I love these "critics of proportional representation" who have been watching seven years of Governments with sizable majorities under first past the post disintegrate but still stick to the line they learned in A Level Politics. Next level resolution.

There will be lots of understandable scepticism about this, but Burnham really has been a long time advocate of electoral reform. Would be a big step forward if he follows through www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour lost almost four times as many voters to the Greens as they did to Reform UK in the local elections, according to new YouGov polling

Labour lost almost four times as many voters to the Greens as they did to Reform UK in the local elections, according to new YouGov polling

Reform dodging serious questions.

Wes Streeting isn't likely to stand in a leadership election if Burnham wins in Makerfield, his allies tell the Times, but will instead angle for a job in his Cabinet

The Green Party select local nurse Chris Kennedy as their candidate in the Makerfield by-election. Zack Polanski says they will "use the byelection to press Andy Burnham on what kind of MP and Prime Minister he would be, given his mixed track record..."

New hypothetical polling with Burnham as leader turns a 7 point lead for Reform UK into a 3 point lead for Labour. Obviously hypotheticals are just that and things change when they become reality (see Your Party), but the size of the shift is striking.

💥 Zack Polanski, Rick Wilson, Christopher Steele, Shami Chakrabarti, Clive Lewis MP, and many, many others join our 'World of Words' stage at WOMAD this summer. 24-26 July at Neston Park in Wiltshire. Get 15% off with code: BL15 👉 womad.co.uk/?utm_source=bsky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=womad

Incredibly, they’re still going with this

A Reform councillor accused of shaming a disabled man and a dyslexic colleague, has been put in charge of Special Educational Needs at his council Sam Journet has faced a barrage of complaints for bullying and intimidation whilst regularly using Meta-style camera glasses to film residents and staff

Keir Starmer's spokesman does not deny reports that Morgan McSweeney is now advising the Prime Minister again

NEW - Andy Burnaham is the candidate for Makerfield. After all that, the NEC didn't shortlist anyone else. It's done.

It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.

4% of Labour Party members pick Wes Streeting as their first choice for Labour leader

So Lee Anderson, who said Islamists have "got control" of Sadiq Khan, wants to close every food bank in the country, and is committed to bringing back the death penalty, has now been made Chairman of Reform UK

So first he told us the £5 million he secretly took from a crypto billionaire was for "security", then he said it was a "reward" for Brexit instead, then he said it definitely wasn't for buying himself a big house, now it looks like it probably was

A leading 'Raise the Colours' flag activist, who claims to be fighting to "protect our women" from migrants, has pled guilty to assaulting a woman bylinetimes.com/2026/05/18/f...

As well as assaulting a woman “Kitts has prior convictions for theft, handling stolen goods, and driving while uninsured and disqualified”. Keeping Britain safe.

I was just having a look at the catalogue of the publisher that is republishing Simon Heffer’s Enoch Powell biography. Other books include a title that claims Quakers are behind everything “from feminism to trans, from colonial guilt to Woke”; an antisemitic book from 1957 by a leader of the BNP…

A Reform UK Councillor who last week apologised for a single social media post he claimed had been 'misinterpreted' as racist, posted a series of other racist and offensive posts. Messages uncovered by Byline Times shows Ken Tranter comparing Muslims to cockroaches who will "take over" the country

A leading 'Raise the Colours' flag activist, who claims to be fighting to "protect our women" from migrants, has pled guilty to assaulting a woman bylinetimes.com/2026/05/18/f...

Reform UK Councillor Who Claimed Social Media Post Had Been ‘Misinterpreted’ as Racist Shared Multiple Other Offensive Posts Posts uncovered by Byline Times show newly-elected Reform UK Councillor Ken Tranter comparing Muslims to cockroaches, who would "take over" the country

A Reform UK Councillor who last week apologised for a single social media post he claimed had been 'misinterpreted' as racist, posted a series of other racist and offensive posts. Messages uncovered by Byline Times shows Ken Tranter comparing Muslims to cockroaches who will "take over" the country

The government isn't forcing churches and community centres and town halls across the country to fly the Ukrainian flag. People are doing it themselves because we see a battle and we know which side we are on. There are lots of ways in which Reform is wildly out of touch with Britain.

