'Are you worried about the Conservative party drifting to the right, over-emphasising the threat from Reform and ignoring other voters' - @sophyridgesky

'I would definitely not advise that dirft' - Andy Street

PoliticsHub trib.al/ftpea6d

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602

Andy Street losing is a real kick in the balls. The national party need to stop pissing around with gimmicks and cowtowing to NIMBYism and actually focus on delivery. Growth, houses, national infrastructure all have to be of paramount importance.

Andy Street may be gone, but if the Conservative Party wants to have a future it should look to Streetism. Having a reputation for getting things done and building stuff. Simple.

I hope there’s some reflection nationally, beyond mediocre talking points, about the scale of this defeat and loss of Andy Street - one of the Tory Party’s most impressive figures. Especially as short termist national decisions pulled the ground from beneath him.

Andy has been a tremendous Mayor for the West Midlands and has achieved so much. His class shines through even in defeat. Such a terrible loss both for Birmingham and for the Tory Party.

An absolutely incredible 48 hours of expectation management

There is a way for Conservatives to win in London. It’s shifting from the ‘bagel’ strategy to a forward looking vision for the whole of London.

Key to that is building homes for working age people.

No accident that the sole good news for the Tories so far in this set of elections is a Mayor who is unapologetically about a big vision, Levelling Up and an active state. National party are paying price for pushing that vision to the periphery.

Michael Oakeshott's shrewd advice to never back the top rated 2 year old in the next season's 2000 Guineas is proven right again.

That was so disappointing from City of Troy.

Ipswich’s success underlines Sunderland’s misses.

Broadhead wanted to come back after his Wigan spell. Though tbf had chance to join club previously but didn’t

Ipswich put their hand in pockets for Moore & Al-Hamadi - both wanted by Sunderland

Hired an excellent coach

#SAFC

The Uxbridge by election last year meant that the Tory party nationally pursued an electoral wild goose chase. It might have also been a red herring about the priorities of London voters.

Dreadful end to a miserable season for #SAFC A self-inflicted waste of time and opportunity. It's good to have a plan. But if the plan becomes more important than the people and the results, then the plan becomes the problem, not the solution. Adapt or die.

NEW: The BBC is now calling the mayoral election for Sadiq Khan

Sir John Curtice says that on current trends the result will end up being along the lines of:

Khan 46%
Hall 32%

bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-p…

Shambles of a half. Get this season gone and in the bin.

Sunderland are completely unrecognisable from this time 12 months ago - and it didn't have to be this way.

#SAFC

An absolutely disgusting first half from us.

Sheffield Wednesday have been wholehearted,aggressive and well-drilled, and we’ve been the exact opposite.

Just a suitably terrible performance. Sums up the last three months. #SAFC

To win again, the Tories need to focus more on why they’re losing voters to Labour and the Lib Dems and less on Reform UK.

It can be true at the same time that Green performance is much more impressive than Reform performance, and that Reform is having a bigger impact on the behaviour of any major party than the Greens are. Coverage is influenced by knowledge of who is panicking, not just numbers.

2000 Guineas day. Such a historic and wonderful race. I doubt we’ll see anything today like Frankel’s demolition of a quality field. I doubt we’ll see anything like it again.

Just pointing out to oh say the Tory party that Ben Houchen and Andy Street have been arguably the most pro-development politicians in the UK, and have been massively rewarded for it by the voters.