“Our last bachelor likes to totally fail how to handle right-wing populists! Let's hear it for Friedrich!

It's almost like the Basic Law skips straight from Article 20 to 22.

Aside from the whole them being on the right of right-wing populist parties of it all, there's just not any benefit of the doubt to give? They don't exactly hide their true colours - their state MPs walked out of a holocaust memorial event a few years ago, and they've only emboldened since.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 6d ago

On a related note, perhaps, the @economist.com newsletter that's just popped into my inbox: "The right-wing Alternative for Germany is set for a big win in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6th."

Burnham and Badenoch both now hold advantages of 29-30 points over Farage on a Best PM head-to-head. For historic context, this is equivalent to Starmer's lead over Truss in October 2022 (42-44% vs 13-15%).

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 3d ago

Andy Burnham's lead over his key opponents on who would make the better PM has grown further over the last month Burnham: 52% (+4 from 23-24 Jul) Farage: 22% (=) Burnham: 42% (+4) Badenoch: 26% (=) Burnham: 50% (+5) Polanski: 8% (-1) Burnham: 44% (+3) Davey: 9% (+1) yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

A reminder that, even before this, most Britons regarded Reform UK as *very* sleazy, let alone sleazy to any degree, with 40% of Reform voters regarding Farage personally as sleazy.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 2mo ago

With Nigel Farage and other Reform figures coming under scrutiny over donations, 73% of Britons think Farage is sleazy, and 69% say the same of his party Govts in general: 77% sleazy 2019-24 Tory govt: 75% Farage: 73% Reform: 69% Current Labour govt: 61% Tories since 2024: 57% Starmer: 54% SNP: 51%

Share a thought tonight for James Johnson, who will for once not have to motivatedly reason his way to why a poll-related news story is positive for the Tories, but won't be able to share that insight.

In case you missed it: Ahead of their conference, our analysis of public opinion towards Reform and Farage, which has turned more negative in recent months.

How do Britons see Reform UK and Nigel Farage, ahead of the party’s 2026 conference?

Most Britons see Reform UK as untrustworthy, extreme and incompetent, while the most common words used to describe Farage are "racist" and "liar"

yougov.com

Aside from the whole them being on the right of right-wing populist parties of it all, there's just not any benefit of the doubt to give? They don't exactly hide their true colours - their state MPs walked out of a holocaust memorial event a few years ago, and they've only emboldened since.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 6d ago

On a related note, perhaps, the @economist.com newsletter that's just popped into my inbox: "The right-wing Alternative for Germany is set for a big win in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6th."

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; and it was great, all the revolution's objectives had been achieved.

The A.V. Club@avclub.com · 7d ago

The film, which stars Johnny Depp, will try to find the "gray area" in A Christmas Carol. www.avclub.com/scrooge-gray...

RIP Mel Stride, gone too soon (as shadow chancellor), because I was going to make up a tracker chart for your two year anniversary in post highlighting the negligible impact you made on the public consciousness. Nov 2024 Fav: 6% Unfav: 18% DK: 76% Aug 2026 Fav: 6% Unfav: 20% DK: 73%

Loved Carpet Remnant World.

I've tried episodes of Mrs Brown's Boys and The Big Bang Theory, the latter on the recommendation of someone with reasonable tastes, but to keep it original, there's an early-00s ITV comedy called something like fortysomethings that does little with a cast that includes Hugh Laurie + Peter Capaldi.

Sitcom People@sitcompeople.bsky.social · 2w ago

What’s the worst sitcom you will admit to have watched?

A lot of people mocking, but this is more accurate than the maps that the Tories were using internally prior to the last general election.

Enjoy the fairly consistent 20-25% 'they way I received them' bonus.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 3w ago

While hundreds of thousands of students will have today opened their GCSE results, hoping for results as high as a 9, just 7% of Britons think this is the best way of grading school exams Letters, with A*: 41% Letters, without A*: 16% Ascending numbers (1,2,3…): 11% Descending numbers (9,8,7…): 7%

A blanket ban on people wanking on about Labour's history and what Labour should be would instantly make Labour 64% less unhinged, rising to 82% for Scottish Labour.

Aside from the wider (and unsurprising) fact Scottish Labour clearly don't grasp their situation, there's the notable irony that 'the alternatives are so poor, people will have to vote for us regardless of our record' was functionally UK Labour's re-election strategy at the time.

