A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
First, thank you for flying the flag in what must have been a difficult contest.
When I was in the Party, I came across individuals whose views didn't seem that "liberal" to me but they'd willingly deliver leaflets and knock on doors for you - funny old world?
Considering where we were after 2019, Davey's achievement ranks alongside Starmer's and indeed plenty on here were rejoicing at the prospect of a decade or more of uninterrupted Conservative rule under Boris - funny old world?
I'd put Sir Ed up with Paddy in terms of what he has achieved and he's going to be an incredibly hard act to follow. I don't know who the obvious successor is - some will say Daisy, others Layla perhaps Helen - but that's less of a problem. The party needs a USP - something to set it apart from Labour, Conservative and Reform - not electoral reform or Europe but a clear policy on which it a) sits alone and b) on the right side of opinion. Paddy had it with the 1p on tax for Education - Charles had it with Iraq but with a more crowded field it's harder.
I'd like to hope there's some serious policy work going on - I'd be looking at social care which is an area which has always played well for the party.
Handouts for the WASPI women ?
Yes. Tissues when they hear they aren't getting anything.
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
First, thank you for flying the flag in what must have been a difficult contest.
When I was in the Party, I came across individuals whose views didn't seem that "liberal" to me but they'd willingly deliver leaflets and knock on doors for you - funny old world?
Considering where we were after 2019, Davey's achievement ranks alongside Starmer's and indeed plenty on here were rejoicing at the prospect of a decade or more of uninterrupted Conservative rule under Boris - funny old world?
I'd put Sir Ed up with Paddy in terms of what he has achieved and he's going to be an incredibly hard act to follow. I don't know who the obvious successor is - some will say Daisy, others Layla perhaps Helen - but that's less of a problem. The party needs a USP - something to set it apart from Labour, Conservative and Reform - not electoral reform or Europe but a clear policy on which it a) sits alone and b) on the right side of opinion. Paddy had it with the 1p on tax for Education - Charles had it with Iraq but with a more crowded field it's harder.
I'd like to hope there's some serious policy work going on - I'd be looking at social care which is an area which has always played well for the party.
Handouts for the WASPI women ?
I'm sure that the recipients will spend it wisely on their knick-knacks.
(Toy-boy boom as the Waspi's go wild!)
WASPI women becoming sex tourists !!!!
Do we know who invented the acronym WASPI?
And do you think their motives were well intentioned?
https://waspi.co.uk - the major campaign group , on the subject, named themselves that.
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
First, thank you for flying the flag in what must have been a difficult contest.
When I was in the Party, I came across individuals whose views didn't seem that "liberal" to me but they'd willingly deliver leaflets and knock on doors for you - funny old world?
Considering where we were after 2019, Davey's achievement ranks alongside Starmer's and indeed plenty on here were rejoicing at the prospect of a decade or more of uninterrupted Conservative rule under Boris - funny old world?
I'd put Sir Ed up with Paddy in terms of what he has achieved and he's going to be an incredibly hard act to follow. I don't know who the obvious successor is - some will say Daisy, others Layla perhaps Helen - but that's less of a problem. The party needs a USP - something to set it apart from Labour, Conservative and Reform - not electoral reform or Europe but a clear policy on which it a) sits alone and b) on the right side of opinion. Paddy had it with the 1p on tax for Education - Charles had it with Iraq but with a more crowded field it's harder.
I'd like to hope there's some serious policy work going on - I'd be looking at social care which is an area which has always played well for the party.
Handouts for the WASPI women ?
I'm sure that the recipients will spend it wisely on their knick-knacks.
(Toy-boy boom as the Waspi's go wild!)
WASPI women becoming sex tourists !!!!
Do we know who invented the acronym WASPI?
And do you think their motives were well intentioned?
https://waspi.co.uk - the major campaign group , on the subject, named themselves that.
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
First, thank you for flying the flag in what must have been a difficult contest.
