Well, I've now been a member of Federal Council for more than a fortnight and, due to the small matter of some local elections, not much has happened. I've got a meeting pencilled in for 8 June and I'm assuming that there's an outline meeting schedule for the rest of 2023 but other than that, Federal Council remains a bit of a mystery. It's not as if I've not got a bunch of other things to do, so I can at least be more sanguine about this. In the meantime, I've read the Federal Constitution, which says of Federal Council: ...
Way back in the 1950s (or maybe 60s) I heard or read some pundit claim that if we went on like this (industries such as our famous car marques Rover, Healey, Riley etc., our Blue Streak Rocket, our machine tool industries and all the rest of the things for which we had been "world leaders") going into liquidation, being taken over by foreigners or simply abandoned as our pound plummeted in value, we should all end up dressed as a peasants in smocks guiding tourists round our quaint villages and towns. In other words a theme park. This moringa's Coronation ...
Thanks to organiser Andy Briggs for this triumphant photo of the LibDem team at Newbury Racecourse yesterday. They stand behind the lectern where, earlier, the returning officer announced 13 LibDem gains giving us 29 seats in a 43 seat council. Well done to leader Lee Dillon, organiser Andy Briggs and the brilliant and very hard working LibDem West Berkshire team!
I was in Birtley for most of polling day. The bunting was already up for the coronation.Some jobs still have to be done, elections or not. In the afternoon I returned to our farm to milk Penelope, one of our goats, only to have the milking area invaded by a ewe and 4 lambs.Curly the ewe steals Penelope's lunch.Back in my home village of Sunniside and I spotted that someone has decorated the
It seems the good people of Whickham South and Sunniside are not yet ready to ditch me as their councillor. On Thursday they re-elected me with 64% of the vote. Thank you to all 1829 people who voted for me and commiserations to my opposing candidates. This term of office is for only 3 years, not the usual 4, as we have boundary changes and all out elections in 2026, by which time I will have
Tim Prater and Gary Fuller are delighted to have been re-elected to Folkestone and Hythe District Council for Sandgate and West Folkestone. The election result in full was: Candidate Description (if provided) Number of votes cast Sarah Danby Labour Party 316 Gary Fuller Liberal Democrats 1190 Paul Jones Conservative Party Candidate 314 Dylan Moody Conservative Party Candidate 261 Tim Prater Liberal Democrats 1408 [IMG: Tim Prater] Turnout: 42.56% Declaration of Results - Sandgate and West Folkestone (Folkestone & Hythe District Council) Sadly the Liberal Democrats failed to gain other seats across the district. Tim commented: "I'm humbled and honoured that ...
Turkey is the ultimate political straddler. It straddles the Dardanelles – Eastern Europe's gateway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also straddles the continents of Europe and Asia and has historically bridged the cultures of East and West. For all those reasons and more any Turkish election would be important. But the vote next weekend (14 May) is crucial for Turkey, Europe, the Middle East, NATO, and the Ukraine War and beyond. For the first time, Turkish voters have a clear choice between a populist Islamist autocrat and a politician who promises to return the country to the ...
So let me start first with a little personal boasting. For the past 19 years I have been one of 6 councillors who could claim to represent the world-famous Penny Lane. On Thursday as a result of boundary changes, I ... Continue reading →
Lots of clips to choose from of winning Liberal Democrats this week, hooray. But I think this is my favourite: Amongst all today's remarkable results... just watch the hug the new Lib Dem Leader of BCP council @vikki4mdnp gave her newly elected husband Paul as he joined a sea of yellow councillors pic.twitter.com/EGAPamxGEy — Peter Henley (@Peter_Henley) May 5, 2023
A tree in Balgay Road near the bus stop just south of the Scott Street junction was badly overgrown and residents pointed out that as buses came round the bend, passengers waiting at the stop could not be seen as foliage protruded across the stop. We therefore contacted the council's Forestry Officer about this and he has since advised : "I can confirm we have lifted the spruce branches and balanced the spruce tree."
