Job opportunity! The Greater London Authority is looking for a senior housing analyst to help a brilliant policy team tackle London's greatest challenge. Applications close on August 3rd www.london.gov.uk/senior-analy...

The State of London report 2026 is out today. The GLA’s annual report with over 100 datasets about the capital’s economy, society, environment, all in one place. Published for the first time as a fully digital report: apps.london.gov.uk/state-of-lon...

The State of London report

The State of London report brings together an array of data about how London is performing across its economy, society and environment. Published annually by the GLA’s City Intelligence unit, it provi...

apps.london.gov.uk

Another great reason why proper induction and ongoing professional development for MPs matters! (And as somebody who has also had to refresh their understanding of what gilt yields mean in the last 24 hours, this isn’t a criticism of MPs, who also have far bigger demands on their time than I do)

Katie Martin@katie0martin.ft.com · 5mo ago

genuinely starting to think this should be in the school curriculum as.ft.com/r/b006ca08-9...

Last week we published a research note by @geographyjim.bsky.social and colleagues on housing for disabled Londoners. Worth a read - it covers what we know about the ability of London's housing stock to meet disabled Londoners' needs: data.london.gov.uk/housing/rese...

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

We've just published Housing in London 2025, our annual statistical summary of more or less everything that's happened in London housing. It's brilliant and you should read it (most of the work was done by colleagues, so it's not egotistical for me to say so). data.london.gov.uk/housing/hous...

Some of these are upsettingly far away, but still! ☀️

Julia Cushion@juliacushion.bsky.social · 7mo ago

If you know me you know I am a sunlight obsessive and @dracos.co.uk made my year this year by making this!! dracos.co.uk/made/sunligh...

Courage comes in many forms. The bystander at Bondi beach is one example. This piece recounts an extraordinary different kind, where by having a conversation and listening, Nathan Newby talked Mohammad Farooq down from setting off a bomb. Recommend www.ft.com/content/cd59...

‘It’s just a bomb’

The true story of two strangers and an extraordinary act of courage

ft.com

The Commons Library is recruiting a housing policy researcher! As ever: highly recommended workplace, great people, interesting work, etc etc. Apply! housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

Entertaining myself with the definition of 'pet' being inserted by the Renters Rights Act 2025. Probably should add: '(e) Fear of retribution from the animal if otherwise' to cover most cats

Excited to be starting a secondment at the Greater London Authority next week, covering as best I can for @geographyjim.bsky.social in the realm of housing data and analysis!

Most of us are in a wobbly position when it comes to our understanding of immigration numbers. How would things go if we didn’t make these half-remembered statistics so central to how we form and articulate opinions? georginasturge.substack.com/p/how-to-mak...

How to make conversations about immigration less painful

Let's get one thing straight at the very least

georginasturge.substack.com

Why are we hooked on bad vibes when they don't reflect reality? I took a deep-dive into the data, in search of what is really going on. open.substack.com/pub/georgina...

In search of bad vibes

A mood of boiling discontentment in Britain is the subject of daily news - but where is the evidence that it even exists?

open.substack.com

Oh, bugger. I mean, 97 is a bloody good innings, but the world is a sadder place with no Tom Lehrer in it. What a brilliant man

Tom Lehrer - We Will All Go Together When We Go

YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel

youtu.be

I've published a new briefing bringing together the stats on leasehold housing in England (and a bit in Wales). Featuring: - MHCLG data on leasehold stock - Trends in transactions over time and for constituencies - Experiences of leaseholders commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Leasehold housing in England: Statistics

This briefing explores statistics on leasehold housing stock and transactions, in the context of ongoing reforms to the leasehold system.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

2031 census confirmed! 🎉 "Today HM Government has commissioned the Office for National Statistics to conduct a mandatory, questionnaire-based, whole-population census of England and Wales in 2031." www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/hm...

okay but be fair the British meaning of "billion" has changed within living memory, books I had as a kid in the 80s sometimes still used the word "milliard" for 10^6 and saved "billion" for 10^9

Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · last yr.

Fewer than half of adults know how many millions there are in a billion. (Polling for Tax Policy Associates) taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/26/t...

Heading home after a trip to Edinburgh for IPVIS, a tiny conference for data nerds working in parliaments. It's great to have a space to talk to people with the same weirdly specific job as me. Everyone had lots to say about the nuts and bolts of what we do, and how we try to do things better.

Now that the 2031 census recommendation is here, it feels like I've done a full "census cycle" as a professional census nerd. It's a brilliant part of my job, being paid to pay attention to something that's ever-changing and the setting for so many interesting debates about identity and society.

a man and a woman are standing next to each other and the man is saying it 's all the drama

Alt: A GIF from the TV series Gavin and Stacey. Pam, a middle-aged woman, announces excitedly to her husband: "It's all the drama, Mick. I just love it!"

media.tenor.com

A cool resource, literally❄️

Mike Brondbjerg@mikebrondbjerg.bsky.social · last yr.

🥵 Hot in #London? Find cool spaces 🥶 and water fountains 💧near you, with our interactive map: apps.london.gov.uk/cool-spaces/ 👍

Just had a v interesting couple of days at the @ukdataservice.bsky.social UK Census User Conference - hearing from ONS and others about future plans, and from researchers about how they're using 2021/2 census data. Official recommendation on the 2031 census due next week, apparently 👀

Great opportunity for anyone with knowledge and experience of UK transport policy - a chance to work in the wonderful House of Commons Library, providing briefings to MPs. housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

A bit of census news from the Spending Review:

Carl Baker@carlbaker.bsky.social · last yr.

"Additional funding has been provided primarily to allow UKSA to start preparatory work for Census 2031, subject to the government’s decision on the census, expected this summer." www.gov.uk/government/p...

Sum of US is out now!! Find it at all good bookshops and online 🙌

Ahead of the recall of parliament my colleague Ilze has published a briefing on the UK steel industry. Impressive work commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

UK steel industry: statistics and policy

The UK steel industry: a statistical summary of the UK and international industry; analysis of current prospects and challenges; summary of government policy.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

What do you think about double council tax for holiday homes and other empty property? Here's some factual detail about how the new second home premium works in England: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/why-am-i-pay... And....

Why am I paying a council tax premium on my second home?

From 1 April 2025, English councils will be able to charge a council tax premium on second homes. Some second homes will be exempt from the premium.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk

On the topic of the Bank Holidays API, it may well be the most quintessentially British API in existence, with a boolean (true/false) value for "bunting". And, in case you were wondering, every bank holiday is a good day for bunting unless someone died for our sins! www.api.gov.uk/gds/bank-hol...

🚨 Dream job alert! 🚨 Senior Researcher in statistics (my team) at the House of Commons Library. The team is looking for someone with numeracy skills & research experience. Good communication skills also required. Deadline 31 March 2025. housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

Applications are still open for a Senior Researcher role in the Social & General Statistics team in the Commons Library. Come and work with us to analyse data, explain it to MPs and their staff, and support parliament's work 📊 housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

We in the House of Commons Library are recruiting a senior researcher in our Social and General Statistics team! Come work with us to develop new and improved ways to inform MPs and their staff about data. housesofparliament.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...