1984: Peter Ackroyd (and I'm pretty sure it's *that* Peter Ackroyd) predicts cultdom for The Box of Delights. pic.twitter.com/mm6CHLY1cN— Phil Norman (@MrPhilNorman) November 29, 2016Thanks to Phil Norman for tweeting this earlier in the week.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Congratulations to Leicestershire's David Sprason on being appointed UKIP's national spokesman on welfare and social policy. Regular readers will recall that, while still a Conservative, he stepped down as deputy leader of the county council after a DVD entitled She Likes It Rough was found in his council-issued PC.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England
Fri 2nd
21:37

We are proud!!

"Sad to see a once proud party so diminished." Locally, we keep hearing this statement, it seems to be a tag line at the end of posts potentially pointing a finger at Lib Dems. Funnily enough we haven't seen that slogan today (In case you are reading this on 'Dave' LibDem's have just won the Richmond Park [...]

Posted by robstick on Rob's View (from the sidelines)

[IMG: website-richmond-victory] Another amazing by-election result for the Liberal Democrats has seen them elect Sarah Olney to Parliament, sending a thumping message to the Conservative Government. Sarah will be the new MP for the former Conservative strong hold of Richmond Park after she overturned a huge 23,000 vote majority to win. Liberal Democrat support is now growing across the country as they show they are now the only party standing up against hard brexit and for a properly funded NHS. Many traditional Conservative and Labour voters are now switching to back the Liberal Democrats because of their clear, positive message ...

Posted by kathypollard on Kathy Pollard

pic.twitter.com/hNCIfYgLEc— Northampton Chron (@ChronandEcho) December 1, 2016 I have covered the saga of David Mackintosh (Conservative MP for Northampton South and former leader of the Borough Council) and the town's Sixfields Stadium before. See these posts from November 2015 and July of this year. Now comes news that, in the worlds of the Northampton Chronicle & Echo: Executive committee members of Northampton South Conservative Association say MP David Mackintosh's role in the bungled Sixfields loan deal and his "refusal to accept criticism" has damaged the reputation of the local party.Tonight the executive committee of the association is debating this motion: ...

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

This quote from a new Liberal Democrat member in The Guardian caught my eye: I joined the Lib Dems in 2015 because of their unapologetic pro-EU stance. It may be a flawed institution, but to me the European Union represents everything that is good about co-operation for mutual benefit and has acted as a bulwark for decades against the politics of nationalism and division. I believe that it has never been more important in my lifetime for liberal and internationalist voices to be heard, and winning this by-election sends a powerful message to the Government to temper its hard Brexit ...

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

Celia Peachey's mum Maria was murdered by her violent ex-partner, despite repeatedly asking the police for help. Celia used the Human Rights Act to hold the police account for their failings.

Posted by Mark Pack on Mark Pack

No sooner had I mentioned Lydiate Abbey (last posting) than I am asked to help the Friends of the Abbey publicise their Carols & Bells event to be held at the Scotch Piper Inn on Wednesday 7th December at 7.30pm. [IMG: Lydiate Abbey - a winter shot] Lydiate Abbey – a winter shot I am informed it will be a sing along to all your favourite carols and Christmas songs and that all the money raised will go towards saving Lydiate Abbey and improving its surrounding area.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

I came across an interesting map the other day, showing the local government electoral divisions of north-eastern Ireland in the mid-20th century, showing dispensary districts (never heard of them before!) and electoral divisions (presumably these are the wards used for local council elections after the abolition of proportional representation in 1932): My eye was caught by an anomaly around Belfast: Down at the southern edge of the city, the Dunmurry dispensary district west of the Lagan includes the Malone, Derryaghy and Lissue electoral wards of Lisburn Rural Council, and the Ballylesson dispensary district east of the Lagan includes the Breda ...

Fri 2nd
17:38

What a campaign!

[IMG: sarah-olney-2] The Richmond Park campaign was the biggest the party has ever done. Phew! In writing this post I don't want to give away too many campaigning strategies, although the media have been pretty quick to spot our ways of working. They know that we are good at 'deploying' volunteers, but they don't really understand how we do it. How, they wonder, do we manage to recruit 1000 people in one weekend, from all over the country? How do we get them to travel and stay at their own expense and then embark on some punishing walking, talking and ...

