And that's a wrap - thanks everyone!Millions of steps taken, thousands of doors knocked on and phone calls made. There will be a lot of very tired Lib Dems this evening. Many of us will have to wait till tomorrow to know the results. Only a few areas are counting tonight and we'll round up those results in the morning. Alex Cole-Hamilton has said a big thank you to the teams who have been out across Scotland today: As polls close I would like to thank all of the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidates and activists who have worked so hard to deliver a positive and energetic ... (more) |
Shropshire Council's Lib Dem leader condemns clearance of natural habitat at ShelveShelve Church, Shropshire Heather Kidd, the Liberal Democrat leader of Shropshire Council, has spoken to the Powys newspaper County Times about the destruction of natural habitat in her large rural ward. The Times says a field has been wholly cleared of gorse and scrub, to the dismay of people in Shelve and Pennerley. Heather Kidd told the newspaper: "No one seems to know who was responsible," said Councillor Kidd. "I spoke to the planning department of Shropshire Council and as the site is not an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) or covered by any other protection, normal enforcement procedures ... (more) |
The unique mice of St KildaEmbed from Getty ImagesHere's something not a lot of people know: Hirta, the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, once had two unique species of mice and one of them is still thriving. Charles Foster explains in an essay for Aeon: Evolutionary innovation happens at the edge of genetic orthodoxy, at the edge of an established population, and typically at the edge of a landmass: hence the exuberant biological creativity seen on islands, where new challenges are faced and old inhibitions relaxed. Take the St Kilda archipelago, for instance, in the heaving green sea off the outer isles of ... (more) |
Reform plans to scrap net zero will cost Gateshead a fortuneA few notes on the back of a fag packet and Reform call it a "plan for Gateshead". Nevertheless, in that jumble of meaningless slogans, there is one hard policy that will cost Gateshead dearly. Reform claim that by axing net zero, they can save a ton of cash. The reality is something different.Like many councils, Gateshead has taken advantage of the move to net zero. Solar panels on council (more) |
The story behind statuesLast night I chaired the monthly meeting of the Sunniside History Society at Sunniside Club. The speaker was Gloria Dobbin who gave a presentation about statues in the Gateshead/Newcastle area. She explained why the statues were there and the background of the people from history who donated the funds to pay for them. A very interesting talk and it has inspired me to visit all the statues she (more) |
Eve of pollThere was no let up yesterday with Lib Dem campaigning despite it being the eve of poll. I spent much of the day in Saltwell ward helping to deliver leaflets and a target letter. I saw no sign of the other parties except for a single, A5 leaflet for the Conservatives, of all people! Across Gateshead there are 66 seats but the Conservatives are standing in only 14. I don't hold out much hope for (more) |
Tormenting the council staffGoogle AI overview of the meaning of "torment": "Torment refers to an extreme physical or mental suffering, agony, or severe harassment. As a verb, it means to inflict such suffering or to cause severe worry/trouble."The reason I have posted the meaning of the word "torment" is because the three Reform candidates for Whickham South and Sunniside have posted on the Reform Facebook page for (more) |
Better late than never for the GreensAt first they did nothing. And then they had to act. What was once the cuddly Green Party has been wilting under the glare of media and political scrutiny. In Newcastle, concerns were swirling about anti-semitic comments made by a couple of Green candidates - Philip Brookes and Mohammed Suleman.The BBC reports:One post on Brookes' Facebook page included an image which branded Israel "a (more) |
Reform split, secrecy and exposureNorthumberland County Council is run by a minority Conservative administration. The official opposition are Reform. I'm not sure what the number of Reform councillors is as the Farage party has a habit of losing members. But I hear on the grapevine that Reform met recently in secret and voted against their own leadership. This is not something that can be kept secret for long. Everything was (more) |
Good luck!So what are you doing reading this? Shouldn't you be out telling or knocking up on the doorsteps? OK, so I do know that not everyone has the opportunity, or the capacity, to do either of those tasks, and, of course, if that applies to you then your support is also precious. During the day the BBC follows some pretty strict guidelines about what they can report – which is why there is always a story about dogs in polling stations. Things only really swing into action at 10pm. So what should we be looking for after polls close? In ... (more) |