Inch by inch, things are getting worse not better? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Lesbian and gay party leaders receive lower leadership evaluations than straight leaders in the UK, and the effects are consistent across genders. Interesting yet discouraging findings in our BJPS paper. @josephfcozza.bsky.social @gdilandro.bsky.social Andrea Aldrich @utgovernment.bsky.social

Future generations will gawp and snigger at this foolishness, we can only hope on.ft.com/3LJUgLc

My political tweet of the day.

A 34-year-old as a politician: My god he's like a baby. It's like they just elected an infant to be their mayor. A 34-year-old as an athlete: You have to admire the bravery of him attempting that dunk, knowing full well the grim reaper is right behind him.

Yes, IT training, of course I’d like to watch a 4 minute comedy sketch that will help my pick ‘a top shelf password’. Or: Answer B

But it’s also what kills you.

I wish those weather people on the radio would announce the currently unusual warm weather in a slightly less enthusiastic way. 18 degrees in November is not normal.

Taut. #TeachingOnTheBrain

Does the Guardian style guide have a an offbeat definition of "shock"?

Although…Mamdani!!!!

Just saw this. Catch it if you can. Taught, well-acted, neatly plotted thriller. They don't make many like this these days.

See also Kemi Badenoch. 🤦

What happens when nationalist history meets the horrors of empire? For @jacobinmag.bsky.social, I reviewed a new exhibition on British counterinsurgency at the Imperial War Museum jacobin.com/2025/11/brit...

Bohemian Catsody (Birthday card c/o emotional-rescue.com)

I mean, I take his point, but “I don’t know the answer to who was the king [SIC] in 1856 or whatever." 🤦😱🙄 Really?

Therein one of the huge tensions for Reform - how to balance a broad appeal with a cranky base.

What an absolute hero Samir Zitouni is - doubtless he saved lives that day www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Another development is the fact that the Reform policy operation has been bolstered by the recruitment of serious individuals such as the former Conservative MP Danny Kruger and the Cambridge academic James Orr." 😂😂😂

I know it's got a little world of its own, but the Telegraph (and other right-wing papers) standing up for Trump against the BBC is a striking illustration of how far off the deep (state?) end they've gone.

Notable in today's YouGov that the centre/left bloc - Lab/Green/LD/SNP are on 54%. With Reform/Tories on 43%. That's the biggest differential in a long time. I think useful to track blocs given instability between parties at the moment.

I have a theory. thecritic.co.uk/sharkbait/

Can anyone tell me why he's doing this? Doesn't he risk looking like one of those millenarian cult leaders who predicts the world will end on this or that date and then has to back-pedal when it doesn't? I know the research says that cult-members normally adjust - but outsiders (floating voters)?

🎵 “… put my paw upon his head, stuck my claws in now he’s dead..” 🎵

It's the attention economy, stupid. Another good piece from ConHome's Henry Hill.

To adapt that Jean-Claude Junker quote “We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get elected if we tell people.”

..'uh oh, nutter' way, given you don't normally get armed coup talk at the checkout, but he seemed quite sane; just ..not normal. & it was only later I realised it was basically stuff people say all the time on Facebook/X, only transposed into a real life situation where it's not (yet) normalised.

Bohemian Catsody (Birthday card c/o emotional-rescue.com)

"On average, a person was 18 points more likely to be chosen if they shared the same party affiliation as the participant. This effect was similar in magnitude to the preference for a physically attractive person and was twice as strong as the preference for a potential date with a degree."

Is there's anybody in the broadcast media who hasn't been taking it seriously (if not assuming it's virtually nailed-on) for literally months?

Just prepping Week 10's lecture on Reform UK. Second PowerPoint slide. Too much?

You might not like the fact that Farage has so many side-hustles that earn him more than his Commons salary; but this suggests that they won't do him any harm - as long, that is, as he keeps up with his declarations!

The value of reported donations to political parties over £7500 (excluding public funding) have not been increasing in value, save a recent spike in the run-up to the 2024 general election. From an article by De La Torre, Fahey and McMenamin.

Great to feature on the @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk podcast. A really interesting conversation about inequality.

Another great clunking debunking by Emma Monk. Do follow her!

You laugh, but this is how the exododus went extinct

There’s no screening for ovarian cancer and it’s really difficult to spot: you can’t squidge your ovaries in the shower to check for lumps. Also it’s very good at masquerading at other things, like IBS and diverticulitis. Please take a look at this list of symptoms - and share if you can.

Pristine condition. What am I bid? 🤣

Silence speaks volumes/You only sing when you're losing. "He does not answer the PR part of Pippa’s question."

Recommended. Like the News Quiz etc. but a) only has a genuinely amusing person fronting it b) only lasts about ten minutes c) is scripted so doesn't pretend to be spontaneous, and d) is actually funny.

i hate that AI has now caused me to question the authenticity of cute animal videos online, which is my primary use of social media. i don't even know if this baby penguin actually wore a beret to go buy a tiny baguette in paris

on radio 4 tonight the 57th episode i've made with @paulsinha.bsky.social goes out (sinha test/sinha games/citizenship test x4/sinha carta/history revision x12/general knowledge x12/perfect pub quiz x26), matching the 57 episodes i've made with @johnfinnemore.bsky.social (jfsp x56 plus the pilot)

The real patient zero is “la, a note to follow so”, the first time a placeholder line became a major hit on the global stage.

this is LITERAL VIOLENCE if you were born in the 60s, too.

New substack: how the government can raise economic growth: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/increasing...

Whatever happened to thinking the unthinkable? #GerontocracyRules

Pristine condition. What am I bid? 🤣

I did a lecture for @keeleworldaffairs.bsky.social on the challenges confronting the UK. Watch it here, if you're bored youtu.be/BkQTGOVaFxU?.... #britishpolitics #brexit #ukintheworld

Starmer's Britain. www.telegraph.co.uk/family/life/...