iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Owen Winter @owenwntr.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

There’s a fine line between righteous anger over the war in Gaza and seeming obsessive/extreme. Big difference speaking to voters in Holborn and St Pancras compared with Gorton and Denton was how many felt the Greens had moved into the second category

1353

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Luke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Wider context to the Holborn result: this chart shows the proportion of Labour’s 2024 vote going to different parties. Post Gorton over 1 in 10 Labour 24 voters were going to the Greens - that number has more than halved as Labour’s retention improved, particularly on the left.

0209

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Paula Surridge @psurridge.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Particularly when that honeymoon is being driven by Labour taking back people who might otherwise have voted for you.

0111

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Only thing to say on Labour - as John Curtice notes on BBC - 2024 wasn’t a great result in the seat historically and hitting it again maybe suggests pro-Palestine Muslim vote has still not come back to Lab in big numbers.

183

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Green target voter is basically a normie lib or elderly nature minded voter. Since Gorton there’s been chat about replacing Labour or winning Reform voters(!) all while ZP seems to have been slowly radicalised by his own social media feed. Refocus and they can still get 15-20 MPs next election imo

283

M.J. Ferguson @mattferg26.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Question for Polanski now: does he fight Holborn & St Pancras again at the next GE, or decamp to Hackney, where many have assumed a possible Diane Abbott retirement would be fecund for him 'succeeding' her? The latter more auspicious for him, but there would be carpetbagging accusations afoot.

010

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The Holborn and St Pancras byelection shows that the Greens can still cause Labour some discomfort even though their national polling has fallen back lately - though one wonders whether voters will only entertain that in places where the vote on the right is weak.

4223

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Imagine not wanting to incorporate a council by-election count into your wedding reception. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, before their first dance, the bride and groom will now announce the number of valid ballot papers issued.’

118312

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Democracy is good for business because political liberty goes hand and hand with economic liberty. Authoritarianism, no matter how business friendly it tries to market itself as, always has a pay to play dynamic. Authoritarians hate free markets because they reward ability rather than loyalty

13915

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Ed BooOOooOOmila @edburmila.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Your typical nativist is *just* smart enough to realize that the government is never going to let them fulfill their dream of being a slaveowner and the Gulf State model is their favorite among the alternatives they think they can actually get.

920449

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

If this silly argument that Labour will be taking an electoral risk if they hold Holbon & St Pancras were true, then the Conservatives would be taking a risk if they could defeat Nigel Farage in Clacton (!)

17638

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Tyron @tyron.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Cope latest

2478

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Just seen @pdkmitchell.bsky.social describe the statement "Zionism is racism" as being "maximally inflammatory while making minimum demands" which I think sums it up perfectly.

072

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Years of working in left archives and engaging in left politics has made me wary when I hear or read "Zionist" - not because it is inherently offensive or abusive or antisemitic - but because it provides cover for a huge range of different arguments and attitudes. Political parties should know this!

613814

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

What does it mean to be a member-led party when the Greens have 230,000 members but only 1835 voted on the Zionism Is Racism motion? Doesn't seem like you can claim the result as the iron-clad democratic will of the membership while dismissing the concerns of actual democratically elected MPs

3548472

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Their strategy as set out in Politico is not mad. Tack to the centre by trying to win back enough LD/Lab middle class switchers and then force Reform voters to back them as the ‘main’ right party. Might not work but seems legit.

491

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Seems the Tories have finally looked and an electoral map

2415

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Allan Faulds @afaulds.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Grimly funny that GPEW managed about 6 months of serious improvement and then decided that was quite enough and it was time to step on every rake going, good work folks, there's only a climate crisis and rising fascism, nobody needed a successful party of climate action and social liberalism

25913

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

ceej @ceej.online · 04/10/2026

“how do we win back trump voters in 2026” we don’t. we create an environment where admitting to voting for trump is so socially embarrassing as to render them completely inert. you don’t “win back” trump voters. you demoralize them into staying home. you make it a dunce cap

152108602345

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Me, every time I see one of these 4- or 5-party first past the post Canadian elections

4393

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Katherine Alejandra Cross @quinnae.com · 05/10/2026

This is *the* main continuity between neo-fascism and the 20th Century variety. Erich Fromm argued exactly this in "Escape From Freedom," saying that modernity left many alienated and socially dislocated--and fascist strongmen promised to restore meaning and purpose to their lives.

7638199

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The BBC switching its local resources from radio to the website has been disastrous for the business model of local newspapers, but you have to balance that against how good it has been for 'the BBC's opponents' and 'random companies who now get a PR hit on the biggest news website in the UK'.

815435

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You either bow down to the assumption that voters’ preferences are fixed or at least exogenous. Or you decide that they’re malleable and endogenous - and so prepare to make a political argument. Better, perhaps, to risk dying on your feet than live on your knees.

910524

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Hugh Brechin @hughrbrechin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Lib Dem polling, 2024-2026:

a much memed image of a guy calmly eating his dinner in a chippy while it all kicks off behind him

114021

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Bob Melling @bobmelling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

If the UK broke up would all the people who are currently British but not English (in Braverman's concept) suddenly become English as it replaced Britishness as a state identity category rather than an ethnic category?

3196

M.J. Ferguson @mattferg26.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Decent points made on #Newsnight about how (process of) re-entering EU foments scenario of it dominating British politics, leaving little air for anything else, again. But... wouldn't any govt enjoy a monolith drawing the attention of critics, to quietly while away on other stuff on the downlow...?

