UK's Makerfield ... (more) |