When I was in the Party, I came across individuals whose views didn't seem that "liberal" to me but they'd willingly deliver leaflets and knock on doors for you - funny old world?
Considering where we were after 2019, Davey's achievement ranks alongside Starmer's and indeed plenty on here were rejoicing at the prospect of a decade or more of uninterrupted Conservative rule under Boris - funny old world?
I'd put Sir Ed up with Paddy in terms of what he has achieved and he's going to be an incredibly hard act to follow. I don't know who the obvious successor is - some will say Daisy, others Layla perhaps Helen - but that's less of a problem. The party needs a USP - something to set it apart from Labour, Conservative and Reform - not electoral reform or Europe but a clear policy on which it a) sits alone and b) on the right side of opinion. Paddy had it with the 1p on tax for Education - Charles had it with Iraq but with a more crowded field it's harder.
I'd like to hope there's some serious policy work going on - I'd be looking at social care which is an area which has always played well for the party.
Handouts for the WASPI women ?
I'm sure that the recipients will spend it wisely on their knick-knacks.
(Toy-boy boom as the Waspi's go wild!)
WASPI women becoming sex tourists !!!!
Do we know who invented the acronym WASPI?
And do you think their motives were well intentioned?
https://waspi.co.uk - the major campaign group , on the subject, named themselves that.
A dreadful decision!
Imagine if Coke had gone with BURP
Should be WASPE
Women against state pension Equality.
Women Opposing National Government Entitelment Reform
Three murder acquittals from a non-jury trial, two years since the trial started and seven years since Lyra was killed.
Are you against The Peace Process?
More a comment on David Lammy's moves to speed up the criminal justice system (and obtain more convictions?) by abolishing juries.
The way the game is played, in NI -
1) Something horrific happens 2) Arrest the assistants to the horrific thing, not the principals. 3) Slow investigation 4) The trial starts 5) During the trial it turns out the evidence is curiously weak. The police didn't officiously over-investigate the case. 6) Acquittal, years after the event 7) More Peace Process
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
I’ve made the same comment to MelonB regarding the North East.
The Lib Dem’s have been strong in parts of Durham for a while now, also in Gateshead. But also now Newcastle and other councils they have a presence.
But they make little effort.
The council in Durham was, until recently, run by a coalition led by a Lib Dem and they did well holding on against the Reform surge. I got the impression Amanda Hopgood was pretty competent as leader.
But nationally your Party doesn’t seem to care or bother.
A few elections back my ward returned two Lib Dem’s. Perfectly decent people. But anonymous. They’re nowhere in the ward now. Yet in North Lodge the well respected Craig Martin looks,very safe.
They have councillors and an activist base here. But do nothing.
It’s bizarre.
If you knew anything about politics, you'd know a lot depends on where the activists and members are and where they aren't.
In areas without a strong LD tradition, every vote has to be fought for, won and then often fought for again and that needs a constant commitment to local action that requires activist time and effort.
If that commitment disappears or weakens, it's much harder and indeed the Conservatives are discovering this as the old days when they were the natural repository for the anti-Labour or anti-LD vote are gone - people can now vote Reform or Green. The Conservatives are now like the Liberal Democrats - pockets of strength surrounded by oceans of weakness.
When I was involved as an activist, the biggest problem came when we won - suddenly, most of the other activists were councillors and didn't have the time to do what they used to do. We had to get new activists and get them doing the groundwork supporting the new councillors.
That's how it works in all parties but just pick on the Lib Dems as you always do.
Awww, is that nasty man picking on the Lib Dem’s.
You utter melt 😀😀😀😀
Please ignore my posts from now on. I had an interesting discussion with MelonB on it, you just want to snipe.
Three murder acquittals from a non-jury trial, two years since the trial started and seven years since Lyra was killed.
Interesting and on the face of it counter intuitive
Not really.
The Diplock courts were always notable for their rigid adherence to rules of evidence. Insufficient evidence was presented to make a conviction possible, in this case.