110

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is your semi-regular reminder that pensioner poverty: a) is real b) is significantly less prevalent than working-age poverty and half the rate of child poverty, and c) is such that a pensioner is statistically more likely to live in a household worth over £1 million than to live in poverty

917242

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The bigger a group is, the harder it is to find common threads to hold them all together. Latinos are now 20% of the population, so you'd expect to see more political diversity within the group. There's structural reasons why the Latino vote is becoming more Republican, but Trump is blowing it.

262

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Lest we forget, this is politics in action: - the David Cameron-led Conservative govt had de facto halted onshore wind in 2015 (raised planning restrictions, cut subsidies) - in 2024 Labour under Starmer, and really the energy secretary Ed Miliband, removed the hurdles and lifted the ban

12912

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The online far right conspiracy theorists’ obsession with the Fabians - stoked massively by GB News, Talk TV et al - is one of the weirdest, most disturbing things in British politics right now (and that’s saying something) Like a mini British QAnon Must be awful working for Fabians rn

3024267

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Grace Robertson 🏳️‍⚧️ @graceonfootball.com · 27/09/2026

culture has just been reorganised around interest clusters rather than geography. i have more cultural touchstones with online friends on other continents than i do with people on my street. that would've been unthinkable decades ago.

0516

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 27/09/2026

#CurtisFest2026 #CurticeFest2026 (Bonus chart on the death of class as a predictor of voting, which is a *hugely* under-appreciated phenomenon)

Sorry am on mobile so can’t type out the full table but it’s a photo of a slide as described in the post.

3175

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Curtice identifies a key red flashing light in the MRPs - Labour are falling furthest in seats where Labour are first and con, ref or Nat are second. Labour therefore do a lot *worse* than uniform swing would predict (having done much better than uniform swing in 2024)

42811

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Alan Trewartha @jauntyalan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

SNL UK being very educational. Just had to look up “dick me down”

112

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Far right Homeland Party has closed down its social media accounts on X and YouTube (though not yet Facebook) nor its main website (which links to the dead social media pages): last news post April 2026 homelandparty.org Searchlight report on its demise searchlightmagazine.com/2026/09/home...

3345

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I mean, we've apparently lifted the ban on right wing hooliganism so what's the point keeping the stable door bolted I guess

1024260

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 23/09/2026

The biggest challenge for the US political system is reforming itself so that it can work with regular alternation in party control without either party trying to murder the other party's voters with secret police outside the law or, more generally, ignoring our Constitution.

923747

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Ernest Luckman @ernieluckman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

There’s always this mistaken belief that the Hispanic vote will ever be as singularly directed as the black vote. That will never happen. You see wide variety of voting behaviors primarily influenced by country of origin and generation in the US.

042

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This does, we should point out, apply to all nations. They're imagined communities. Some make more sense than others but none are inevitable. Wales. Scotland. England. France. Iraq. All social constructs. That doesnt, however, make them any less powerful as concepts or as political drivers.

3657

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Euan Healey @euanhealey.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Not to be like "everything is evidence for why we need proper devolution" BUT I do think we need political structures which use the English flag constructively rather than the vacuum we have at present which allows extra governmental actors to claim the flag as theirs

1121

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Toby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

these people ably demonstrate the journey from online brainrot to fascism

3469

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I suspect a society organised increasingly around optimisation gradually teaches people that public-mindedness is irrational. Behaving altruistically-or even just considerately-begins to feel like making yourself a mug.

2223

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

it's she ghoulcab @coolcab.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

to understand uk politics on anything but the most basic level you must internalize something that is never, ever engaged with or discussed but everyone with power is extremely aware of, and that's "nigel farage decided the last two elections"

4853

M.J. Ferguson @mattferg26.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've posited before that Labour never completely collapsing among younger voters is due to the length of time socialised into voting for them, as the only way to eject the governing Tories. It's a reflex our generation has; Greens breaking into that at all is quite miraculous in that context.

221

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Seven months from the French presidential election, the only thing that seems virtually certain is that the far-right will have one of the two runoff spots. This is just one of the many hypotheses tested today of who else is even running, though arguably the likeliest field imo at this moment.

Poll of the first round of the French presidential election by Ipsos for le monde

812735

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.se · 13/09/2026

It is going to be genuinely hard for the Swedish opposition to build a government which The Left Party (most economically left wing) and the center party (most economically right wing) will accept.

2239

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Allan Faulds @afaulds.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I love Google Translate

181

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Christian Christensen @chrchristensen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Issue for people outside Sweden to understand: if current Right-Nationalist govt bloc win by even 1 vote, they will be able form a government without major problems. But narrow Left-Green-Center bloc win does not guarantee a new coalition government. Internal conflicts could sink them.

46228

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

Christian Christensen @chrchristensen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

What we see in Sweden same as in other EU countries: old, large parties traditionally representing “Left” & “Right” copy nativist right politics. Their support then drops, as does control over their blocs. Think Conservatives in UK. Social Dems in Sweden now centrist, so claim to “Left” dissolving.

03616

Reposted by M.J. Ferguson

David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

To combat private power, I pointed to two key phenomena we need to tackle: 1) the centralised private control of information (encapsulated by Elon Musk’s control & manipulation of X) 2) the political deployment of private wealth (now perfectly encapsulated by these donations)

2187