Some people think the Post Office Tower is in the middle of of a big city.

The Tower of London is looking rather small.

In many ways two books in one: (1) about the impact on individuals of what metrics we choose to chase, the fun that can be had from ignoring them and how activities as diverse as board games and mountain climbing show the value of enjoying the process rather than only caring about outcomes...

Phew, hot work earlier today finishing this book.

London contains multitudes.

Visited Spike Milligan's gravestone in Winchelsea. It has in Gaelic "I told you I was ill"; not in English as a compromise with the diocese. Sadly both the gravestone and later addition of his third wife's name were the cause of some difficulty among his relations. But it's a fitting tribute.

Not a bad view.

There are some cracking letterboxes at the V and A East Storehouse. Not vertical, though.

Admirably comprehensive @modison.bsky.social

Now for another historical election law book, this one a collection of lectures from the time when there was a lot of doubt over when election expenses started (out of which the 'PPC' era of expenses emerged).

Time for a bit of classic Cold War mole hunting, with this atmospheric 1950s first novel from a decade ago. Inspired by real events but even if you are a CIA history geek they are unlikely to act as a spoiler.

Ah yes, it's time once more to answer my favourite official question.

I have a VERY Lib Dem take on Mr Smith Goes To Washington. More here: politicalfictions.substack.com/p/mr-smith-g...

Been doing a bit of grassroots devolution research earlier this week. (For newer readers, this is the context: lordseyeview.substack.com/p/labour-u-t...)

Oh yes, @bradyharan.bsky.social's lucky dip has come up trumps for me.

Darn, I should have been here on February 11th.

Hello, sea.

@warmovietheatre.com Should your film reserves ever run critically low, send your quartermaster to Rye

Tomorrow's The Week in Polls either (a) contains dedicated attention to detail by me, or (b) an embarrassing oversight that will make me look a fool, thinking I'm correcting someone else when in fact I'm messing up myself. Let's find out! Sign up before 6pm Sunday here: theweekinpolls.substack.com

One of the more unusual party name/descriptions applications in with the Electoral Commission

I raised today in Parliament that several of the National Crime Agency's investigatory powers cannot be used for many potential political finance offences, weakening our protection against dodgy money. Alas, so far the government has not committed to closing this loophole and didn't commit today.

Fascinating read from @duncanweldon.bsky.social, especially the opener pointing out the finding a hoard of buried treasure is not so much a sign of past amazing wealth as a sign of something having gone horribly wrong. One challenge for such books is that they are at their best when...

Writing about Count Binface's performance in the polls makes for fun footnotes at least. Get the footnotes and more Sunday 6pm with The Week in Polls: theweekinpolls.substack.com

This is indeed as good as everyone says. Thank you for the recommendation @robin.cantrill-fenwick.uk!

And this is from someone who thought Liz Truss's budget was brilliant.

Let's see what's been happening on the postcode front, cc @jamesomalley.co.uk

Happy memories: on this day in 2024 a record-breaking 72 Liberal Democrat MPs were elected.

Progress! Or not? So far my reports of the dangerous broken cover at this spot have resulted in: (a) cones appearing and going, (b) a barrier appearing and going, and now (c) a bright yellow plate appearing. What next?

Of course, I couldn't resist looking up the code... The core part of it is, I guess, a helpful guide. Though odd that, e.g., libraries not listed. And couldn't the sector have agreed this voluntarily without Parliament legislating?

With so much high quality information available online, it's really more habit than necessity that keeps me collecting these. But it's a hard habit to break...