Embed from Getty ImagesDavid Campanale, the former prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam who was deselected in 2023, and the national party are oceans apart when it comes to the compensation he deserves for suffering religious discrimination. The Guardian reports: Campanale's schedule of loss, seen by the Guardian, puts his claim at £788,740.75, including interest. It seeks compensation for injury to feelings, aggravated damages, past and future earnings, the loss of an MP's pension, counselling costs and the "loss of a chance", or "loss of political capital". But in a counter-schedule filed on Friday, the Lib Dems ...
I've been to Clun today, making use of one of the last workings of the 745 bus from Minsterley to Ludlow. It's going to be replaced by a community transport scheme that sounds as though it may even be better for residents, but it will no longer be possible to get to Clun, as I did today, by catching the early bus from Shrewsbury to Minsterley. Anyway, here's a souvenir of Clun and of this extraordinary summer. It's taken from the castle mound looking down on the town's bowling green, though 'green' isn't quite the word at present. It seems ...
Welcome to my summary of the latest national voting intention polls for the next general election, along with the latest MRP projections and party leadership ratings. If you'd like to find out more about how polls work, how reliable they are and how to make sense of them, check out my book, Polling UnPacked: the History, Uses and Abuses of Political Opinion Polls, or sign up for my weekly email, The Week in Polls: General election voting intention polls PollsterConLabLDGrnRefLab leadFieldwork Find Out Now 18% (-2) 23% (+1) 11% (nc) 14% (nc) 23% (-1) 0% (vs Ref) 19/8 GB Survation ...
There were four principal authority by-elections across England on Thursday 20 August. Labour were defending two seats, Reform UK were defending one and there was one vacancy in Huntingdonshire where Reform had won one of the ward's three seats at the May elections. The Liberal Democrats were defending no seats this week, but produced the standout result of the night by gaining St Neots Eynesbury from Reform UK with a commanding swing of almost 30 percentage points. Elsewhere, Labour regained a Reform seat in Barnsley, Reform gained from Labour in Carlisle's Harraby South, and Nottingham's crowded six-way contest demonstrated how ...
The Social Liberal Forum (SLF) has unveiled a pair of high-profile keynote speakers for its signature Pre-Conference Social ahead of the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference in Brighton. Taking place on Friday, 18th September 2026, at the iconic Brighton i360, the evening will feature guest appearances from Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero Pippa Heylings MP, alongside former Cambridge MP David Howarth, who will be launching his new book, Being Liberal: The Liberal Disposition in Contemporary British Politics. A High-Altitude Start to Conference Weekend Set 450 feet above the Sussex coastline aboard Europe's highest moving observation tower, the ...
One of my occasional flights of fantasy is thinking anachronistically about what football teams historic political or cultural figures might have supported. In that regard, I sometimes refer to George Eliot as a Coventry City supporter even though she died three years before the club was founded. Prompted by Coventry City's return to top-flight football after a 25-year absence and seeing the great author's grave at Highgate Cemetery earlier in the summer, I have been pondering that a little more in the last few weeks. I think there are good reasons to see affinity between the two. They are certainly ...
On the 20th July this year, a Russian Navy frigate conducted live-fire exercises approximately 40 nautical miles south of Plymouth, in the English Channel. The vessel was shadowed by a Royal Navy ship and a French military aircraft. A week earlier, a separate Russian frigate had fired warning shots at a British yacht south of the Isle of Wight. These are not distant signals picked up by intelligence. They are warships firing guns off the English coast. And the Royal Navy response required a French aircraft because we did not have enough of our own to spare. Welcome to the ...
A quartet principal authority council by-elections this week, and another full slate of Lib Dem candidates, which is one up on the last time these seats were up. Not only a full slate, but also another Lib Dem gain from Reform: St Neots Eynesbury (Huntingdonshire) Council By-Election Result: [IMG: 🔶] LDM: 47.9% (+29.8) [IMG: ➡] RFM: 30.3% (+3.1) [IMG: 🌳] CON: 6.7% (-3.8) [IMG: 🌍] GRN: 5.5% (-12.5) [IMG: 🌹] LAB: 4.9% (New) [IMG: 🙋] Ind: 4.8% (New)No Ind (-26.2) as previous.Liberal Democrat GAIN from Reform UK.Changes w/ 2026. — Election Maps UK (@electionmaps.uk) 2026-08-20T22:26:12.765Z The thanks here go to ...
