You can't beat the local by-election previews that Andrew Teale posts every week. Yesterday there was an election in the Lib Dem held Quinton ward of Stratford-upon-Avon District Council. (Don't worry: we held it.) I wondered if Andrew would know about a notorious murder that took place there. I needn't have worried. Andrew wrote in this week's preview: The Quinton ward extends north-east from here to take in the village of Lower Quinton. This was the scene for the 1945 murder of Charles Walton, with local rumour having it that he had been ritually killed and that witchcraft was involved. ...
Today we are analysing 7 by-elections, held yesterday. Again, the results were a bit mixed but the trend continues to show no Green surge, Labour and Conservatives doing appallingly badly, Reform's bandwagon is still rolling (though the wheels can sometimes come off) and the Lib Dems doing well but the absence of a handful of votes meant no net gains this week.Let's start with Dumfries and
This week, there were seven local by-elections, of which there was a Liberal Democrat candidate in all but one contest. The six-month rule has now come into effect for seats that are up in 2026, so no more for this cycle will be called. We start in Stratford-on-Avon, where there were two by-elections. One was a Liberal Democrat defence, whilst the other saw the Conservatives defending their seat. In the former, we successfully defended this seat. However, in the latter seat Reform were able to successfully gain off the Conservatives, only 3 votes ahead of us. Congratulations are due to ...
We had full a council meeting yesterday in Gateshead. It started off in a rather unexpected manner. Labour leader Martin Gannon addressed us in an unusually friendly manner. He was considerate in response to views and ideas put forward by Lib Dem Leader Ron Beadle. And even more surprising was Cllr John Adams who heaped praise on my skills in checking grammar, punctuation and spelling. I felt as
In our internal federal elections for 2026, Josh Babarinde and Victoria Collins were elected as our President and Vice President respectively. I wish Mr Babarinde and Ms Collins the best of luck ahead of their tenures as their successes are our party's successes. In light of their victories, there is an issue facing our party which we need to address. Kamran Hussain, Ms Collins' challenger for VP, stood as a candidate who would give the North of England a greater voice within the federal party. That is why I and members of my local and regional parties, among others in ...
Fri 21st
16:07
Sultana accused by Corbyn allies of encouraging 'ultra leftists' to disrupt Your Party conference
The judges' verdict is in: Sky News wins our Headline of the Day Award.
In a recent 3-part series (part 1, part 2, part 3) I set out some remarks about the pursuit of 'beneficial economic growth', and why it needs to be systematic, rather than tokenistic or riddled with 'solutions looking for problems'. Below is a summary. 'The economy' is still the No1 policy concern of the general public, and it was the central 'cure all' of the current Labour government when it was elected. The government did not, however, set out its approach systematically, or tell us 'how', thus leaving everything to hard-pressed civil servants. The coming dire budget is but one ...
Seven principal authority council by-elections this week and let's start with another pair of results that show how large parts of the country are, at local election level at least, turning into a new two-party system, Lib Dem versus Reform. Quinton (Stratford-on-Avon) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 47.3% (+3.5) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 33.1% (New) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 14.8% (-26.2) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 3.8% (-4.7) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 1.0% (-5.7)Liberal Democrat HOLD.Changes w/ 2023. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2025-11-21T12:00:24.529Z This is a ward which the previous two times had no Lib Dem, so extra thanks to Tracey Warman for ...
I write this not only as a Liberal Democrat, but as a frontline care provider responsible for multiple members of staff across Stockton and Hartlepool. Among them are seven remarkable care assistants from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Pakistan. They came here legally, at Britain's request, to fill the gaping holes in our NHS and social care system. Today, they keep the elderly and vulnerable safe, fed, clean, and dignified. They are the reason thousands of families sleep at night knowing their loved ones are cared for. And now, the Government is telling them they must wait 15 years, or even 20, ...
A party press release brings the news: The Liberal Democrats are preparing to push a vote in Parliament on forging a new customs union with the EU, in a bid to put pressure on the Labour government to drop its red lines on Europe to boost growth instead of hiking taxes at the Budget. The Ten Minute Rule Bill, tabled by Liberal Democrat Europe Spokesperson Al Pinkerton, will propose that the UK launch negotiations over a new customs union with the EU. The bill is set to be voted on on the 9th December, just two weeks after the Budget. ...
The principal mitochondrial K+ uniport is associated with respiratory complex I is an interesting preprint that has been withdrawn "due to disagreement with UCSF over data rights. This withdrawal decision is not related to the validity of the data presented in this study, and these authors understand that this work cannot be cited as reference for the project until the disagreement is resolved."
A resident recently wrote to us as follows : "I would much appreciate it if you could contact the roads department, if appropriate, re the traffic lights at the junction of City Road and Tullideph Road. For some time I have been concerned about the short length of time that the green man stays on for. It is impossible even for a fit healthy person to cross the road before the green man disappears and back to red. As you will be aware, lots of elderly and disabled people and those with limited mobility live in this area. I have ...
In a democracy like the UK the right to trial by jury is a fundamental right, but under this Labour government all that is going to change. The Guardian reports that the courts minister has promised to enact radical changes to limit jury trials by the next election, because, she says that criminals are"gaming the system" by choosing trial by jury in order to increase the chances of proceedings collapsing. According to the paper, Sarah Sackman claims that drug dealers and career criminals are "laughing in the dock" knowing cases can take years to come to trial. She believes that ...
