Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Techne 20% 19% 15% 13% 28% -9% (3rd, vs Ref) 14-15/1 GB Find Out Now 19% (+1) 15% (nc) ...
It is not often that these little pieces about local history come up against new finds, so I thought it might be worth talking about the large Roman villa that has just been unearthed in Margam Park. The footprint of the villa is 572 square metres, surrounded by fortifications, and according to the BBC, has been described by Dr Alex Langlands. the co-director of Swansea University's Centre for Heritage Research and Training, as a "really impressive and prestigious" building, likely to have been finely decorated with statues and mosaic floors: The location, in a historical deer park, is significant because ...
Look what arrived today! Four boxes Focuses - 2000 for Sunniside, 2,000 for Whickham South. We start delivery tomorrow. Tonight however I need to spend an hour bundling them into the delivery patches.
On Tuesday Gateshead West Lib Dem branch held their first meeting of the year. The key aim of the meeting was to finalise the candidates for the target seats in the branch area. I'm pleased to report that this task was completed at the meeting. Meanwhile, each of the wards in the branch gave campaign reports. There are now only three and a half months to go to polling day in the local
You know how none of us believe in ley lines? Here's the fourth part of Third Rate Content's quest following one line they have found in Shropshire. Their YouTube blurb says: Join Third Rate content on an epic adventure from Castle Ring to Mitchell's Fold in the Shropshire Hills! In this episode, we hike through stunning landscapes, exploring ancient hillforts and uncovering hidden prehistoric mysteries. Stumble with us as we discover an unmarked stone ring (approx. 100 sq ft, semi-submerged stones) not shown on OS maps, possibly a Bronze Age ring cairn or ritual site near the Castle Ring. The ...
A second Gateshead Lib Dem action day last weekend was held in Pelaw and Heworth ward and for the second time I had to miss it. The snow was gone when my colleagues were out in the ward delivering the latest Focus but it was still cold. I was stuck in the warmth of my home writing the Whickham South Focus. Some of my colleagues are pictured above enjoying the cold winter sun.
I simply can't and I won't accept it. In my view, cancelling elections is undemocratic, unrepresentative and illiberal. As I was preparing for the Special Council meeting, which was organised in Welwyn Hatfield on Thursday, 15 January, to discuss and vote on a possible cancellation of the local elections in Welwyn Hatfield in May 2026, I received a text message from a friend of mine, who lives in London. It said: "I feel moved to share my recent experience with you, Yesterday, the news from Iran left my wife totally devastated. Among 12,000 shot was one of her distant relatives, ...
Last Saturday it was meant to be a Gateshead Lib Dem action day in Ryton ward. Alas, the snow put an end to it. Instead, in the warmth of my house, I wrote the Sunniside Focus. Most of it was written by the end of the day. Ryton action day has been rescheduled.
For too long, a great injustice has existed within our party; some say, within our society. Across Britain, calls for reform on this issue have been dismissed. As a proud liberal and social democrat, I cannot sit back and allow it to go on any longer. I am, of course, talking about the fact that Roy Jenkins isn't an option for our membership cards. On a more serious note, I would love to have Roy Jenkins added as an option. He's a political hero of mine for the success he achieved as Home Secretary; decriminalising homosexuality, abolishing capital punishment, removing ...
Fri 16th
18:54
Saying Reform UK are "just the same old Conservatives" may not be the smart line some think
Reform reveal their new branding.... It's clear: Nigel Farage's Reform is just the same old Conservatives that ruined the country in the first place. [image or embed] — Liberal Democrats (@libdems.org.uk) 16 January 2026 at 14:19 BlueSky's hive mind has decided that branding Reform UK as "Conservatives 2.0" or something similar is a winning strategy, but I'm not so sure. Perhaps because people who comment on such things online tend to be middle class and tend to be in the South of England - there's no real evidence for it, but it's scientific fact - the idea that Reform's voters ...
This week saw the first principal authority by‑elections of 2026, with two contests taking place in England. Both carried more weight than a routine vacancy: in each case, the result would determine the balance of power within the council, giving these early‑year elections a significance well beyond the usual by-elections. We start in the historic city of York, where Labour have successfully retained both this seat and overall control of the council. However, their majority drastically decreased, as us, Reform and the Greens all improved on prior performances here. Well done to Ian Eiloart and the local team for improving ...
What have you become?! Shining city on a hill Rotten at the head
A press release from the party brings the news: The Liberal Democrats have today unveiled a new policy to protect children online, through film-style age ratings of up to 18 for harmful social media platforms. Under the party's proposals, access to social media platforms would be restricted based on the risk they pose to young people. Platforms that use addictive algorithmic feeds or host inappropriate content would be legally restricted to users over 16. Those such as X that host extreme content such as graphic violence or pornography could be rated 18+, in the same way as films and videogames, ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe judges have been hard at work, so I can announce that today's Headline of the Day Award goes to the Eastern Daily Press.
There is something corrosive happening in British politics. Not in any single policy decision, nor in any one government department, but in the way governing itself now seems to unfold with these latest U-turns. U-turns are not, in themselves, a sign of bad government. Sometimes they reflect learning, listening, or legitimate correction. But when reversals become habitual and almost ritual; they point to a more serious problem: a politics that has lost confidence in its own ability to persuade. This provokes a very deep question: Are we becoming ungovernable? In a country that feels increasingly fractious, and perhaps voters that ...
Two principal authority council by-elections this week to kick off the year and get us started with the January contests. Bridgemary (Gosport) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: ➡] RFM: 42.5% (New) [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 40.5% (-8.0) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 14.6% (-23.7) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 2.5% (-10.8)Reform GAIN from Liberal Democrat.Changes w/ 2024. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-01-16T00:48:10.936Z Thank you to Ian Eiloart for being the Liberal Democrat here. Contrary to the above result, fragmentation certainly happening here. For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see my council by-elections scorecard ...
They have proscribed an anti-Palestinian organisation, are planning to abolish trial by jury, were on the verge of introducing compulsory ID cards before they were forced into a u-turn and now, according to this article in the Independent, the Labour government have taken away the fundamental right to protest peacefully after it made non-violent demonstrations at animal-testing facilities a criminal offence. The paper says that advocates for free speech and animal rights have warned that the move by home secretary Shabana Mahmood sets a dangerous precedent towards clamping down on basic freedoms, while activists staging round-the-clock vigils at a Cambridgeshire ...