Posted by Mary Reid on Liberal Democrat Voice
YouGov

[IMG: mycllr-richmond-surge] Another amazing by-election result for the Liberal Democrats has seen them elect Sarah Olney to Parliament, sending a thumping message to the Conservative Government. Sarah will be the new MP for the former Conservative strong hold of Richmond Park after she overturned a huge 23,000 vote majority to win. Liberal Democrat support is now growing across the country as they show they are now the only party standing up against hard brexit and for a properly funded NHS. Many traditional Conservative and Labour voters are now switching to back the Liberal Democrats because of their clear, positive message ...

Posted by allanknox on Allan Knox

[IMG: website-richmond-victory] Well done to every single ALDC member and campaigner who contributed to Sarah Olney's Richmond Park by-election success. However you helped – in person, on the phone, by donation – this was a brilliant team effort, so thank you. Net seat gains in local council by-elections since May 2016 show that people are open to [...]

Posted by Joe Mulvihill on Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors

The environment was our theme at the Liberal Democrats in Business dinner in Oxford last night (after a session of polling-day phone banking for Sarah Olney!). We were pleased to welcome as speakers Baroness Kate Parminter, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader in the Lords and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Dr Imad Ahmed of the Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University. Dr Ahmed spoke of recent research into nano-particles in air pollution and how they affect our brains. The study, and how air pollution is a possible cause of Alzheimer's, has been reported here in ...

Posted by Kirsten Johnson on Liberal Democrat Voice

Classy stuff from Nick Clegg on the BBC News Channel. It was put to him that we couldn't extrapolate a wider Liberal Democrat resurgence from the Richmond Park result. That's perfectly right, he said, and then came out with a whole stream of stats showing how well we are doing in local government by-elections and everywhere where people get a chance to hear what we have to say. He also said that Brexiteers are rubbing voters up the wrong way by dismissing their concerns and right to be heard. Watch the interview here.

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

Fun for all the family, 1pm to 7.30 pm. Father Christmas arrives on his sleigh at 7.15 pm!

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

[IMG: St Catherine's otherwise know as Lydiate Abbey] St Catherine's otherwise know as Lydiate Abbey Lydiate Parish Council has long maintained the grounds around this lovely listed ancient monument in Lydiate's Conservation Area. The PC cuts the grass empties the litter bin etc. The site is in the ownership of Liverpool Catholic Arch-Diocese and Sefton Borough Council has a hand in the management of the site too. And, of course, there's the voluntary group – Friends of the Abbey which has been formed. That group has recently gained a £7,000+ grant from Heritage Lottery to fund a detailed assessment of ...

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

[IMG: rsz_1logo] The Fairtrade organisation has the advice on its web site – see link above Advice we should all follow but I guess we will struggle to it.

Posted by Cllr. Tony Robertson on Sefton Focus

First Bus has announced yet another cut to an important bus service. This time the No. 82 service from Southmead Hospital via Cribbs Causeway to Yate will lose its last journey. From 8 January the last bus will leave Southmead at 7.15 pm from Monday to Friday, almost an hour earlier and well before the end of visiting time. This impacts people who work at Cribbs causeway too, not to mention shift workers boarding at other points along the route, and anybody who attends SGS Filton College in the evening. It makes it very hard for young people and those ...

Posted by Paul Hulbert on Focus on Sodbury, Yate and Dodington

10 years ago, I was part of the team in the last by-electon we gained, when Willie Rennie spectacularly won Dunfermline and West Fife in then Chancellor Gordon Brown's backyard. At that time it was a political earthquake. It was also a huge victory at a time of crisis for our party. Only weeks before, Charles Kennedy had resigned as leader. During the by-election campaign there seemed to be a tabloid scandal about our leadership candidates around every half hour. We still came through and elected Willie as our 63rd MP. A decade on, we only have a 7th of ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is planning to convert the midwifery-led maternity units (MLUs) at Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry to "birthing centres". This means that the MLUs will not be staffed overnight. Women in labour will instead must call the units to arrange for them to open. Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow... Continue reading New health trust plans will close maternity units overnight, including Ludlow Maternity Unit →

