That one Green Party councillor has an insane amount of power.

Had an incredible interaction during this campaign of someone complaining about the decline in the local high street as a driver walked up to deliver something they bought online. Didn't click at that point, but thinking about it now makes my heart sink.

I'm sure running the largest local authority in Europe which has just gone bankrupt with a council where no party has more than 1/4 of the councillors is going to go very well.

Whenever the Greens announce a policy, people are always like “but have they thought about…?”or “have they considered…?” No, they have not thought, they have not considered, and they won’t be doing so. The political incentives being what they are, they have no need. It’s slopulism all the way down.

Lib Dem Friends of FPTP celebrating right now

Polling Day done. Now for a quiet pint and the best bar snack, a Scampi Fry sandwiched between two Mini Cheddars.

Five parties within 11 points of each other is a mightily healthy democracy.

I know I am a broken record over this but I despise how every media conversation about the LEs revolves around national politics. There are councils close to bankruptcy, no answer about social care funding, dying high streets and crumbling infrastructure. I guess it is the Westminster Bubble

Labour could afford to hunt out the rot post Corbyn as they had a broader membership base, a reasonable income stream and lots of elected representatives. The Greens may be slightly more reluctant given they don't have these graces.

There is a big difference between vote share and seat count, being the biggest party and having a majority, so a huge pinch of salt about what this MRP means. Labour retaining biggest vote share in that many councils is not exactly "nightmare" material

I have always considered Burnham to be overpriced in terms of his quality. CA mayors dont have to deal with setting taxes, the thorny issues of immigration or welfare and don't have any major statutory responsibilities.

It also makes absolutely no sense. Private aviation generates approximately 0.5% of the total aviation fuel demand in the UK. Cutting that would make absolutely zero difference in a shortage. Completely vibes based politics for the unthinking.

This policy, the replies to this, Keir Starmer’s ‘the petrol retailers are being naughty’ statement, Ed Davey’s fuel duty tax cut, Kemi Badenoch’s fuel duty tax cut, John Swinney’s price controls…is there anyone in British politics who understands “the Iran war means we have less stuff”?

Which is a FTE Salary of £29,000 a year. Whatever the merits of a £15 minimum wage, we also need to have a serious conversation around wage compression on the low end of the pay scale, especially around entry level graduate jobs.

Its important the Green Party, during + beyond this electoral cycle, set out much more clearly what they will exclude as antisemitic hatred + hostility, and to articulate how to criticise Israel's govt & support Palestinian rights without antisemitism vs Jews [or this type of hate vs Israelis+Jews]

Good to see that the suitable arbiters of this sort of thing, ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶I̶n̶d̶e̶p̶e̶n̶d̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶O̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶P̶o̶l̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶C̶o̶n̶d̶u̶c̶t̶ leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski, has opined on the black and white issue of "proportionate force".

Though it will require him to be in media spaces where that challenge can be put to him, and for the interviewer to be stubborn and agile enough to break down the theatrical improv training.

You can, unfortunately, get away with a lot of bigotry and be a viable party for national power. But I don’t think you can be open to positions like this one on crime and be viable.

This is a very dark day in British civic and political life, I haven't felt pain this deep for a long time.

Farage is no champion of mine. I have and will continue to point out antisemitism in Reform (as well as vicious racism towards others). This does not in any way excuse the antisemitsm we're seeing from Green council candidates or Polanski's refusal to criticise it. It's always wrong.

It is a bizarre feeling to know that Reform will likely win my ward. Though I wouldn't be able to tell you their candidate's name, what they look like or anything about them. Not received a single bit of paper with anything about them on.

The replies to this perfectly legit and neutrally presented analysis are extraordinary - ranging from snark to toxic personal abuse. Not sure what those replying like that think they achieve - they look at best brittle, at worst downright unpleasant.

