When the CCRC referred the Ruth Ellis case to the Court of Appeal in 2003, it so incensed the judges that they called for Parliament to change the law to stop such cases being sent to it again.

The solution to today’s constitutional conundrum is to prohibit an MP who resigns from standing in the subsequent by-election. Or as Moose Alain put it: bsky.app/profile/moos...

What is fascinating about the debate over whether the Chancellor can refuse Farage’s resignation is the marginalisation of Parliament on a decision affecting one of its own members. 1/4

Good explainer here on calling by-elections. Convention is within 3 months, but it’s up to the House of Commons to decide. Given the context of the vacancy, why not wait till the investigations have finished & any sanctions have been imposed? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/by...

It should also have no bearing at all on the separate inquiries by the Electoral Commission into the potential statutory offences (which concern NF's acceptance of donations as a party member, not as an MP). bsky.app/profile/ruth...

A nice coda to all this. www.sportbible.com/football/foo...

Reminded me of Boris Johnson. Rich folk in politics, flaunting their dark arts. bsky.app/profile/fasc...

Apart from anything else, this makes Reform look very amateurish. This is laughable: apart from the absurdity of claiming Farage was an ‘ex-politician’ prior to becoming an MP in July 2024, he did actually register one of the payments made beforehand. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thread here with 3 good articles written after the downfall of Orban taking slightly different lines on when corruption can turn voters against populists.

If the Sunday Times report is accurate, Farage could be in line for 2 more investigations, on exactly the same lines as for the £5m. Details of what’s involved here. The parliamentary process tends to get more focus, but note also the potential criminal offence. open.substack.com/pub/publicse...

Excellent trolling of chippy Cestrian @alanbeattie.bsky.social by the FT editorial team today.

Champion piece from @alanbeattie.bsky.social. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Tensions within the Christian wing of Reform?

"The Home Office estimates that the benefits will outweigh the costs, though this can not be evidenced at this time"

What's this going to mean in practice? Hard to make sense of what has been briefed for this article. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Recalling Blackadder IV here. bsky.app/profile/pete...

So next week isn’t a return to normal, but just a week off before normal service resumes.

Here's the relevant law on this. This isn't a case where s.54(1)(b) applies. If the reporting is accurate, an offence has been committed unless the party took "reasonable steps" to check whether ZP was on the register. Unsurprising the EC are looking into it. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/4...

New post out: "Burnham's policy agenda" What we know about what he wants to do on the economy, political reform and public services. And whether it can work given all the fiscal and political constraints. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...

Is (actual) kleptomania ever a mitigating factor in sentencing? It is a recognised mental illness. You look through this & it genuinely seems as though he's got a problem. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A wise thread as usual. I think this point in particular is often lost. VL shouldn't be blamed for the lack of a plan, because that wasn't what it was set up for (maybe blame Cameron & some of the other complacent Remainers for that). bsky.app/profile/rola...

On the comparative competence, I do think there's a danger of a few memorable features overwhelming the broader picture. Johnson had Brexit, the vaccine & Ukraine. But what else? Mostly - including on handling Brexit policy & Covid generally - dysfunctional. bsky.app/profile/tpgr...

If we’re doing PM rankings I think we need a quadrant model. Something like

In case you haven’t had enough takes on Makerfield & Aberdeen South, here’s mine: voters sometimes want to give incumbents a bloody nose, & will vote for the least appalling alternatives to achieve that, & it’s dangerous for parties to read much more into it.

Still think the AG appointment was a subconscious appeal to his better nature, to serve as a reminder of his years as a crusading human rights lawyer, when it felt easier to tell right from wrong. How much does he still listen any more? We’ll have to see on this one. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

A real treat here, on how the concept of democracy was contested. And draws out beautifully the surreal almost mad atmosphere it generated at times. bsky.app/profile/robe...

Closing this loophole could be a way of dealing with at least some of the concerns set out by the ‘Speaker’s Conference’ on security of MPs, candidates & elections: committees.parliament.uk/publications.... bsky.app/profile/publ...

