Maria Sobolewska

A few comments on Israel's exit polls. 1. The current government has been defeated, falling from 68 seats to 50. They lost about a quarter of their seats. They have no route to form a similar government. 2. The anti-Netanyahu opposition has 70 seats out of 120 - its highest ever result.

Stop what you are doing and look at this lovely story. A photography student in the 80s took pictures of punks and mods on the street in Preston. He’s now tracked them down and photographed them again. The pictures and stories are really ❤️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Different countries, different elections. But a year that has seen Orbán, Bolsonaro and Vučić defeated (and the GOP likely routed at the midterms next week) doesn't exactly fit the narrative of a relentless rightwards shift. Good candidates, campaigns, movements can still win.

“Alongside fellow MPs, I have received reports of applications being refused because of convictions linked to the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests”, writes @bobbywdean.bsky.social 🗣️ Britain cannot shut the door on Hongkongers persecuted for defending democracy www.politics.co.uk/2026/10/brit...

Kyiv is under ballistic missile attack. Unscheduled power cut. A new EcoFlow (portable power station) was delivered a few minutes ago as the previous one was saying goodbye. Life.

In about 24 hours, poles will open here in Israel. In what is a strong contender for Israel’s most critical elections. The election pits Netanyahu’s extremely unpopular coalition against a non-coherent, but moderately more liberal, opposition. Here are some thoughts as we head into it.

With all this talk about freedom of movement & lazy journos writing up it could hurt Red Wall MPs, I’m resharing my article from early Oct. Playing it safe on EU is riskiest thing Labour can do for those MPs. labourlist.org/2026/10/play...

Evergreen message from the Financial Times to its readers www.ft.com/content/88c8...

When I was a child people smoked when pregnant, with kids in the room, in all public places including planes, in cars. My own father died of cancer caused by smoking when I was four

Have now written about this at greater length ukandeu.ac.uk/unaffordable...

The fall in immigration is mutilating Healey’s Budget iandunt.substack.com/p/the-fall-i...

I always learn so much from @marietjeschaake.bsky.social on issues of tech and democracy. She is excellent in this podcast, linking defense, tech, and democracy in Europe and the failing leadership in this European momentum. Give it a listen!

Protests took place in towns and cities around Poland on Thursday evening, demanding that the government fulfil its promise to liberalise the country’s strict abortion laws.

The most obvious point of difference is of course Wilson’s investment in a university. Unheard of nowadays

The list sent by Harold Wilson to his cabinet of “little things that mean a lot”, including the protection of local breweries, concessionary fares for the elderly, empty office blocks and “the future of the pint”. Echoes of this in Burnham’s small but popular policies today.

Terrible timing for this article if Truss is reframed as heroic: 'Two Ways Not to Govern: Liz Truss, Keir Starmer and the Competing Stories of UK Government' onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

University of Nottingham, right now, is cutting 560 jobs. Do we need to rebrand universities as very large, very clean, land-based oil rigs to get government support?

No public provision should ever be for profit. It always always always ends in disaster. From healthcare to education to water to transport. It’s time to check your ideology against reality folks. Lived through communism so I know what I’m talking about. Doesn’t work however nice it sounds Move on

If there are only "pockets of poor provision" why doesn't OfS just focus on the pockets? One in 10 students are now taught by a for-profit franchise; students taught on these programmes have worse outcomes than students on the universities validating the franchise degrees. Focus on franchising.

My now routine warning- you are killing the golden goose. STOP IT

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UK universities stand ready to help Andy Burnham deliver growth in every postcode But it will be more difficult for them to do that while the anti-growth higher education tax - the International Student Levy International Student Levy - remains in place writes the Russell Group's Libby Hackett

Nearly a third of private renters have not been able to buy food after running out, according to newly published data shared with PoliticsHome ahead of the Budget. My latest with data from @trusselluk.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Social housing started with a dream. But by the 70s, the cracks were beginning to show. A PQ article published in 1976 examines how council housing transformed from a pinnacle of working-class empowerment into a trap for the disadvantaged. #Archive politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/from-ou...

Held to higher standards. Left off invitations. Pointed to as “diversity” but ignored. These are all examples of devaluation, which a new study finds to blame for higher rates of attrition in female (vs male) US faculty. @science.org 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

What a carve up.

It’s time to stop being incrementalist on private jet tax – the government has the public's backing to go much further, writes Labour MP Martin Rhodes

Jim has been a close friend for oh, 15 years now? So trust me it pains me to say this, but fuck me this is great great journalism www.londoncentric.media/p/london-riv...

If this isn’t stoking violence for political ends, and therefore meeting the legal definition of terrorism, I’m not sure what does

"If you're a researcher interested in Conservative history, policy development or political strategy, please consider applying for the 2026 award. Applications are open until 30 November 2026 and require only a one-page proposal" Applications can be sent to heritage@theconservativefoundation.co.uk"

New paper with an excellent team of co-authors: "Caught in the crossfire: electoral spilover effects of accommodating the radical right"

A nuanced view that will be sadly ignored by most www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/o...

Immigration was one of the most contentious policy and political issues for Keir Starmer's government. @sundersays.bsky.social explores what a social democratic plan on immigration could look like under Burnham. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1467923x...

The SNP conference has supported a motion calling for the SNP & the Scottish government to leave the X platform owned by Elon Musk www.thenational.scot/news/2664596...

Good point I’ve rarely seen made. Nesta was set up with a £250m endowment (1998 value) to support the arts (as well as science and tech) and it has stopped funding the arts… www.ft.com/content/b7c6...

The lie that will not die. And that takes away agency from all the countries in Central Europe that wanted an insurance policy against Russian revanchism- rightly, as it turned out.

thanks to @actualnames.bsky.social for introducing me to the headline of the century globalnews.ca/news/1300067...

This is nothing less than a battlefield intervention by the US in favour of Russia.

He 'emphasised the scale of the government’s investment in science and R&D, but added “there is an element in funding the defence package where we have had to find the money from the former Department for Science, Innovation and Technology budget to do that”.' Incoming haircuts then.

An investigation into the death of Manpreet Kaur, 36, finds Border Force not equipped for complex casualty rescues from small boats. Kaur died after being trampled in a small boat, & Border Force officers could not recover her. RNLI arrived but she could not be saved www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Wonderful appointment

London Reform councillor 'claimed King Charles was Muslim' and called black children ‘animals’, TV report alleges www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...

New on our Substack: The rise to power of Andy Burnham, a vocal critic of first past the post, has put reform back on the political agenda. @robfordmancs.bsky.social explains what this means, and the necessary conditions for reform. thepoliticalquarterly.substack.com/p/has-the-mo...

Excellent piece. Anyone involved with a secondary school, local authority or any other public sector organisation will know first-hand how big (and growing) a problem this is.

The other day I talked to an aunt who has truly seen everything, and she couldn’t overstate how much more racist England now feels. When a working-class black woman in her mid-seventies tells you it’s bad, then it’s really bad.

Free book review: 'Murky Water' lays bare some inner contradictions of the water and sewerage industry, offering the blueprint for a foundational water management system in the age of climate change. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/review-...