I welcome guest posts on Liberal England and am happy to publish obes on subjects far beyond the Liberal Democrats and British politics. In fact I could do with some guest posts on what the Lib Dems should do in the light of Thursday's elections. I am now a full-time carer, which limits the time I have to write longer posts of that sort. If you would like to write for this blog, please send me an email so we can discuss your idea. Here are the 10 most recent guest posts I have published: Unionism is making the Scottish ...
i) births and deaths 10 May 1998: death of Dalek operator Robert Jewell 10 May 2017: death of Geoffrey Bayldon, who played Organon in The Creature from the Pit (1979) and the alternate timeline Doctor-who-never-left-Gallifrey in Big Finish audios Auld Mortality (2003) and A Storm of Angels (2005). Also Catweazle. ii) broadcast anniversaries 10 May 1969: broadcast of fourth episode of The War Games. The Doctor and Zoe start to explore Central Control, and in a chilling moment the Doctor and the War Chief recognise each other. 10 May 1974: broadcast of fourth episode of Revenge of the Cybermen, ending ...
Mon 10th
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Local Elections 2021: The county results - Nutting dismissed & opposition parties gain but fail ...
Elections can be thrilling, exhausting and disappointing all at once. That was certainly the case in the Shropshire Council elections last Thursday. Council leader Peter Nutting, the man who put Shrewsbury first in everything, was thrown off Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council. The Conservatives gained 11% more seats across England with the Boris Bounce but in Shropshire they lost 12% of their seats. For the first time, the Green Party showed strength across the county, taking four seats. Labour gained one seat and the Lib Dems two. There could not be a clearer message. Whatever is happening elsewhere in ...
It's been a tough decade or so to be a Liberal Democrat – losing sucks, and watching your friends and colleagues fight unsuccessful campaigns doesn't exactly raise the spirits. But this year felt a bit better, despite the losses in some places, some familiar faces were pictured smiling, and there were plenty of new faces doing the same. We've demonstrated some relevance and proven that, with hard work, spirit and persistence (and, occasionally, a fair wind), Liberal Democrats can win pretty much anywhere. That's not to say that the results are great. Caron, who knows far more than I ever ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 10 MAY 2021 BT Cable Renewal Programme - rolling off peak temporary traffic lights at various location from Monday 26 April for 2 weeks - streets affected in order are: Strathmore Avenue (at Hospital Street); Loons Road (at Gardner Street); Logie Street (at Ancrum Road); Glamis Road (at Ancrum Road); City Road (at Pentland Avenue); Charleston Drive (at Yarrow Terrace); Glamis Road (at Elmwood Road); Blackness Road (at Seymour Street) and Perth Road (at Pennycook Lane). Ninewells Avenue (Perth Road to Ninewells Drive) - ...
I usually review the election results here in Mid Suffolk and this year is no exception. And it's been an interesting set of results too, with Mid Suffolk seeing four of its ten County seats changing hands. Here's what I said in my preview, just so that you can judge it for quality of prediction... We start with Bosmere, a Liberal Democrat target. The result was; Kay Oakes (Conservative) - 1,357 votes (49.4%) Steve Phillips (Liberal Democrat) - 1,034 votes (37.7%)Suzanne Britton (Labour) - 355 votes (12.9%)My fear that Liberal Democrat weakness in the hinterland would negate their strength in ...
Lib Dems waiting for the last few council wards to come in and whether the party ends up with a net gain of seats... (we're currently at plus seven) pic.twitter.com/ePIIEtpbQG — Mark Pack [IMG: 🔶] (@markpack) May 9, 2021 Of course, alongside the brilliant wins there are the heart-breaking loses. Many sympathies to everyone who didn't quite make it this time. It was a really tough set of circumstances for all the different elections thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on campaigning and the incumbency boost for all three governments we've seen. To have come out slightly ahead in the ...
We can't expect people to elect Lib Dems if they don't know what doing so means. So much of politics is about the vibe which leaders and parties give off. And at the moment our vibe (if we even have one), is bland.
A dramatic twist ahead of the count for Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner: A candidate running to be Wiltshire's next Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has been disbarred after a historical driving offence emerged. Jonathon Seed was the Conservative Party's candidate to replace fellow Tory Angus Macpherson. A party spokesperson confirmed Mr Seed had been disbarred, while Mr Seed told the BBC he had withdrawn himself. Vote counting for the PCC post is due to start in Salisbury at 10:00 GMT on Monday and is set to go ahead. If Mr Seed wins the vote, another election will need to ...
Lib Dems in Oxfordshire have taken 8 seats from the Conservatives and are now just one seat behind them. One of the seats was that of the County Council Leader in Woodstock. To add to Tory miseries, they also lost a seat in affluent Chipping Norton to Labour. And there could be more.. In terms of numbers, it is now Con 22-21 LD. BUT. A Tory seat is contested by Labour and likely to have a legal challenge. If it reverts then we level peg. Either way, the progressives win! — Layla Moran [IMG: 🔶] (@LaylaMoran) May 9, 2021 Good ...
It's funny how two buses can come along at the same time. Steve Aiken, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, resigned yesterday, following the resignation the previous week of DUP leader Arlene Foster. The UUP has very much lost its way since the days when it could win every Westminster seat in Northern Ireland (1964, since you ask). It came fifth in the 2019 Westminster election, and sixth in that year's European Parliament election. Successive recent leaders have tried to lead from the centre, but been somewhat sabotaged by their own grass roots which remain more conservative and traditional. Doug ...