The pathetic whining in the replies to a some really quite tepid and milquetoast journalistic examination shows just how unprepared the Green Party membership is for governing and the scrutiny that is attached

Putting the fact that the Green Party is wanting to subsidise fossil fuels, the idea that a wealth tax is less "bureaucratic" than means testing is wild.

AI Slop made for local election campaigning is really a gold mine. "GAY OR WEVENCE"

Having peered behind the curtain of life in Westminster, it is clear that the drinking is a symptom of the toxic Westminster environment, not the cause. People 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 drink given the hours, stress and personal proclivities. The system needs to be fixed, but remember that people will drink regardless

Ok replace the word 'antisemitism' with Islamaphobia or homophobia or misogyny or transphobia and there's your answer to whether the Green's and Polanski have a problem within their party. They'd never say that about any of those groups (rightly).

The cynic in me believes that it is a race to the bottom as any attempt to explain will always be out gunned by someone who gives shorter, easier and simpler, but more wrong, explanations.

"Well he didn't technically threaten genocide, he only did war crimes and abducted children" - A Green Party Member (Probably)

Just once I need to see a PM drop an f-bomb in the Commons.

ME: [wincing, covering up Starmer's ears] sorry, do you mind not talking about politics around Keir? He doesn't know about scary things like nuclear war or poverty or Peter Mandelson and we'd like to maintain his innocence for a bit longer KEIR: my father was a drill bit ME: that's right Keir!

"Leaders can delegate responsibility, but not accountability" is pretty much the first thing that is taught in any management course. Even if Starmer and Lammy had no idea, which in itself is a bad thing, they gave signs and fostered an environment where someone thought that it was acceptable.

At 09:20 this morning, 75% of the UK's electricity need was being supplied by low and zero carbon sources. Admittedly this doesn't deal with the price of fuel, which is the most visible impact, but this fact is a major thing that should be notice more.

If you want the final boss of MRPs, take a look at this bar chart. Trying to make a case from an "MRP" that somehow is accurate at ward level despite there being no actual polling done for it.

The numbers don't even make sense

Yes IME MPs tend to be extremely attuned to the concerns of their constituents. If they weren't the cuts to PIP would have happened.

Thoughts on the article and reaction 1) The assumption that someone leaves their community when they become educated is bollocks 2) The idea of empathy doesnt exist is bollocks 3) I think it is important to have educated people running the country 4) Trade offs exist for countries as well as people

My morning reflection on this is that Davey is falling into the Starmer trap, announcing stuff LDs hate to pander to Tories who aren't listening

There is a considerable, and growing, number of people who are angry and impatient for a number of reasons. Are the solutions they are being sold even possible, and how do "mainstream" parties that deal in the achievable mundane counter this?

I'm sure a theocratic regime that is happy to murder its own citizens en masse and is facing existential threat will behave perfectly rationally in response to this.

I know that I am a strange level of local government enjoyer, but any wonder that trust in local government is being sapped away when all talk around local elections is national. The make up of Barnsley council will have no effect on the war, energy prices or the government's ability to respond.

Someone, somewhere, must have a contact within the rank and file of the US military. What is the moral like? What is the claimed casus belli to justify this war? Are they doing this for America or Trump?

For mental health reasons I have not been consuming as much about this war as I would have previously. Though I have seen concerning few talk about blockage of fertiliser, the current Spring planting season and the potential for famine and associated migration.

The populist "blindly throw money at the problem" policy making comes for all eventually.

The bike mounted phone thief in question...

Regardless of how normal, intelligent or well adjusted anyone seems, they will have a blind spot. A little, irrational, thing that they can rationalise to themselves that will make their facade crumble. All that is needed is for the topic to come up for it to be revealed.

Tying their success to 'inflation' and 'intetest rates' was yet another completely avoidable mistake by Reeves and Starmer that will likely be the end of them. Unfortunately the next Chancellor will need to be a wartime consiglieri.

This is exactly what I want to hear as someone who works in a highly energy intensive industry...

Early Day Motions are effectively parliamentary social media posting. The signatures are the parliamentary equivalents of likes.