Nicholas Croom

@Layo_FH I've just checked Telegraph Hill and new Labour candidate (a woman) beat the two longstanding (and IMO good) councillors. Also noticeable that the male green candidate lagged behind his female colleagues.

Looking at the tallies it seems like female candidates with white-coded names like Judith Barrett, Suzannah Clarke, Pauline Dall, Sian Elias, Dawn Atkinson did noticeably better tallies ahead of their colleagues, than names Yemisi Anifowose and Ese Erheriene as the first Labour name and female name, on top of the ballot. I wonder if that’s cos voters weren’t sure if the African names were female (I have a hunch that some people who split their ballot, say 2 greens & 1 labour, will pick the women over men) or whether their was a racial bias that impacted some people’s voting behaviour, ie some people didn’t vote for candidates with ‘foreign’ looking names. Who knows! I’ve probably over analysed this.

It’s been interesting going through the Lewisham results and clocking which councillors got a higher vote tally than their party colleagues, despite their surname and/or gender (women usually do better than men, and surnames that place you higher up the ballot paper, also usually do better too, particularly if you’re the first name). For Lewisham Labour, the extraordinary Chris Best didn’t seem to have the personal vote I might’ve expected (I guess this could be down to the transient nature of the local population, very few residents would have lived in the area for as long as she has represented it). Her tally compared to her colleagues seemed to be in line with being a woman and the highest placed Labour candidates on the ballot. However, Will Cooper looked to have pick up some personal votes in Evelyn, as well as Edison Huynh in Lewisham Central and James Walsh in Catford. James Rathbone and Luke Warner both tallied just above another male Labour candidate (both first-time candidates), despite being below them on the ballot paper. For James, it was enough to win him a seat. It suggests they might have had a very small personal vote.

@mattyglesias Oh the other hand, when a skilled worker leaves the UK for the US, the average IQ of both countries goes up.

Another

One more

Posting here so I can share..

@SimpkinsIan @scarletnotohara Sorry, I was venting at that point. It did finally let me through, so j could select tickets, be told they were no longer available, and then get thrown out again :(

@nickcroom @scarletnotohara Just saying what worked for me, though I just end up with a blank screen if I get as far as adding a number

Honestly fuck this i was at queue only from 1 device and this happens #radiohead

@SimpkinsIan @scarletnotohara And if I don't have a VPN?

@scarletnotohara Yup. Turn off your VPN maybe?

@Bickley14 @KeejayOV3 #spiritofcricket shurely?

That last ten minutes at Lords confirms that Test cricket is still the best format of the game (by far). #shithousery

@NeilGarratt But think how much spare capacity we can fill when more people want to use the free tube?

TfL collects about £5.5 billion per year in fares. That's the bill if you want free transport. Coincidentally, that's about the same as Labour's attempted benefit savings that caused half their backbench to rebel against their own government. So, it's not an easy sum to find.

@teaforpterosaur Based on the first post you think "maybe he hasn't thought how that works" and then two posts down... x.com/mindofprospect…

Posting these without context.

@teaforpterosaur Am I mad? They broke into a military base and destroyed some equipment. And the government is supposed to ignore it?

@StreathamRovers And yet Iain Dewsbury-Forsyth is still in the squad?

UPDATE: In light of the increasing tensions and likelihood of war with Iran we have pulled out of a deal to sign Wesley Bowler for the 25/26 season due to the similarity of his name to "Hezbollah". Streatham Rovers Football Club stands against terrorism in all its forms. #SRFC

@Layo_FH But I am regularly surprised by how big venues some acts play. I love Amyl and the Sniffers and I'd enjoy seeing The Hives comeback, but no idea how both fill Alexandra Palace.

@Layo_FH It does feel like there's a short window to go catch bands in eg Electric Ballroom between the Moth Club and Camden Palais. But it's still there. I've got tickets to Getdown Services and Tropical Fuck Storm there for eg.

I agree on the female singer-songwriter part but this feels very different to me, otherwise. Over the last 5 years, I’ve struggled to find new artists that I’ve really properly liked. The only artists I’ve found and have really liked since the pandemic have been sad-girl-pop artists - Arlo Parks, Girl in Red, Baebadoobee, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo. Perhaps Ethel Cain and Lucy Dacus too.

@Transpontine I think the lick of paint was the pubco tarting it up. Not sure if they've found a new tenant yet.

Looks like the Pyrotechnists Arms in Nunhead is reopening soon- name derives from when there was a fireworks factory locally

@sportingintel Not College football?

@kelvmackenzie Wait till you hear about the internet.

@mocent0 Probably easier to start with a key as well .

I don’t need 37 used cars, that’s too many

@ExcelHumor They're going to ask for it at the end of the week anyway, so relax while you can.

boss says it should take 3 weeks, you finish in 2 days