Three principal authority council by-elections this week, one a traditional non-party affair for the City of London Corporation. Starting with that one: Coleman St. (City of London) Aldermanic Election Result: [IMG: 🙋] S. Saluga: 45.2% [IMG: 🙋] L. Yueh: 31.4% [IMG: 🙋] D. Wright: 13.1% [IMG: 🙋] C. Hall: 6.7% [IMG: 🙋] J. Wasu: 1.3% [IMG: 🙋] J. May: 1.0% [IMG: 🙋] D. Stringer-Lamarre: 0.6% [IMG: 🙋] R. Thomas: 0.6%Independent GAIN from Independent.2019 Election Unopposed. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-02-06T00:58:22.552Z For what all this means for the running total of council by-election results since the last May elections, see ...
This week, there were two principal council by-elections. Only one contest had a Liberal Democrat candidate. In the seaside town of Clevedon, where Labour was attempting to defend this seat, they managed to hold, albeit with an unconvincing margin against Reform. Thank you to Jude Chambers and the local Liberal Democrat team for flying the flag. North Somerset Council, Clevedon South Labour: 350 (29.0%, -25.4) Reform UK: 334 (27.7%, new) Conservative: 224 (18.6%, -27.0) Green Party: 197 (16.3%, new) Liberal Democrats (Jude Chambers): 100 (8.3%, new) Labour HOLD Turnout: 36.8% There was no Liberal Democrat candidate in the Welsh contest. ...
We had our monthly meeting of Sunniside History Society on Wednesday. The speaker was Liz Purcell who gave a talk about horses in warfare. It was a fascinating presentation. Numbers attending were up as well. The next meeting is on Wednesday 4th March when we will be looking at some of the slides and photos which the society received from Francis Newman, one of the founders of the organisation.
On Tuesday, Gateshead Lib Dem executive met in the Civic Centre. Final changes and additions to the manifesto for the local elections in May were considered and agreed. We also discussed the local election campaign (which is already well underway) and the timetable for action days during February. Lots to do!
Last week when I was delivering Focus in Sunniside I spotted a Heron in the pond next to Kingsway, opposite Riding Barns Way. Herons are not a common sight in the village and it's been a few years since I last saw one. Nevertheless, there are enough of them to cause people to net their garden ponds in Sunniside. I doubt however that the Heron I saw was going to have a successful day
Dixon of Dock Green does not deserve its reputation for cosiness. I wrote to that effect three years ago, but Tim Dowling was there long before me. Here he is choosing a box set of the police drama back in 2012:The stories are as gritty as anything you would find in The Bill, and happy outcomes are rare. In the little monologues that top and tail each programme, Dixon is likely to tell you the suspect was never convicted due to a lack of evidence, or that a wife-beater escaped punishment because the police were powerless to intervene. It's not ...
The Independent reports that Keir Starmer's leadership has been plunged into turmoil after furious Labour MPs forced him into a humiliating climbdown over the release of full vetting documents relating to Peter Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador in the US. The paper says that Starmer's dramatic U-turn followed intense pressure, led by former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, just hours after he admitted that he knew about Lord Mandelson's continued friendship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - but appointed him as US ambassador anyway: Sir Keir Starmer's leadership has been plunged into turmoil after furious Labour MPs forced him ...
A press release brings news of the end of an era: Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Oldham Borough's longest serving councillor, is to retire from Oldham Council and has announced he will not be standing in the Council elections this May. Standing in Howard's place for the Liberal Democrats will be his colleague, councillor Tom Penketh, who has served on Shaw and Crompton Town Council for the past three years, and who was the youngest councillor in the country when elected. Councillor Sykes was first elected in 1987 and was Oldham's youngest councillor at the time. He has always championed Oldham ...
Slightly left field interview here with Carl Cashman, Leader of the Lib Dems on Liverpool City Council. Is he correct? View this post on Instagram * Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
Barrister at law Alan Robertshaw is our guide to the complexities of the law on insider trading and misconduct in public office.
Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2025 and the May 2026 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [14] +2 (+2/0) -10 (+2/-12) +2 (+2/0) -20 (+2/-22) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+2/-1) -26 Lab -2 (0/-2) [16] -4 (0/-4) -6 (0/-6) -28 (0/-28) – – -7 (0/-7) -47 Lib Dem +10 (+12/-2) +4 (+4/0) [32] +2 (+3/-1) -1 (+2/-3) +2 (+2/0) – +3 (+3/0) +20 Grn -2 (0/-2) +6 (+6/0) -2 (+1/-3) [7] +1 (+1/0) – – -1 (0/-1) +2 Ref +20 (+22/-2) ...
A skater dress, a teenage look on fifty-plus maturity; a knowing glance, seductive eyes, excitement springs eternal! Seeking the surge of ecstasy then succour, held tight in their arms...
By-elections invite panic. Turnout drops, narratives harden fast, and parties start talking as if politics is a single emergency in which only one "responsible" outcome is acceptable. The coming Gorton and Denton by-election in Greater Manchester is already being framed that way. In the i paper, Vince Cable is reported urging Liberal Democrat supporters to vote Labour, and leaning into an "Operation stop Farage" style argument. I understand the instinct. First Past the Post encourages defensive voting, and Reform thrives when an election is reduced to a binary contest. Many liberal voters will look at the race on polling day ...
Thu 5th
11:31
"A man of profound faith and exceptional talent": Alistair Carmichael pays tribute to Jim Wallace
Embed from Getty ImagesAlistair Carmichael has written a tribute to Jim Wallace - "a man of profound faith and exceptional talent"- for The House magazine. You can find it on the Politics Home website: At a time when our political debate is often ill-tempered, Jim's career is a reminder that to be productive our politics should allow parties to cooperate where they agree. He led the Scottish Liberal Democrats into and through the Scottish Constitutional Convention that eventually produced the blueprint for the Scotland Act of 1998. He then led us into a coalition with Scottish Labour in the first ...
"Without doubt, information provided during the height of the global financial crisis by a senior Member of the British Government, will have been operationally beneficial to a hedge fund manager, international financier and broker like Jeffrey Epstein. Without doubt, Mandelson will have known this when he was sending this information."Gareth Roberts makes the case for charging Peter Mandelson with misconduct in public office. Catherine Barnard and Denzil Davidson ask if Greenland can join the European Union: "Whether Greenlanders decide that it should be attempted, and how such an attempt would be received in Washington, will be an important question for ...
... the Three Politicians who walked into a bar? "Mine's a pint of Red!" declaimed the Socialist. "For Society, Fairness and Solidarity. With Labour in charge, of course!" "Beg pardon" said the Liberal "but I don't like your coarse chumminess. Individual Liberty must come first. I am the Captain of my Soul. A glass of Yellow, if you please!" "While you two are fiddling" declared the Green "The planet is burning. We only need buckets of water!" "I don't understand you people!" said the Barmaid. "Isn't it obvious that we all need to be free, happy, thriving individuals, living in ...
Which means it's time for this song, courtesy of the ever excellent John Finnemore Souvenir Programme: Lyrics by John Finnemore, music written and played by Susannah Pearse, performed by Simon Kane, with Carrie Quinlan and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
The BBC reports that the minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in Wales will increase from 50p to 65p from October. It means a can of lager currently available for £1 will cost at least £1.30, a £2.50 bottle of cider will increase to £3.25 and a bottle of whisky now costing £14 will cost a minimum of £18.20: It comes after Senedd members backed Welsh government proposals to increase the MUP. Welsh ministers said this "landmark policy to help reduce deaths and harm from excess alcohol" brings the country into line with the rate in Scotland. But the Conservatives ...