Another interesting historical fact from @pbump: 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁.

This was brilliant.

A fun visit to the excellent John le Carré exhibition at the Bodleian library with fellow le Carré nut and old Oxford pal @philtinline.bsky.social. Nostalgia and espionage: the perfect combination

The "political party" does not accept donations, except from Hosking (!) and does not run candidates any more! donation.watch/en/unitedkin...

The Reclaim Party - with a single donor, Jeremy Hosking - may the least successful political party in history on a funding: votes ratio I wonder if it has given up on politics now, having run nobody in the 2024 general election

Senator, huh? Where do I apply? (Asking for a horse.)

Evergreen post

All else aside, this could cause very unhelpful confusion about what a stockbroker does for a living.

A tax rise is not a 'raid'.

Practical and progressive action here from the govt. Healthy workers benefit their companies and society overall. Right that employers are part of making that happen.

It’s not Vegas. It’s not Ceaușescu. The hotels on the Strip and dictator palaces generally have much more coherent aesthetics, and are custom fitted and immaculately finished, no expense spared. This really does look like some interns ordered random crap off Temu and stuck it on themselves

I just don’t know what I love the most: the two-star hotel font, the three clashing gold finishes, the polyurethane decals hot-glued on at bonkers angles, the fussy oil painting frames on what appear to be black and white photos… oh, I can hardly wait for a full tour!

And is the human-level general intelligence in the room with you now?

Maybe this will save companies money on hiring consultants to take the blame for redundancies

"compensation"

Why is Dr Oz not speaking from behind a curtain

🔺 Breaking: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been ordered to appear before the US Congress, after members said it was “time for him to come forward” about his “ties” to Jeffrey Epstein

This is a very good point. @jamesrball.com has said similar.

If nothing is done about this, it will reinforce the perception that there are few rules for the powerful, but plenty for the rest of us. And guess who will take advantage of that to keep riling people up?

This woman was tutored at Oxford by the current Labour Paymaster-General. I do not believe that she really thinks that New York just elected a Soviet-style communist as mayor. But then perhaps it would be morally better if she was actually that stupid.

Yes. A lot of people are posing as the True Blunt Realists About Why Trump Won, so they must always be in opposition to those who they cast as Delusional About Why Trump Won. Attacking Trump for them codes as "not admitting Trump won because we suck/we're too woke," which they have to criticize.

Land of the Freestyler

...and very, very apologetically asked if we'd be move to a different table across the room. Because Cuomo was coming –– and demanding our table. The governor arrived, strutted over to our new table and, making no apologies, imperiously greeted Tom. Asshole then, asshole to this day. 3/3

My wife and I were out for dinner at a little restaurant at an inn in Bedford, New York, with our old friends Tom Brokaw and his wife, who were regulars. Seated at a table they'd reserved by the fireplace to toast his 70th birthday. Suddenly the flustered maître d' came over, kneeled to speak...2/3

Cuomo's grim, graceless concession speech last night could've been one of his regular campaign speeches. (He again mispronounced the name of the guy who'd just beaten him again.) It made me decide to tell the story of my one brief encounter with him, days after he'd become governor. 1/3

The Mamdani camp never saw social media as a gimmick. They treated it with the same seriousness they bring to the issues he ran on. That seriousness helped build trusted relationships with fans and creators who could spin out the fun. www.wired.com/story/zohran...

Finally, we have a use case! Wait, why are you crying? Come back!

Actually, scratch that, the worst thing is when they believe it was all down to their strategic genius, ignoring the significant contributions to election results of external factors or govt policy, but 'universal strategy' thinking is pretty close.

The worst thing that can happen to an electoral strategist is losing sight of their strategy having a time and a place.

BREAKING: Former FTC chair Lina Khan to serve as co-chair of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral transition team.

This shows what you can do if your guy means what he says, starts from voters' needs but sticks to his principles - and then hires a bunch of film-makers who like slapstick and whip-pans and The Third Man and have never worked in 'comms'. Of course charisma is important, but it doesn't just happen

Always listen for coded stock tips in Kelly’s tv hits, she is one savvy operator www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/u...

Struck by the contrast between Obama's attitude and the Clintons'.

Looking forward to a bright new day when fewer people in public life can only be mentioned with the caveat "(He denies the allegations.)"

AI slop: superficially attractive to some, but rots your teeth.

This is a useful corrective, but I'd be wary of conflating the imagination with error. There's a nod to this near the end, but it's cast in terms of emotion. The missing concept here is symbolism. The 'boats', eg, might symbolise a broader sense that some people get to break rules but others don't.

Worth reading the excellent Death of Consensus by @philtinline.bsky.social Attlee’s government was a reaction to the failed orthodoxies of the interwar period and, crucially, backed by a coherent, easily understood, economic theory (Keynesianism) and a well developed social programme (Beveridge)….

My developing theory is that voters are broadly receptive to "Here's what I think will work and I'm doing it because I like you" more than focus grouped or polled policy.

Good to see that the $$$$$$s of tech bro hedge fund money splurged to try to stop Mamdani went down the drain

this dude, who thinks that Mayor of New York City is the "second most important job in America," (all the Americas, apparently), should try leaving New York City some time, for more reasons than one.

Sam Corcos, who entered government with DOGE earlier this year, decided to kill DirectFile after one meeting with with tax software lobbyists. www.wired.com/story/doge-d...

We experience these events through our media bubbles. So please take a little time to look at the details. For example: here is how DHS described one incident in Chicago. Now watch the video, which tells a different story. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa... bsky.app/profile/news...

“The BBC is not an American broadcaster, and it doesn’t owe any obligation to shareholders determined to close deals and make profits. Its clash with Trump is a chance to show the advantages of being a public broadcaster by standing up for the truth. It should seize that opportunity.”

In the early 1970s, angry mutterings about how it was time for a coup happened over expensive lunches in the City. Now they can he heard in the queue at Aldi.

What's missed in analysis of effective politicians in the new media environment is that they tend to have a stronger social basis than more establishment politicians. It's the digital + social roots + listening that's compelling - away from politics by diktat, in tune w. who you want to represent.

Yep. Also relentless focus on issues that concern a majority of voters, looking like you actually enjoy being around said voters, questioning the worth of old taboos, seeing 'strategic consultants' for what they are, not being scared of old men running old newspapers, and being *funny*.

"Meddle"? Does Politico believe in parliamentary democracy or not?

Partly, but it's also a fairly rational antipathy to grifters and buffoons.

How lovely would it be if just one reporter asked about manifesto pledges related to spending on public services instead of the ‘threat’ of tax rises?

If Starmer reshapes No.10 to work for him – as past PMs have done – he can have the power to hand he needs to deliver his programme. If he is bold, he can build the first truly effective Downing Street in years, bring about change and restore trust.