A post from David Howarth, building on his theories of the "Westminster" & "Whitehall" views of the constitution, in which he thinks strict adherence to a manifesto is a symptom of the latter. substack.com/home/post/p-...

A post below looking at a potential legal loophole. If it is actually a loophole, it looks like the sort of thing that could get increasingly exploited, given the sorts of parties (& their foreign backers) that are now growing in influence. open.substack.com/pub/publicse...

Another significant change to be made by secondary legislation. MPs do get to vote on it, but can’t amend it: it’s just ‘take it or leave it’. So tends to be a formality, without much debate. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Tommy Cooper School of political commentary. www.thetimes.com/article/beca...

Interested to hear from lawyers/ campaigners/ others involved: do existing (or proposed) laws adequately cover this?

There are some parallels here with the current Conservative leader’s approach to Restore. Was this the tipping point, after the broad (albeit shaky) consensus since Rivers of Blood? bsky.app/profile/timo...

Interesting exchange below. A key grouping that the Conservatives have lost recently: the Gaukists, you might call them. Wouldn't have been an outlandish position in the party even 10 years ago. Even Thatcher raised taxes in her 1st term. bsky.app/profile/igma...

If there was an actual campaign of intimidation on these lines (for example if activists were being targeted online), & it could be proven, it would appear to be something that ought to be a criminal offence. Would it be? www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Article from the Independent Reviewer on Terrorism yesterday (who was also on R4 Today). The argument here is that the substance of concerns in the Trump Administration's NSS is correct, even if the language is a bit OTT. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

No change evident here.

Do follow this account for these consistently beautiful photos, brightening the day even when everything else seems gloomy. bsky.app/profile/chri...

Imagine a Labour Govt putting its Comms out in a BNP/ National Front house magazine, alongside editorials calling for racist violence & civil war. Thereby boosting its circulation. And that Govt then saying, "unfortunately, we can't stop putting our Comms out there now, too many people read it".

I'm sorry, but this level of stupidity is off the charts. Badenoch could have brought the socio-economic inequalities duty in the Act into force *when she was literally the equalities minister*. How do people like this get dressed in the morning? How do they remember to drink coffee, not bleach?

Electoral Commission has published its annual data on electoral fraud for 2025. Total of 2 convictions, one for supplying false info when registering to vote; one for personation in relation to a postal vote. www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-rep...

William Hague's "Common Sense Revolution" is nearly 27 years old. newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_poli...

Not sure if this last point is necessarily bad for AB. Given that he’s quite a way ahead in the latest poll, a worry must be getting his voters out. This might help with that? bsky.app/profile/jess...

Cons MP George Freeman & Lab MP Chris Curtis on R4 Westminster Hour yesterday agreeing with Kemi Badenoch's call for policing to be based on "common sense", returning the pre-Macpherson era. A consensus shift developing, regardless of evidence, of ditching anti-racism policies.

Pushing this again, given the events of last week. Righteous fury - in the face of the evidence - so often dominating political discourse. What can be done about it? bsky.app/profile/publ...

I know @ianleslie.bsky.social isn’t always the most popular on here, but this is a good one, on artists & social climbing, & Velazquez’s paintings. Plus a thoughtful response to the Henry Nowak case. open.substack.com/pub/ianlesli...

Just brilliant, again. @samfr.bsky.social may not thank me for this, but he’d have made a very good lawyer. The way evidence is deployed here. bsky.app/profile/samf...

Some Blue Labourites finding it hard to conceal their admiration for Nigel Farage after this week’s intervention. www.thetimes.com/article/6736...

This is extraordinary. Was drink involved? "Why do I like and respect her? First, because she’s there. Second because I look at strategies and if they don’t make sense I don’t like them." bsky.app/profile/twll...

Relatively easy to predict what a PM Farage would be like. Very little interest in actually governing (delegated to people like Danny Kruger), but very interested in becoming extremely rich, on the Trump model, & retaining power to avoid the legal consequences. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...