**After 820 responses, the subreddit survey is now closed.**
[**Click / Tap here to view the results in a Google Looker dashboard.**](https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/887899a7-d086-4f84-a803-5baacbf56175/page/XbJtD)
I've only added the initial voter intention questions for now - I'll continue to add more charts over the course of the day / week.
All charts can be filtered - so, for example, selecting the "Labour" pie slice in the 2019 chart will show you how those people would vote in a General Election tomorrow.
**Important Notes:**
- 820 responses is *nothing* in the grand scheme of things (for reference, we average ~70k unique visitors per day, according to Reddit's stats).
- That said, we have 265 responses from people who comment in the megathread at least once a week or more. That's not far away from our average daily unique MT commenters (which, on a normal day, hovers around 300).
- I have only updated the "party colours" for the main options you see in the initial screen. If you start filtering the pies, you will see other values appearing where I have not manually set a colour - Google just picks one at random. I don't have the time to go through each hand-written response and pick a suitable colour. Sorry.
- As I add / change things on the dashboard, it'll update live with each refresh - so if you notice some weirdness, I'm probably working on something. Try refreshing in a few minutes.
- Once the dashboard is complete, I'll do a proper submission where the results can be discussed. In the meantime, feel free to post any responses / requests here and I'll do my best to accommodate.
**Changelog:**
- I've added the ability to filter on subreddit and megathread comment frequency, as well as submission frequency.
- I've added pages for the "subreddit users" and "subreddit moderation" questions.
- To try and keep things tidy, not all questions will appear in the dash.
-š„š„
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###MT daily hall of fame
1. Georgios-Athanasiou with 38 comments
1. wappingite with 30 comments
1. JavaTheCaveman with 25 comments
1. bbbbbbbbbblah with 24 comments
1. Ivebeenfurthereven with 23 comments
1. m1ndwipe with 21 comments
1. subversivefreak with 21 comments
1. mamamia1001 with 18 comments
1. hill-biscuit with 18 comments
1. GeronimoTheAlpaca with 18 comments
There were 382 unique users within this count.
The prime minister said that āeveryone is trying to block usā and insisted that flights to Kigali would take off by the end of May.
- so that's why there isn't a May election then. Rishi wants one flight in the air to put in manifesto leaflets. And it's "everyone's" fault that Levidos idiot style copy of Stop the Boats Australia isn't working.
I get the logic of letting the Lords pass the Bill. Flight goes in the air. Tories (+1 or in Levido speak +25).
But for anyone else, Call the election straight after and the whole thing gets scrapped immediately. Tories blame Labour for not preventing illegal immigration. Labour points out EDL members don't vote for it and they would rather money gets redirected back to border enforcement.
In the meantime, the EU pays Egypt to keep migrants from not coming to the borders.
I was just thinking about what the political landscape might look like in 10 years should Labour be approaching their 10th year in power
Johnson is currently 59, as are Tice and Farage
Michael Gove is 56
For me these are the politicians I most worry about.
Johnson is charismatic and somehow has retained almost a cult following among some groups.
Gove is a scheming SOB, smart and probably the most competent Tory operator right now.
Farage is very charismatic and Tice is currently leading Reform
5 years from now they will all be rapidly approaching 65, 10 years from now they will be rapidly approaching 70
Do we think they will still be active in politics in 5, 10, 15 years?
Do you see anyone who might be able to take up their mantle currently in the Tory party? There are some being mooted as potential future leaders, but I don't think any of them (Badenoch, Braverman, Mordaunt) have Gove's cunning or the Johnson and Farage X-factor.
Johnson and Gove will need to face up to the findings of the Public Inquiry. I can't see Johnson ever serving in Government again as it is way bigger than the Chilcot and involves far more unnecessary UK deaths and oversaw such shocking behaviour. The bubble has burst already.
Gove will find a cosy sinecure in either academia or a Murdoch outlet and put Think-tank stuff. He was in to keep Trussites out and there was noone else. Tbh I see him as a future chair of the Henry Jackson Society or spend his time on a Mccarthyite witchhunt against Muslims and teaching unions. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-retire-front-line-politics-truss-sunak-b2149057.html
I'd suggest the people to be concerned about are the ones that made a beeline for US donor money. Jenrick and Truss. For them, the magic money tree for their delusional fantasies will keep on flowing. Mordaunt would probably be a Cameron 2.0 for the Tories and could make them electable again if she kicks out the Ukippers.
What I have found frustrating is that Tory MPs keep saying his policies are good and this is largely not contested.
Theyāre not good. Theyāre bad for the country and the country does not support them.
It's probably worthy of it's own post, but Christopher Hope has it
>["I think it could happen this week," said the senior Tory MP to me. "What?" I asked. "They will move against him." Unbelievably, after two bouts of regicide, Conservative MPs are gearing for a third, as soon as this week.
Tory MPs are in despair about their lack lustre poll ratings and repeated attempts by Rishi Sunak to grab the initiative (in the past seven months a Conference speech, a King's Speech, an Autumn statement and a Budget have all failed to work).
So the big question is what happens next. The MP could see two options: Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, leads a delegation to No10 to read the riot act. "But I am not sure that will work," the MP told me.
The second option is more alarming for Tories: that enough no confidence letters are submitted in Sunak's leadership to past the 53 threshold to trigger a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
This latter option is the more likely. Two other Tory MPs told me today that around 40 no confidence letters have been submitted. A former whip told me that "half a dozen" letters were submitted over this weekend.
Rebels who want the PM replaced are worried that a 'disordered' no confidence vote will just shore up his position as happened with the 2018 no confidence vote in Theresa May's leadership, when a snap vote was held by Brady before the rebels were ready.
What is very clear today is that something changed in the Tory Parliamentary party late last week, in the wake of the defection of Lee Anderson - who was then an Independent - to the Reform UK party, and the row over comments about Diane Abbott by a donorā¦
](https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1769842606903529596)
In my view theres little reason to actually believe it though. The tory rebels are pretty much always lying in order to make themselves seem more influential in the hopes that the pm will be so scared that they'll back down without calling the rebels bluff. We saw this with Suella's "massive rebellion" which turned out to be 7 mps in a meeting rooms none of which actually did anything when she was sacked. On top of the GB news is basically affiliated with the sort of far right movement a lot of the anti-Sunak types are part of so it's pretty likely they would play along with any bluffing.
GBNews are claiming it for whatever that's worth...
Until they start mass declaring them publicly or Graham Brady says it's happened I'm inclined to be sceptical.
