I've been to the canal centre of Braunston in Northamptonshire today by bus. I tried it last summer at the height of the driver shortage and had to abandon the attempt when one service was cancelled. Earlier this week I looked at the timetables again and found that Braunston now enjoys an hourly service from Northampton, so off I went. It's a lovely village and, as there is really of historic narrow boats this weekend, there was even more to photograph than usual on the canal. I have good memories of Braunston more than 50 years ago and some family ...
From left: William Houngbo, Cllr Rachel Bentley, Bishop of Southwark, Roderick Lynch and Sir Simon Hughes at the service at Southwark Cathedral I commend Lib Dem Diversity Leader William Houngbo for putting on an event in Parliament (Floella Benjamin marks Windrush Day with event in Parliament) with Nicole Turner, the Diversity Manager from LD HQ. Baroness Benjamin, a Liberal Democrat, gave an emotional yet powerful speech. She is a true Windrush veteran with an evil wicked racist story to tell; a story that moved me to tears. Floella told members of the black business community the benefits of becoming a ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention poll from each pollster currently operating in Britain. 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: Understanding different polling firms You may find these posts useful: 'Waiting for Survation': a reminder of the value of checking the evidence. YouGov: is it biased to the Conservatives? Frequently Asked Questions Why isn't polling company X in ...
The verdict is in. According to the Electoral Commission, about 14,000 people were turned away from polling stations at May's local elections because they lacked the right ID, with the overall number denied a vote likely to be considerably higher. The Guardian says that the interim study by the Electoral Commission also warned of "concerning" signs that voters with disabilities, people who are unemployed, or those from particular ethnic groups could be disproportionately affected by the policy. The Electoral Commission also said that 4% of people who did not vote said it was because of voter ID - a tally ...
At the time of the local elections last month in England many of us were concerned that voters were being turned away at polling stations because they did not have the required photo ID. I wrote this post at the time: "Voter ID - did it prevent electoral fraud or did it interfere with voters' rights?" I was telling for a couple of hours in a neighbouring borough, where a greeter checked everyone's ID before they entered the polling station. Apparently greeters were employed at 40% of the polling stations. The significance of this is that voters who were turned ...
Six principal authority council by-elections or rescheduled contests from May this week. Let's take the most dramatic result first, where Holly Greenberry-Pullen just missed out on gaining a seat from the Greens. Votes were tied... and she lost the drawing of the lots. Commiserations, Holly! Tavistock North (West Devon) Council By-Election Result: IND: 25.5% (New) LDM: 25.5% (-2.2) GRN: 23.5% (+1.7) CON: 19.3% (+5.8) LAB: 6.2% (New) No RFM (-3.8) as previous. IND + LDM tied, IND wins after drawing lots. Independent GAIN from Green. Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) June 22, 2023
Local community gardens Fruitbowls in Lochee Park, Ninewells Community Garden and Victoria Gardens are amongst the city-wide community gardens welcoming everyone this Saturday as part of Dundee's Community Gardens Open Day and Wheelbarrow Trail. More details in the poster and everyone welcome!
