Dear John,

Parliament may be in recess but in an election year the fun never stops. We have all you need from the political to the financial and the downright farcical so let’s get stuck in.

Red Dawn

Despite internal rumblings that would have had most of us reaching for the Gaviscon, on Friday we woke to news that Labour had again managed to overturn one moderate and one massive Tory majority in two simultaneous by-elections. 

The Thursday polls in Kingwood (sparked on a point of principle) and Wellingborough (sparked by a distinct lack of principles), brings the total number of Tory-scandal-induced by-elections in the reign of Rishi to seven. For those of you not keeping track, that’s around one for every two months he’s been in post. Top marks! 

When all the votes were counted the new Labour MP for Wellingborough Gen Kitchen overturned a 18,540 vote Conservative majority to claim the Tory safe seat for Starmer, with a new Labour majority of more than 6,000. Overall there was a swing away from the Tories of almost 40%! In the soon-to-be-abolished Kingwood meanwhile, newly elected Damien Egan turned a 10,000+ Tory majority to a 2,500ish surplus  for Labour.

The other story of the night was ReformUK who for the first time turned their national poll numbers into an election result securing a 13% share of the vote in Wellingborough with their highest profile candidate. But their celebrations seem premature when you consider that they threw everything but the kitchen sink at the by-election and still barely hit double digits. Regardless, this performance has certainly spooked the Conservatives and briefly some Tory MPs into advocating for tactical voting and  proportional representation. 

However bleak things may seem for Sunak, these results probably belie what will be a closer contest in seats like these at the upcoming General election for reasons beyond the standard by-election caveats. Read more in our latest blog from Best for Britain’s Martha Harrison.

It’s the economy Sunak

It’s official, in the face of poorly timed front pages from the Daily Express, on Thursday new ONS data confirmed that the UK is officially in recession. While we’re scratching our heads about what political decision made by the UK eight years ago has contributed to this (more on this next), it really is a rich blue tapestry.

The news means Sunak has now failed on four of his four pledges which weren’t going to happen anyway and with it, any notion that the Conservatives are the party of economic competence has been well and truly shot. So said our CEO Naomi Smith also in the Mirror. Just don’t tell the BBC who managed to put a weirdly defensive gloss on the whole thing.

Brexit Corner

It’s costing… how much?!

We in Best for Britain are well versed in the political pain and economic misery Brexit has dumped on this nation (having uncovered a lot of it ourselves) but even we had to pick our jaws off the floor when the latest damage report was published this week by banking giant Goldman Sachs. 

Their detailed analysis suggests that the UK economy is 5% worse off than comparable countries since 2016 due to Brexit. To put that into perspective, the UK economy is worth about £2.2trillion so that’s about £110bn, a figure that chimes with this previous analysis from Bloomberg.

Projections, estimates and economic stats like these can sound intangible, but it means less money for public services, fewer jobs, and a lower quality of life for ordinary Brits. And so long as the Government’s god-awful Brexit deal remains in place, this decline will continue as Britain loses out on investment. That’s why we’re working on fixing it. Read more here.

The race to replace Drakeford

At the end of last year, Welsh first Minister Mark Drakeford announced that he would be stepping back from frontline politics as soon as a replacement could be found. 

We at Best for Britain admired Drakeford not least for his work to advance electoral reform in Wales but also his steady leadership during the Covid pandemic, which was Mandelaesqe compared to the literal and metaphorical piss-up which unfolded in London.

His resignation fired the starting pistol on a race to find a new First Minister in the Senedd with the ballots going out this week and fortunately, our very own Georgia Wiltshire has this handy explainer including the runners and riders.

😬 Cringe column 🫣

Yes, it’s the return of that section that’ll make you wonder how some politicians don’t fall down more. 

Astoundingly, this edition marks the first appearance of Ben Gullis MP (!) who this week announced the existence of technology we thought only existed in the movies. Let’s watch...

But wait, there’s more! This week also saw Rishi Sunak step up to face a live and intense grilling from *checks notes* carefully vetted and intensely right-wing GBnews fans. Predictably, Sunak still managed to shank this open goal. CCHQ thinks he smashed it… let’s hear what the audience had to say.

Happy Crappy Valentines

To all you lovers out there, we at Best for Britain hope you had a very happy Valentine's Day and we want to send you our love with the following responsible, but no less romantic, valentines promoting vital voter information…

And that’s all from me. I would let you know who’s writing for you next week but chances are we’ll change it again!

Slán

Niall McGourty 
Director of Communications
Best for Britain