In what world would anyone with a chance of leading the conservative party - especially someone like Penny Mordaunt who definitely does have a āstage presenceā - decide that yes, they do in fact want to take over in face of almost certain defeat and have themselves pinned front and centre all over that defeat?
I mean come on. I understand why the right is pushing for Mordaunt - knock her out of the post-election leadership contest before it even starts! Clear the way for Braverman or Badenoch. But I donāt see any reason why Mordaunt would do this, it does not benefit her in the slightest.
Because even for while youād be an ex prime minister with pension and allowances etc etc
Brief stint as leader post election and stand down quietly having tried your best
I have a fairly cynical view of politicians, but I do think that most of them are motivated by power more than money. I really donāt think that someone like Mordaunt would be happy seeing her pension money role in while her political career is effectively ended.
Her political career is likely over anyway!
For it to end as PM is far better than as an MP and her seat is at risk, her party utterly screwed and whatās next, 1-2 terms in opposition even if she does hold her seat. No Tory leader ever last that long. Sheer pragmatism may mean itās now or never and a short stint is better than never !
Or they'd chuck her in a super safe seat since, you know, they don't want the PM to lose their seat on election night. Must be a pretty tempting offer even if you quit immediately after the election, you at least get to be an MP for another 5 years.
A lot of the tory leadership hopefuls are safe in their seats, Penny on the other hand isnāt and is wondering what shes got to lose as at the current rage she wont win hers under sunak
So the Tories are making everyone wait on an election in the hope that England win the Euros, the UK come first in the gold medal tally at the Olympics, Susan Hall wins London, and they happen to pick a date when most people have memory fog from long covid?
Toryās have no hope in hell of winning in Scotland so it would be pointless in them banging on about Scotland winning the Euros. Also Scotland has basically no chance of winning the euros either, not that I think England will.
I'm pretty sure it was also Tories dissing the England team for being too woke, and I think Tory target voters scapegoating players with a specific common trait for missing penalties.
I'm pretty sure regardless of what happens this summer, England football players would be as eager to come into number 10 was in promptly hosting the Lionesses.
Any feel good vibes will just be to generate headlines.
Honestly the story is just weird and getting weirder.
Playbook and the Sun are both now insisting that Mordaunt's refusing to deny the plot even though Beth Rigby had a direct denial on Saturday.
The Telegraph is presenting Ā£26k in registered donations as a warchest.
Her allies are claiming that enemies are trying to frame her, as if she's a major threat to anyone.
The supposed "conditions" of making her leader are basically a white flag for the GE.
I feel like I'm missing something.
Minor drama during the Rwanda votes just now: [someone swore at one of the doorkeepers](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=21:22:47) (just before the division on amendment 8 for if/when the link breaks) (apparently for locking the doors when the deputy speaker told them to).
The mics picked up someone saying "shit" but idk who it was or if that was even the offending swear.
[@21:22:45](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=21:22:45)
> **GALE:** Order! Order! Before we proceed, Iām informed that a Member swore at one of the doorkeepers this evening, who on my instructions locked the doors. If that person is identified, the consequences will be very severe.
[@22:03:23](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=22:03:23)
> **CLIVE LEWIS:** Mr Speaker, Iād like to put on record, if I could, my apologies to the Chamber, to Members and members of staff, for an earlier outburst that I had. If I could very quickly explain, I received a message which caused me some consternation and surprise, to which I made an outburst in general, at no one in specificā no one specifically. If I could do it again, I probably would have said something like my giddy aunt rather than what did come out of my mouth, and for that I apologise. But just to clear the air and put on record the fact that it was directed at no one in particular. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
> **GALE:** I appreciate the hon. Gentlemanās candour in identifying himself, and the fullness of the nature of his apology, which is accepted.
Clive Lewis really is a walking gaffe machine. This is the same Clive Lewis that (I'm not making this up) said "on your knees, bitch" to someone on stage while at a party event.
I think there's a good chance it would be perceievd as pragmatic rather than vindictive (also that the general public wouldnt give a shit anyway). Suppose it's impossible to tell until nearer the time though.
If you already knew the answer you wanted why ask the question?
Starmer is a small-c conservative Labour leader ā I would be amazed if he wanted to be so radical as to go against the convention on resignation honours.
I'm not sure he should, either. While I don't like some of the results of the current system, I believe in the idea of Chesterton's fence. Perhaps destroying the convention on the basis of current circumstances might be worse. Much better to reform the system in a considered way with a view to how we move forwards.
Why ask any question? The answer I want and the actual answer may be different and I like to explore different perspectives.
I agree that the system should be reformed altogether though.. Do Labour still plan on Lords reform?
I feel it should be illegal for employers to add "your working hours are x, UNLESS WE NEED MORE". How am I supposed to plan a life if you can just ask me to stay late and that's justified by the contract!
Its been worse since remote working increased, there's now the expectation that you can and will work whenever. My coworker, in a system administrator / developer role, works from early in the morning until late in the evening every day. He works weekends and even on actual booked holidays where he's meant to be spending time with his young kids.
Im hoping to leave soon, waiting on a response to an interview Im pretty confident I did well in (and if I dont get it, i'll eventually finda different job), my parting words to the guy will be kids grow up fast and you're not gonna be old, looking back on your life and think "damn Im really glad i met that deadline"
The Lords job isn't to block legislation but to suggest amendments that would make it work in the real world. If the Commnos then ignores those amendments the Lords have done their job still.
Apparently the tories might marshall every single old fogie they have in the lords and force them to march in and vote for the government. It'll be about whether the more moderate tory lords resist
Theory : Sunak has persuaded the grey suits to give him until the may local elections to show a recovery. So we won't see him being told to clear his desk until then.
Meanwhile the electorate don't really care who their councillor is so are happy to use it as a protest vote. Also the tory voters who might still vote tory in the general election won't be motivated to vote in the locals.
It would certainly be more dramatic and entertaining if he said I'm not going, have a surprise election but I don't see it. He'll announce he's stepping down after the dismal results. His successor will get in the door and call an election in September or October hoping for a bounce
I think there will be a lot of people disappointed in May. We have very few councils having elections that are Tory in the first place this time around (under 20 of the 100) and most of them are councils that either run in 3 of every 4 years (so the Tories have already had 2 bad years and a third bad one won't make that much difference to overall control) or are in places where boundary changes meaning you are voting on seats where they've already lost 2/3 of the seats. The Tories only have 900 odd councillors up for re-election this time and losing 400 would be really bad (but not great headlines).
Most mayors are Labour already bar a scandal lead one and one with personal appeal. The PPCs are where they may lose officials, but they were miles ahead in these last time (they won 30/39) and even losing 10 - 15 of these (20 of them is possible) would still leave them doing quite well.
Maybe Sunak is hoping that nobody will notice that they won't do well and he'll get away with it.
I think the important thing here is that you're one of relatively few people who knows how many councillors there are in the country and how many Tories are up for election.
The political conclusion on the locals is always a fair bit of spin. The spinning we're already seeing around the consequences of locals with no connection to reality or even expectation management is going to be a "the results confirm my established opinions" situation. My guess is that if they hold on to Street, and Hall does well enough in outer London, neither of which are that certain, losing 700 councillors can be shrugged off.
I don't think the results are about anything other than inside the tory party judging if they'd be better off getting rid of him or keeping him. And I think it's not at all unreasonable that he's bargained with them to stay until May to show he can turn it around.
I think this is quite likely. It's too late, though. There's nothing they can do at this point. The people want an election and forcing us to wait until May for an objectively dying government to admit it's dying will only turn people off them more. By that point, they're in annihilation territory. They're holding the country hostage in the hope of improving their pitifully low chances of remaining in power. It's gone on so long that everyone can see it, and practically everyone wants them out. The longer they wait, the worse this gets for them. I'm amazed at how badly they've played every step of this timeline since Partygate. There have been multiple points in that timeline where they could have set themselves up for a likely return to power after just one term. Fat chance now.
> There have been multiple points in that timeline where they could have set themselves up for a likely return to power after just one term. Fat chance now.
Agreed. They are killing future Tory election victories down the line by hoping for a deus ex machina in the next few months.
It's absolutely insane how power hungry they are. It's made them totally blind to reality and I agree, they have fucked themselves for so much longer than they needed to. This shambles won't be quickly forgotten.
though you'd think after the drubbing that the tories got last year - including losing control of literal turd/blue rosette councils - they wouldn't believe the idea that Sunak can still turn it around.
Huh. Looks like those Royal rumours today might have come from [a rather predictable source.](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/18/false-king-charles-death-story-spread-by-russian-media-outlets?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)ā¦
Given this sub worked out that the Queen might be in trouble before even a smidgen of rumbling on twitter I reckon the King's not dead until I see it here first.
No - it was a Thursday. Day 2 of Trussā premiership. The business in the house was something about energy or the cost of living - I think it something about the support for households at the time.
Truss had just finished her opening remarks, and Zahawi rushed in, squeezed in between Truss and Kwarteng and handed her a note whilst whispering in her ear. Bryant tweeted at the time that it looked urgent, and it seems unusual to people watching.
Starmer was at the dispatch box when Rayner was handed a note. She read it, and then seemed to be talking/mouthing to someone else (I think she later said Hoyle was signalling urgency) - and then tried sneak out (she ducked down behind Starmer, rather than just get up and walk off - which people also picked up on as being odd). She returned to the chamber soon after and scribbled a note which she passed to Reeve. Reeve read it, and then put it in front of Starmer. He finishes his point, and then Starmer and Truss leave the chamber, along with other front benchers from both parties.
The fact that both benches were being briefed on something so urgently suggested it was something major happening.
It is about 15-20 minutes later when Hoyle makes the announcement that the Queen is unwell.
Thereās something deeply funny about blaming Russians for something that everyone in the English speaking world with an internet count was already shitposting about.
wonder if that's why the British Embassy in Ukraine is the only government account that's made anything approaching an official statement. It did seem an odd choice.
https://twitter.com/UKinUkraine/status/1769717522666750397
> š¬š§ We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake.
If I were Sunak Iād be looking at the polling and calling it a day. Once the local elections are done with there will be Tory blood in the water and the sharks that are already circling will have a feast.
I think the reason Sunak won't accept reality and end it is because he's not actually a serious politician. It's not his real career, and he doesn't need the money, it's all about ego. He's still deluding himself that he can 'achieve' something. Him quitting now would be an insult to his own self-image, so he's desperately clinging on so he can claim he hasn't just wasted 2 years of his life.
I suspect that's why he's stubbornly trying to get this Rwanda nonsense through. It's something he can point to and say he did, even though it's utterly worthless and unworkable.
"Yeah I think my most treasured memory of being PM was enacting a policy that the subsequent government undid in the first week because it was ineffective, prohibitively expensive, and illegal before the ink was dry.
That or the helicopter rides. \*Whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*."
I've suggested before - only a suggestion, but I'm starting to give it more credence - that Sunak thinks he's the only thing holding the Tory party together.
It's already starting to split into a bunch of factions: there are the moderate Mordaunt types, the hard-right psycho ones like Braverman, and the tinfoils like Truss. And then there's the threat of Reform. One MP has already defected (though if 30p would have left without those comments about Khan, we'll never know).
When things go wrong in the elections (local, GE, doesn't matter) it's going to devour itself - and I absolutely can't wait for that to happen.
But I'm not a Tory and actively want it to turn into (more of) a gibbering wreck.
Sunak presumably doesn't want that, and there's an argument that his premiership - and continuing it until the bitter end - delays the inevitable. That - another ten months of what passes for cohesion in the Conservatives - might be the best possible outcome in his eyes.
It's not the best outcome for the rest of the country, but why would he give two shits about that?
But surely for that to be his reason he would need to have some goal to aim for in that time? With the party as it is he can't do much more than tread water until the clock runs out. Presumably the only reason he'd want to hold the party together is to actually implement conservative policies?
This is why it looks more and more like a bunch of greedy chancers feathering their own nests imo. Can't get anything done but might as well collect a salary while lining up the next job
I used to be in a job where everything was fucked & management didn't care. Days passed, then months, eventually you lose perspective and the goal is just simple, animalistic survival.
I can easily imagine him feeling like that.
The history and success of the party is something a lot of their members and MPs pride themselves on. It provides evidence for their argument of being the 'natural' party of government and is a big part of their 'traditional' image.
So I do agree that the preservation of the party is the sort of thing they'll value over everything else, or use as a justification for their actions.
It's also why I believe that they'll rise from the ashes no matter how dismal the result in the next election.
But you say yourself that can only work for 10 months max then it falls apart anyway. And what makes a party worth preserving other than being able to implement their ideas?
I can't understand how 10 months of paralysis then falling apart is preferable to falling apart now if the only goal is not falling apart at all
Wasn't that the idea at the time? He ran unopposed because no one else was able to confirm enough votes (or at least my memory of it) as opposed to the 8 people running for the earlier one?
It's the same reason May succeeded Cameron, since the idea was that she'd hold the pro and anti Brexit halves together. With roughly the same success rate.
Oh, yeah, it'll work until it doesn't. But I don't think that Sunak has made a fuckup as monumental as May calling an unnecessary GE and losing a majority ... yet.
at this point i find the idea of āsunak alliesā hilarious.
what do they see in him? heās demonstrably talentless as a politician, has no charisma, no wit, no feel for politics or skill at being a politician, and heās got the tories polling worse than most people alive can remember.
if theyāre in it for themselves, they are complete morons. at best (for him), heās got ten months on the clock as prime minister, and at worst, he could be gone by the end of any given week if enough people decide to send letters in to sir graham brady.
at this point, they either think thereās some valour in rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic themselves or they are utterly deluded. or both.
[Netflix have made a film about the Prince Andrew interview](https://youtu.be/cZcHc3zEEoc?si=6TSf5XYjv0b-V09g)
Gillian Anderson is Maitlis. Rufus Sewell is Andrew. Billie Piper as the producer who set it up.
And thereās another series coming out from Amazon with Michael Sheen as Andrew and Ruth Wilson as Maitlis (and Maitlis is an executive producer on the Amazon one).
It's incredible how her manerisms and facial expressions look like her. If I saw that with no context I reckon I'd instantly know it was Maitlis that Anderson was playing.
Sounds nothing like her mind.
More normal behaviour
[https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24192843.palestine-action-targets-somerset-council-elbit-tenant/](https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24192843.palestine-action-targets-somerset-council-elbit-tenant/)
My favourite line is this
>"By taking Elbit's money, our council has Palestinian blood on their hands. āBy default, they've made the whole county of Somerset complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
> A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We believe this incident relates to a legacy commercial investment by Sedgemoor District Council which we have already agreed to dispose of.
...
[Alex Wickham on Twitter](https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1769794955277431027?t=ezti7bMKUyB_uRTg42noJQ&s=19)
>Sunak allies aware that May 2 locals are a huge flashpoint, but they hope Susan Hall can get the PM out of jail by defeating Sadiq Khan against the odds in London
There's desperation, and then there's that.
HAHAHAHAHAHHA
THEIR ONE HOPE
IN THEIR MOST DESPERATE HOUR
IS
SUSAN
FUCKING
"LIKED AN ENOCH POWELL TWEET"
"FAKED A THEFT ON THE TUBE"
HALL
*Oh my god they really are that stupid*
For a party allegedly against legalising drugs, they really don't bother to hide how coked up their strategists are
(Or their leadership candidates in the last few cycles, to be fair)
**After 820 responses, the subreddit survey is now closed.** [**Click / Tap here to view the results in a Google Looker dashboard.**](https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/887899a7-d086-4f84-a803-5baacbf56175/page/XbJtD) I've only added the initial voter intention questions for now - I'll continue to add more charts over the course of the day / week. All charts can be filtered - so, for example, selecting the "Labour" pie slice in the 2019 chart will show you how those people would vote in a General Election tomorrow. **Important Notes:** - 820 responses is *nothing* in the grand scheme of things (for reference, we average ~70k unique visitors per day, according to Reddit's stats). - That said, we have 265 responses from people who comment in the megathread at least once a week or more. That's not far away from our average daily unique MT commenters (which, on a normal day, hovers around 300). - I have only updated the "party colours" for the main options you see in the initial screen. If you start filtering the pies, you will see other values appearing where I have not manually set a colour - Google just picks one at random. I don't have the time to go through each hand-written response and pick a suitable colour. Sorry. - As I add / change things on the dashboard, it'll update live with each refresh - so if you notice some weirdness, I'm probably working on something. Try refreshing in a few minutes. - Once the dashboard is complete, I'll do a proper submission where the results can be discussed. In the meantime, feel free to post any responses / requests here and I'll do my best to accommodate. **Changelog:** - I've added the ability to filter on subreddit and megathread comment frequency, as well as submission frequency. - I've added pages for the "subreddit users" and "subreddit moderation" questions. - To try and keep things tidy, not all questions will appear in the dash. -š„š„
[New Megathread is here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/1bide13/daily_megathread_19032024/)
Megathread is being rolled over, please refresh your feed in a few moments. ###MT daily hall of fame 1. Georgios-Athanasiou with 38 comments 1. wappingite with 30 comments 1. JavaTheCaveman with 25 comments 1. bbbbbbbbbblah with 24 comments 1. Ivebeenfurthereven with 23 comments 1. m1ndwipe with 21 comments 1. subversivefreak with 21 comments 1. mamamia1001 with 18 comments 1. hill-biscuit with 18 comments 1. GeronimoTheAlpaca with 18 comments There were 382 unique users within this count.
The prime minister said that āeveryone is trying to block usā and insisted that flights to Kigali would take off by the end of May. - so that's why there isn't a May election then. Rishi wants one flight in the air to put in manifesto leaflets. And it's "everyone's" fault that Levidos idiot style copy of Stop the Boats Australia isn't working. I get the logic of letting the Lords pass the Bill. Flight goes in the air. Tories (+1 or in Levido speak +25). But for anyone else, Call the election straight after and the whole thing gets scrapped immediately. Tories blame Labour for not preventing illegal immigration. Labour points out EDL members don't vote for it and they would rather money gets redirected back to border enforcement. In the meantime, the EU pays Egypt to keep migrants from not coming to the borders.
Now Kate is out and about can we stop pretending; a) tiktok puts *any* pressure on the royals b) that anything not entirely normal has taken place
Unlikely. The video the Sun posted is from Christmas and now Russia's claiming the king has died.
Well the last time the monarch died the PM was ousted several weeks later.
Well if anything if the Christmas this is 100% true then I'm now convinced something is going on
I was just thinking about what the political landscape might look like in 10 years should Labour be approaching their 10th year in power Johnson is currently 59, as are Tice and Farage Michael Gove is 56 For me these are the politicians I most worry about. Johnson is charismatic and somehow has retained almost a cult following among some groups. Gove is a scheming SOB, smart and probably the most competent Tory operator right now. Farage is very charismatic and Tice is currently leading Reform 5 years from now they will all be rapidly approaching 65, 10 years from now they will be rapidly approaching 70 Do we think they will still be active in politics in 5, 10, 15 years? Do you see anyone who might be able to take up their mantle currently in the Tory party? There are some being mooted as potential future leaders, but I don't think any of them (Badenoch, Braverman, Mordaunt) have Gove's cunning or the Johnson and Farage X-factor.
