To celebrate the 105th anniversary of Jon Pertwee's birth, here's a clip from Worzel Gummidge. Geoffrey Bayldon is the Crow Man, the benign god of the scarecrows, and the children are Charlotte Coleman and Jeremy Austin. Poor Worzel lost his heart to the heartless Aunt Sally, but he should have gone off with Dolly Clothes-Peg, who really loved him. Talking Pictures TV have just run the four series of Worzel Gummidge, and they turned out to have a touch of darkness that appealed to me.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Liberal Democrats' targeting strategy was an extraordinary success. I believe Jeremy Hunt's Godalming and Ash was the only seat to evade us. Those who devised the strategy and communicated the rationale for it to the membership deserve congratulation. In some quarters there was clearly a worry that the membership would lose discipline and start campaigning in their own constituencies rather than work in the target seats they were asked to. But the striking contrast with 2019 this time round was that the Lib Dem leadership kept its discipline. In retrospect - and Michael Mullaney said so ...
The superficial conclusion from Suffolk's county town is that Labour swept down upon Tom Hunt and the Ipswich Conservatives and put them to the metaphorical sword. Except, as it turns out, they really didn't, increasing the Labour share of the vote by 4% and actually achieving a lower number of votes than they had done in 2019. No, as in so many places, it was Reform UK who really did for Tom - increasing their vote share by 13%. And yes, Labour will have gained some votes from the Conservatives, but they lost votes to, predominantly, the Greens, up from ...
We have been very busy in the last few weeks. Yesterday was no different. We got up very early (for us) and caught the seven minutes past seven train from Monasterevin to Kildare, waited there and then got the train to Waterford. We didn't go as far as Waterford on this occasion, disembarking in the cathedral city of Kilkenny. The purpose of yesterday's outing was to visit the Rothe House and have a day wandering in the city as a day out to celebrate Andrew's birthday which was during the week. On arrival in MacDonagh Station, we walked down St ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: There's a full table of the final poll from each pollster in the next section, but the overall picture painted by the national voting intention polls was pretty good. The polls got right that Labour was well ahead of the Conservatives, that the Conservatives were on course for their worst-ever vote share, that Reform was up in the teens but clearly behind the Conservatives (with the exception of two pollsters), that the Lib Dems were on a similar vote share to 2019 ...
The ever energetic and creative Simon Foster has been putting up amazing displays of stakeboards across the South Central region. He has sent us six of his best. Enjoy: Local residents give their thanks in Winchester Newly elected Cllr Richard Murphy (left) who won a district council election with a majority of over 1,000 on the night with Danny Chambers MP (right) A shrine to Liberalism which appeared in Eve of poll next to the strongest green display, right in the heart of Winchester. The Shield Wall at an Eastleigh committee room. The people of Wessex were "invited to rise ...
We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn't think we'd have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs' social media. We'll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here's a taster. Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs' accounts she could find. You can follow it here. Martin Wrigley MP: Newton Abbot Martin worked in high tech industry for over 30 years and has lived in Teignbridge for over ...
We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn't think we'd have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs' social media. We'll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here's a taster. Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs' accounts she could find. You can follow it here. Max Wilkinson MP: Cheltenham Max Wilkinson is a well-known face around Cheltenham. He's served the town for more than ten years and ...
The "Thalatta" at Ipswich I have to admit that, after a night watching the election results come in, even a good night's sleep wasn't entirely restorative, and I'd almost forgotten that we had plans for yesterday. Many years ago, before Ros and I met, she had been invited to become the Patron of the East Coast Sail Trust. And, as is sometimes the case with these things, people change, and things get forgotten. Until recently that is, and Ros had been invited to spend a day on the water, aboard the "Thalatta", a 1906 coastal barge, owned by the Trust. ...
Sun 7th
14:15
Pink News highlights trans and non binary candidates - and makes some notable omissions
While it was great to see Pink News highlight the trans and non binary candidates across various parties who stood on Thursday, it was disappointing that they left some high profile trans and non binary candidates out. Our Chris Northwood is a councillor in Manchester. She stood in Manchester Central. She has written several articles for us, on issues like the importance of storytelling, the Cass Review and how we could fund a Universal Basic Income. She is also a member of the Party's Federal Council. From the Manchester Lib Dems website: Chris is standing in Manchester Central. Working in ...
