Not a good showing for Farage. 27% for a joke candidate is very high (probably a record) and captures a pure anti-Farage vote. That over a quarter of the vote in the most Reform friendly seat in the country will instead back a man with a bin on his head shows how strong anti-Farage motivation is.

Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 4d ago

Clacton By-Election Full Result: ➡️ RFM: 63.3% (+17.1) 🗑️ CBF: 26.7% (New) ⭐ REU: 1.4% (New) 🙋 Francis (Ind): 1.2% (New) 🙋 Walford (Ind): 1.1% (New) 🦊 REC: 1.0% (New) 🔴 SDP: 0.7% (New) 🙋 Pelas (Ind): 0.6% (New) 🤝 CNS: 0.5% (New) 🙋 Ingram (Ind): 0.5% (New) [1/4]

Just read ‘Empire of AI’ by @karenhao.bsky.social Whilst largely focused on the story of Sam Altman and OpenAI it uses that to look at the history of AI & LLMs, the political, socio-economic, and environmental impacts of AI, and the tech, investment and startup ecosystem. Very enjoyable. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Mark Gannon mrmarkgannon.substack.com?r=45c08&utm_...

Mark Gannon | Substack

Click to read Mark Gannon on Substack. Launched a few seconds ago.

mrmarkgannon.substack.com

I keep hearing public sector organisations talking about the importance of partnering, not just contracting, with suppliers. I'm not sure everyone means the same thing. So, I've put down some thoughts. Partnership is a Behaviour, Not a Procurement Strategy medium.com/@markgannon/...

Partnership is a Behaviour, Not a Procurement Strategy

Over 25 years, I’ve experienced supplier relationships from both sides of the table. My thoughts on contracting versus partnering.

medium.com

The worst two word phrase in politics is ‘legitimate concerns’.

Pleased to see this. Fixing Social Care needs a cross-party consensus. Burnham invites Tories and Lib Dems to social care talks www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Burnham invites Tories and Lib Dems to talks about social care

In a speech, the PM is expected to say finding common ground across party lines will be key to fixing social care.

bbc.co.uk

Woop woop.

Luke Tryl@luketryl.bsky.social · 3w ago

Our latest voting intention sees cross over. Labour move ahead by 4. Their first lead since March 2025 & highest share since Nov 24 🌹 LAB 28% (+4)
⏩ REF 24% (-2)
🌳 CON 22% (nc)
🔶 LIB DEM 12% (+1)
🟢 GREEN 8% (-3)
🟡 SNP 2% (nc) N = 2061| Dates 24-27/7| Change w 22/7

The politicians and media types downplaying the impact of Burnham’s bus fare cap at £2 have never had to worry about finding an extra £1 a day to get to work or go to a hospital appointment.

This arrived today. One of my favourite ever albums. I walked the streets of London in 1998/99 with this on my CD Walkman non-stop during that period. Was also lucky enough to see them perform this live. A gloriously beautiful album that sounds new and exciting every time I listen to it. @4ad.com

A new government sets its direction early. I've just signed European Movement UK's petition asking Andy Burnham to drop the red lines on Europe and set out a real plan for the UK's European future. Add your name: www.europeanmovement.co.uk/5_asks_for_a... @europeanmovement.co.uk

Our 5 Asks for Andy Burnham

Andy Burnham must seize the moment to build a bold, forward-looking agenda for his administration to lead the UK towards a new European future.

europeanmovement.co.uk

The temptation is to think about “Day 10” (flawless demo, applause, press release). But in the public sector, the real challenge is making it to “Week 53”: when the service is actually in production, integrated with legacy systems fermonge.substack.com/p/week-53-mi...

"Week 53" Mindset

How to avoid getting stuck in the “pilot phase” of government innovation

fermonge.substack.com

Just finished ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams. Quite the story and everything that you imagined goes on in companies like Facebook - and more than you imagined. Sarah is now subject to atrocious legal harassment for her brave whistleblowing.

Just finished listening to ‘Why We Think What We Think’ by Turi Munthe. One of the best books I’ve read in recent years. Got me thinking about how and why I think for sure. Must read. www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0G4RHHTS...

Why We Think What We Think

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Brought to you by Penguin. An eye-opening journey through the secret forces shaping our opinions, this book reveals why we think what we think – and why dis...

audible.co.uk

Getting to our 7th prime minister since 2016 I wonder if anything happened back then that so destabilised our constitutional and political order?

Britain is a progressive country. Reform under scrutiny at by-elections fold. 75% of the British public loathe Farage and Tice etc. Here are the results of the last 6 by-elections Reform have contested…

Holiday read is ‘The Language of War’ by Oleksander Mykhed. Gritty and moving. This passage hit particularly hard: “Ukrainian history is a history of constant demolition. We seldom inherit anything. There is barely any continuity between generations.” Something we all take for granted.

What a second half performance from Villa. And what a way to end the most wonderful season to be a Villa fan. 🏆 🟣🔵⚽️🦁 #UTV #AVFC

We’ve bloody done it. Champions of Europe. Up the Villa. And thank you to Unai Emery for getting us here. He’s a genius. Weeping with joy. 🟣🔵⚽️🦁 #UTV #AVFC

Came home from work and Mrs G had decorated the living room table 😍🟣🔵⚽️🦁 Come on you Villa boys #UTV #AVFC #EuropaLeague

Exceptional performance tonight from Villa. Champions League qualification confirmed. And great momentum going into Wednesday’s final. Ollie absolutely unplayable. #UTV #AVFC 🟣🔵⚽️🦁

Just for a week, just for fun, the New York Times, BBC, etc should cover US politics on the assumption that the Republican Party is an extremist, authoritarian, anti-democratic personality cult led by a mentally failing narcissist rather than the same old same old. See what happens

The inexplicable excitability of political correspondents, as their nation withers and disintegrates

Best performance this season. Exactly when we needed it. Every player superb. Dreamland. Istanbul here we come. 🟣🔵⚽️🦁 #UTV #AVFC

Every General Election, Panini should bring out a parliament sticker album.

I see that Sherlock Holmes is on the case.

Without stating your age, post a movie that released when you turned 18...

Jukesie@jukes.ie · 4mo ago

Without stating your age, post a movie that released when you turned 18...

What a beautiful team goal 😍 Ollie on fire. 🟣🔵⚽️🦁 #AVFC #UTV

This referee tonight is atrocious. Making the game a non-contact sport #AVFC #UTV

Do a war to distract from Epstein files then do an Epstein files to distract from the war OK gotcha x

Aston Villa have won their last 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 games in a row in the Europa League 🤝 ✅ vs Maccabi Tel Aviv ✅ vs Young Boys ✅ vs Basel ✅ vs Fenerbahçe ✅ vs RB Salzburg ✅ vs Lille ✅ vs Lille ✅ vs Bologna🆕  #AVFC