Just re-discovering the wonders of Bluesky & figured it was about time I got the rest of my team over here... For the latest and greatest Public First tech research go take a look at @publicfirsttech.bsky.social (& associated substack.com/@publicfirst...). Help me prove a point ;) - thanks all!

The locals seem a long time ago now... but our recent research is still worth a read. publicfirsttech.substack.com/p/in-the-bat... Key findings (1/2🧵) 📱 Social media is a core election info source. 34% of voters get information about local elections from social media (52% among 25-34 year olds)

Two good reasons here to support West Ham.

Trump and Xi missed an incredible opportunity last week in Beijing. Here is what they should have done instead. My latest, with @soumayakeynes.ft.com in today's @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/05/17/o...

Time to re-up this already I think. The paradoxes and perils of our relationship with the EU and how it might develop www.newstatesman.com/politics/bre...

Saying nothing while sounding like you’re being ambitious about UK-EU relations will be a feature of this leadership race.

'Being Prime Minister is an incredibly difficult job... Everybody fails at something, and we have not got the tolerance for failure.' Meg Russell spoke with @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social, @anandmenon.bsky.social and Bronwen Maddox on the Briefing Room's 10th anniversary special this week. Listen 👇

I am all for joining the EU. However, this brilliant tour d'horizon/state of play piece from my former boss makes it clear that it won't be a walk in the park - but also that the current situation is somewhere between merely unsatisfactory in the short term and completely untenable in the long term.

Why do senior Labour figures want to go on the radio to say…. Nothing? I have absolutely no clue after that what Tracy Brabin wants to happen.

The interesting thing about the bill is that it gives the govt powers to extend the powers to any other area it chooses to align with

True commitment….

Loath as I am to praise the boss, this is a tour de force on the Brexit state of play

A decade on from the seismic EU referendum, what has the "Leave" result truly meant for the UK? Join Ben Taylor, editor of The Sunday Times, Rachel Wolf Fraser Nelson Lara Spirit an me to examine what we’ve learned since leaving the EU. Book tickets here: bit.ly/4dDEPjk

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

We're increasingly seeing "that worrying trend that electorates tend to vote against people rather than for people... You vote against the person you don't like because there is no one you really do like." 📺 @anandmenon.bsky.social for @bloomberg.com on the erosion of trust in politics

For the record, 20 minutes would be a very long time for a performance review meeting with me.

'We appear to have reached a tipping point. The Government wants more from its relationship with the EU than the current negotiations will provide. This will confront them with some stark choices'. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2026/05/brexit-is-back-and-it-is-consuming-keir-starmer

🚨TODAY🚨 🗳️The results of last week's local & devolved elections have driven days of uncertainty in British politics 🤓Join our panel of expert pollsters @robfordmancs.bsky.social, @hannahbunting.bsky.social, Michael Thrasher & @anandmenon.bsky.social to unpack it all 🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/events/ukice...

Your one stop - one hour - shop to hear from the experts what happened at the local elections, and what it means ukandeu.ac.uk/events/ukice...

'And so here we are. The status quo is unsustainable; the government’s preferred solution unachievable; the other alternatives inconceivable. Peak Brexit'. My attempt to sum up where we are with Brexit, what the choices facing us are, and where we may be going. www.newstatesman.com/politics/bre...

GET IN. 👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽👊🏽🎉🎉🎉🎉😳😳

Let’s take a moment to remember Spurs stealing Lennon and Robinson at giveaway prices when we were going down. Not that I carry grudges.

Britain "at the heart of Europe", 2026 edition:

I’m the one on the right (geographically). H/T @georgeeaton.bsky.social for looking interested.

IS THAT IT?!!!!!! No details? 'This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe, by putting Britain at the heart of Europe'.

This sounds like a message for those who have stuck with Labour rather than for those who deserted them

That's the first time I've heard mention of 'left behind places' since the election I think.

Bizarre. Why on earth would they need to be forced?!

How on earth do you fix a premiership with a speech? And not only does all this bring politics into (further) disrepute. If Starmer at this point talks about issues like security, it taints them with politics rather than portraying them as the national priorities they are.

We. Are. Staying. Up.

I always said VAR is superb

Meanwhile, I'm still reeling from the fact that Richard Tice can't find it in him to condemn someone for saying that Nigerians should be melted down to fill potholes.

OMG. The cabinet simply don’t know what they or the PM are going to do differently. They don’t even have a line.

And the problem is that every MP who comes on the radio to argue that Starmer is the answer merely fuels the - already high - distrust and suspicion that this is all about positioning oneself for when things do shift rather than thinking about the interests of the country.

Reform are tending to secure larger gains in areas that are older, have lower levels of educational attainment, and voted for Brexit.

Labour's vote has also fallen most in areas that voted for Brexit, with larger working class occupations and lower levels of educational attainment.

Based on analysis of 223 wards, Labour's vote has fallen furthest where it started highest. This repeats the pattern of 'proportional swing' suffered by the Conservatives as GE2024.

Many aspects of the election are a more extreme reversion to trends that existed before 2024. Labour faces a challenge from Reform in its former industrial heartlands and from the Greens in its newer strongholds.

right let's have some FT Weekend giftlinks shall we? Here's some highlights from beyond the local elections. First incomparable Maga chronicler @jemima.bsky.social would like to talk about the White House's most inscrutable marriage as.ft.com/r/8293f42a-2...

This is now becoming faintly ridiculous. How many times can someone 'take responsibility' for appalling outcomes while facing no consequences for them? 'Neither left nor right' might make sense if we knew direction we're headed in. Which we don't. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’ve fought it all day. I swore I’d get an early night. But I lost. It’s an election.

😳😳😳 Plan your resignation to avert Labour strife, Keir Starmer urged www.thetimes.com/article/8fe9...

Our recent UK poll with @stangreenberg.bsky.social in @theguardian.com: a fracturing progressive bloc is Labour's biggest threat going into 2029. tinyurl.com/978x8b6f cc: @alistair.bsky.social @ayeshahazarika.bsky.social @anandmenon.bsky.social @robfordmancs.bsky.social

Our recent UK poll with @stangreenberg.bsky.social in @newstatesman1913.bsky.social: Reform & Labour voters live in entirely different political worlds. Unite the left. tinyurl.com/3h6zz23r cc: @alistair.bsky.social @ayeshahazarika.bsky.social @anandmenon.bsky.social @lewisgoodall.com

"Simply making conditions harsher in the hope it will deter arrivals appears, based on the evidence, unlikely to achieve the desired effect." ✍️ @cbarnard.bsky.social, @fionacostello.bsky.social & Ali Ahmadi on 'pull factors' & whether stricter asylum policies matter 🔗 ukandeu.ac.uk/what-are-the...

🗳️ Today voters across the UK head to the polls to vote in the local & devolved elections Get up to speed on the English council elections with Michael Thrasher's preview 👉 https://ow.ly/m1aC50YW0AZ And find out more about the surge for the Greens with this from Rob Ford 👉 https://ow.ly/PHGC50YW0B0

was always frustrated we could never persuade @stevebakerfrsa.stevebaker.info to do an @ukandeu.bsky.social Brexit Witness Archive interview so kudos to @instituteforgovernment.org.uk for getting him on the record. Diving in now...

Shame. I was rather looking forward to heated debates about regional inequalities in it www.politico.eu/article/eu-b...

NEW #UofGSpotlight On the Elections: In England and Wales 🚨 We discuss tomorrow's elections in the Welsh Parliament - or Senedd - and local elections in England, and what we might see happen. With guests: @lauramcallister30.bsky.social @profjanegreen.bsky.social Tune in 🎧 uofgspotlight.com