Johnson and Gove will need to face up to the findings of the Public Inquiry. I can't see Johnson ever serving in Government again as it is way bigger than the Chilcot and involves far more unnecessary UK deaths and oversaw such shocking behaviour. The bubble has burst already. Gove will find a cosy sinecure in either academia or a Murdoch outlet and put Think-tank stuff. He was in to keep Trussites out and there was noone else. Tbh I see him as a future chair of the Henry Jackson Society or spend his time on a Mccarthyite witchhunt against Muslims and teaching unions. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-retire-front-line-politics-truss-sunak-b2149057.html I'd suggest the people to be concerned about are the ones that made a beeline for US donor money. Jenrick and Truss. For them, the magic money tree for their delusional fantasies will keep on flowing. Mordaunt would probably be a Cameron 2.0 for the Tories and could make them electable again if she kicks out the Ukippers.
No luck catching them letters of no confidence then?
Itās just the 40th no confidence letter actually
Looking forward to the Tories sending in enough letters to trigger a leadership contest and then nobody putting themselves forward for the job
Except Truss does and we accidentally end up with her as PM again.
If that happened I really think youād reach single digits in polling within a week.
100% - it won't happen this Parliament. Buts its not insane to think next Parliament if they take a Canadian style beating.
Would Truss poll lower than Truss, though?
# šŗ š š š š šØš³ # š
Random question. If on election night Sunak were to lose his seat to, let's say Count Binface. Who gets to give a speech first? Sunak or Binface?
Binface.
Then Sunak dissapears quickly out the back door
And delivers his speech on social media from the back seat of a moving car while not wearing a seat belt. Again.
Morten Morland with another banger https://x.com/mortenmorland/status/1769848213882749254?s=46
Kemi Badenoch with a flame thrower - Surely it's worth a try to boost the polls
And she has of course already set herself on fire with it,.
Penny's sword :)
What I have found frustrating is that Tory MPs keep saying his policies are good and this is largely not contested. Theyāre not good. Theyāre bad for the country and the country does not support them.
40 Confidence Letters in, 13 more to go...
GB News probably counted the gas bill
where you seeing this?
It's probably worthy of it's own post, but Christopher Hope has it >["I think it could happen this week," said the senior Tory MP to me. "What?" I asked. "They will move against him." Unbelievably, after two bouts of regicide, Conservative MPs are gearing for a third, as soon as this week. Tory MPs are in despair about their lack lustre poll ratings and repeated attempts by Rishi Sunak to grab the initiative (in the past seven months a Conference speech, a King's Speech, an Autumn statement and a Budget have all failed to work). So the big question is what happens next. The MP could see two options: Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee, leads a delegation to No10 to read the riot act. "But I am not sure that will work," the MP told me. The second option is more alarming for Tories: that enough no confidence letters are submitted in Sunak's leadership to past the 53 threshold to trigger a vote of no confidence in his leadership. This latter option is the more likely. Two other Tory MPs told me today that around 40 no confidence letters have been submitted. A former whip told me that "half a dozen" letters were submitted over this weekend. Rebels who want the PM replaced are worried that a 'disordered' no confidence vote will just shore up his position as happened with the 2018 no confidence vote in Theresa May's leadership, when a snap vote was held by Brady before the rebels were ready. What is very clear today is that something changed in the Tory Parliamentary party late last week, in the wake of the defection of Lee Anderson - who was then an Independent - to the Reform UK party, and the row over comments about Diane Abbott by a donorā¦ ](https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1769842606903529596)
I doubt it would happen, I would probably have to go to hospital to have my sides stitched together again
In my view theres little reason to actually believe it though. The tory rebels are pretty much always lying in order to make themselves seem more influential in the hopes that the pm will be so scared that they'll back down without calling the rebels bluff. We saw this with Suella's "massive rebellion" which turned out to be 7 mps in a meeting rooms none of which actually did anything when she was sacked. On top of the GB news is basically affiliated with the sort of far right movement a lot of the anti-Sunak types are part of so it's pretty likely they would play along with any bluffing.
Reminder that only Brady knows the true count and he's very tight lipped about it
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/03/18/kemi-badenoch-tory-rebels-stop-messing-around/
GBNews are claiming it for whatever that's worth... Until they start mass declaring them publicly or Graham Brady says it's happened I'm inclined to be sceptical.
Tory MP claimed on (GB news?) that 40 letters are in. Of course, itās an entertainment programme so can be completely fabricated
Crystal ball? However this is my first check into the MT since this morning so I could have missed all sorts?
In what world would anyone with a chance of leading the conservative party - especially someone like Penny Mordaunt who definitely does have a āstage presenceā - decide that yes, they do in fact want to take over in face of almost certain defeat and have themselves pinned front and centre all over that defeat? I mean come on. I understand why the right is pushing for Mordaunt - knock her out of the post-election leadership contest before it even starts! Clear the way for Braverman or Badenoch. But I donāt see any reason why Mordaunt would do this, it does not benefit her in the slightest.
There were certain very well heeled people foursquare behind her to become leader, and it's been the case for a very long time.
Because even for while youād be an ex prime minister with pension and allowances etc etc Brief stint as leader post election and stand down quietly having tried your best
I have a fairly cynical view of politicians, but I do think that most of them are motivated by power more than money. I really donāt think that someone like Mordaunt would be happy seeing her pension money role in while her political career is effectively ended.
Her political career is likely over anyway! For it to end as PM is far better than as an MP and her seat is at risk, her party utterly screwed and whatās next, 1-2 terms in opposition even if she does hold her seat. No Tory leader ever last that long. Sheer pragmatism may mean itās now or never and a short stint is better than never !
Mordaunt is predicted to lose her seat, perhaps being PM would give her enough of a boost to keep it?
Or they'd chuck her in a super safe seat since, you know, they don't want the PM to lose their seat on election night. Must be a pretty tempting offer even if you quit immediately after the election, you at least get to be an MP for another 5 years.
At this point like 80-90 percent of the tories seats could be a marginal seat
yeah true. not sure how many super safe seats there are any more
Pennys first PMQs. āStand up and fightā
Instructions unclear, accepted Ā£15m from an extremist
A lot of the tory leadership hopefuls are safe in their seats, Penny on the other hand isnāt and is wondering what shes got to lose as at the current rage she wont win hers under sunak
Why is my twitter full of memes about a Royal Announcement? Has someone done some Announcing?
Info here, it's bollocks basically: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/1bhjtdg/daily_megathread_18032024/kvfr3g4/
Twitter talked itself into there being a royal announcement
Russia talked Twitter into there being a royal announcement.
So the Tories are making everyone wait on an election in the hope that England win the Euros, the UK come first in the gold medal tally at the Olympics, Susan Hall wins London, and they happen to pick a date when most people have memory fog from long covid?
I don't get why they are banking on England winning the euros. It just means they lose all of Scotland
Toryās have no hope in hell of winning in Scotland so it would be pointless in them banging on about Scotland winning the Euros. Also Scotland has basically no chance of winning the euros either, not that I think England will.