CNBC TV show footage of the far right march in London They've just about filled Parliament square With barely anyone between Parliament square and Trafalgar square On the cover image, look at the bottom, there's a giant screen, with pretty much no one to watch it

"They had a wide range of views"

Despite claiming to give his paymasters “nothing in return” for their money, the truth is that Farage has been assiduous in serving their interests. Last year, as Christopher Harborne was handing millions of pounds to Reform UK, Farage was taking to the airwaves to openly promote his company

One of the biggest mistakes by the government was to tolerate and pander to this group. Far right extremist thugs posing as patriots, who should have been clamped down on from day one www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Despite claiming to give his paymasters “nothing in return” for their money, the truth is that Farage has been assiduous in serving their interests. Last year, as Christopher Harborne was handing millions of pounds to Reform UK, Farage was taking to the airwaves to openly promote his company

One of the biggest mistakes by the government was to tolerate and pander to this group. Far right extremist thugs posing as patriots, who should have been clamped down on from day one www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Why the biggest lie in British politics is the claim that Nigel Farage, who has received more corporate bungs than any politician in our history, "cannot be bought" www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-cameo-...

‘As political lies go, this has to be right up there as the biggest. In recent years Nigel Farage has received more funding from big corporate interests than any politician in our history’

Why the biggest lie in British politics is the claim that Nigel Farage, who has received more corporate bungs than any politician in our history, "cannot be bought" www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/the-cameo-...

Christopher Harborne is a new entry on the Sunday Times rich list top ten - worth £18 billion. He bought Reform for 0.1% of his fortune...

Four years ago at Labour conference

Green Party source responds: "The problem is we just don't know which Andy Burnham is going to turn up? The Blairite politician who went along with years of privatisation and welfare cuts, or the one who publicly supported PR and changes to the failed economic model? We just don't know."

Not just is Burnham particularly popular among Labour voters, but in the North West as a whole his favourability ratings are 51% to 29%. Not just net positive, but clearly so. Very rare.

Interesting intervention from the Green Party's former leader

Nigel Farage insisting "I cannot be bought," after being exposed for secretly trousering £5 million from a crypto billionaire, buying a house with the money, and then immediately launching a lobbying campaign for the crypto industry, is quite something

He was taking £100 Cameo jobs to say "I'm a little ducky, quack quack quack", but sure, I'll take your £5 million but don't expect any favours 🫠

Nigel Farage insisting "I cannot be bought," after being exposed for secretly trousering £5 million from a crypto billionaire, buying a house with the money, and then immediately launching a lobbying campaign for the crypto industry, is quite something

Enjoyed speaking to @bylinetimes.bsky.social to discuss ten years of championing the most open, diverse and successful city in the world. As the rise in disinformation shows - London’s enemies resent us because of our enduring success ⬇️ bylinetimes.com/2026/05/12/s...

If you totted up the sums for every financial scandal in British politics (£2k per parliamentary question for cash-for-questions, £200k for Johnson’s No 10 renovation, the cost of that very nice campervan) even with second tier stuff like Rayner and Polanski, would you get close to £5mn *in total*?

Today in "which lying liar is lying to me?"

Crushing stuff. Difficult to see how he can survive this

Today in "which lying liar is lying to me?"

Why stop there? Just bring Mandelson back on board and he'll be PM for another decade

Makerfield looks tricky for any Labour candidate right now, even Burnham, based on the local election results

Was just on BBC Scotland talking about Wes Streeting's resignation and why some Labour MPs, including those on his own wing of the party, are frustrated and angry about his decision to do this now