Blow for new Scot Tory leader as poll shows voters less likely to vote for someone who endorsed Liz Truss Rennie writes to minister as steel staff furloughed Lord Wallace responds to death of Alex Salmond Blow for new Scot Tory leader as poll shows voters less likely to vote for someone who endorsed Liz Truss The Scottish Liberal Democrats have today described new polling as a "bitter blow" for the new Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, as polling carried out by Savanta showed that 31% of Scots said they would be less likely to vote Conservative if their new ...
My favourite YouTube barrister Alan Robertshaw looks at the Radio 4 soap's treatment of the trial and sentencing of Ambridge ne'er-do-well George Grundy. For the most part, he concludes, they got things right. And, as ever, we learn something of the law and how courts operate along the way.
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: I've commented before about what a shame it is that high quality political polling of Britain's ethnic minority communities is so scarce, especially given the headlines that can be grabbed by lower quality data. So it's very welcome to see a new report, Minorities Report: The Attitudes of Britain's Ethnic Minority Population, from Focaldata and UK in a Changing Europe. It's written by Sophie Stowers, James Kanagasooriam and Zain Mohyuddin. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls ...
There's a new theory about how Labour's Jonathan Ashworth contrived to lose his Leicester South seat at the last general election. Apparently, it's all the fault of the Monster Raving Loony Party. A report from The i explains: Labour is demanding a police investigation into possible breaches of electoral law claiming an Official Monster Raving Loony candidate was used to help unseat a shadow cabinet member, i can reveal. In one of the shock results of the election, Jonathan Ashworth who was tipped for a major role in Sir Keir Starmer's government, lost his seat to an independent candidate who ...
Seeing as I was involved in politics in Linlithgow and Scotland wider for 10 years I of course encountered the Royal Burgh's most famous political son in many ways. Whilst our political viewpoint differed it does not undermine the shock that I felt when I returned home last night to hear he had died while attending a conference in North Macedonia. He was born on Hogmany in 1954 and one of my first times standing at a polling place for council elections I encountered his parents, who lived just across the road, as they came to cast their votes for ...
There are just under 2 weeks left before Whickham North and Swalwell ward goes to the polls in a by-election to Gateshead Council. Yesterday, 12 Lib Dems delivered the whole ward with our latest Focus. The ward was once a Labour stronghold but they have lost every local election here since 1992. Nevertheless, Labour made the ward their top target in the North East a decade ago and came within
A more serious story than usual about the Monster Raving Loony Party, courtesy of The i. It's about the election contest in Leicester South, where Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth was ousted: Labour is demanding a police investigation into possible breaches of electoral law claiming an Official Monster Raving Loony candidate... Mr Ashworth lost the Leicester South seat by fewer than 1,000 votes after a campaign by rival Shockat Adam... An i investigation has learned that an occasional campaign volunteer for Mr Adam, Amaar Suliman, also ran against Ashworth as the candidate for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party under the ...
New polling from More in Common provides a stark explanation for the Labour government's stumble in the polls since the general election. Look what tops the list of things people pick when asked, "Based on what you know, which of the following have the new government led by Keir Starmer done since taking office?" The top ten are: Removing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners not on pension credit – 58% mention this Releasing some prisoners early to ease overcrowding in prisons – 52% Scrapping the scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda – 49% Proposing to ban smoking ...
Here's another memory dredged up from the singles charts of the Seventies, and one that has to fight not to be overwritten by Billy Joel's Uptown Girl. Randy Edelman is a successful composer for film and television who, as a young man, recorded several albums of his songs. Several of those songs were later recorded by major artists. He had his biggest hit in the UK (no. 11) with an inferior cover of Concrete and Clay, but The Uptown, Uptempo Woman, his own song, reached no. 20 in September 1976. Listening to it today, it's a pretty but very simple ...
France As I sat down to write, French Prime Minister Michele Barnier was making last minute adjustments to his budget before presenting it to the National Assembly. So, there may be a few unintentional omissions from this piece, but not too many because the problems of the French economy have been widely circulated in advance of the Barnier budget. On Friday morning Barnier was widely expected to introduce an austerity budget of cuts and higher taxes totalling $66 billion – or two percent of the French GDP. Two-thirds will come in cuts in government spending and one third in tax ...
Let's be clear about this, Starmer's government is in no way comparable to JFK's camelot, but that is where this obsession with the first 100 days of an administration originated and Labour MPs are keen to jump onto the bandwagon and get their spin out there in the hope of convincing people that things have not been so shambolic after all. My MP in Swansea West has been no exception, posting on Facebook what I can only assume is an agreed script sent out to him and others by Labour spin-doctors. So let's look at the claims in more detail: ...
A great event from Perth Road Launderette : ***A SPOOKY ANNOUNCEMENT*** Get the Kids looking extra spooky this year with a free face paint after school! We may even have a spook handing out treats but they promise no tricks!
