It looks as though the next Westminster by-election will be in the West Lancs seat which was held by Rosie Cooper for the Labour party with a 16% majority at the last election. She is planning to stand aside because she has accepted a new role as chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Looking at the numbers it is hard to see anything in this for the Lib Dems or the Tories and my pretty firm prediction is that…
The demise of the Queen has totally dominated the news for the first fortnight of the premiership of Liz Truss that it is hard to come to any conclusions about the way things are going or how she is being perceived. What is clear is that the first state funeral since Churchill has effectively led to her being deprived of a normal honeymoon that new prime ministers generally enjoy. Whether she can make up for this now the funeral is…
Could someone who’d be 82 actually do it? The visit of Joe Biden to the UK for the funeral of the Queen has prompted me to do a piece that I’ve been meaning to write for some weeks – is the incumbent President who will be 80 in November going to put his hat into the ring for the 2024 presidential race? I have just watched an interview with him in which he was pressed hard on the subject and…
It is very hard not to be impressed by the sheer spectacle of today’s events with powerful images being beamed across the world. They certainly send a message out but I’m not so sure what that is and how it will be regarded. This is one of those days when PB’s focus on political betting should be put aside and I am not going to attempt to change that. All I can do is marvel at what we have seen….
The “Red Tops”” have gone black
One of the striking features of the national grief is how personally affiliated people felt towards the late Queen. A frequent comment from mourners in The Queue and similar vox pops was “it was like losing my granny”. Queen Elizabeth certainly had life well lived, and died peacefully aged 96 surrounded by her family, at home and having kept maintained good health until the last year of her life, and her mental sharpness to the very end. Barring immortality, that…
Political maps of England, whether parliamentary or council, often resemble multi-coloured archipelagos in a sea of blue. While urban areas are battlegrounds contested by all the larger parties, rural areas tilt strongly towards the Conservatives. This reservoir of seats on which the Cons have been able to rely for multiple electoral cycles gives them a solid base from which to reach for a majority, and leaves the opposing parties – Labour, LibDems and Greens – hoping for an occasional edge….