Martin Tod

It’s brilliant the PM has recognised the issues Lib Dems have campaigned on for so long are central to fixing our country & growing our economy. As a result of his speech, social care, closer ties with EU and PR are now firmly in the political mainstream, which is exactly where we want them to be.

Just made a donation to the RNLI and got myself a new badge. 😀

More local control over water would be a good step forward. The Conservatives let water companies dump sewage in our rivers, harbours and seas and, across Hampshire, Lib Dem MPs and councils, working alongside local people, have led the campaigning to sort this out. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

An RNLI lifeboatman is taking part in the Great North Run tomorrow, wearing his full kit. Please donate here if you can: fundraise.rnli.org/fundraisers/...

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are missing out. Areas with Mayors are getting more money and Mayoral powers - money and powers that we can't get until May 2028. Please sign my petition asking Andy Burnham to bring the election forward to next May. www.martin4mayor.org.uk/have-your-sa...

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are missing out. Areas with Mayors are getting more money and Mayoral powers - money and powers that we can't get until May 2028. Please sign my petition asking Andy Burnham to bring the election forward to next May. www.martin4mayor.org.uk/have-your-sa...

One of Starmer's failures was that he didn't pick a Chancellor who was good at things he wasn't. Neither Chancellor nor PM stopped the Winter Fuel Allowance fiasco, for example. With all the chat about Burnham as a leader and PM, I'm surprised there's so little discussion about his likely team.

The riots last night were wholly unacceptable: a total disgrace. www.martin4mayor.org.uk/news/article...

Nobody around where I live got the memo about the national political trends...

Fantastic result in Winchester for the Lib Dems – 7/7 of the Hampshire County Council seats in the district and 13/15 of the City Council seats up for election. We beat every single Conservative incumbent.

More investment by tombola. Fund local government properly.

Abingdon Abbey Northcourt (Vale of White Horse) Council By-Election Result: 🔶 LDM: 43.7% (+3.3) 🌍 GRN: 32.5% (-2.1) ➡️ RFM: 13.8% (New) 🌳 CON: 6.8% (-7.3) 🌹 LAB: 3.2% (-7.7) Liberal Democrat GAIN from Green. Changes w/ 2023.

Now *that* is an air source heat pump. Congratulations to Ben and the team at Winchester Science Centre for getting rid of their oil-fired boiler and replacing it with this beauty! The centre is still warm and welcoming (and, of course, still fun and inspiring too). But now low carbon as well!

If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...

The Liberal Democrats won 106 Council By-Elections in 2025, more than any other party #ByElectionsWrapped 1) LDM 106 2) RFM 104 3) CON 45 4) LAB 36 5) GRN 24

We did this in Winchester to secure much needed social homes and rebalance our city's estates away from HMOs. No apologies. No regrets.

Budget 2025: This is how you lose the world iandunt.substack.com/p/budget-202...

Read 'em and weep. (www.nber.org/system/files...)

Read of the day: Ben canters through recent pro-bubble literature. The most surprising thing for me is his argument that by massively augmenting the demand for energy at this (imho fraught) time, the data centre bubble might leave a hugely positive legacy. stratechery.com/2025/the-ben...

Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.

The media ready to cover Reform by-election victories today only to find Lib Dems winning 7/10

Was looking forward to see Winchester's new statue of Jane Austen - and then was blown away when it was unveiled. Stunning.

Windy day but a good crew out in Yateley West including prospective Hampshire Mayoral candidate @martin.tod.social

Unzoomed #594 2/6 🔴🟢⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️ unzoomed.com

Err hello BBC that decline in car production isn’t really over the last 25 years looks more like mostly within the last 10 years….

Great to chat with Ed Davey at his book signing hosted by One Tree Books. So many people came to hear Ed speak not only about his personal experiences as a carer; but also the Lib Dems’ care policies and our willingness to take a different approach to solving the care crisis in our country.

@winchester.gov.uk rated #1 district council in the country for climate action. Very proud... 😀 councilclimatescorecards.uk/councils/win...

A quick reminder that no dog died from missing a walk, but many dogs have died as a result of being exercised in hot weather! I've treated many dogs with heat stroke and it is often fatal, which is heartbreaking for the owners.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71... What do you mean, you haven't signed the Parky Charter petition calling for better Parkinson's care?? We Parkies have an excuse - one of the symptoms of PD is apathy. But as for the rest of you, jump to it! (pretty please..)

A more interesting question is whether other areas should have assemblies, rather than the 'combined authority' model.

The wonderful surviving wall paintings in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel in Winchester Cathedral, which date to the 12thC #winchester #winchestercathedral #medieval #medievalwallpaintings

"When we're spending £100billion a year on servicing government debt, I don't think anyone could seriously argue that we don't need to get a grip of government borrowing and government debt." - Reeves Did mass public sector cuts lower that 'debt' the last time we tried it?