In this last round-up of the day, we bring news of the final London result, the 11 list Assembly Members who work alongside the 14 constituency members. We have always had list members because until our Gareth Roberts won South West London this afternoon nobody other than a Conservative or Labour had won a constituency. Once the list votes had been counted, the absolutely brilliant news is that Hina Bokhari has been re-elected. The rotten news is that Rob Blackie, our fantastic mayoral candidate who has run such a good campaign and took us to third place in that contest, ...
I knew I had to look for a derelict cinema in Coalville and, when I turned my mind to the search, I found I was standing outside it. Cinema Treasures reveals that it had 1200 seats and two screens, and says: An astonishing Moderne style façade to find in a small town, originally surmounted by a neon-lit semi-sky sign. Inside the two-level auditorium, the main feature is the highly-ribbed ante-proscenium, covered in silver plastic paint and up-lit from the balcony parapet. The tabs were up-lit from the false orchestra pit. ... The Rex Cinema opened on 2nd February 1938 with ...
Sat 4th
20:34
Laura Kuenssberg has the approach of an ambitious young reporter, but the BBC uses her in senior rol...
Later. It has been pointed out by a reader that Chris Mason is now the BBC's political editor. I'm sorry for the error and have changed this post's headline as a result. However, in many ways the problem remains: Laura Kuenssberg has the approach of an ambitious young reporter, but the BBC uses her in senior roles. This was Laura Kuenssberg last night, talking up the gossip about the London Mayoral contest when not a vote had yet been counted and nothing about the outcome could be "clear". The story about a Conservative victory seems to have originated from someone ...
Still lots more results to come, but now that the rush of headlines has slowed, what to make of the results so far?
The BBC has shamefully ignored the London Assembly during this election. Nearly 9 million people live in Greater London – more than the populations of Scotland and Wales combined. And London does not have a Metro Mayor who is accountable to the local authorities that make up the Metro area. Instead it has a full blown Assembly with 25 Assembly Members. So it is inexcusable that the BBC is not reporting on it in its election coverage. Rant over, because we do have some very good news to report. We have won our first constituency member ever for the Assembly ...
Sadiq Khan has comfortably won the Mayor of London contest although it hasn't yet been officially announced. We can be sure of the result because the votes have been counted across the fourteen super-constituencies and their totals have been announced, so it's a simple matter of arithmetic to work out the final result. This contest was always a two horse race between Labour and Conservative, and voting reverted to FPTP this time around. We know that many of our voters voted tactically to keep the Tory out. Under those circumstances it is very pleasing that the Lib Dem candidate, Rob ...
Sat 4th
16:13
Saturday afternoon round-up: Lib Dems win more Council seats than Tories for first time in 28 years
With just one Council left to declare, the Lib Dems will end the local election second to Labour in terms of Councillors, with 105 gains and 2 more Councils. The last time this happened was in 1996. Second place and a 25% gain is not a bad result for us at all. The Tories have lost more than half of the seats they were defending and are languishing in 3rd place. The only consolation for them so far is that Ben Houchen held on as Tees Valley Mayor. Even if Andy Street clings on in the West Midlands, it looks ...
Party President Mark Pack has been recording results and commentary throughout the counts. You can read today's post here: How are the local elections going for the Lib Dems? Here are some takeaways: As of Saturday morning, the results look pretty good. Before getting into that, it's important to recognise that's not the same as universally good. There are, for example, two wards I campaigned in this time around which we lost out on by very small margins. Defeats like those, or losing your seat while others are gaining those on the same council, are in some ways made all ...
In Dorset these 13 gains gave us control of an important County Unitary Council but in all there were more than 100 Lib Dem gains of Council seats on May 2nd. I am writing this blog after the first day ... Continue reading →
America has for years been a polarised powder keg waiting for the spark to ignite the fuse. It has come in the form of student protests against American support for Israel. Protesters, counter-protesters and rent-a-mob have violently coalesced around the conflicting fates of Palestinians and the State of Israel. As of Friday demonstrations have broken out on 140 college campuses in 45 states. More than 2,000 students have been arrested by police storming barricaded encampments and university buildings with riot gear. President Joe Biden is trying to thread his way through the oft conflicting principles of freedom of speech and ...
The BBC reports that a former Welsh government minister has told the Senedd that Vaughan Gething should hand back £200,000 taken from a company owned by a man prosecuted for illegally dumping waste. The broadcaster says that former Transport Minister, Lee Waters has questioned the judgement of the first minister for accepting the donation during the Welsh Labour leadership campaign, from Dauson Environment Group, saying that he was "deeply uncomfortable" with the situation and that it was "shocking" to find where the money had come from: The former transport minister, who was the public face of the 20mph speed limit ...
It's going to be a long day in London. The counting process began yesterday in fourteen venues across the region, one based in each of the Assembly super-constituencies. Votes on the three differently coloured ballot papers were being verified yesterday and then counted today. To understand the scale of the process you have to remember that the population of Greater London is more than those of Scotland and Wales taken together. Results will be announced this afternoon in this order: Mayor of London, London Assembly constituency members, London-wide Assembly members (from the top up lists). We already know that turnout ...
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT ROAD REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - SATURDAY 4 AND SUNDAY 5 MAY 2024 Greenmarket (Greenmarket to train station) - closed on Sunday 5 May for Scottish and Southern Energy Network work. South Tay Street/West Port/Old Hawkhill - closed on Sunday 5 May from 1.30pm to 11:00pm for Dundee Dance Event. REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 6 MAY 2024 Blinshall Street (Douglas Street to 50 metres south) - closed until 27 May 2024 for road safety concerns. Douglas Street (Blinshall Street to Brown Street) - temporary traffic lights until ...
I do flatter myself that I am a relatively cultured soul. That is despite the minor detail that I read little fiction, go to the cinema only on rare occasions, don't tend to visit galleries or museums when I travel and, even when I lived in London, was hardly a devotee of the city's vibrant cultural scene. I do, admittedly, enjoy classical music, and travel to interesting and (often) faraway places. But I'm not a participant and, for the most part, haven't been much of an observer either. That is, until now. With our new urban existence has come opportunities ...
