Who should you follow for polling and politics of the Senedd elections? @jaclarner.bsky.social

Something like this happened in my family too. A dramatic, if initially slow moving change. But to someone whose own life was wholly off-line. The Daily Mail, old school local newsletters and conversations with neighbours worried about the area was ‘changing’ were enough. Started well before 2016.

Where’s Reform? The 2026 Senedd election campaign so far Richard Wyn Jones I hate to have to admit it, but devolved election campaigns tend to be rather dull affairs. I’m not even convinced that they make much of a difference either. The overwhelming majori...

Obviously, I might end up looking very stupid! But here goes anyway... From me on the Senedd election campaign so far.

nation.cymru/opinion/wher...

Features my fantastic colleagues @jaclarner.bsky.social @lauramcallister30.bsky.social and @richardwynjones.bsky.social

Wales elections: what can we expect ahead of the polls? Wales will elect a new and expanded Senedd in three weeks time, there will be 96 new members rather than the current 60.

Want to understand the collapse of Labour in Wales?
And the Senedd elections more broadly?
Take 6 or 7 minutes to watch this report.
(#the implosion of the electorally most successful party in the democratic world.)
www.channel4.com/news/wales-e...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

📝 Don't miss this article!

'The politics of abstentionism: Comparing Sinn Féin’s Westminster abstentionism to the Basque Nationalist Left’s engagement with the Spanish Parliament, 1979–2025' by @thomasdmleahy.bsky.social & @ikererdocia.bsky.social

🔗 buff.ly/15x6FSO

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

Unlike groups in Scotland where the constitutional question is bound up in support for SNP, few Plaid supporters we spoke to were voting for independence, instead support was more general sense Plaid cared about wales and were genuinely local “I think everyone in this room knows a Plaid candidate”

Plenty of people considering Plaid for the first time. In most cases it wasn’t about a specific Plaid policy offer which many hadn’t heard of (except for childcare), but instead 3 primary drivers 1. Wales needed Change 2. Plaid would stand up for Wales 3. A vote to stop Reform

One thing that was very definitely hurting Reform was a feeling that Brexit had failed Wales, a number of participants pointed to things like the head of the valleys road as being EU funded and that Wales had now lost that funding.

Ditto while in English groups Reform absorbing ex-Tories is rarely seen as an issue it came up repeatedly in Wales as a sign the party was picking up another party’s rejects. This maybe a reflection of the Tories never having been particularly popular in some of these parts of Wales.

People know about extreme wealth in the world - wealth of folk like Musk. It is - and feels - unfair. And feels hard to reconcile with the realities of the recent history of trends in income and inequalities of income in Britain.

A very powerful image. Photographs like this one are not hard to find right across the decades from Attlee’s Premiership to Thatcher’s. The British Welfare State’s ‘golden age’.

The Guardian view on Welsh language learning: cultural shifts can deliver a bright future for Cymraeg | Editorial Editorial: As Plaid Cymru leads in polls ahead of Senedd elections in May, grassroots enthusiasm for one of its historic causes is growing

WARNING - contains stealth advertising!

Available at all good bookshops, etc.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour’s century-long hold on Wales faces collapse – but why? Shifts in identity, social change and the strain of long incumbency mean Ireland’s nearest neighbour is about to undergo a sea change

Here's something for the Irish Times in which I try to explain what's about to happen in Welsh politics. Hope it's of interest.

www.irishtimes.com/world/uk/202...

Having now read the judgment, this is an imp decision, confirming the const status of Acts of the Senedd & their immunity from challenge on (common law) procedural grounds. A rare and welcome example in recent devo jurisprudence of reasoning from first principle.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...)

The seance of government

England and its two unions: The anatomy of a nation and its discontents | IPPR The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society.

Still available on the ippr website: www.ippr.org/articles/eng...

Diolch @anthonybarnett.bsky.social for remember this publication nearly 13 years on. I think it’s still worth a read, even given all that’s gone on in the meantime (Brexit, Covid, and an increasingly ‘muscular’ centralist unionism from both traditional Britain-wide parties of government).

Why is the British right insisting on marching in lockstep with the US on its war with Iran? Weren’t they supposed to be nationalists wanting to “take back control”? I think there is a political psychology explanation for this. 🧵

Wrapped in sackcloth, singing in unison at church while downing a solo bottle of whisky.

@jamesdgriffiths.bsky.social talking good sense, with strong roots in research evidence. Well with a follow!

SES scoop out
@scotvoting.bsky.social

Someone who can’t add and divide is bad at *arithmetic*

Ramsey MacDonald was not an English man.

@instituteforgovernment.org.uk

In conversation with Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales | Institute for Government Eluned Morgan joined us to discuss her priorities as First Minister, relations with Westminster, 2026 Senedd election and the future of devolution.

Eluned Morgan held back from saying Starmer was a good leader on R4 Today this AM (‘he’s not on the ballot paper’). But she was much less critical of Westminster Labour on funding + devolving rail and justice than at IfG six days ago. www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/conver...

With only a few months to go until polling day, this is a decent scene setter of the electoral headwinds facing Welsh Labour ahead of May’s #Senedd elections and the prospects of Plaid & Reform coming ahead of them - featuring analysis from @jaclarner.bsky.social & @lauramcallister30.bsky.social

Strongly agree with @richardwynjones.bsky.social recommendation. Should the value and limits of devolved competence for HE in Wales.

I’d extend it - this text is also invaluable for anyone interested in England’s universities and HE system.

At the risk of sounding smug or earnest, it’s worth investing time in an independent bookshop, if you have access to one. Bob might have some good suggestions, especially if he got to know you.

(There are some excellent options near Cardiff)

www.storyvillebooks.co.uk

www.griffinbooksonline.co.uk

Share a photograph of a mountain you’ve taken