If you are a man in power facing national scrutiny what do you do as a first instinct? Cherchez la femme was the Labour leader's choice action. I can only imagine that Sir Keir Starmer looked at his bookcase after finishing a disastrous TV appearance, searched desperately for an idea, and came up with 'The ... The post Starmer's 'Cherchez la femme' appeared first on A Midlifer in London.
Good news from Hertfordshire. We have taken control of St Albans District Council. Chris White has been leading a minority administration since 2019 but we have now made 5 gains to take total control. Chris was re-elected with 62% of the vote in Clarence ward. Here are some of the delighted victors: Paul de Kort @pauldekort1 and Pip Liver @PhilippaLiver take BOTH district seats in Harpenden East [IMG: 👏] [IMG: 👏] [IMG: 🔶] pic.twitter.com/GIXXbBsNfo — St Albans Lib Dems [IMG: 🔶] (@StAlbansLDs) May 9, 2021 Yesterday, Liberal Democrats gained 4 seats on Hertfordshire County Council to take them to 23 ...
It beggars belief that a party led by the most incompetent, lying and self-serving group in modern times can carry not quite all, but most, before it in an election. What are we to do? First, thank goodness for those who have held back the Tory tide: Labour in Wales, those glorious patches of the UK where Liberal Democrats and Greens have prevailed and, the Scots who remain unimpressed by Tory falsehoods. But overall the picture is dismal. How can this well-educated and well-informed electorate vote for a group who almost on a daily basis betray all that is decent ...
It is undeniably true that the pandemic has given the First Minister (and Messrs Johnson and Drakeford in England and Wales respectively) increased visibility and a platform to speak for the country. This has unquestionable advantages, although it also brings leaders under greater scrutiny. I would agree that the First Minister has taken the opportunity to emphasise her leadership of the nation. However, to suggest that incumbency during the pandemic is either the principal or sole factor behind the success of the SNP in Scotland and that of the Tories in England is to deny reality. I understand why people ...
The success of Brexit depends on a willingness to succeed and the desire to place the shared requirement for European stability before narrow political interests. This week's Anglo-French dispute over English Channel fishing rights indicates that it ain't gonna happen. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has again demonstrated his disdain for international law by slipping in additional restrictions related to the licensing of French fishing boats and the French over-reacted by threatening to block electricity to the British Channel Island dependency of Jersey. President Emmanuel Macron then added fuel by giving his blessing to a French fishermen's blockade of Jersey ...
Sat, 12:56: RT @davidallengreen: This is a fascinating and somewhat brave piece by the @guardian Shows that those of us who seek to reckon the signif... Sat, 18:57: RT @davidallengreen: Why there is a mandate for a Scottish independence referendum Today's @law_and_policy post https://t.co/AjZgGb8KBj h... Sat, 19:11: RT @SJAMcBride: There had been what seemed like apathetic, almost resigned, dismay within the UUP at how the party was going backwards unde... Sun, 09:30: Whoniversaries 9 May https://t.co/zdaeFeEVA9
In the Guardian letters page a reader argues that the 42,000 electors who did not vote in Hartlepool have secured a massive win for the silent majority. It seems to me they have only won their own silence. Those who did participate had their say on who represents their area and on the governance of the country.
The band Renaissance has a complicated history. It was formed in 1969 by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty, two members of the Yardbirds who fell by the wayside as that band transformed itself into Led Zeppelin, and its original line up also include Relf's sister Jane. In the Seventies a new line up emerged, with Annie Haslam as the lead vocatist. It was this incarnation that recorded Northern Lights, which reached number 10 in the UK Singles charts in the summer of 1978. Roy Wood was involved with Renaissance a couple of decades after that, and the band is still ...
While there have been some bright spots, it's not been the greatest set of local election results for us. It's not been the worst, either. Maybe it was the best we could have hoped for given the circumstances. The year ahead of any set of elections is crucial. You want to be building your campaign from at least a year out. Being locked down for most of that year under a stay at home order in the middle of a pandemic is not conducive to doing that. A set of elections held as the country opens up again and people ...
i) births and deaths 9 May 1940: birth of John Black, who directed The Keeper of Traken (1981), K9 and Company (1981) and Four to Doomsday (1982). ii) broadcast anniversaries 9 May 1964: broadcast of "Sentence of Death", the fifth episode of the story we now call The Keys of Marinus. Ian is accused of murder, and the Doctor is his defence lawyer. 9 May 1970: broadcast of first episode of Inferno. The Doctor is tapping energy from the controversial Inferno project; meanwhile people contaminated by subterranean gas are turning into monsters. 9 May 2003: webcast of second episode of ...
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of new cycle lane and surfacing works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Ninewells Avenue (northbound between Perth Road and Ninewells Drive), Dundee This notice comes into effect on Monday 10 May 2021 for 5 working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes are available via Perth Road / Glamis Road / Ninewells Avenue. For further information contact 433082. Executive Director ...
Embed from Getty ImagesTwitter is not Britain, they say. And that's just as well. Much of the reaction I've seen on the platform from those disappointed at the result in the Hartlepool by-election has involved attacks on the town's voters. They are stupid, they are racist and so on. But what if Labour got pretty much the result they deserved? What if they had a disaterous recent history on the local council and imposed the wrong candidate? Here's a paragraph from the magisterial preview of the by-election that Andrew Teale wrote for Britain Elects: Then the wheels really started to ...