Yes, you read that headline right. This is not a drill. We actually took a seat off UKIP in Aylesbur. Congratulations to Cllr Susan Morgan and her team for a cracking result. Lib Dem GAIN from UKIP in Aylesbury. Cllr Susan Morgan is tonight's Market Square Hero [IMG: 😀] LD 785 Lab 151 Con 147 Ukip 111 Green 43 pic.twitter.com/Pmk3DwBq0J — ALDC (@ALDC) April 6, 2017 It was one of these eye-watering vote share increases. Elmhurst (Aylesbury Vale) result: LDEM: 63.5% (+37.9) LAB: 12.2% (-10.0) CON: 11.9% (-9.3) UKIP: 9.0% (-14.4) GRN: 3.5% (-4.2) — Britain Elects (@britainelects) April 6, ...
After the promising portents for the Liberal Democrats ahead of May's big round of local elections, and the very bad news for Ukip, this week's council by-elections bring four tests of how the parties are actually doing: two Ukip defences, one Liberal Democrat defence and one Conservative defence. The first result in is very much in line with those omens – Ukip losing a seat: Conservative GAIN St James (Tendring) from UKIP. — Britain Elects (@britainelects) April 6, 2017
Flashabak.com tweeted this beautiful poster yesterday, so I had a look to see what I could find out about the Jester Company of Leicester. An article by Sarah Hartwell tells us: Jester Company limited, Leicester, was a textiles company (knitting wools, patterns, rug kits etc) founded in October 1944, they went into liquidation in 1996 and were finally dissolved in 1997. Their address was Jester House, Roman Forum, Leicester (in 1987 the registered office was at 14 West Walk, Leicester, LE1 7NA and in 1988 it was 91 All Saints Road, Leicester, LE3 5AB)She reproduces some more striking advertisements and ...
I am pleased to feed back that the pothole I reported to Bury Council two weeks ago on Randale Drive has been repaired. It looks quite a good job, so I am very grateful that the Council's highways department has acted so quickly and professionally. Unfortunately, there are still many potholes across Unsworth ward that [...]
Jonn Elledge mourns the embarrassment Ken Livingstone has become, arguing that he made a very good job of being London's mayor. I am sad for Ken because I remember him as leader of the Greater London Council. It's not that I thought his policies were great, but the way he conducted himself was a model for any aspiring politician. Though this was the era in which the Sun labelled him "the most odious man in Britain", he remained unfailingly calm in interviews and was witty too. He was a star. When he resigned his seat and fought a by-election as ...
This Saturday is the first ever 'Bury Pride event'. Bury Pride will support the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate equality and diversity right here in Bury. Bury Pride will be held on Saturday 8th April 2017 and will be absolutely FREE to all members of the community. You can register for your free ticket here: https://www.fatsoma.com/mobile/products/e2igalq4 [...]
GMCA have agreed to delay the Phase 2 consultation on the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework until September. The full report considered by the GMCA is here (it's not very detailed). (Page 25) Highlights are: The report considered by Council officers says: "The current published timetable provides for consultation on the Publication Plan in June/July. In [...]
Embed from Getty Images Following today's Supreme Court judgement, the Liberal Democrats issued a press release quoting John Pugh, our shadow education secretary: "Today's judgment was disappointing but the ball is back in the government's court, they could act and change the law and bring back sensible rules with proper safeguards in place. Nearly 20,000 people have been prosecuted and caught in a dragnet by these laws in the last year. "Many employees have no choice when to take their holidays. People in some areas have to work all through the summer at the height of the tourism season. "Others ...
Now that nominations are closed, numbers can be crunched for how many seats each party is contesting, along with how this compares with last time. Here are the figures for England, showing what percentage of seats each party is contests and the percentage points change on 2013, the comparable previous year in the elections cycle. Conservatives: 96% (no change) Labour: 92% (no change) Liberal Democrat: 80% (+6%) Green: 54% (+16%) Ukip: 48% (-25%) The collapse in Ukip candidate numbers is particularly striking and follows several years of steadily falling votes in council elections. The rise in the number of Liberal ...
There are three local events this Saturday (8th April) where you can make a real difference to your local area. Dodington Parish Council Spring Clean will start from the Changing Room at QE2 Playing Fields Kelston Close at 10am, and spread out around the Shire Way / Rodford Way area. Litter pickers, black bags and gloves will be provided. Everyone is welcome, though children must be accompanied by an adult. If you've still got some energy afterwards, why not join in the Abbotswood Spring Clean and Planting just across the road? Starting at 11am in front of Abbotswood shops - ...
There is so much musical activity going on across the borough. I have attended concerts and musical theatre large and small and marvelled at the diversity and quality. There are chamber choirs, school choirs, church choirs, Gilbert and Sullivan, operas, community choirs with edgy names and full scale choral societies. On Saturday, it was the turn of Formby Choral Society who along with various partners performed at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. There a combined choir of something like 275 singers, 4 superb soloists and a full professional orchestra all under the musical direction of David Holroyd. There was one work; ...
August 9th : 124/1/913 An opening : The day perplexes, as it startles us: welcome to an altered equilibrium.... October 4th : 124/24/910 Speed skill and movement flow at perfect pitch / and then a long consolidate October 20th : 123/5/910 Battered but not bowed, we survive a mighty onslaught / to seize an opportunist [...]
When I agreed to take on the role of Hugo administrator for Worldcon 75 back in late 2015, almost the first decision I made (with my then deputy, Colette Fozard) was about timelines. Worldcon this year is comparatively early - the second weekend of August (and Tuesday-Sunday rather than Wednesday-Monday) and Easter relatively late (16 April). Worldcon timing has become more flexible in recent years; four of the first six were held in July, but for the half century from 1949 to 1998, only one (1975) was in mid-August, all the rest at the end of August or early September. ...
