The Intelligence & Security Committee has published a bscathing update on its review of the Mandelson papers. This is a significant task for which the ISC had had to set aside other work but government has yet to provide the documents it promised to get to the committee by 10 April.
16 days until Scotland votes. Tonight Prof Sir John Curtice explains what the polls are really telling us — and what a transformed Holyrood would mean.
Free. 6pm. Glasgow and online.
🎟️ eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-parliament-transformed-making-sense-of-scotlands-election-tickets-1737347355709
Our submission to the Representation of the People Bill committee has been published: bills.parliament.uk/publications...
⏰ You only have just under 10 hours left to register to vote in May’s Scottish Parliament election.
Please make sure you are registered to ensure that you can have your say.
Gov.uk/register-to-vote
#ScottishParliament #SP26 #Holyrood26
Here's what the SNP have to say on democracy and elections in their 2026 Holyrood manifesto published this morning 👇
upgradeholyrood.com/2026/04/16/s...
There is a new Clerk of the Parliaments - and the first time, it is a woman!
1/5 🗳️ Why reporting of devolved politics matters ahead of elections in 🇬🇧
Our new Cardiff University research (featured in Guardian) shows many voters in Wales are still unsure who is responsible for key policy decisions such as UK or Welsh governments: www.theguardian.com/media/2026/a...
Candidates for the Scottish Parliamentary elections were published last night. These are now all in our system, and voters can view their ballot papers by entering their postcode: whocanivotefor.co.uk
Scottish Parliament Nominations! 🧵
Allowing for human error (it's late), here's my first pass at numbers!
Total Unique Candidates: 683 nominated candidates, down from 808 in 2021
Constituency: 437, up from 357
Region: 581, down from 701
(Unique isn't Const + List as many contest both ballots)
Voters in Wales and Scotland don't need to show ID to vote (for non-Westminster elections), so this applies to voters in England.
One month left to apply: People voting in the upcoming local elections in May can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, a free form of ID that can be used to vote at a polling station. The Electoral Commission is calling for people to get hold of one if they don't have other photo ID
Out today: The latest edition of The Constitution In Review by the United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group. Their latest report covers 1 Jul-1 Dec 2025 and is required reading for all with an in interest the UK's constitutional arrangements. Read it now at: consoc.org.uk/publications...
With just two days to go until nominations close, it's being reported that Guy Ingerson is no longer the top candidate for the Greens in the North East, so Maggie Chapman presumably returns to the top of the list, going from "guaranteed loss" to "50/50 depending on how much SNP warp proportionality"
Political AI deepfakes are "unacceptable" but not, crucially, illegal - meaning I expect we'll still see a fair bit of it from outriders, bots and the far-right
I've written on my blog about last week's important decision from the Court of Session looking at the interaction between legal professional privilege and FOI law: blog.alistairsloan.co.uk/2026/03/30/s...
#FOI #Scotland #LPP #FreedomofInformation
The Duke is coneless ... I repeat, the Duke is coneless ... this is not a drill ... Can all available Guardians of the Cone please report to their assigned posts as soon as possible to rectify the situation.
#glasgow #dukeofwellington #roadcone #glasgowhumour
Excellent 🧵
Here's the Electoral Commission statement on the police investigation into Gorton & Denton by-election claims. Includes a promise to 'discuss with Democracy Volunteers the definitions they use and the training they give their observers'.
www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre...
This statement includes the finding that the behaviour described by the Democracy Volunteers observers (the only source of the allegations) did not even amount to the offence about which they were complaining, and which they told the press they had witnessed.
www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater...
Now confirmed here.
news.sky.com/story/politi...
bsky.app/profile/publ...
Greater Manchester Police has found "no evidence of any intent to influence or refrain any person from voting" in the Gorton and Denton by-election, after Reform made a complaint over alleged "family voting"
The investigation looked at potential offences under the Representation of the People Act
⚖️ NEW: Here's our analysis with a scorecard weighing up where the Rycroft Review:
✅ hit the nail on the head with its recommendations
💪 should have been stronger
...and crucially what needs to happen next to protect our democracy ⬇️
www.spotlightcorruption.org/revving-up-a...
Inner House of Court of Session strongly emphasise importance and public interest in upholding legal professional privilege, concluding the Scottish Information Commissioner made "error of law" in ordering Scottish Government disclosure. www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/zzgbx5...
This is a really important point and it will likely depend on the language used by the government in its amendment to ban crypto donations, ie if it includes a neat solution to cover both third payment providers and amounts under £500.
The Electoral Commission press release phrases it as Gov 'implementing a ban immediately with legislation to follow'(!) & says they are working to provide advice about what this means in practice. It risks confusing affected actors close to an election. www.electoralcommission.org.uk/media-centre...
Gov is going to put the reforms into amendments to the Representation of the People Bill currently in Parliament. When Bill passes, the bans will then take effect retrospectively to criminalise relevant donations accepted from today. Urgency justifies the unusual use of retrospective law, Gov thinks
The government have promptly announced the implementation of two of the recommendations in today's Rycroft Review:
1. an annual cap on overseas donations
2. a moratorium on cryptocurrency donations
In both cases, I think the government should adopt a bolder legislative strategy (a thread...)
UK Gov has reserved power to legislate here as regards donations to political parties. Steve Reed's answers to MPs in statement on Rycroft suggest that aspect of crypto ban will apply from today to parties contesting upcoming Scottish & Welsh parliamentary elections.
Crypto ban & overseas donation caps to be done by amendment to the Representation of the People Bill at report stage. Gov aims to extend reforms to candidates in Scot Parl & Senedd elections. That's devolved law, so legislative consent will be sought. Reforms won't pass in time to apply in May poll.
Rycroft review looks sensible, but I don't understand why a moratorium on crypto donations to political parties is preferable to a straight ban, not least because a future government could (it looks like) scrap the moratorium whenever it wanted.