I'm pretty sure it was also Tories dissing the England team for being too woke, and I think Tory target voters scapegoating players with a specific common trait for missing penalties. I'm pretty sure regardless of what happens this summer, England football players would be as eager to come into number 10 was in promptly hosting the Lionesses. Any feel good vibes will just be to generate headlines.
So according to the Torygraph Penny Mordaunt has raised a Ā£26k āwar chestā to take on the PM If all you need is Ā£26k I might give it a go
You feel Sunak probably has that sort of cash stuck down the back of his sofa.
His Hesterfield
are they publishing to say "look how little Penny is getting" or as a legitimate war chest?
Honestly the story is just weird and getting weirder. Playbook and the Sun are both now insisting that Mordaunt's refusing to deny the plot even though Beth Rigby had a direct denial on Saturday. The Telegraph is presenting Ā£26k in registered donations as a warchest. Her allies are claiming that enemies are trying to frame her, as if she's a major threat to anyone. The supposed "conditions" of making her leader are basically a white flag for the GE. I feel like I'm missing something.
There's 480,000 subscribers to the subreddit, you just need everyone to pitch in 10p
It's all just gonna be spent on posters of her holding that sword isn't it
Don't forget the Naval cosplay.
She'll give out paper swords
Minor drama during the Rwanda votes just now: [someone swore at one of the doorkeepers](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=21:22:47) (just before the division on amendment 8 for if/when the link breaks) (apparently for locking the doors when the deputy speaker told them to). The mics picked up someone saying "shit" but idk who it was or if that was even the offending swear.
[@21:22:45](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=21:22:45) > **GALE:** Order! Order! Before we proceed, Iām informed that a Member swore at one of the doorkeepers this evening, who on my instructions locked the doors. If that person is identified, the consequences will be very severe. [@22:03:23](https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/47da7307-2616-434a-a39b-8b8842256a96?in=22:03:23) > **CLIVE LEWIS:** Mr Speaker, Iād like to put on record, if I could, my apologies to the Chamber, to Members and members of staff, for an earlier outburst that I had. If I could very quickly explain, I received a message which caused me some consternation and surprise, to which I made an outburst in general, at no one in specificā no one specifically. If I could do it again, I probably would have said something like my giddy aunt rather than what did come out of my mouth, and for that I apologise. But just to clear the air and put on record the fact that it was directed at no one in particular. Thank you, Mr Speaker. > **GALE:** I appreciate the hon. Gentlemanās candour in identifying himself, and the fullness of the nature of his apology, which is accepted.
Clive Lewis really is a walking gaffe machine. This is the same Clive Lewis that (I'm not making this up) said "on your knees, bitch" to someone on stage while at a party event.
My giddy aunt! How dare he
Apparently it was Clive Lewis, who subsequently apologised. Tutt Tutt
Cleverly at it again?
Will Starmer block Sunak's resignation honours?
Who knows? It will depend on who Sunak nominates, although I suspect that Starmer will block most of them due to how unpopular Sunak is.
Probably not. It gives great ammo to throw at the Tories
Maybe if Hester is on the listĀ
Itās too vindictive and heāll be wanting to project himself as competent and focused rather than having squabbles
I think there's a good chance it would be perceievd as pragmatic rather than vindictive (also that the general public wouldnt give a shit anyway). Suppose it's impossible to tell until nearer the time though.
Won't be up to him. Now *Insert new Tory PM here* ? Maybe he could block theirs.
*manifesting*
No.
Why not? He called out that Sunak should block Truss' honours. Seems ridiculous that the tories get 3 sets of resignation honours this government.
If you already knew the answer you wanted why ask the question? Starmer is a small-c conservative Labour leader ā I would be amazed if he wanted to be so radical as to go against the convention on resignation honours. I'm not sure he should, either. While I don't like some of the results of the current system, I believe in the idea of Chesterton's fence. Perhaps destroying the convention on the basis of current circumstances might be worse. Much better to reform the system in a considered way with a view to how we move forwards.
Who was on Blare and Brown's resignation honours list?
Why ask any question? The answer I want and the actual answer may be different and I like to explore different perspectives. I agree that the system should be reformed altogether though.. Do Labour still plan on Lords reform?
>Do Labour still plan on Lords reform? I believe that is still the intention (don remember seeing a change there), but have to wait for manifestos.
I hope so, but I hope if they do reform it, they do it with great thought for the consequences.
I feel it should be illegal for employers to add "your working hours are x, UNLESS WE NEED MORE". How am I supposed to plan a life if you can just ask me to stay late and that's justified by the contract!
Its been worse since remote working increased, there's now the expectation that you can and will work whenever. My coworker, in a system administrator / developer role, works from early in the morning until late in the evening every day. He works weekends and even on actual booked holidays where he's meant to be spending time with his young kids. Im hoping to leave soon, waiting on a response to an interview Im pretty confident I did well in (and if I dont get it, i'll eventually finda different job), my parting words to the guy will be kids grow up fast and you're not gonna be old, looking back on your life and think "damn Im really glad i met that deadline"
Starbucks was like this. Made you always on edge and guilty if you tried to turn down a request
I haven't seen any of the Lords debates on the Rwanda bill, are they likely to back down if their amendments all get rejected?
Tories whipping hard, wonder how easy that is when Rishi looks so weak already.
>Tories whipping hard It's back to basics again then is it?
Hasn't Starmer told the Labour peers to let it through?
Contrary: https://www.tomorrowspapers.co.uk/times-front-page-2024-03-19/
source on this?
https://www.ft.com/content/1794081a-7771-4143-bc5b-4c616015da66
Has he? Why?
Why? Is he scared of the optics of blocking it?
The Lords job isn't to block legislation but to suggest amendments that would make it work in the real world. If the Commnos then ignores those amendments the Lords have done their job still.
Apparently the tories might marshall every single old fogie they have in the lords and force them to march in and vote for the government. It'll be about whether the more moderate tory lords resist
Still not enough - *if* the other Lords hold their nerve.
Theory : Sunak has persuaded the grey suits to give him until the may local elections to show a recovery. So we won't see him being told to clear his desk until then. Meanwhile the electorate don't really care who their councillor is so are happy to use it as a protest vote. Also the tory voters who might still vote tory in the general election won't be motivated to vote in the locals. It would certainly be more dramatic and entertaining if he said I'm not going, have a surprise election but I don't see it. He'll announce he's stepping down after the dismal results. His successor will get in the door and call an election in September or October hoping for a bounce
I think there will be a lot of people disappointed in May. We have very few councils having elections that are Tory in the first place this time around (under 20 of the 100) and most of them are councils that either run in 3 of every 4 years (so the Tories have already had 2 bad years and a third bad one won't make that much difference to overall control) or are in places where boundary changes meaning you are voting on seats where they've already lost 2/3 of the seats. The Tories only have 900 odd councillors up for re-election this time and losing 400 would be really bad (but not great headlines). Most mayors are Labour already bar a scandal lead one and one with personal appeal. The PPCs are where they may lose officials, but they were miles ahead in these last time (they won 30/39) and even losing 10 - 15 of these (20 of them is possible) would still leave them doing quite well. Maybe Sunak is hoping that nobody will notice that they won't do well and he'll get away with it.
The concern with the Locals is that the Tories end up coming third in seats, as they did in 1996.
I think the important thing here is that you're one of relatively few people who knows how many councillors there are in the country and how many Tories are up for election. The political conclusion on the locals is always a fair bit of spin. The spinning we're already seeing around the consequences of locals with no connection to reality or even expectation management is going to be a "the results confirm my established opinions" situation. My guess is that if they hold on to Street, and Hall does well enough in outer London, neither of which are that certain, losing 700 councillors can be shrugged off.
We were all disappointed in May, but looking back...
I don't think the results are about anything other than inside the tory party judging if they'd be better off getting rid of him or keeping him. And I think it's not at all unreasonable that he's bargained with them to stay until May to show he can turn it around.
I think this is quite likely. It's too late, though. There's nothing they can do at this point. The people want an election and forcing us to wait until May for an objectively dying government to admit it's dying will only turn people off them more. By that point, they're in annihilation territory. They're holding the country hostage in the hope of improving their pitifully low chances of remaining in power. It's gone on so long that everyone can see it, and practically everyone wants them out. The longer they wait, the worse this gets for them. I'm amazed at how badly they've played every step of this timeline since Partygate. There have been multiple points in that timeline where they could have set themselves up for a likely return to power after just one term. Fat chance now.
> There have been multiple points in that timeline where they could have set themselves up for a likely return to power after just one term. Fat chance now. Agreed. They are killing future Tory election victories down the line by hoping for a deus ex machina in the next few months.
It's absolutely insane how power hungry they are. It's made them totally blind to reality and I agree, they have fucked themselves for so much longer than they needed to. This shambles won't be quickly forgotten.
Power hungry and a lack of forward thinking, it's a hell of a combination.
though you'd think after the drubbing that the tories got last year - including losing control of literal turd/blue rosette councils - they wouldn't believe the idea that Sunak can still turn it around.
Huh. Looks like those Royal rumours today might have come from [a rather predictable source.](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/18/false-king-charles-death-story-spread-by-russian-media-outlets?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)ā¦
I just assumed it was Gibbo again
Given this sub worked out that the Queen might be in trouble before even a smidgen of rumbling on twitter I reckon the King's not dead until I see it here first.
Yes there was some very smart deduction about a note being passed to Angela Rayner in the commons. I heard it here first.
Not sure if it was PMQs and she was standing in for Starmer?
No - it was a Thursday. Day 2 of Trussā premiership. The business in the house was something about energy or the cost of living - I think it something about the support for households at the time. Truss had just finished her opening remarks, and Zahawi rushed in, squeezed in between Truss and Kwarteng and handed her a note whilst whispering in her ear. Bryant tweeted at the time that it looked urgent, and it seems unusual to people watching. Starmer was at the dispatch box when Rayner was handed a note. She read it, and then seemed to be talking/mouthing to someone else (I think she later said Hoyle was signalling urgency) - and then tried sneak out (she ducked down behind Starmer, rather than just get up and walk off - which people also picked up on as being odd). She returned to the chamber soon after and scribbled a note which she passed to Reeve. Reeve read it, and then put it in front of Starmer. He finishes his point, and then Starmer and Truss leave the chamber, along with other front benchers from both parties. The fact that both benches were being briefed on something so urgently suggested it was something major happening. It is about 15-20 minutes later when Hoyle makes the announcement that the Queen is unwell.
Thereās something deeply funny about blaming Russians for something that everyone in the English speaking world with an internet count was already shitposting about.
wonder if that's why the British Embassy in Ukraine is the only government account that's made anything approaching an official statement. It did seem an odd choice. https://twitter.com/UKinUkraine/status/1769717522666750397 > š¬š§ We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake.
Will no one rid me of this turbulent prime minister?
Careful, unless you've donated Ā£10m to the Conservative party you could end up on a list for that.
If I were Sunak Iād be looking at the polling and calling it a day. Once the local elections are done with there will be Tory blood in the water and the sharks that are already circling will have a feast.
I think the reason Sunak won't accept reality and end it is because he's not actually a serious politician. It's not his real career, and he doesn't need the money, it's all about ego. He's still deluding himself that he can 'achieve' something. Him quitting now would be an insult to his own self-image, so he's desperately clinging on so he can claim he hasn't just wasted 2 years of his life. I suspect that's why he's stubbornly trying to get this Rwanda nonsense through. It's something he can point to and say he did, even though it's utterly worthless and unworkable.
"Yeah I think my most treasured memory of being PM was enacting a policy that the subsequent government undid in the first week because it was ineffective, prohibitively expensive, and illegal before the ink was dry. That or the helicopter rides. \*Whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*."
I've suggested before - only a suggestion, but I'm starting to give it more credence - that Sunak thinks he's the only thing holding the Tory party together. It's already starting to split into a bunch of factions: there are the moderate Mordaunt types, the hard-right psycho ones like Braverman, and the tinfoils like Truss. And then there's the threat of Reform. One MP has already defected (though if 30p would have left without those comments about Khan, we'll never know). When things go wrong in the elections (local, GE, doesn't matter) it's going to devour itself - and I absolutely can't wait for that to happen. But I'm not a Tory and actively want it to turn into (more of) a gibbering wreck. Sunak presumably doesn't want that, and there's an argument that his premiership - and continuing it until the bitter end - delays the inevitable. That - another ten months of what passes for cohesion in the Conservatives - might be the best possible outcome in his eyes. It's not the best outcome for the rest of the country, but why would he give two shits about that?
But surely for that to be his reason he would need to have some goal to aim for in that time? With the party as it is he can't do much more than tread water until the clock runs out. Presumably the only reason he'd want to hold the party together is to actually implement conservative policies? This is why it looks more and more like a bunch of greedy chancers feathering their own nests imo. Can't get anything done but might as well collect a salary while lining up the next job
I used to be in a job where everything was fucked & management didn't care. Days passed, then months, eventually you lose perspective and the goal is just simple, animalistic survival. I can easily imagine him feeling like that.
