Every notice tells a story.

Hang on to the yellow snow jokes, as we are a little way outside the weather warning area for Friday.

Lib Dem Judith Rippeth has resigned from South Cambs District council, where she was one of three councillors representing Milton & Waterbeach. However there will not be a by-election as there are less than six months to go until the end of her term was due. x.com/CllrWatchUK/...

Has Cambridgeshire County Council been deleting reports of potholes without fixing them, asks this #FoI request: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/high... The council says it needs more time to respond than the standard 20 working days.

Cambridge has not in fact had an extra MP while nobody was looking. Tristram Hunt was born in Cambridge but was MP for Stoke on Trent Central. www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/uk-worl...

Opinion poll trends from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion... - Labour's slide continues; the Conservatives recover a little ground from Reform UK, but still lag well behind; the Greens overtake the Lib Dems in fourth.

Something to keep activists amused in between canvassing sessions store.steampowered.com/app/4119600/...

Boxing Day view from Castle Mound.

Unable to persuade my family of the delights of walking from north Cambridge to Grantchester to see the barrel racing, I am setting off with an audiobook of Antonia Fraser’s biography of Caroline Lamb for company.

A cold and starry night for our traditional Christmas Day evening walk around the centre of Cambridge.

Nostalgia time www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE8R...

It's starting... bsky.app/hashtag/Duve...

Here's a wider shot from my bus home earlier today

Someone's not having a good Christmas Eve. On Mill Road near Vinery Road (from www.reddit.com/r/cambridge/...)

Appropriately enough the Deputy Mayor gets to read the bit about local government taxation www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel/festi... (currently live on BBC Radio 4)

A sunny day on Level Six #carparkswithphil

I'll be on Cambridge Radio at about 8:10 looking back at Cambridge politics over the last year with Julian Clover

Update on Mill Road from "Cameron Holloway, Labour candidate for Petersfield" - confirming that Cllr Holloway will not be defending his Newnham seat, which is widely expected to be won by the Greens www.reddit.com/r/cambridge/...

Cambridge Labour's website seems to have been down for quite a while now. Mysteriously, it is presenting a security certificate belonging to the website of a mathematics lecturer at the University of Sheffield.

I do still find it a bit startling when they do this.

Baits Bite lock finally reopens www.facebook.com/100014772219...

Peter Freeman reflects on the Cambridge Growth Company's year, and looks ahead to 2026 thecgc.org.uk/index.php?ti...

Dates and likely impact of Cambridge bus strikes www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-o...

After saying earlier this month that May's local elections would go ahead, the government is now saying that it is writing to councils in areas being reorganised to ask if they want to postpone the elections after all. www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...

Don't get too excited but this is a precipitation chart for 6am on Christmas morning (blue = rain, white = snow) www.wxcharts.com?dataset=ecmw...

Lots in the paper this week including yours truly, but perhaps my favourite bit was the story about Ronnie Barker shopping in Mackay's hardware store on East Road 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️

In @cambridgeindy.bsky.social we talk to a firefighter about amazing work from crews tackling @cuh.nhs.uk car park fire. Plus mayor's plans to triple #Cambridgeshire economy. Pic specials at Carols @kingscollege.bsky.social filming, Granta Park Santa Run & Martin Bond's latest photo book

Surely the problem with this "return of Andy Burnham" scenario is that selection of candidates for by-elections is ultimately under the control of the central Labour party. If Keir Starmer retains control of that, he could block Andy Burnham's selection. www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/ar...

Hearing from camcreatives on Instagram the sad news that Richard Kindersley has died.

Daniel Fulton of the Fews Lane Consortium becomes treasurer of the Cambridge Greens

Membership figures for Your Party in Cambridgeshire constituencies.

Post from Queen Edith's councillor Karen Young on the Cambridge Growth Company karenyoung.uk/2025/12/10/c...

Baits Bite lock is set to reopen the week after next, according to an update from the Conservators www.camconservancy.org/general-5

A chance to see the acclaimed Korean comedy/thriller No Other Choice on Friday, ahead of its official UK release next year, at a very sociable Cambridge film club. Drinks, snacks and chat from 6:30pm, film from 7:15ish, all for the princely sum of £6. www.meetup.com/cambridgepop...

Increasing numbers of rough sleepers in Cambridge, based on a monthly count. Data from democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/documents/s7... (page 8)

Candidates for Cambridge local elections in 2026 - any contributions gratefully received docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Labour's candidate for East Chesterton - Sarah Haithcock

I know it's still only 2025, but I'm starting my spreadsheet of candidates for May's local elections early this year. Here it is - docs.google.com/spreadsheets... - including some early but not very surprising results predictions.

MRWF

If you're thinking of heading to the Mill Road Winter Fair, sooner is looking a bit less damp than later www.netweather.tv/live-weather...

I find myself a bit bemused by the social media output of St Neots & Mid Cambs Conservatives. It seems to assume a very high level of familiarity with issues such as local government reorganisation, which I suspect most of the general public does not have. www.instagram.com/p/DR4dqomkuxT/

Confirmation that council elections scheduled for May 2026 will go ahead as planned. In Cambridgeshire, all councillors are up for election in South Cambs and Huntingdonshire district councils; a third of councillors are up in Cambridge and Peterborough. hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025...

It seems that the GCP are pausing the implementation of the Milton Road area resident parking scheme "to allow more time for residents to understand the scheme", it says here www.greatercambridge.org.uk/sustainable-...

The weather is not looking great for the Mill Road Winter Fair on Saturday, but they do have a new app this year with details of what's happening where and when. www.millroadwinterfair.org/mrwf-app/

So I have a sabbatical month off work next year. I already have some plans, but I'm thinking about including visits to some interesting places I've never been to before, such as Istanbul or Tromsø. Any suggestions?

Fans of political conferences might enjoy the Your Party conference livestream, which is just about to debate the party's name www.youtube.com/watch?v=-755...

Some bewildering data presentation in the Housing Improvement Plan going to the City Council's Housing Advisory Board (democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocume... item 8). What is the red line? What is the blue line? Why no vertical axis? Why are there dates from 2000 and 2018? All very mysterious.

"Now that we've selected our talented Green candidates" says this fundraiser - though I haven't yet seen any details of who they are, would anyone like to drop some hints?

Despite the trend for young people to be more abstemious, Cambridge's student political societies still feature alcohol prominently in their events. Conservative students have Port & Policy meetings; for Labour it's Pints & Policy, and the Liberals have Spirited Discussions.

Minutes of last month's meeting of the Cambridge Growth Company's Advisory Council meeting - where our elected representatives can provide input - including an update on planning for Mass Rapid Transit in Cambridge. thecgc.org.uk/files/176416...