Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 3d

Only when it rained, torrentially. Used once in 8 years!

Robert Jenrick steals the limelight at Tory conference

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 4d

For Jenrick’s aides, who would cross the street to have the right fight, bewailing will be read as a positive sign that they have cut through in a way that so many of his frontbench colleagues have manifestly failed to do

www.spectator.co.uk/article/robe...

It was a performance from Robert Jenrick that will – to borrow from Dora Gaitskell – have all the right people crying

Inside London's embassy parties

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 5d

Washington, Paris, London - the three preferred choices for any ambitious diplomat.

A look at the ambassadorial circuit and its glamorous parties here:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/insi...

Like the new school year, ambassadors to Britain usually change each September. Among those leaving this summer are the German, Swiss and Canadian representatives; their successors will shortly begin ...

Starmer has bought himself time. Can he use it wisely?

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 7d

Green Party of England & Wales now boasting more members than the Liberal Democrats: 83,500 versus 83,174 with "hundreds more joining daily"

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 7d

On the eve of Tory conference, another defection as Keith Prince AM crosses over after 49 years as a Tory member to double Reform’s numbers at City Hall

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 7d

The Israeli government has invited Tommy Robinson to visit the country in a fortnight's time. Post from Amichai Chikli, the Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 9d

This week’s Spectator column:

- How Shrek sums up Welsh Labour
- Reform hope Budget can serve as ‘rocket boosters’
- Steve Reed + his 1,300 baseball caps ‘the breakout star’ of conference
- Risk of Liverpool simply being a ‘holiday from reality’

www.spectator.co.uk/article/star...

The Labour conference in Liverpool was a curiously upbeat affair. Much of the good spirit came from schadenfreude at the misadventures of Andy Burnham. The Mayor of Greater Manchester scuttled out of ...

What’s really behind Reform’s rise

Reposted by James Heale

Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · 13d

The ideas of relaxing fiscal rules for the second time in just over a year would raise the question of whether they can really be considered rules at all. Britain's already short-lived compared to its peers: www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 15d

Some sad news this morning: Ming Campbell, the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, has died at the age of 84

Ed Davey: "Ming was a fighter and a campaigner all of his life – whether that was on the sports track, in the court room, the House of Commons or the House of Lords."

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 16d

Liz Truss is now dunking on Andy Burnham

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 16d

The internet might cause Reform UK to blow up. But it also helped make Nigel Farage in the first place:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/what...

It is the question dominating bars and fringe debates this party conference season: what exactly is driving Reform UK’s popularity? Various explanations are proffered: the collapse of the two-party sy...

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 17d

Superb Spectator cover on the rise and rise of Shabana Mahmood:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/farage-savaged-in-ed-daveys-speech/

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 18d

Punchy, personal and, at times, puerile.

But Ed Davey’s speech is the one that liberals have been dreaming about all summer:

t.co/WRdZ9MzKGJ

t.co

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 22d

Exc: James Roberts, who handled relations between LOTO and Tory MPs, will be leaving his post ahead of his second child’s birth

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/danny-kruger-theres-no-going-back-for-the-tory-party/

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 23d

New: Danny Kruger’s first print interview

- How Reform will overhaul Whitehall
- One Tory MP sent him a rat emoji
- JD Vance’s interest in the British right
- Says Farage “more serious” than Boris

And why Edmund Burke would back Farage not Kemi….

t.co/UHwZqK9W2U

t.co

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 26d

New: Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK as the party’s new head of ‘Preparing for Government’

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · 29d

Friday morning means another set of local by elections.

Reform won 4 out of 5 seats up for grabs yesterday - including one with a 27 per cent swing in the safest Tory ward in Walsall.

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · Sep 11

I think Polanski was probably the best candidate for the Greens to grow quicker. But having read all his interviews this summer, I think he lacks some of the nous or nuance which would help him build a longer-term project. His comments are often either platitudinous or poorly thought-out.

The return of Keir vs Andy

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · Sep 11

Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty tells the House of Commons that Lord Mandelson "has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect"

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James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · Sep 11

This week's Spectator column on the battle for the north:

- Fears that Phillipson v Powell could turn into proxy war
- Pipe-smoking Farage hoping to be new Harold Wilson
- Labour looking at how to lean into northern identity

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

When Labour MPs met to hear from their leader on Monday, there was one group who felt particularly aggrieved. In the government’s reshuffle following the resignation of Angela Rayner, the party’s powe...

James Heale @jaheale.bsky.social · Sep 8

Full information here on how Labour's deputy leadership contest will work: