I really hate this cliché at this point because really the throughline of Labour thinking is incredibly different to New Labour at this point. The problem isn't Labour is stuck to 1990s thinking it's that Labour is barely thinking at all.

Starmer saying the next PM will inherit a country that is 'fairer' than the one he inherited 2 years ago. In the one Starmer inherited, trans people could use public toilets.

As someone who very strongly believes in thorough reform of local (& regional) govt in Scotland, from powers to structures to local taxation, those are questions for Holyrood. Not necessarily the (presumed) incoming PM, whose party were hammered in Scotland a month-and-a-half ago.

Any decentralisation in England is welcome, but the model is important- genuinely local government needs to be combined with genuinely regional, or you’re creating a lot of mini centralised polities. This especially a concern given the mayoral model which has severe democratic deficits atm

I’m honoured to be the new Green Spokesperson for Housing and Tertiary education. Two sectors in crisis. Two areas where hard workers are being penalised for the failure to adequately fund the sector. I’m looking forwards to working constructively with the government to deliver for the country.

Our spokesperson for Tertiary Education and Housing is Glasgow MSP Iris Duane.

Labour‘s politics of anti-trans and anti-queer segregationism. One of the most vicious attacks on LGBT rights in Europe in decades. It should be clear for queer people that Labour does not represent them. They should not be welcome in our spaces or at our events www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Apologies for putting this lad on blast but apparently I should have addressed this to think tanks and researchers too: what do you mean you have a thread and glossy report purporting to show "what exactly happened last week" in Scotland and you're using the constituency vote for your analysis?

Sorry I know it's a week on but this just hit me again: still absolutely reeling from a purported in-depth analysis of the Scottish Parliament election that they published something showing just 6% of the Socially Liberal/Pro-Indy Bloc in Scotland voted Green, because they ignored the list vote

If you think someone is trans, you can ask, however be sure to ask in a say that wouldn't put them at a disadvantage or seem hostile or that is harassment. If they deny it, you can ask them to prove it, however there aren't any documents that would work to prove it. Hope this clarifies things.

Very interested to see if any Scottish Labour MSPs or MPs bother to even vaguely dissent from the bigotry their party is now defined by: seeing as they all stood and campaigned on the most queerphobic manifesto of my lifetime a couple of weeks ago with nary a peep, I won't hold my breath

Again, to be clear, I'd prefer STV to FPTP. But I don't think that the merits people on here seem to think it has actually manifest in real life. And, given that, I much prefer closed list PR since it is better for low information voters (which is most of them).

Further blow to Turkish democracy. Courts (highly co-opted by Erdogan) have removed Özgür Özel, current leader of the main opposition party CHP, ordering former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to take over. During his 13 year tenure, Kılıçdaroğlu oversaw repeated electoral defeats against Erdoğan’s AKP

And cruel, inhumane policies to appeal to authoritarian voters in one domain are clearly not enough. These decision will alienate progressives for a long time. Labour is on track to follow other social democratic parties into oblivion.

BBS Open Letter on Improving Scottish Parliament Results Reporting An open letter from Ballot Box Scotland urging significant improvements to reporting on Scottish Parliament elections; or, why does a hobbyist publish more data on the regional vote than the BBC?

“Who would be more electorally toxic than Keir Starmer?” comes to mind

Scottish Labour's retreat over the course of the seven elections so far of the Scottish Parliament is consistent. Almost as if after campaigning for a Scot Parl for decades they had no idea what kind of politics & vision Labour should advance in the Scot Parl. HT @europeelects.bsky.social

At some point on my lifetime we might get a government which recognises that having an entire tier of elected institutions which are just powerless complaints departments for a failing social care system is not a healthy or sensible state of affairs.

Green parties are a normal and indeed essential part of western democracies so if the vital moral principle of not enabling cranks and bigots in the first place wasn't enough (which it should be) it's very important for, y'know, the planet, for a major Green party not to fumble its best opportunity

Iris Duane and the @scottishgreens.org on both ballots in Kelvinside and Maryhill

The fact that in almost every case the plurality have no idea really speaks to how invisible these elections have been, for a variety of reasons, but it’s not exactly a great sign for democratic engagement. I long for a posters absolutely everywhere standard European country’s election!

Genuinely though these are extremely bad for our understanding. No amount of careful caveating changes the fact that when put in the hands of, primarily, the media, MRPs are treated as gospel truth, statistical wizardry of such potency that mere mortals should be in awe of their prognostic power.