Controlling the obtaining of evidence is how "justice" is modulated in Northern Ireland - if the trail gets too close to an important player (or someone an important player wants protected), the police are advised not to over do it.
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
I’ve made the same comment to MelonB regarding the North East.
The Lib Dem’s have been strong in parts of Durham for a while now, also in Gateshead. But also now Newcastle and other councils they have a presence.
But they make little effort.
The council in Durham was, until recently, run by a coalition led by a Lib Dem and they did well holding on against the Reform surge. I got the impression Amanda Hopgood was pretty competent as leader.
But nationally your Party doesn’t seem to care or bother.
A few elections back my ward returned two Lib Dem’s. Perfectly decent people. But anonymous. They’re nowhere in the ward now. Yet in North Lodge the well respected Craig Martin looks,very safe.
They have councillors and an activist base here. But do nothing.
It’s bizarre.
If you knew anything about politics, you'd know a lot depends on where the activists and members are and where they aren't.
In areas without a strong LD tradition, every vote has to be fought for, won and then often fought for again and that needs a constant commitment to local action that requires activist time and effort.
If that commitment disappears or weakens, it's much harder and indeed the Conservatives are discovering this as the old days when they were the natural repository for the anti-Labour or anti-LD vote are gone - people can now vote Reform or Green. The Conservatives are now like the Liberal Democrats - pockets of strength surrounded by oceans of weakness.
When I was involved as an activist, the biggest problem came when we won - suddenly, most of the other activists were councillors and didn't have the time to do what they used to do. We had to get new activists and get them doing the groundwork supporting the new councillors.
That's how it works in all parties but just pick on the Lib Dems as you always do.
Awww, is that nasty man picking on the Lib Dem’s.
You utter melt 😀😀😀😀
Please ignore my posts from now on. I had an interesting discussion with MelonB on it, you just want to snipe.
No, I won't. I'll engage with you as much or as little as I choose.
As for sniping, as is often the case, those who dish it out don't like it when they are on the receiving end.
A fair ironic point. Flying by the seat of their pants stuff from Labour, but would it have been a nailed on Reform gain four weeks ago?
Would it? That's a 30pp swing against Labour, which doesn't sound healthy. If results matter, Reform won this one (despite/because? the Tory vote holding up):
Tory vote up; Reform winning from Labour/LibDem votes....
Harborough is a curiousity - the LDs lost two by elections in the same ward while Lutterworth East had a curious result in 2023. One LD candidate (the sitting councillor) was re-elected with an increased vote share while the other LD candidate saw her vote fall to about 18%.
This may be one of those examples of a strong personal vote over a party vote, not sure.
As the Liberal Democrat candidate in yesterday's by election in Lutterworth I can help here. The Liberal Democrat in 2023 was a hard worker on local issues. He left the party and fought as Reform in the County Elections but has fallen out with them, asked to rejoin the Liberal Democrats but is reputed to have joined Restore (and coincidently the Seventh Day Adventists). To say he has issues is a bit of an understatement. I get on with him generally quite well - he actually seconded my nomination for the recent election.
The campaign was hard fought -Turnover was 36% up 4 % on 2023 (when there were national local elections). In the count even after a recount there were 6 votes missing -they of course would all have been for me and I would then have beaten Labour. But it was getting late.
18.9% in the East Midlands is not bad but Liberal Democrats urgently need to up their national profile. I do think that Sir Ed has run an excellent leg of the relay race that is politics but should now consider handing on the baton.
I’ve made the same comment to MelonB regarding the North East.
The Lib Dem’s have been strong in parts of Durham for a while now, also in Gateshead. But also now Newcastle and other councils they have a presence.
But they make little effort.
The council in Durham was, until recently, run by a coalition led by a Lib Dem and they did well holding on against the Reform surge. I got the impression Amanda Hopgood was pretty competent as leader.
But nationally your Party doesn’t seem to care or bother.