David Bol@davidbol.bsky.social · 3w ago

Firstly, Douglas Alexander, who co-chaired Labour's dismal campaign at May's election, has admitted that the party "misjudged" how many people would vote for the SNP regardless of the Scottish government's record on health, education etc. Really shows how out of touch the Labour campaign was. 2/7

Even among 2024 Conservative voters, 32% feel the party is not ready for government. Just no real grasping of the fact the party's brand remains in the toilet.

Tyron@tyron.bsky.social · 3w ago

Looooooool, bless

Andy Burnham's latest net favourability rating of +13 (13-14 August 2026) is the highest recorded by our tracker for a prime minister since the surge in Boris Johnson's popularity in the initial weeks of the Coronavirus pandemic yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

For the record, the emergency alert system is beyond patience trying if you happen to be on a train. Been alerted near continuously for 40 minutes.

Sorry, can't come into work today as Essex Police have received a "credible threat [of me crying like a little girl in public]".

🧵/ Recent months have seen discussion of a potential 'Keminaissance', with commentators praising Kemi Badenoch's performances in the House of Commons New analysis of YouGov trackers shows that while her personal ratings have indeed improved, opinion towards the Tories is still largely negative

Just 19% of Britons believe the Conservatives are ready for government, while 57% see them as not ready for a return to power This is closer to Labour ahead of the 2019 election under Corbyn (22% vs 62%) than ahead of their victory in the 2024 election (38% vs 43%) yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

The gap between a belief that Kemi Badenoch looks like a PM in waiting and that the Tories are ready for government is consistently higher among Reform UK voters Average 'Kemi Bonus' over last three months 2024 Ref: +20 2024 Con: +7 2024 LD: +6 2024 Lab: +6 2024 Grn: +5 yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

YouGov's latest party favourability ratings (30-31 July 2026) show opinion towards Labour at its most favourable since Autumn 2024, while Reform UK and the Greens record their lowest figures to date LD: -13 net favourable (+1 from 28-29 Jun) Grn: -23 (-7) Lab: -25 (+10) Con: -33 (=) Ref: -38 (-4)

I did not ask for this gift of prophesy.

Dylan Difford@dylandifford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It's not improbable that Reform fall below 20% in VI by the end of the year. It's reasonably likely that some Lab to LD/Grn voters will give Burnham the benefit of the doubt. What's definite is that both happening will lead to a flurry of terrible "whisper it, the two-party system's back" articles.

A useful reminder that the Conservatives' electoral problems are not solely about appeal and image, but also organisational.

Joe Egerton@joeegg.bsky.social · last mo.

The great Conservative debacle in Greater Manchester has attracted comment by @timbale.bsky.social , @dylandifford.bsky.social , @robertsaunders.bsky.social @stephenkb.bsky.social and others. Electoral Commission data shows the Party's organisational disintegration open.substack.com/pub/jegerton...

"You'd imagine a poster on the SS would focus on all the bad things they did, the atrocities. And this one, it's well, weapons of the SS, medals of the SS, heroes of the SS. You know, it's a bit SS-y."

The Crusader Project@crusaderproject.bsky.social · last mo.

Re-enactors again not beating the allegations. Market Harborough at War today, apparently. @waitmanwbeorn.com @alanallport.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @andraswf.bsky.social

32 tomorrow? Fuck off. When did this come in? I will never besmirch the good name of winter ever again.

Some questions about whether vanilla wins purely from 'favourite' being a first past the post contest, but it's the most popular no matter how you cut it. Raspberry ripple arguably the shorest changed by FPTP.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last mo.

Beyond their overall favourites, which ice cream flavours do Britons like? Vanilla: 84% love or like Raspberry ripple: 70% Chocolate: 67% Strawberry: 66% Mint choc chip: 64% Salted caramel: 64% Neapolitan: 50% Pistachio: 48% Coffee: 41% Banana: 38% Rum and raisin: 35% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

Went back and forth on the graphic so many times. Really wanted the bubble chart (which I do like) to stand by itself, but couldn't get a way of labelling that I was happy with. A few ways that nearly worked, but never quite there.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last mo.

YouGov's latest scoop: vanilla is Britain's favourite ice cream flavour Vanilla: 18% Mint choc chip: 14% Chocolate: 13% Strawberry: 5% Salted caramel: 5% Rum and raisin: 5% Pistachio: 4% Coffee: 3% Raspberry ripple: 3% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...