The Guardian reports on the comments by the UK equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson that racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, as she warned that young men are being sucked into violent misogyny by the "cesspit" of social media. Phillipson told the Guardians Politics Weekly Podcast that she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago. They add that she accused senior MPs from Reform and the Conservatives of having made racist statements in recent years, and ...
Here's the tally of seats changing hands in principal authority council by-elections held between the May 2026 and the May 2027 local elections: Con Lab Lib Dem Green Reform SNP Plaid Ind/ Other Net Con [9] +1 (+1/0) +1 (+3/-2) -2 (0/-2) -4 (+3/-7) -1 (0/-1) – +2 (+3/-1) -3 Lab -1 (0/-1) [9] -1 (0/-1) -1 (+2/-3) -3 (+3/-6) – – 0 (+1/-1) -6 Lib Dem -1 (+2/-3) +1 (+1/0) [15] +1 (+1/0) +2 (+2/0) -1 (0/-1) – +1 (+1/0) +3 Grn +2 (+2/0) +1 (+3/-2) -1 (0/-1) [6] – – – – +2 Ref +4 (+7/-3) +3 (+6/-3) ...
Shakespeare knew all about the River Trent's fondness for changing its course. Here's Hotspur in Henry IV, Part 1: Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here, In quantity equals not one of yours: See how this river comes me cranking in, And cuts me from the best of all my land A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out. I'll have the current in this place damm'd up; And here the smug and silver Trent shall run In a new channel, fair and evenly; It shall not wind with such a deep indent, To rob me of so rich a bottom ...
The latest edition of the email newsletter for my podcast, Political Fictions, is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: First Among Equals: the TV version of Jeffrey Archer's novel After last time's novel, this time we're back to TV – with the first episode of the televised version of a novel: Cory and Mark are joined by Shane Whaley of the Spybrary podcast this week. Shane has picked for us to watch First Among Equals, ...
I fancied a train ride today, so I went down to Newport in South Wales. I even managed to cover some track that was new to me - Hereford to Newport. One reason for going there was St Woolos' Cathedral. Ever since I learnt that it isn't the Victorian rebuild I had imagined and has a history dating back to the sixth century, I have wanted to see it. The photo above shows its twelfth-century Romanesque portal and the arches from the same period in the nave. The building is no larger than many parish churches, but it still impresses. ...
What is Defence for? Recent governments seems reluctant to define national security goals. There are needs around the Home Islands, the Falklands, Cyprus, Ascension, Diego Garcia, Gibraltar, the Caribbean, and various nations that the government has given "iron clad" security guarantees. There are also commitments to NATO and the Northern Group, in Europe. For a politician there is a large and vocal demand for defence, but we are told there is no more money. And industry will want certainty - for investment - to start large capital investment and skills pipelines. People around government talk of there being no headroom. ...
Thu 20th
10:52
Getting people off the streets is the easy bit, keeping them in their accommodation is much harder
Earlier this week the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, promised more than £420 million to deal with the problem of street homelessness nationally by Christmas. I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister thinks this is a is a problem and the fact that he is putting new money into the Liverpool City region with £12 million for local use. My first 'job' within the council 51 years ago was to chair a newly formed homelessness committee and I think his plans are doomed to failure unless he thinks through the issues differently. As the Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson in Liverpool, ...
Thu 20th
07:26
Reform councillor who said she 'received no training' sent resignation letter to wrong council
The Independent wins our Headline of the Day Award. After they had announced their verdict, I told the judges I didn't receive any training when I was a councillor all those years ago. They asked if I lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road.
The Independent reports that green campaigners have accused the Conservatives' of "living in fantasy land" after the party laid out plans to ditch net zero and prioritise cheap energy over decarbonising Britain's power grid. They were commenting on plans by the shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho to ditch net zero, insisting that the UK "should focus all our attention on making electricity cheap, and then let consumer choice be king": A report commissioned by the Conservatives, written by Tory-leaning think tank Onward and advisory firm Transira Energy, suggested focusing on cheap power could save families £540 a year from their ...