An exclusive extract from The Secret Diary of Charles Dickens aged 13¾ by Lee Jackson. Living in Johnson Street, Camden Town, young Charles yearns to make his way in the world. But he is constantly thwarted by his less-than-respectable family, particularly his endearing but spendthrift father... Saturday 7th January Mama going on and on about old Mrs Hathersage across the road, like some squawking parrot in petticoats. 'Someone ought to go and befriend the poor old dear and perhaps her pretty little niece would also like the company ...' &c &c. Mama is possessed of a romantic humour and suspects ...
Waverley is one of those local authorities whose whereabouts defeats me - I tend to confuse it with Waveney and think it's in East Anglia. In fact, it is in Surrey and Godalming and Farnham are its largest towns. Much of it falls into the South West Surrey constituency, currently represented in parliament by the chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Last night there was a by-election in what has traditionally been a save Conservative ward - see Andrew Teale's preview for the figures going back 20 years - of Waverley Borough Council, Chiddingfold and Dunsfold. And the contest resulted in a stunning ...
The unexpected death of Robert this week, in the run-up to an ALDE Party Council meeting, the scene of so many of his contributions to the Party's international work, has cast a shade over the work of our delegation this weekend. Robert Woodthorpe Browne, the former veteran Chair of the Party's International Relations Committee, latterly Federal International Relations Committee, died on Tuesday morning, following a stroke the previous week. An internationalist to his fingertips, his reputation as one of the leading players in global liberal politics was a tribute to hard work, an almost uncanny ability to make deals and ...
After a Lib Dem gain from the Conservatives in an unusual Wednesday by-election, Thursday brought the Chester Parliamentary by-election along with Lib Dem candidates in four out of the five principal authority council by-elections. And a familiar type of result came with the first by-election to complete its count: Chiddingfold and Dunsfold (Waverley) council by-election result: LDEM: 66.6% (+43.5) CON: 30.3% (-11.1) LAB: 3.1% (-5.1) No Grn (-27.3) as prev. Votes cast: 979 LDEM GAIN from CON — Britain Elects (@BritainElects) December 2, 2022
Here's the latest tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held since the last May round of local elections.
If anything underlines how ineffective the ministerial code is, it is the reinstatement of Suella Braverman to the role of Home Secretary by Rishi Sunak just days after she was sacked by Liz Truss for a potential security breach. However, according to the Guardian, this is just the most high profile of a whole load of breaches that have never been properly addressed. The paper says that a parliamentary committee has warned that historic breaches of the code may never be investigated or resolved, including the conduct of the home secretary or Islamophobia claims against a former chief whip, with ...
Labour held on to Chester in the Parliamentary by-election yesterday. That was, of course, no surprise; even the swing of 12% could have been predicted. But the Tories vote share was down not by 12% but by 16%, with support haemorrhaging in all directions. Lib Dems put up a candidate and benefitted from that in a small way, with their vote share up 1.5%. So thank you to Rob Herd for flying the flag for the party. Meanwhile something interesting is happening in the Tory held seat of Totnes. There is a call for the three main opposition parties to ...
Christmas feasting is meant to begin on Christmas Eve, not 1 December, but I promised you a mix of the sacred and secular. Angelo Branduardi is an Italian singer-songwriter. I don't know if Merry We Will Be is any good, but it was issued in the UK as single in 1979 and I remember Terry Wogan playing it in the run up to Christmas that year. You see, I used to find Radio 2 a good neutral background for writing Philosophy essays. I hadn't heard Merry We Will Be in more than 40 years when I thought of posting an ...
All are welcome along to Harris Education and Recreation Association's free Christmas celebration event at The Vine, Magdalen Yard Road tonight - Friday 2nd December - from 7pm to 9pm. Pop in to enjoy some seasonal refreshments and learn about adult learning opportunities through HERA who run evening classes in Harris Academy and other West End venues. Classes include Pilates, Needle Felting, Drawing and Painting and various languages, and will start again in early 2023. No need to book for this free event, please just come along and bring a friend! See more at www.facebook.com/events/811294286877667