Posted by andybodders on Andy Boddington
eUKhost

Another snowy dawn in Warsaw, made rather brighter by news from home, and whilst some of our delegation are paying the price for staying up to wait for the result from Richmond Park, there's a definite spring in our step. And so, what do we have to look forward to today? It's all about policy, with working groups looking at a range of resolutions, as well as the proposed reforms to the Party statutes (think constitutional amendments on steroids). Our delegation will be active participants, discussing Brexit, aspects of European democracy, economics, environmental issues and civil liberties. In terms of ...

Posted by Mark Valladares on Liberal Democrat Voice

Liberal Democrat members in Hastings & Rye have helped, along with hundreds of campaigners from across the country, deliver a shock by-election victory in Richmond Park, sending a warning to the Tory Government about a hard Brexit. Chair of the Hastings & Rye Liberal Democrats, Nick Perry‎, said, 'I am very proud that local members [...]

Posted by nickperrylibdem on Nick Perry For Hastings & Rye

[IMG: Image result for young people brexit] Brexit vote statistics After reading an article in Red Pepper about the Momentum Kids idea to launch child care facilities at political events I thought about how young people are excluded from politics. The idea was to enable parents to attend the events and to give the children the space to explore ideas and views in politics. The idea faced a huge backlash online with people comparing it to the Hitler Youth.The term 'brainwashing' was used to describe Momentum Kids and it reminded me of a lot of the challenges that I have ...

Posted by Maelo Manning on libdemchild aged 17

At last, a 2016 election result that does not make me despair. I am unequivocally overjoyed that the Lib Dems won Richmond Park. Top of the reasons why this makes me happy comes down to being glad that Zac Goldsmith lost. Not really because of his dreadful mayoral campaign so much as the fact that the whole reason the by-election was taking place at all was an act self-regarding hubris on his part. I agree with Fraser Nelson on this front: if you're going to resign over an issue, any issue, you should not be allowed to run in the ...

Posted by Nick on nicktyrone.com

Well, we're winning parliamentary by-elections again. Who'd have thought it possible on that awful night almost 19 months ago? Liberal Democrats everywhere are grinning this morning. We've seen the brilliant local government results over the past few months. We saw the amazing Liz Leffman surge forward in the Tory heartland of Witney in October. Now, we have actually won another MP. We shouldn't under-estimate how massive a task winning Richmond Park was. It's only been 37 days since Zac resigned. We had just over 5 weeks to change the agenda from Heathrow to Brexit and win the argument. A combination ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

[IMG: richmondpark] In a year of waking up to so much bad news, today has finally brought some cheer to 2016 with the news that Sarah Olney has defeated Zac Goldsmith to become the new Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park. Congratulations to her and the team who delivered this result – yes, it was a winnable by-election, but it still had to be won, and that takes a lot of effort from a lot of people to achieve. The #LibDemFightback takes a big step forward This is a great result for the party – the first by-election gain since ...

Posted by Nick on What You Can Get Away With

Embed from Getty Images The last two times I've gone to bed reasonably confident my side would win an election, I've had a rotten, sleepless night. Last night I went to bed reckoning my side would fall just short and Richmond Park would be added not to the list of great Liberal by-election triumphs (Orpington, Eastbourne, Brent East) but of near misses (Birmingham Hodge Hill, Henley, Witney). And to think liberals are supposed to be optimists... 2016 has, though, severely tested our usually sunny disposition. Anyway, huge congratulations to Sarah Olney for over-turning Zac Goldsmith's 23,000+ majority. A 22% swing ...

Posted by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall

He stands atop of the gate pillars at Boughton Hall, on the edge of the village. The other pillar has an equally fine griffin.

