Lib Dem MPs are talking to the media about their concern at the party's directionEmbed from Getty ImagesThere have been whispers about discontent with the party's leadership among Liberal Democrat MPs for some time. Now some of those MPs are talking, some more openly than others, to the media about their concerns. This is from BBC News yesterday: One frontbench Lib Dem MP told the BBC after Burnham's Labour conference speech: "Lots of us [are] struggling tonight with [a] Labour leader articulating Lib Dem values better than we do." They pointed to Burnham's promises on electoral reform, social care, the water industry, and relations with Europe - all Lib Dem campaign points in recent ... (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 Find Out Now 17% (-2) 27% (+3) 9% (-3) 12% (-1) 23% (nc) 4% (vs Ref) 30/9 GB Survation ... (more) |
Blackburn Reform councillor accused of farting at rivalI pleaded the case of BBC News and its Car crashes into viral shop shutters where gran was hoisted into the air but the judges were not to be moved. Implacable. Bewigged. So our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Lancashire Telegraph for:Blackburn Reform councillor accused of farting at rivalI'm not happy. As the headmaster says in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On: "Mark my words, when a society has to resort to the lavatory for its humour, the writing is on the wall." Still, I suppose you have to admire the Telegraph's front page. (The winning headline appears ... (more) |
By-Election Report 01.10.26[IMG: 4 parallel white vertical lines on orange background ALDC logo] Six principal authority by-elections took place across Scotland and England on Thursday 1st October. Reform UK were defending two seats in Northumberland (Amble and Hirst), the Conservatives were defending two seats (in Stirling and North West Leicestershire), Labour defended one seat in Blackpool, and an Independent seat was contested in Highland. The headline story of the week was a sensational Scottish Liberal Democrat gain in Highland Council, where Julie Calder stormed to victory with over 50% of first-preference votes in the SNP Council Leader's own ward. Across the border ... (more) |
State of Play: a classic BBC political drama revisitedThe 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). State of Play, episode 1 [IMG: Montage of the main actors in State of Play] We're heading ... (more) |
Picking our allies, a perspective on Israel/PalestineThere's been a lot of noise recently about applying international law. What exactly does this mean? Statutes on human rights were formalised as international law following the atrocities committed during the Holocaust in which at least twelve million were killed, six million of them Jews. But over the years these laws have seemingly been applied indiscriminately with Western powers left off the hook time and again. Questions around British and American actions in places like Iraq linger, but in recent years the heat has been turned up. Israel, traditional ally to many Western powers, has been the subject of case ... (more) |
Lib Dems make another by-election gain in HighlandsSix principal authority council by-elections this week and all back to being on a Thursday. One thing remains the same with by-elections though, a steady flow of Liberal Democrat gains – with this week's gain once again coming on Highland Council: [IMG: Julie Calder by election image 2026] Wick & East Caithness (Highland) Council By-Election Result [1st Prefs]: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 50.4% (+20.6) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 23.6% (New) [IMG: 🎗] SNP: 14.0% (-11.3) [IMG: âž¡] RFM: 9.4% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 2.6% (-12.5)No Inds (-12.8, -10.5) as previous.Liberal Democrat 'Gain' from Independent – Stage 1.Changes w/ 2022. — Election Maps ... (more) |
Burnham is right to reform the triple lock; the Lib Dems should support itIn his conference speech this week, Andy Burnham made a brave political decision to reform the triple lock on the state pension. The reformed triple lock will increase the state pension by either inflation or 2.5% every year. If there is sustained growth in average wages over several years - enough to outpace the inflation and 2.5% locks - then the pension will rise to match that wage growth. This ensures that every year the state pension will be protected, or increase, in real terms, and it retains its value relative to wages. This is a sensible reform; similar proposals ... (more) |
Why I won't Wayve goodbye to Black CabsSince September 3, Uber and Wayve have been operating a small number of self-driving cars in London. Passengers can travel in electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es equipped with Wayve's AI driving system. For now, these are supervised autonomous journeys: a trained, TfL-licensed private-hire driver remains in the vehicle to monitor the system and intervene if necessary — which, incidentally, seems to defeat the point of a driverless vehicle. The initial service operates across the capital, excluding airports, and is being expanded gradually. The UK government forecasts a self-driving market worth up to £42 billion, creating up to 38,000 jobs by 2035. ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1585"Burnham's speech was, in some ways, an exercise in calling the electorate's bluff. 'I have given you what you often say is missing from politics,' Burnham concluded. "Honesty, ideas and a clear direction for the country we all love.' The message was thus: You say you want change and are sick of politicians who dodge difficult decisions and offer little beyond managerialism. So here are some difficult decisions — will you back me?"Zoe Grunewald was in Liverpool for Andy Burnham's speech. Chris Grey looks at the the speech's effect on the Brexit debate: "In personal life, we rarely regard terrible ... (more) |