There used to be a distinct summer 'silly season' in British politics. Unfortunately, global warming and the catastrophic meltdown of most rational sense about politics in this country means we're now living in a permanent silly season where ideas that would normally be laughed off are now taken utterly seriously. So, we have this: Blair has publicly stressed that the institute will not become a new centrist political party. But in private, close allies admit that the idea of a new party emerging around the time of the next British general election is being seriously considered. With Theresa May's Conservative ...
Some of the tone of the news articles about Barry Manilow has made me distinctly uncomfortable today. The vast majority of them have been along the lines of "we've known you're gay for years, and we don't care". This is mostly coming from people who want to show everybody that they are really tolerant and progressive, and I am hesitant to criticise people who are genuinely trying to improve themselves and the society around them, however... Coming out is not easy. It really isn't. No matter how tolerant the social group you move in, it's terrifying. You don't know if ...
We've previously reported on the Bromley Heath viaduct works on the ring road, which will involve the southern viaduct being closed for up to a year. South Glos council has published traffic management proposals for our area during the works. A number of people have raised concerns about these proposals. Claire Young has discussed these with the relevant highways officer, who has reassured her that all the concerns people are raising will be taken into account when drawing up the final plans. All public meetings are currently on hold because of the "purdah" period for the Metro Mayor election. There ...
In my column last week in the Visiter I promised that there would be more music in the first week of April, and so it proved. The Mayor's Charity Ball was held at the Floral Hall in Southport on Saturday evening and topping the bill was Dannielle Louise Thomas. She is one of our own in so much as she was brought up in Crosby and attended Sacred Heart School. Her performance and her choice of music were pitch perfect. It was the high point of a successful evening. Around 200 people attended from across the borough and supporters of ...
D66, the party that initiated a global wave of legalizing gay marriage, made itself the emblem of a day-long Dutch media craze that even extended to Dutch diplomats in London and at the UN in New York, as the Huffington Post reported. It all started when two Dutch gay men, walking home hand in hand from their pub over the (in)famous bridge at Arnhem, were accosted by a group of youths (some of them around 14 years old), with one having four front teeth knocked out. A Dutch journalist and lesbian activist started a Twitter campaign: straight men should walk ...
On a glorious spring morning, I joined volunteers organised by Marine Conservation to help with a survey and litter pick on the beach at Formby. A wide range of folk including several families who were make good use of their half term break turned out. I met employees from Merseytravel on my last visit and they were there again to help. The sales team from Churchill Retirement homes who have a new development in Formby had also volunteered. It was good to see how clean the beach looked but as we walked up towards Ainsdale -with Blackpool Tower and the ...
Ive seen a couple of threads on the Maghull Community facebook Page recently raising concerns about the poor standard of maintenance of Old Hall Park and thought a full review of the issues leading up this unfortunate state of affairs was required. Old Hall Park Firstly, when Old Hall Park was created following the demolition of the former Old Hall High School Buildings (originally it had been Maghull Grammar School) the park was laid out and run by Sefton Council. Of course houses were also built on around one third of the site at the same time. This became Sefton ...
The West of England Mayoral election is now only a month away. Here are five reasons to volunteer in the campaign. 1) It is a two-horse race At the start of the campaign, the bookmakers Ladbrokes made Stephen the favourite to win with the Conservative candidate right on our heels. Notably, Labour and the Greens are completely out of the contest so we need to pick up all the progressive second preferences. There is a real chance that the Liberal Democrats can win this newly created role. It is going to take a lot of enthusiasm to outcampaign the spending ...
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax The ticket website is a bit of a pain in the arse, which probably explains why this hasn't sold out yet. Man complains about "smart" garage door opener. Manufacturer remotely disables it. I kind of hoped that living in the future would be Star Trek, not Ubik. So apparently there was a government plan to explain the benefits of immigration during the referendum... ... And Theresa "I'm Remain, Honest" May nixed it. Hands up everyone who's surprised! anyone? anyone at all? [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
What's this about then? As reported last year, the Tory government is pretty much forcing schools to become academies, and it's said that every school in Peterborough will be run by an academy trust by 2025. However, as detailed in this years Budget Consultation document, the Tory controlled City Council in Peterborough, say they expect to [...]
On the train to Spring conference, as I was chatting with a student, I mentioned I was a Lib Dem. He said: "Aren't they the party that saved the country, and then got destroyed because of it?" My first thought was: "Wow! Student opinion has shifted since 2010." But I also noted that he didn't realise how much we've recovered since the last General Election. It's disappointing, but this feeling that the Lib Dems are still on the ropes is fairly widespread. Those of us closely following politics know all about where we've succeeded. Spectacular local council by-election wins, a ...
The Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden are holding an event in the Garden, aimed at children under the age of 10, accompanied by as many parents/grandparents as they like, on Sunday 9th April from 3pm - approximate end time 4.15pm. There will be Easter related activities, including decorating an egg, but please bring your own hardboiled egg! Numbers are limited for this event, so booking is essential - contact fudbg.committee@gmail.com.
The prospective defection of South Wales East AM and former UKIP MP, Mark Reckless to sit as an Independent is a major blow for the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly, far more so than their estrangement with the party's former Welsh leader, Nathan Gill. The BBC report that Reckless is set to quit his latest party and vote with the Conservative group in the Assembly. However, speculation that this will make the Tories the main opposition are premature as Reckless will sit as an AM and not as yet, formally join the Tory group. Mark Reckless of course, was ...
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