Posted by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England

Sheena Wellington writes : Friends of Wighton's last event of the year is the Lunchtime Recital on Wednesday 7th December, 1.15pm - 1.45pm with the traditional performance by The Wighton Singers. The Singers have had a busy year giving performances in day centres, churches and the University of Dundee's Baxter Suite. Their programme will feature seasonal and traditional Scots songs laced with their usual warmth and good humour. The Lunchtime Recital is free; donations for the work of Friends of Wighton welcome.

Here's some of the reaction to Sarah Olney's incredible victory in Richmond Park. Tim Farron said that the Liberal Democrats are the standard bearers for those who oppose the dangerous path towards Brexit being pursued by the Government. The message is clear: The Liberal Democrats are back and we are carrying the torch for all of those who want a real opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government. We are the only party fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united, and the only party that has said, loudly and proudly, that we want Britain to remain a member of the ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Belgian beer culture added to UNESCO world heritage Hooray! (tags: Belgium beer ) Political correctness: how the right invented a phantom enemy Excellent, long analysis. (tags: uspolitics language ) DWP ignoring effects of benefit sanctions UK gov't war on the poor continues. (tags: ukpolitics ) EU Commission: The Smart Money is on Clean Energy But does its new mammoth package provide the right framework to unleash its potential? - @JulesInBxl (tags: ) We went in search of the world's hardest language Tuyuca, rather than Ubykh or !Xóõ. (tags: languages ) Pakistani Prime Minister Sherif calls Donald Trump; Trump talks. Verbatim. ...

Just in case you missed it earlier, we won! Sarah Olney defeated Zac Goldsmith by 1872 votes. We can't call her Sarah Olney MP yet. She only officially acquires that title when she takes the oath in the Commons on Monday. Her speech at the count tonight was gracious, determined and passionate. Here it is in full: Let me start by thanking the other candidates for a hard-fought campaign - and to Zac Goldsmith in particular, I wish you well and assure you that I will continue your fight against the expansion of Heathrow. I also would like to thank ...

Posted by The Voice on Liberal Democrat Voice

I will stand up for the open, tolerant, united Britain that we believe in. pic.twitter.com/c51dqx1UDN — Sarah Olney (@sarahjolney1) December 2, 2016 We have done it! We had just 37 days to persuade the voters of Richmond Park. To overturn a 23,000 majority in such a short time is incredible. Initially, the two numbers that matter. Zac Goldsmith 18,638 Sarah Olney 20,510 Monster Raving Loony Party 184 One Love Party 67 Christian People's Alliance 164 Independent 173 Christian Woolmar (Labour) 1515 Liberal Democrat majority 1872 on a turnout of 53.6%. It's a swing of 21.6%. And the percentage changes via ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

"The mood music," says the BBC's Chris Mason, "is that the Liberal Democrats are running Zac Goldsmith very close." He says that the Liberal Democrats have the biggest smiles. The Guardian live blog has some piles of votes looking very close. They report that Labour and Betfair are saying we have won. Mind you, Labour are not always the best judges of such things, though, so that comes with a big health warning. We had to convince them that they had won in Glenrothes in 2008. Our box counts had the result within half a percentage point. They thought the ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

Those hours between close of poll and the declaration of a hard-fought parliamentary by-election results are particularly tense. The only people who won't be feeling overcome with butterflies are those at the count because they will be too busy. They will have some indication of the result once all the votes have been verified, but if, as expected, it's really close, they will have their eyes peeled during the counting stage to make sure every single Liberal Democrat vote goes on our pile and not on someone else's. However, we have some good news to start our night of by-election ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice

In 2006 a rather odd, limited edition, release came out, which would (according to Mike Love's on-stage announcements around that time, anyway) be one of the band's best selling albums of the last few decades. Songs From Here And Back ... Continue reading →

Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sci-Ence! Justice Leak!

Tim Farron emailed party members tonight to thank them for their work in Richmond Park. He said he was proud of the campaign that we ran and hoped we would get the result that we deserved. This is what he said: The polls have just closed in Richmond Park and counting is about to begin. Win or lose, I know that we're going to get a tremendous result. But right now I want to tell you how proud I am of the campaign we just fought. I'm so proud of our candidate, Sarah Olney, who wasn't even a member of ...

Posted by Caron Lindsay on Liberal Democrat Voice