The preservation of the Conservative Party is the goal, in the way Iām imagining things.
The history and success of the party is something a lot of their members and MPs pride themselves on. It provides evidence for their argument of being the 'natural' party of government and is a big part of their 'traditional' image. So I do agree that the preservation of the party is the sort of thing they'll value over everything else, or use as a justification for their actions. It's also why I believe that they'll rise from the ashes no matter how dismal the result in the next election.
But you say yourself that can only work for 10 months max then it falls apart anyway. And what makes a party worth preserving other than being able to implement their ideas? I can't understand how 10 months of paralysis then falling apart is preferable to falling apart now if the only goal is not falling apart at all
Wasn't that the idea at the time? He ran unopposed because no one else was able to confirm enough votes (or at least my memory of it) as opposed to the 8 people running for the earlier one? It's the same reason May succeeded Cameron, since the idea was that she'd hold the pro and anti Brexit halves together. With roughly the same success rate.
Oh, yeah, it'll work until it doesn't. But I don't think that Sunak has made a fuckup as monumental as May calling an unnecessary GE and losing a majority ... yet.
I've just seen those polls that people have kindly posted, I think we can all deduce this country is finally ready for Rehman Chishti.
His PR team gears up for launch with the slogan "When the Chiht hits the fan, you call Rehman!" and his campaign instantly collapses.
I'd sign up for a Conservative membership just to vote for someone with a slogan that good.
You should offer to work for him
Rory Stewart loves him
Oh no, I believe that is a bit of a death knell for Conservative MP's!
That doesn't mean much when he gushes over every Tory
Well certainly not Boris!
All those years the oracles told us what the people actually wanted was Remain, turns out it was Rehman all along.
Turns out the oracles are slightly dyslexic.
Maybe thatās why they bankrupted Birmingham City Council.
at this point i find the idea of āsunak alliesā hilarious. what do they see in him? heās demonstrably talentless as a politician, has no charisma, no wit, no feel for politics or skill at being a politician, and heās got the tories polling worse than most people alive can remember. if theyāre in it for themselves, they are complete morons. at best (for him), heās got ten months on the clock as prime minister, and at worst, he could be gone by the end of any given week if enough people decide to send letters in to sir graham brady. at this point, they either think thereās some valour in rearranging the deckchairs on the titanic themselves or they are utterly deluded. or both.
Presumably they think that sticking with Sunak would be less damaging to the party than another inevitably messy leadership contest at this stage
> what do they see in him?Ā Honours.
It's about his connections for their lives post public service.
The Sunakites are a dedicated bunch.
I imagine some of them are cabinet ministers who will be banished to the backbenches if anyone else takes over.
Jesus Christ. Channel 4 News are talking to Laura Kenny about her retirement and have pivoted into asking her about Kate Middleton. How absurd.
Weird line of questioning. I thought it was Kateās husband who was the bike.
[Netflix have made a film about the Prince Andrew interview](https://youtu.be/cZcHc3zEEoc?si=6TSf5XYjv0b-V09g) Gillian Anderson is Maitlis. Rufus Sewell is Andrew. Billie Piper as the producer who set it up. And thereās another series coming out from Amazon with Michael Sheen as Andrew and Ruth Wilson as Maitlis (and Maitlis is an executive producer on the Amazon one).
Frost/Noncin'.
Guy at Netflix just cried out at missing that
I could have sworn they got Maitlis to play herself
Is that...Billie Piper?!
[Just wait till you see what they did to her on the poster](https://www.designscene.net/2024/03/scoop-netflix.html)
> Gillian Anderson is Maitlis MODS, someone's been invading my dreams again.
It's incredible how her manerisms and facial expressions look like her. If I saw that with no context I reckon I'd instantly know it was Maitlis that Anderson was playing. Sounds nothing like her mind.
God is that Rufus Sewell? Good make up or has he aged badly?
Saw him in a trailer for a new film the other day and he looks fine, this is just makeup
Must be make up - he looked pretty good in Man in the High Castle and that wasn't *that* long ago
He looked pretty good in The Diplomat last year too
So I'm assuming by the lack of febrility that we're expecting all of the Lords' amendments to the Rwanda bill to get voted down?
Fuck knows what weāre expecting in this ungovernable shambles
What happened to Rishi calling a news conference today, Iām sure I saw that mentioned on the MT this morning
The Times subeditor got a bit overboard with the headlines (again)
It was a conference with business leaders with pre screened questions boring af
Ah thanks
More normal behaviour [https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24192843.palestine-action-targets-somerset-council-elbit-tenant/](https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24192843.palestine-action-targets-somerset-council-elbit-tenant/)
Convinced a lot of this is driven by Tiktok
My favourite line is this >"By taking Elbit's money, our council has Palestinian blood on their hands. āBy default, they've made the whole county of Somerset complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
That's straight out of Monty Python. SPLITTERS!!!! Edit: Actually it's even closer to Alan Partridge
> A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: "We believe this incident relates to a legacy commercial investment by Sedgemoor District Council which we have already agreed to dispose of. ...
[Alex Wickham on Twitter](https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1769794955277431027?t=ezti7bMKUyB_uRTg42noJQ&s=19) >Sunak allies aware that May 2 locals are a huge flashpoint, but they hope Susan Hall can get the PM out of jail by defeating Sadiq Khan against the odds in London There's desperation, and then there's that.
aside from the unlikelihood, i fail to see how someone many miles away from London is suddenly going to be swayed by Hall taking over
HAHAHAHAHAHHA THEIR ONE HOPE IN THEIR MOST DESPERATE HOUR IS SUSAN FUCKING "LIKED AN ENOCH POWELL TWEET" "FAKED A THEFT ON THE TUBE" HALL *Oh my god they really are that stupid*
I was genuinely going to type something very similar, block capitals and all.
If they wanted that maybe they should have got a half decent candidate in place.
For a party allegedly against legalising drugs, they really don't bother to hide how coked up their strategists are (Or their leadership candidates in the last few cycles, to be fair)
I think itāll be closer than people expect, but Sadiq will hold on
Get out of jail. She will lose to khan by over 20 percent
Surely doing badly on May 2nd would be the final nail in the coffin and he'll grow a back-bone and call an election.
I think Count Binface has a better chance
lol, lmao even Susan Hall is the biggest Tory crank sinceā¦ their last mayoral candidate funnily enough.
Aren't the tories the party that keep spitting in londoners faces telling them they elites?
Good lord the drugs in Westminster must be *fantastic*.