A few elections back my ward returned two Lib Dem’s. Perfectly decent people. But anonymous. They’re nowhere in the ward now. Yet in North Lodge the well respected Craig Martin looks,very safe.
They have councillors and an activist base here. But do nothing.
It’s bizarre.
If you knew anything about politics, you'd know a lot depends on where the activists and members are and where they aren't.
In areas without a strong LD tradition, every vote has to be fought for, won and then often fought for again and that needs a constant commitment to local action that requires activist time and effort.
If that commitment disappears or weakens, it's much harder and indeed the Conservatives are discovering this as the old days when they were the natural repository for the anti-Labour or anti-LD vote are gone - people can now vote Reform or Green. The Conservatives are now like the Liberal Democrats - pockets of strength surrounded by oceans of weakness.
When I was involved as an activist, the biggest problem came when we won - suddenly, most of the other activists were councillors and didn't have the time to do what they used to do. We had to get new activists and get them doing the groundwork supporting the new councillors.
That's how it works in all parties but just pick on the Lib Dems as you always do.
Awww, is that nasty man picking on the Lib Dem’s.
You utter melt 😀😀😀😀
Please ignore my posts from now on. I had an interesting discussion with MelonB on it, you just want to snipe.
Serious case of lastworditis there, Taz.
What in my post about Lib Dem’s in the North East that triggered Stodge so much was sniping ?
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. Changes w/ 2022.
Last up in 2022 when Boris was still Tory leader and Reform were nowhere
So losing 85% of your support is OK then?
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
Well as I said at the time they should never have got rid of Boris, when Boris resigned as leader and PM the Tories were still polling 30%+.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM the Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. Changes w/ 2022.
Last up in 2022 when Boris was still Tory leader and Reform were nowhere
So losing 85% of your support is OK then?
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
Well as I said at the time they should never have got rid of Boris, when Boris resigned as leader and PM the Tories were still polling 30%+.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM he Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
But Boris would have been booted anyway as he’d face a recall petition, lose and his scalp would be a massive prize.
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. Changes w/ 2022.
Last up in 2022 when Boris was still Tory leader and Reform were nowhere
So losing 85% of your support is OK then?
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
Well as I said at the time they should never have got rid of Boris, when Boris resigned as leader and PM the Tories were still polling 30%+.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM he Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
But Boris would have been booted anyway as he’d face a recall petition, lose and his scalp would be a massive prize.
The Tories held Uxbridge in the by election even under Rishi
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. Changes w/ 2022.
Last up in 2022 when Boris was still Tory leader and Reform were nowhere
So losing 85% of your support is OK then?
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
Well as I said at the time they should never have got rid of Boris, when Boris resigned as leader and PM the Tories were still polling 30%+.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM he Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
But Boris would have been booted anyway as he’d face a recall petition, lose and his scalp would be a massive prize.
The Tories held Uxbridge in the by election even under Rishi
But would they if Boris was the candidate and a unified candidate could scalp him.
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative. Changes w/ 2022.
Last up in 2022 when Boris was still Tory leader and Reform were nowhere
So losing 85% of your support is OK then?
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
Well as I said at the time they should never have got rid of Boris, when Boris resigned as leader and PM the Tories were still polling 30%+.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM he Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
But Boris would have been booted anyway as he’d face a recall petition, lose and his scalp would be a massive prize.
The Tories held Uxbridge in the by election even under Rishi
But would they if Boris was the candidate and a unified candidate could scalp him.
I don’t think so.
Yes, the Tories under Boris in summer 2022 were polling about 5-10% higher than they were under Rishi in 2023 and even in the 2023 by election the Tories got 45%
OT. If anyone hasn't seen or listened to it I can strongly recommend McSweeney's interview with Nick Robinson. I read the book by Pogrund and Maguire 'Get In' and preferred the interview. It explains a lot. He was loyal to Starmer but didn't make me like him more than I did.
Of interest and slightly left field he lives in Scotland and has done for 6 years.
