Lawrence McKay
@lawrencemckay.bsky.social
Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Reading - urban-rural divides, political trust, public opinion, UK/W Europe. Sometimes music/film/F1. Professional Simpsons reference overuser.
I note with interest that Britain now has the level of state capacity at which "actually doing something" is seen as inherently suspicious.
James O'Malley@jamesomalley.co.uk · 2w agoNew mad conspiracy theory just dropped. (Answers: It's a GCHQ building, and I presume black paint and doors are available at B&Q.)
This is why the "B..but he stood for leader before and lost! Twice!" discourse was so dumb. Maybe people staying in politics when they lose or fail & sticking at it makes them...better? If we applied today's norms on when you're meant to leave politics, Churchill would've been gone after Gallipoli
Chris Dillow@chrisdillow.bsky.social · 2w agoI don't remember Burnham having this relaxed communication manner in his 2010 or 2015 Labour leadership contests. Which shows he can learn - & if he can learn this he can learn other things too. This alone elevates him above his recent predecessors.
This point is coming up a lot today. Last year, I argued that failure to recognise this would be the downfall of Starmer's "decade of national renewal": theconversation.com/keir-starmer...
Luke Tryl@luketryl.bsky.social · 2w agoNone of which is to say long term Isn’t important, but you’re more likely to get people to think things can be better in long term if you help in the here and now and show progress along the way. There is just limited resonance for jam tomorrow style politics 18 years since 2008
One for @timbale.bsky.social ? BBC Breakfast 06:33. “That’s the statistical situation but what’s the reality.” Then does vox pop.
I like to think he's done this to make political journalists look stupid, and honestly I admire it.
A real shame, this. One of the best ministerial appointments of recent times:
Cassia Rowland@cassiarowland.bsky.social · 2w agoThe day’s first casualty: James Timpson resigns as prisons minister. This is a big surprise! Timpson had a long history as a prisons reformer before entering government and seen as one of Starmer’s more innovative & exciting appointments. He’s also delivered a big change programme in gov. So: why?
“And there’s an intriguing hint in an interview Burnham has given to the Times today that he wants to look at increasing the rate of the personal allowance ... I understand Unite, the trade union, has pushed for this in talks with the incoming PM.”
Everybody is reading levels of precision into this that the underlying data just isn't robust enough to support.
Gavin Jackson@gavinjackson.bsky.social · 2w agoThey don't like Burnham in the Thames Estuary www.economist.com/britain/2026...
Scrap the Romesh thing just clip Wayne Rooney saying he thought the half time show was crap and the licence fee QR code
A new party has risen in recent weeks - Yashar! Primarily they are centrist secular, aiming to unify a divided opposition. To reflect this new landscape, this is an updated chart of where all the parties stand in the polls.
🚨New research for the Bevan Foundation on economic (in)security in Wales 🏴 Full report, based on framework of @profjanegreen.bsky.social et al with @jrf-uk.bsky.social, here in English: tinyurl.com/2prrsdpj & Cymraeg: tinyurl.com/mwavt63a Thread below on a couple of things that stood out:
Take one spoonful of England v Argentina football discourse, mix it with US Politics Bluesky users, bind it together with some historical takes based on late night half-remembered Wikipedia binges. Could be a good few days on here.
Do you wonder about how women in the UK are known to be ‘more traditionalist’ and yet vote more progressive? Well, wonder no more! @cerifowler.bsky.social and I have a new paper in @electoralstudies.bsky.social on how this supposed paradox is a measurement artefact 1/ 8
Theories and measurement of political values and under-represented groups: the case of women in the UK
This paper argues that the primary divide in values (Inglehart, 1977; 1990) between safety and self-expression lies in a different place for discrimin…
sciencedirect.com
Given the BBC have a largely sensible set of guidelines on the use of quant polling in news stories, including a ban on a poll being a story in itself, it's always so baffling they have next-to-no similar rules on what is ultimately rudimentary qual polling. It's an insane double-standard.
Jack Tindale@jacktindale.bsky.social · 4w agoSTOP INTERVIEWING RANDOM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO ARE HANGING AROUND THE TOWN CENTRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON YOU MAY AS WELL ASK A CAT FOR HOW REFLECTIVE OF PUBLIC OPINION IT IS www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Of major/mainstream providers in the CUG, I make the much vaunted "home of free speech" Buckingham Uni second from bottom on the free speech question in the NSS. Doh!
You're right. I was going to check the sources — but then I got high. And what's more, I was going to remove em-dashes — but then I got high. That's on me. Now I'm hallucinating — and there are several reasons. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🍁Because I got high 🚬Because I got high Because I got high
The Alternate Historian@althistorian.bsky.social · 4w agoIgnoring the other part of this post for a moment, how does a chatbot actually smoke weed?
Students’ positivity about all aspects of UK university courses have increased despite the problems facing the sector, according to the latest National Student Survey (NSS) results www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nss-202... via @georgialouluck.bsky.social
NSS 2026: positivity scores up across the board despite pressures
Students more positive about teaching and free speech but some institutions still perform poorly on course management
timeshighereducation.com
Morgan McSweeney ordered himself an 18" pizza, which he then *of course* couldn't even come close to finishing, and for reasons I can't quite put my fingers on that feels extremely apt.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · last mo.Keir Starmer’s former chief adviser, who was forced out of his job over the Peter Mandelson scandal, talks for the first time about what went wrong: ft.trib.al/qowo5Ao
I'm really sorry to hear this news. The Research Professional team are excellent and have helped the HE and research sector keep up with what is happening. We will be less intelligent without it. Good luck to individual staff members affected, who are excellent writers and journos.
John Morgan@johnmorgan3.bsky.social · last mo.Very sad to be sharing this news: Research Professional News to discontinue publication at end of 2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...
think it’s so funny how many different demographic breakdowns you can look at and the Lib Dems just get like 10-15% in all of them
YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last mo.The Greens' support is much higher among non-heterosexual Britons, with the party holding substantial leads among bisexual women, lesbians and bisexual men, as well as doing twice as well among gay men than straight men (23% vs 11%) yougov.com/en-gb/articl...
When George Galloway was on Celebrity Big Brother, he was less popular in the public vote than Dennis Rodman or Chantelle. Chantelle would be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom if we had a democracy
Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · last mo.sorry what
I don’t think this was the moment where it became inevitable that Starmer would flame out after two years, but I do think it was the clearest illustration that he was terminally prone to panic and unable to grasp “the mayor is doing a difficult thing years before his re-election is due”.
Marcus 🏳️🌈🇧🇧@marcusjdl.bsky.social · last mo.remember when they lost in Uxbridge and Keir Starmer leader of the opposition then told the mayor to “reflect” on this policy
"Chevalier Ousts Espaillat" what kind of Alexandre Dumas-ass city are you jokers running up there
Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · last mo.RESULT: Darializa Avila Chevalier, a challenger backed by New York's left, has ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat. An earthquake result, which means all 3 congressional candidates backed by Mamdani have won: Chevalier, Brad Lander, and Claire Valdez.
One of the main reasons Bonn became the West German capital was because Adenauer lived 10 minutes away.
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · last mo.I think this is smart: you get the political benefit of moving Parliament without having to do two expensive and politically costly infrastructure projects, you just buy a building, and it allows the PM to ostentatiously return to his marginal seat every week.