We thought you might like to find out a little bit about our new MPs. We didn't think we'd have quite so many, but this is a lovely problem to have. All details come from the party website or the MPs' social media. We'll get to know them more over the next wee while, but here's a taster. Our editor sleepily compiled a Twitter list of all our MPs' accounts she could find. You can follow it here. Mike Martin MP: Tunbridge Wells Mike Martin is standing as the candidate for Tunbridge Wells. He is a former British army officer ...
During a very long and miserable campaign by both Labour and the Tories, we Liberal Democrats had to resort to some pretty inventive campaign stunts to grab national attention. These efforts aimed to inject some much-needed positivity into the campaign. Finally, Election Day arrived, A momentous occasion where the collective voices of millions shape our nation's future. Where employees (the politicians) meet their managers for their performance review and interviews (the voters). This is my election diary. Morning: I was jolted awake by my dad's cat, whom I am currently looking after. Begrudgingly, I got out of bed and fed ...
One of the most frequently made claims by Labour in Gateshead Council chamber is that anything that has gone wrong is the fault of the Liberal Democrats. Labour have been in control of Gateshead for 50 years. Indeed, no other party has ever run the authority. Labour base their claim on the Lib Dems being in the coalition government from 2010-15. The coalition ended 9 years ago but "Blame the Lib
A new development in Streetgate, one of the villages in my ward in Gateshead, needed to be named and so last year officers from Highways at the Civic Centre got in touch with myself, Cllr Jonathan Mohammed and Cllr Marilynn Ord to ask for suggestions. We were not impressed by the developer's suggestion "Hornbeam Avenue". We felt this meant nothing to residents.Instead we proposed a number
United States It's official: The United States judicial system is no longer independent. And by destroying its independence the Supreme Court has knocked away one of the main pillars of American democracy and left the constitution's carefully structured and revered system of checks and balances heavily politicised and largely controlled by the executive. Of course, the US judicial system was already heavily politicised. But the Supreme Court took its role as the top court seriously enough to avoid political judgements. No longer. America's legal system is based on English Common Law. Many of the structures were determined by the great ...
There was a lovely shot at the top of this morning's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg of a very happy looking Ed Davey standing in his garden. Some might say he even looked a wee bit smug, but he is entirely entitled to do so after our amazing result on Thursday. Lib Dem MPs will make up the third largest group in Parliament. That means that Ed will get two questions to the Prime Minister every week. We'll get more speaking time. We'll get more media time. I mean, we're on Kuenssberg for the second Sunday in a row. We will ...
It's strange how some music dates and some doesn't. You still hear the Spencer Davis Group singles Gimme Some Lovin' and I'm a Man in television commercials, and they're used to convey modernity rather than nostalgia. By contrast, Steve Winwood's Eighties records now sound dated. Winwood has said himself that he was still doing what he had done in Traffic - combining folk and rock and blues and jazz - but the production of the day gave those Eighties records a surface gloss that has not aged well. Arc of a Diver was Winwood's second solo album and the one ...
Chris Coghlan MP: Dorking and Horley Chris stood to be Dorking and Horley's Lib Dem MP because this is where he lives with his wife and three little girls, and where he grew up. Chris spent a decade working in finance, in New York for Deloitte and a hedge fund in London, before pursuing a career in public service. He joined the Foreign Office's counter-terrorism department, founded the international development charity Grow Movement, and served as an officer in the army reserve. In 2020 Chris was called up by the army and embedded as a military advisor with Iraqi forces ...
St Peter's Free Church is running its annual, free Holiday Bible Club again this summer. The club is for children from P1-S2 and runs every morning from Monday 29th July - Friday 2nd August. An optional lunch is available from 12 noon to 12.30pm. A booking form is available at http://tiny.cc/St-Peters-Form and more details are available at www.facebook.com/events/1444904589471133
