Amy Gray
@amygraywrites
Red Duchess, biog of the Duchess of Atholl MP, OUT NOW. Freelance public affairs, small person wrangling, incurable reader, always trying to write. Also on IG.
When did the work start? More importantly, when will it finish? I wish all councils put this info on playground closure signs. And, given it’s needed doing for at least a year, why on earth is Cambridge council doing it during the summer holidays?
Revive Labour? What about the country? Burnham is coming in as Prime Minister. He needs to speak to the nation, and prioritise the nation, not his party.
Janice Turner is spot on today about why Labour is about to get its 20th male leader, while the Tories are on their 4th woman.
So the whole of an adult woman’s life then. Cool. Or very much not. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
My experience was the same as @orlandobird.bsky.social: full marks on the driving theory test, several (ahem) attempts to pass the practical
If you’re an Oxbridge English graduate who *hasn’t* read every Shakespeare play then you did it wrong. (Yes I am, and yes I have.)
A lot of ice cream/lolly discourse today thanks to @yougov.co.uk. Evening plans made now that I’ve found these (not ice lollies) under all the low sugar fruity kids’ ice lollies in the freezer.
Went through King's Cross last night. Of course the water fountain was broken.
Cambridge City Council announces its new summer strategy for filling potholes
Me on why there's plenty of historical precedent for the Pokemon trails happening at National Trust properties this summer - why not celebrate a great British/Japanese tie in instead of being sniffy about something that's popular? spectator.com/article/the-...
This was in trying to explain what the cartoon is about (a daily question)
When Polanski is a chaotic mess who can’t sort out his own council tax or registering to vote, how can he possibly be trusted?
I remember the Gillian Duffy day during the 2010 general election. At CCHQ we put down our Blackberries, sat back from our desks and watched the disaster unfold.
Doesn’t quite trip off the tongue and geographically incoherent. Well done that branding team.
“What are some environmental energy things we can do?” Scotty asks an AI in the latest Beano. I was not expecting the response!
My piece in today's @scotsman.com on why we should remember the Red Duchess (with thanks to my in laws, who bought me the print paper this morning!)
Only one of them is a king. And the other one isn’t. Hugo Rifkind on great form today.
For #womenshistorymonth, here are some of the best books by women about women which I drew on when writing Red Duchess. Eleanor Rathbone, Edith Summerskill & Thelma Cazalet-Keir are all fascinating. (There's no biog of Florence Horsburgh & there really ought to be, for anyone in search of a subject)
Had the biggest silliest grin on my face throughout the Horrible Histories live show this afternoon - and amazed the cast are doing it all again at 5.30!
Interested that Netanyahu has oh so casually placed Tim Bouverie’s Allies at War here. Does he think he’s Churchill? Who is Stalin? Trump is no FDR for sure
Went to talk to my son’s Beavers troop for their Book Readers Badge. Their attention was most grabbed by the REAL SCOTTISH CASTLE where I did my research and they urgently wanted to know WAS IT EVER *ATTACKED*. (They were pleased the answer was yes, but disappointed it was not with catapults.)
After the Burning of Westminster in 1834, William IV offered Buckingham Palace (which he hated) to Parliament. They turned him down.