Oscar Wilde was born in 1854, yet here is his grandson Merlin Holland speaking at the National Liberal Club last Friday. He was the speaker at the 33rd Oscar Wilde Birthday Dinner, talking about his new book After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal. He has made it his business to clear away the myths that have accumulated around his grandfather, and he discusses some of his discoveries here. Merlin Holland was born in 1945 when his father Vyvyan Holland, Oscar Wilde's second son, was 58. Vyvyan Holland gets a mention in another post on this blog. For Market Harborough's ...
Embed from Getty ImagesSo runs the headline on a piece by Keven Schofield that went up on Huffington Post this morning in the wake of Labour's humiliation in the Caerphilly Senedd by-election. He quotes an "insider" (apparently they have them in the Labour Party too) as saying: "I think people are now in a place where they believe this can't continue and we can't go into massive midterm elections with him in charge. "The chances of him being gone my Christmas is massively under-priced. People will let the Budget happen at the end of November, and then there could be ...
[IMG: 4 parallel white vertical lines on orange background ALDC logo] This week saw seven local by-elections across the country, with there being a Liberal Democrat candidate in all but one. In Birmingham, we were able to successfully gain a seat off Labour, with a convincing victory amidst a substantial challenge from a local independent. Congratulations to Councillor Philip Mills and the local team! Birmingham MBC, Moseley Liberal Democrats (Philip Mills): 1,634 (34.7%, -11.9) Labour: 1,149 (24.4%, -14.1) Independent (Williams): 923 (19.6%, new) Green Party: 474 (10.1%, +1.5) Reform UK: 345 (7.3%, new) Conservative: 101 (2.4%, -4.1) BC Inds (Mazhar): ...
Embed from Getty ImagesThe judge remarked that he's a former Tory council leader, not an ex-Tory council leader, but they still gave BBC News our Headline of the Day Award.
To London, for dinner with Ros and a visit to my parents. And that means a trip on newly-nationalised Greater Anglia, with its fairly new, quite nice, Stadler rolling stock, with a hot cup of tea to drink and some Viennese whirls to keep me going until dinner. Well, I say that, but Greater Anglia offer, as entertainment, what I tend to describe as "the first class lottery", in that you can never be sure if your train will have the scheduled first class carriages, regardless of what they've sold you even an hour before. But I digress. One of ...
I got the result of the Caerphilly by-election this morning (I decided against staying up all night to await the outcome). The key points I have taken from the result are listed below but the big winner of the night was tactical voting. Turnout was the big surprise of the night and Labour and Reform were jointly the biggest losers.Tactical votingThis is what killed off the supremacy of Labour in
[IMG: Catherine Bearder ] Editor's Note: In November party members will be voting to elect our next Party President. At Lib Dem Voice we welcome posts from each of the candidates - one to launch their candidature plus a maximum of one per week during the actual campaign. I've been around this great party for a few years now, and I've done a lot of jobs. Constituency organiser, agent, fundraiser, organiser of regional conferences and part of the team for the federal conferences as well as being a candidate – for far too many times to recall. Alongside other activists ...
The Mirror reports that Nigel Farage was nowhere to be seen at the Senedd Caerphilly by-election count last night, as Reform massively under-performed compared to their own spin and expectations. In fact, the seat was taken by Plaid Cymru with a majority of 3,848 votes and a 47.4% vote share, in an election where, for the first time in a Senedd contest, turnout actually went up and passed 50%. This was despite, Farage spending the day in the constituency and Reform pouring unprecedented resources into their campaign. So, what went wrong for the so-called insurgents? Firstly, Plaid Cymru had a ...
Seven principal authority council by-elections this week, in addition to a Senedd by-election. As with last week, there was plenty of good news for the Liberal Democrats. It's notable too that only the very last result in had a Reform gain, and how the Green Party's by-election results very much continue not to surge. Let us start in the Midlands: Moseley (Birmingham) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 34.7% (-11.9) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 24.4% (-14.1) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 19.6% (New) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 10.1% (+1.5) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 7.3% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 2.4% (-4.1) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 1.7% (New)Liberal ...
Emblem of the United NationsThe flag of the United Nations consists of the white emblem on the sky blue background. The emblem depicts a azimuthal equidistant projection of the world map, centred on the North Pole, with the globe being orientated to the International Date Line. The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles. The map is inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree.[1][2] The size of the emblem on the flag is one half the width of the flag itself. The flag proportions of the ...
Residents have highlighted to us that the vehicle activated 30mph sign on Perth Road near Clovis Duveau Drive is not functioning properly. We asked the council's traffic and road safety team if it was aware of tis and if it could be repaired or replaced and have received the following helpful response : "Yes, the Traffic & Road Safety Team is aware of the speed-activated sign at this location. Unfortunately, the unit is beyond repair and will not be replaced. However, the Council does intend to install MVAS (Mobile Vehicle Activated Signs) at this site in the future, subject to ...
The Independent reports on an assessment by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that reversing the two-child benefit cap would be among the most cost-effective ways to reduce child poverty. A full reversal of the cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, and which restricts universal or child tax credit to the first two children in most households, is estimated by the IFS to cost around £3.6 billion and lift some 630,000 children out of poverty: The IFS also outlined options for a partial reversal, allowing the government to avoid the full cost by prioritising specific groups. Rachel Reeves has faced ...
Were I a voter in Caerphilly, I would be faced with the unenviable task of voting for the Welsh Nationalists to beat Reform. Don't get me wrong - I am no fan of nationalism but Plaid Cymru are the only party able to beat Reform in this by-election. It's a remarkable state of affairs when Labour lose their stronghold to slump into 3rd position. (I am writing this before the result is known but all
