iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Cordon sanitaires are good and help the parties that maintain them. Re-establishing this fact in British politics is critically important.

28712

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 8h

Most people think racism is very bad. Saying this loud and clear as a political leader is in fact a good idea politically as well as being valuable beyond this.

28312

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A friend of mine (with strong Labour lean) once proposed idea of having everyone register their vote preference aged 18, and then that’s automatically their vote at every election unless they apply to change it (via a labyrinthine system that closes six months prior to any ballot)… same same?

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Why are they looking for spending cuts? Laffer says just cut taxes back up the curve to boost revenue, right?

010

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Stuart Hemingway @stu31.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A full video is available by the investigative team who exposed the scandal may be worth your time watching it… www.verbatiminvestigations.com/full-investi...

verbatiminvestigations.com

Dirty Money: A Year Undercover in Reform UK

A yearlong investigation into Nigel Farage’s fundraising operation reveals a plot to break the law by bringing foreign money into British politics

16480175

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Ed Morrish @edmorrish.com · 17/08/2026

kathleen stock: being neurodivergent should be a barrier to entering academia manchester museum: would you like to see one of our snail collections? :) our scientists have more than one :))

Plaque at Manchester Museum:

EXPLORING VARIATION
The Museum has several collections of snails put together by scientists who studied inheritance and evolution. Arthur Stelfox (1883-1972) was interested in the ways that different shell patterns and colours are inherited. He bred snails of different varieties with one another over a period of sixty years. Collections like this are still used by scientists, who are trying to answer new questions.

010120

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I've been thinking about it all morning and have concluded the funniest bit is Laurence Fox coming 6th

2249548

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Far Side 1993 - the inspiration for MAGA Odyssey critiques??

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Far Side 1993 - the inspiration for Monsters Inc.?

100

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

This was immediately post Makerfield and Starmer resignation. But the consideration patterns likely remain v similar. cdn.prod.website-files.com/6578727b2437...

010

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This is a chart of collective memory.

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Change is the most important promise. In a vacuum, voters tend to feel a new PM needs to honour their party’s last manifesto. But if the ability to deliver change is at stake, more voters choose change over sticking with old promises. www.thinksinsight.com/reports/mood...

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

In a vacuum, voters tend to feel a new PM needs to honour their party’s last manifesto. But if the ability to deliver change is at stake, more voters choose change over sticking with old promises. More here: www.thinksinsight.com/reports/mood...

000

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

65 per cent of Britons are owner-occupiers. General elections are won in the Midlands. Most people have a middle class occupation. The United Kingdom's comparative advantage is in services. These aren't facts that Philip Gould invented in order to make Labour feel sad.

33678126

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

BUT, big differences along party lines: - 2024 Reform Voters blame poor politicians & poor Prime Ministers - 2024 Labour voters blame contextual changes: sensationalist media; social media; Brexit - 2024 Conservative voters much more likely to feel PMs are constantly undermined by their parties

100

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

We asked the public why we've had 7 PMs in a decade. #1 selected reason: Britain has become a more divided & polarised in the last decade.

100

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Mine is “Collaterlie Sisters went to there”

030

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

What will historians give the PM credit for? Here’s @politicshome.bsky.social’s Maddy Richards by on @thinksinsight.bsky.social research in public views of Starmer’s likely legacy: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

politicshome.com

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Oh dear : www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

000

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Is Nigel Farage losing his appeal? In recent focus groups with 2024 Labour voters considering Reform UK, for the first time since the general election, people were equivocal about him, writes @benshimshon.bsky.social

politicshome.com

Is Nigel Farage losing his appeal?

There are signs that the party leader's shine is fading with potential Reform UK voters.

3128

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

“Few had believed that Farage was really ‘like them,’ but this [the £5m] made it harder than ever to believe he could truly understand their lives.” Quick write up of our recent focus groups with 2024 Labour voters now considering Reform UK: www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

020

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Here's a taste of our @thinksinsight.bsky.social #MoodoftheNation update. Sign up here for the full finsings webinar on Thursday: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mood-of-th... Coverage in @politicshome.bsky.social here: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Burnham opens a window for Labour - especially with Green considerers. But time is not on his side. Great to talk to @politicshome.bsky.social for @adampayne26.bsky.social article covering our newest @thinksinsight.bsky.social Mood of the Nation survey. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

000

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

🚨 OUT NOW 🚨 What's the nation's mood as Burnham takes over? 🌹 MPs @tonia-antoniazzi.bsky.social & @sarahhall-labour.bsky.social & Thinks Insight's @benshimshon.bsky.social join @alaintolhurst.bsky.social & @adampayne26.bsky.social to discuss how Brits feel about their country 🎧: pod.fo/e/44053d

002

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Quite fun to talk about hope, not (just) gloom!* Great to join @adampayne26.bsky.social Sarah Hall MP and Tonia Anotoniazzi MP on the @politicshome.bsky.social podcast to discuss @thinksinsight.bsky.social Mood of the Nation. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t... *lots of gloom too though, obvs

podcasts.apple.com

What's the mood of the nation as Burnham takes over?

Podcast Episode · The Rundown by PoliticsHome · 3 July · 38min

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Interestingly, our observation that, in focus groups, even people who don’t wash their hands felt that they wash their hands “enough”, was what sat behind the “more often” bit of these posters…

021

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Each postcode has its own currency, akshually.

110

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The most insidious shrinkflation. More hole than bagel

010

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

It’s funny, but I knew this was the case. Something about your back and forth on here has a warmth that goes beyond shared political snark (though that does go a long way).

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

It would be SO interesting to combine this with a question asking participants about the job of the highest earner in their household when they were say, 14 years old… are there multi-generation heroes?

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

findagarden.ngs.org.uk/garden/48577... still a few tickets for tomorrow’s open garden.

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Trump gives a different meaning to Always Be Closing …

010

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

These articles, and the previous Substack post about the two deprivations are just so valuable.

111

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This map is absolutely fascinating

3438253

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

If I were this rich, fomenting unrest in a small island off the coast of Europe would be a priority for me too.

010

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

"We hear little of these other incidents because their white perpetrators do not fit the narrative — or the political business model — of the populist right." - terrific column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social:

ft.com

The business model of white victimhood

Rage on the right and a narrative of disadvantage changing sides is rewarded by social media

517966

Reposted by benshimshon.bsky.social

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

DfE pupil data is out today and shows that the number of private school pupils has dropped 5.6% since VAT was introduced. Not 25% like the independent schools council predicted. Or the 50% we saw in some right-wing papers. 5.6%.

851351420

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

The other day I thought I saw a quadlemma… then Keir said “ben, that’s a trilemma at best”

070

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

“At best, it was a trilemma.” Classic Keir

140

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Always suspected this is an artifact of the immediacy of prices/inflation (and to some extent crime) for less affluent quintiles… is it borne out when you look at immigration attitudes (eg are more affluent quintiles more likely to think immigration has negative impacts etc etc)?

000

benshimshon.bsky.social @benshimshon.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

@mattyglesias.bsky.social we found your "Big Ass Truck Abundance" constituency:

000