Connect Account Manager James Moseley writes for PubAffairs on the week’s developments as Jeremy Corbyn talks Trident and the Falklands, Parliament debates Donald Trump, and infighting spreads through the Leave campaign and Labour HQ. The original article can be found here.
Connect’s 2016 graduate trainee programme is now open. For further details click here. Read more
Things are starting to get lively on the Devo front! A rash of star studded conferences and events are now on the fixture list and we have already seen one major Devo deal being struck in 2016: a deal which will see Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire work together under one elected Mayor for the North Midlands (not East Midlands!). Read more
devointelligence is our new weekly bulletin designed to keep you informed and aware of what’s happening in the Northern Powerhouse and beyond: who’s who and what’s what. It’s the time to switch on to the devolution revolution and get informed about the changing face of UK politics. Read the full devointelligence update online here. Read more
Labour needs to learn lessons from its high-profile shadow cabinet reshuffle this week, writes former Labour MP and shadow minister turned PR Andy Sawford. Read more
The short answer to this intentionally provocative question is probably ‘no’. It is right that the Prince of Wales, as heir to the throne, is kept informed about the business of government. Read more
Connect came away with the Planning Campaign of the Year award at the Public Affairs Awards last night (Thursday 10 December 2015) for our work with Bode to stimulate the redevelopment of Archway Town Centre. The award caps an excellent year for Connect’s property service, which has secured planning permission for our clients for more than a 1,000 new homes and hundreds of new jobs across the country. Read more
Jeremy Corbyn has backed down from imposing a three-line Whip on Labour MPs over Syria. He may have been impressed by the argument that MPs should be able to vote with their conscience, or perhaps struck by the potential hypocrisy, having spent thirty years defying the Whip. But what is more likely is that Corbyn stepped back from the abyss when it became clear that he would face resignations from the frontbench. Labour MPs will now be given a ‘free vote’. Read more
The face of UK politics is changing dramatically. In 18 months’ time there will be at least five elected Northern Mayors representing 54% of the population of the north.
In a move that resembles the kind of intra-institutional power playing that takes place inside the Chinese Communist Party or the Vatican City, moderate Labour MPs have pulled off quite a coup today. Read more