I don't understand why he would be discussing the content of a UK PM - US President phone call this soon after the event, and while SKS is still in office.
That sounds like a breach of confidentiality to me, to be highly unprofessional, and I would never again trust someone who did that to me.
It reminds me of the SKS cabinet which leaked like a sieve.
I hope AB can insert a greater culture of self-respect into his Ministers.
Gift link as balance of payments is a recurring PB topic.
A good article, made better by it reinforcing my intellectual priors thus:
Balance of payments. We need to stop selling British assets and business to foreigners. There's no point in making foreigners rich and ourselves poorer
Deregulation. We have no growth and any money generated goes to pay off debts. In such an environment the only way we can generate growth is to deregulate.
Speaking of the 80s coming back into fashion, my daughter has started looking like something out of The Breakfast Club.
Breakfast Club. The film that took a beautiful Goth teenager and made her dress like a frilly child. Bad movie. BAD MOVIE.
Still she saved the world from that big bad computer that played noughts and crosses, so there's...that.
John Hughes was a genius and the Breakfast Club was the highest of water marks.
Three murder acquittals from a non-jury trial, two years since the trial started and seven years since Lyra was killed.
Interesting and on the face of it counter intuitive
Not really.
The Diplock courts were always notable for their rigid adherence to rules of evidence. Insufficient evidence was presented to make a conviction possible, in this case.
Controlling the obtaining of evidence is how "justice" is modulated in Northern Ireland - if the trail gets too close to an important player (or someone an important player wants protected), the police are advised not to over do it.
Comments
Imagine if Coke had gone with BURP
Yscir with Honddu Isaf & Llandew (Powys) Council By-Election Result:
🔶 LDM: 39.7% (-1.1)
➡️ RFM: 34.6% (New)
🌼 PLC: 12.8% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.1% (-50.2)
🌍 GRN: 2.0% (New)
🌹 LAB: 1.9% (New)
Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
Changes w/ 2022.
Women against state pension Equality.
The Lib Dims lost vote share and still won !!
Opposing
National
Government
Entitelment
Reform
1) Something horrific happens
2) Arrest the assistants to the horrific thing, not the principals.
3) Slow investigation
4) The trial starts
5) During the trial it turns out the evidence is curiously weak. The police didn't officiously over-investigate the case.
6) Acquittal, years after the event
7) More Peace Process
After something has happened a dozen times....
Eat your heart out Donald...........
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/03/ali-khamenei-six-day-funeral-millions-iran
The question is, how can the Conservatives recover?
The Diplock courts were always notable for their rigid adherence to rules of evidence. Insufficient evidence was presented to make a conviction possible, in this case.
Controlling the obtaining of evidence is how "justice" is modulated in Northern Ireland - if the trail gets too close to an important player (or someone an important player wants protected), the police are advised not to over do it.
NEW THREAD
As for sniping, as is often the case, those who dish it out don't like it when they are on the receiving end.
Nothing.
The polling evidence suggests when Burnham becomes Labour leader and PM the Tories could win over a few centrist ex Conservative voters who voted for Starmer in 2024 but find Burnham too leftwing.
Otherwise, the Tories need Reform to lose the next GE and the Tories to still win more seats than Reform to start to reunite the right under their leadership. If Reform win more seats than the Tories and sustain that at the GE afterwards then Reform will likely take over the Tories and ultimately we will get a Reform led government at some stage
I don’t think so.
That sounds like a breach of confidentiality to me, to be highly unprofessional, and I would never again trust someone who did that to me.
It reminds me of the SKS cabinet which leaked like a sieve.
I hope AB can insert a greater culture of self-respect into his Ministers.
Don't you forget about...
The Diplock courts were always notable for their rigid adherence to rules of evidence. Insufficient evidence was presented to make a conviction possible, in this case.
Controlling the obtaining of evidence is how "justice" is modulated in Northern Ireland - if the trail gets too close to an important player (or someone an important player wants protected), the police are advised not to over do it.