Swansea's Albert HallIf you want a bite to eat in Swansea, then one of the many alternatives is the food hall in the newly refurbished Albert Hall. It is the latest incarnation of this historic grade II listed building. The website Save Britain's Heritage featured the Albert Hall as their building of the month in January 2021. They point out that the building opened in in 1864 as a music hall which hosted speeches by some of the big names in Victorian society including Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and David Lloyd George. They say that after it ceased use as a music ... (more) |
27 March 2026 - today's press releasesStill no luck with HQ press releases, I'm afraid, but nonetheless... Scottish Liberal Democrats can win in every corner of Scotland Historic Anti-Corruption Law adopted: Liberals and Democrats increase protection for citizens and democracy Scottish Liberal Democrats can win in every corner of Scotland Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today continued his party's speedy start to the election campaign by speeding up the Clyde in a powerboat as he set out how his party can win seats on the peach regional ballot in every corner of Scotland and how more Liberal Democrat MSPs will get more done in ... (more) |
How many Scottish Parliament candidates has Reform lost?The list of Reform candidates for the Scottish Parliament who have now been dropped in one form or another is: Roland Jackson: resigned as a candidate saying the announcement had been an error. Linda Holt: quit as a candidate after a series of offensive messages. James Glenn: quit as a candidate, expressing support for Linda Holt. Jordan Brown: changed his mind about being a candidate. Stuart Niven: suspended after revelations about his business career. Meanwhile, Reform councillors keep on going too. Sign up to get the latest news and analysis (more) |
Watch 10cc laying down The Dean And I in the studioI gather you're allowed to like 10cc again. I loved them in the Seventies, though I'm Not in Love was played to death at the time and I much prefer I'm Mandy Fly Me. (more) |
Reform candidate who appeared to have done a Nazi salute quitsThe BBC reports that Corey Edwards's time as a Reform election candidate is over only days after it started: A leading Reform candidate who appeared to perform a Nazi salute in a photo has quit ahead of the Welsh Parliament election. Corey Edwards, a former Conservative special adviser, was only announced as his party's lead candidate in the constituency of Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg on Wednesday... Nigel Farage told ITV News on Thursday: "It was a Fawlty Towers impression. Maybe we should ban the BBC, I don't know". Corey Edwards is the third Reform candidate to have gone in recent days, ... (more) |
The Party President reports back... February/March 2026Here at Liberal Democrat Towers, we know that Party President, Josh Babarinde MP exists – we're on his constituency mailing list bringing us news of his campaigns in sunny Eastbourne – nice place, pity that Sussex County Cricket Club dropped Saffrons Week more than two decades ago... But, if you'd been wondering what he's been doing since he was passed a copy of "On Liberty" by his predecessor, Baron Pack of Crouch Hill (you did let him have it, didn't you, Mark?), we can report that he's allowed something to be placed on the Party website. And yes, it's a ... (more) |
ALDC by-election report, 26th MarchThere were four principal council by-elections this week, of which all had a Liberal Democrat candidate on the ballot. One council seat was being defended by us. Disappointingly, we lost this Oxfordshire seat to the Conservatives. It appeared to be down to a collapse in our own share of the vote, rather than any substantial uplift in the Conservative vote. The silver lining is that we managed to hold back Reform, who finished in third place, setting the Liberal Democrats up as the main challenger next time. Commiserations to Alan Bettridge and the local Liberal Democrat team. Vale of White ... (more) |
May local election prediction shows Lib Dems overtaking ConservativesStephen Fisher's latest annual predictions for how the parties will do in the May local elections are out, and they predict that the Liberal Democrats will overtake the Conservatives as the second party of local government. Stephen Fisher is an elections expert who is one of the brains behind the BBC exit poll and the annual projected national vote share calculations done for each set of local elections. Taking as a starting point the latest councillor number totals from Open Council Data (which will change slightly between now and the first Thursday in May), then the result after Stephen Fisher's ... (more) |
New pilot schemes aim to make voting easier but...I don't know about you, but the news that the Government had announced four pilot schemes to make voting "easier and more convenient" during this year's local elections had rather passed me by. To quote the release from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; In Milton Keynes, voters can have their say in the city's main shopping centre – Midsummer Place – rather than being restricted to a single designated polling station. This could eventually be rolled out across the country in future elections along high streets and in town centres. People in Cambridge, Tunbridge Wells and North ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Today even their gaunt ruins have been razedAs it happens, I really did have tea at Betty's and then go to Evensong in the Minster when I arrived in York for the conference. I used to listen to Choral Evensong on Radio 3 while I was washing up after cooking for my mother on Sundays, and formed the opinion that no vicar ever got sacked for choosing something from Isaiah and Paul for the two readings. So I was pleased that the Old Testament reading I heard in the Minster came from Numbers, though it made no mention of badgers. Friday Much as I love York, the ... (more) |