ALDC's By-Election Report - 23 July 2026Five principal authority by-elections took place last Thursday, across four councils. The Liberal Democrats were not defending any seats, and though we did not win a contest during this relatively quiet week we still came out with some very strong results. East Devon DC, Exmouth Brixington Conservative: 537 (35.2%, -2%) Lib Dem (Andrew Colman): 450 (29.5%, -3%) Reform UK: 439 (28.7%, new) Green Party: 101 (6.6%, -2.1%) Conservative HOLD Well done to Andrew Colman and the local team for a very strong second place in East Devon. Being only 88 votes off winning must have hurt. But keep your heads ... (more) |
The persecution of Palestine's childrenTwo recent reports have drawn attention to what human rights organisations and UN investigators describe as one of the defining features of Israel's assault on Palestinian life: the systematic targeting of Palestinian children. The first report, published by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, examines violations against Palestinian children since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza. The second, by the leading Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem, documents the killing of children by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank. While focused on different contexts, the reports paint a strikingly similar picture. They reveal a pattern in ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: The arid south of RutlandAs ever, Lord Bonkers was ahead of the curve on the climate crisis. Perhaps the sands at Trescothick Bay remind him of the deserts of southern Rutland? Wednesday They say these heatwaves will soon render the South of England uninhabitable, which is a bit of a facer seeing as we Liberals have worked so hard to ensure we don't have MPs anywhere else. But don't despair: the arid south of Rutland is simply teeming with life - human life included. Of course, if the Home Counties do turn to desert it will require changes to the way we fight elections ... (more) |
Welcome to my day: 27 July 2026 - and let the silly season begin...Parliament is now fully in recess until September – the House of Lords sat for an additional week – and now there's not much "politician on politician action" for five weeks, leaving the field open for commentators and journalists to speculate on what might come next. And, given that the line between reporting and comment is now so blurred, it becomes increasingly hard to separate the two. Now I'm not the sort of person who tends to don rose-tinted spectacles and opine about how much better things were in the past – improvement is very much in the eye of ... (more) |
Reform UK had bank account frozen during general electionThe Times reports that Reform UK's bank account was frozen during the last election after the party received potentially illegal donations from the mother of George Cottrell, the criminal who bankrolled Nigel Farage. The paper says that the party was unable to make or receive payments through its account with Arbuthnot Latham, a London private and merchant bank, for a two-week period that included polling day on July 4, 2024: The Reform treasurer at the time repeatedly asked the bank for an explanation, urging it to unfreeze the account. However, Arbuthnot Latham refused. It said it could not unfreeze the ... (more) |
Alexander Mackendrick, Tony Hancock and RhinocerosEmbed from Getty ImagesOne of the many unmade Alexander Mackendrick film projects detailed in Philip Kemp's biography Lethal Innocence is an adaptation of Eugène Ionesco's play Rhinoceros. An international success, the play was set in a French provincial town where, one by one, the inhabitants were turning into rhinos. It was a political allegory, based on the Romanian writer's pre-war memories of the way his friends gradually joined the fascist Iron Guard. And the person who Mackendrick wanted to play the hero Bérenger, the only character who doesn't become a rhino, was Tony Hancock. According to Kemp, Mackendrick said: "He ... (more) |
The Joy of Six 1553Michael Savage reports that journalists are self-censoring their reporting on right-wing protests, Donald Trump's administration and trans issues because of growing concerns about their personal safety. "The magazine's extensive output about Islam emerges from a coherent ideological viewpoint. Muslims are invaders. They don't belong in this country. They don't share our values and they threaten our public spaces. Any civic engagement by Muslims in Britain is suspect and should be resisted."Peter Oborne itemises the Spectator's rabid Islamophobia. Alistair Jones on the reorganisation of local government in Leicestershire: "Rutland is deemed too small to be a cost-effective council (although, personally, I ... (more) |
Liberator 436 is out!The ew edition of Liberator available Liberator 436 is out and can be downloaded for free here. You can sign up to be emailed when each new issue comes out here. What's in this issue? MAN OF MANY FACES John Leech assesses the Andy Burnham he knows from Manchester politics LIBERALS IN WONDERLAND The new Liberal Democrat strategy has plenty to say about the 'how' of politics but there's a loud silence about why people should support the party, says David Grace LIB DEM NARRATIVE – THE SEARCH GOES ON Jonathan Calder takes a look at the Yorkist pressure group's ... (more) |
Plans for horse laundry facility at farm approvedEmbed from Getty ImagesBBC News wins our Headline of the Day Award for this tale from West Yorkshire. The judges were left wondering just how large the washing machines are going to be. (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: Wandering Bodmin Moor at full moon and devouring constituentsYes, Jeremy Thorpe really did pester the voters from a hovercraft that summer and Paul Tyler was on board. Lord Tyler's lawyers have asked me to point out, however, that at no time did he turn into the Beast of Bodmin at full moon or devour his then constituents. I bet he did though. Tuesday Do you remember when hovercraft were all the rage? The boffins told us that within a decade we would have one each and use them to commute to the moon. As it turned out, they proved a great disappointment, but it was aboard a hovercraft ... (more) |