Smile, number 1: Yep, they all exist and they are all here. pic.twitter.com/qW9mElGhjD — Mark Pack [IMG: 🔶] (@markpack) July 9, 2024
Starring nine-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who's just been selected for the England women's team, the annual ChessFest event attracted 23,000 people to Trafalgar Square on Sunday. That's an increase of 8000 over last year. The English Chess Federation site says: Bodhana was joined by a host of top UK grandmasters and three other young English super-talents: 15-year-old Shreyas Royal, who is on the brink of becoming England's youngest ever grandmaster, fast-rising under 10 Supratit Banerjee and Ethan Pang, the world's number-one under-9 player. British Champion Gawain Jones and England's number-one Nikita Vitiugov, both world-class grandmasters, treated the crowd to a display ...
This is what the last four years' hard work has all been about. Today, 72 Lib Dem MPs and Jennie, the gorgeous guide dog of Torbay MP Steve Darling posed for the 2024 team photo. How many can you name? If you are not sure, have a look at our posts on our new MPs Earlier, our MPs had filled up row upon row in the House of Commons, with Ed taking up the place traditionally occupied by the leader of the third party, last occupied by Nick Clegg up until the 2010 election. Our Parliament really has some incredible ...
Tue 9th
18:49
Frank Duckworth, co-deviser of the Duckworth Lewis method, lodged with John Lennon and his Aunt Mimi
Liberal England's Trivial Fact of the Day is taken from the Guardian obituary of the mathematician Frank Duckworth. It was he who, together with the cricket statistician Tony Lewis, devised the Duckworth-Lewis method. This is a formula used to ensure that the side batting is second is set a fair target in rain-affected matches. The obituary reveals:After graduating in the early 60s he stayed on at Liverpool to study for a PhD in metallurgy, sharing a house for a time with John Lennon, as a lodger of Lennon's aunt Mimi ("not that we had much to do with him, although ...
Shropshire Council's cabinet meets a week tomorrow to make many critical decisions. Many have been delayed by the election. One of the most important was the decision not to close Household Recycling Centres, including Craven Arms. This was always a daft proposal. It never stacked up financially. It threw Shropshire Council's recycling and climate targets into the garbage bin. And it stacked communities and MPs, including Conservative MPs, against a Conservative run council. The five HRCs will close for at least one day, possibly two, a week. Wednesday and Thursday are the preferred days. We will know further details shortly. ...
The Liberal Democrats pulled off a historic feat in the 2024 general election, clinching a record number of seats and catapulting themselves back into the limelight. Becoming the third party once more and achieving the highest liberal seat tally in a century is nothing to be scoffed at. Yet, beneath the surface of this triumph lies an uncomfortable truth: the newly minted caucus is both artificially bloated and alarmingly fragile. Whilst the party will no doubt aim to make hay while the sun shines, the shimmering successes of last week could quickly turn sour if the party misreads what's to ...
Tue 9th
10:46GUEST POST The Lib Dems must meet the challenge of the Greens in the new political landscape
How can the Lib Dems continue to grow after last week's historic advance? Anselm Anon argues that, to do so, we must meet the challenge of the Greens. There is plenty for liberals to celebrate in the general election: the end of a wretched Tory government, lots of splendid new Lib Dem MPs (including one in Wales), third-party privileges in the Commons and idiosyncratic politics in Leicester which will continue to enliven Liberal England. Despite some frustrating near misses, and the loss of an Alliance MP, overall the news is good. But we shouldn't lull ourselves into thinking this is ...
Seventy-two seats! Seventy-two! I doubt even in Ed Davey's wildest dreams, he envisioned us winning so many seats. The "Blue Wall" lies in rubble. The Liberal Democrats now have more seats than at any time in over a century. Not since 1923, when Herbert Asquith was the party leader, have Liberals held so many seats in the House of Commons. We now represent dozens of seats across the South of England. But that's not all, we also made gains in the North of England, the Midlands, Scotland and Wales. There is something poetic about our 72nd seat (and the final ...
The next meeting of Sunniside History Society will be on Wednesday 7th August at 7pm in Sunniside Club. We will be looking at Britain in the 1940s. So bring your ration book and your national identity card and enjoy an evening exploring the history of the era of Atlee and Churchill, shortages and conscription. All welcome.
Tue 9th
09:05
Blair-era veterans given ministerial roles - Starmer does what we should have done in coalition
Keir Starmer is bringing a few Blair era veterans back into government: -Jacqui Smith as Higher Education Minister, first elected 27 years ago -Douglas Alexander as Business Minister, also first elected 27 years ago and now re-elected at the recent election -Pat McFadden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, first elected 19 years ago -Alan Milburn assisting the new Health Secretary, first elected 32 years ago Between them, those four individuals have a total of 105 years experience in the British parliament/government/public life between them. Compare that with our first batch of coalition cabinet members (figures as of 2010 ...
As we are now into the school holidays, Fraser's usual ward surgeries do not take place today - nor do Michael's on Thursday. However, we can be contacted at any time on Dundee 459378 or by e-mail at westend@dundeelibdems.org.uk
