On Friday 27th February we woke to hear the results of a by-election in the constituency of Gorton and Denton in the Manchester area of the UK. By-elections are called when an MP has resigned, been forced to leave, or died. This seat had been held by the ruling Labour party, whose MP was dismissed for writing offensive messages on WhatsApp.

The poll was seen as a key test of the political winds in the nation. The turnout was 47.5%, I don’t think that is high enough, but it was very respectable for a by-election. I personally feel voting should be compulsory, something which is enforced in Australia, and there should be consequences if people don’t vote.

The election was won by the Green Party with 14,980 votes, 41%. In second place was the right-wing Reform candidate with 29% of the vote, which was disappointing for those of us who detest their politics, but unsurprising. Third was Labour with just 26%. The Conservatives only got 2% as did my party, the Liberal Democrats. This LD result is not surprising; I imagine there will have been a strategic decision not to campaign. I don’t know if there were any suggestions that our members should support another candidate.

It is a huge blow to the Conservatives though, and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth in their party headquarters. I am not prepared to write an obituary for them yet; there is an awfully long way to go to the next election.

The Labour Party was disappointed, but they still have a huge majority in the House of Commons, and three years and a bit before a national election has to be called, though if there are many more by-elections this could be chipped away. Their biggest risk now is political infighting, and it is possible that Keir Starmer will not survive. Personally, I think that would be very unfortunate as he has provided a steady hand in this troubled time. With any luck their policies will begin to pay dividends, the electorate will see it, and they will get at least one more term, albeit with a new leader. There is also ample time for the electorate to see through the smoke and mirrors of Reform.

It is an interesting time for British politics. I think the two-party system is dead or dying and it is possible, but unlikely, that there could be a Green and Liberal Democrat coalition after the next election. I would not put much money on it, but we shall see.

Of course, we also watch what is going on in the United States with worry and disbelief. How could so much chaos have been caused in so short a time. I guess the critical moment will be in the mid-term elections in November. The Supreme Court decision to block the tariffs seemed to give a glimmer of hope. And the poor Ukrainians are entering their fifth year of war following the Russian invasion, I pray they can hold out. If Trump and Putin were removed from power what would happen? Sadly, I don’t see a legal way that can be done.

These big political events mean that injustices, repression and genocides in other parts of the world do not get the attention they deserve. I wrote that on Friday the 27th, and on Saturday the 28th we saw the American and Israeli attack on Iran. This situation is very bleak and makes me feel that we are quite helpless in the face of this brutality against, admittedly, a regime that can also be characterized as brutal. The pundits on the Sunday morning chat shows believed there were opportunities for further negotiation! We shall see how soon that happens.

Changing gears, my regular walk in or out of town takes me past an office, shopping and entertainment complex known as Anglia Square. It was built in the 1960s as part of the devolution of major government departments out of London and was home to Her Majesty’s Stationary Office (HMSO). It was a prime example of brutalist architecture of the period.

I worked there for a few months, in the warehouse, after graduating from university, between my BA and my MA. It was a fascinating experience. The warehouse men, and we were all men, were unionised and members of The Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT). This was a militant left-wing print union, which was destroyed a few years later by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

There were some delightfully archaic features to the union: we were not a Branch but a Chapel and the local head was not a shop steward but the Father of the Chapel. The work was not hard; the main activity was mainly issuing stationery to civil service offices around the country. These offices would send in their requisitions for the various items that made government run, the bulk of which were forms. We would make packages and send them off on the mail train every evening. It gave me joy to send out the form for ordering forms! Kafkaesque.

The reason I mention this is because many HMSO functions became redundant with the advent of the internet, and the building complex stood derelict for well over a decade. Finally, the site is being redeveloped, and this will include affordable housing. I never thought I would live long enough to see this happen, so it is really encouraging and interesting to watch huge diggers and demolition equipment gradually tear down the buildings. Sadly, it does mean that footfall in the area has diminished greatly and it is possible that many businesses will not survive.

We are in the middle of the Six Nations rugby tournament. France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy are the competitors. This last weekend there was a break, but normally there are two matches on Saturday and one on Sunday. I have been having a rugby watching fest’. The game seems quite different from the rather bad-tempered matches of the past, and it is relatively fast moving, so spending time sitting watching it has been a real pleasure. I think there are also some major differences with the southern hemisphere tournaments although I am not at all sure what they are.

I’m going to end off this month’s post with some good, but very parochial, news. We have many birds in the garden, and I am so pleased to see numerous blackbirds. They seemed to have vanished for a few months over summer and autumn. Despite the fact we are only coming up to spring there are signs of courting and nesting activities, and it really is a joy to see the blackbirds and blue tits bathing in the bird bath outside my office door, clearly enjoying the prospect of spring.

There is a thick spiky hedge in the front of the house, and I have seen a pair of sparrows going into it, I do hope they are looking for a nesting site, as it would be the first time we have had them nesting at this end of the road, and they are such cheerful little birds. There were also three very beautiful goldfinches outside the lounge window this morning. Spring can’t come soon enough, but it is good to see the signs of it.

A major preoccupation in the UK is of course the weather. After a week of bitter cold and even an overnight snowfall we had two days of gloriously warm sunshine when the temperature climbed to over 15° and I was walking around without a jersey. Indeed, I headed off to walk to town carrying a shopping bag and by the time I’d gone two kilometres, it was full of unneeded outer garments. A lesson for planning what to wear getting dressed.

My main activity has been working through my memoir, and I am happy to report that I am close to finishing the first draft. I have had the support of a professional editor and that has really made a huge difference, not least because she suggested some radical rewriting and restructuring which I feel has improved it dramatically.

I am a great believer in getting professional support and will talk about this more next month. I have come across some information about my family that has made me quite emotional; they did not have an easy time in the late Victorian era. I have been looking at my maternal family. Both my grandfather and grandmother were born in the Northeast of England and moved independently as children to the town of Kimberley in South Africa.