“This is not just an MRP, it’s a Find Out Now MRP.”

Delighted our paper (with an amazing group of co-authors) is forthcoming in the APSR Takeaway for Labour and other centre-left parties: fixing public services is key to reducing support for the populist right 👇

Perhaps Goodwin will form a new party RightGPT

Village Hotel workers have entered their fourth month of striking for better pay, conditions, and recognition. I joined @irisduane.bsky.social , the STUC, and many others this afternoon in solidarity with them ✊

We've 45 days until the Scottish Election. A couple of hundred votes on Glasgow's regional list could be the difference between an Eco-socialist MSP like @irisduane.bsky.social or a Reform MSP. I hope folk who want to defeat Reform as we saw in Gorton & Denton back the Greens on 7th May 💚

What I do find interesting is how so many so-called unionists (and yeah yeah make your customary point about Dan Hannan being born in Peru if you want) seem to be unaware of the U.K. outside of England or they’d know that Churchill isn’t on the banknotes of 50% of the constituent nations

"The collision of a multiparty electorate with a voting system designed for two parties is creating new risks for Britain". I signed this letter. It's not about blocking Reform;it's about the danger to democracy of a system that can't cope with multiparty voting www.politicshome.com/news/article...

God forbid you actually have a political programme. God forbid your politics extends beyond triangulating to far-right positions in a doomed effort to not lose the power you're not doing anything with.

Great afternoon speaking to voters in Glasgow with @patrickharvie.bsky.social, @irisduane.bsky.social and team! Lots of appreciation for the @scottishgreens.org getting rent control laws passed through Parliament. Now we're working hard to implement them ASAP. ✊💚

Many social democratic parties have ignored this (and focused on winning back socially conservative voters from the radical right). It has turned them into (even more) lifeless bureaucratic cartel parties whose voters are predominantly pensioners and whose "activists" work for the party or the state

I'm delighted to be campaigning with @irisduane.bsky.social not only as one of our regional candidates for Glasgow, but also for the Glasgow Kelvin & Maryhill constituency. It's a great time to get involved and help the Greens bring the politics of hope to Holyrood! members.greens.scot/join

I’m absolutely delighted to be the Kelvin and Maryhill candidate for the @scottishgreens.org 💚 Traditionally one of our strongest areas, right now we’re in a 2 horse race to win it from the SNP , I’m going to fight for everything single vote ‼️

It both means that the talent pipeline from local government is not as experienced as it should be, but also I suspect means that people who would be happier being powerful local politicians become frustrated, not very effective legislators instead.

A “Reform vs Not Reform” strategy is only going to work for Labour if they are seen as credibly “not Reform” by LD/Green curious voters. Every hardline intervention on immigration weakens that credibility but without persuading Reform curious voters.

Labour is desperately trying to appeal to Reform supporters. In October, we asked people in the UK if they perceive a party as a "party for someone like them". Only very few people say this for both Labour and Reform. The correlation is negative. Labour is chasing an electorate that does not exist.

“Let me be really clear – every minute that’s not spent talking about and dealing with the cost of living is a minute wasted of the political work of this government” is actually really good advice from the Prime Minister. If only he'd listen to himself.

Don't worry, more gimmicky policies based on a simple reading of issue polling will sort this out

Great research opportunity for anyone working on #Albania and #migration. Apply by 24 November & feel free to boost and share! www.wfd.org/vacancy-cons...

My first piece is out now: I argue Reform are the natural conclusion of 80 years of regressive immigration politics in Britain Check it out, subscribe, and let me know what you think 😄: mikebankole.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...

Five parties within 11 percent of each other with a plurality based electoral system, Britain? Five? That's insane.

Indeed. A thing which is deeply weird about the government at the moment is how they will do something where you go 'makes sense, this will help you turn things around' and then they will immediately relapse. It's like they're trying and failing to quit smoking.

“The experiment nuances it by showing that the SD could have won support for a pro-immigration platform, if they had moralised their messaging. The study shows that by framing pro-immigration policies as a matter of what is ‘fair’ and ‘decent’, they can compete with anti-immigration messages.”

Imagine you're in a weird romcom where Paul Hollywood is your rival. Do you go "let's have a bread baking competition" or do you emphasise your own relative strengths? Because that in short has been the central problem with the traditional two's approach to anti-immigration voters and Reform UK.

Oh look, Labour has spent months targeting the wrong voters.