I've always wondered why anyone bothers filling in those daft questionnaires that increasingly fill space in newspapers and weekend supplements. So when Total Politics asked me to answer their questionnaire, of course I said Yes. The results are...

My new post on Total Politics’ Party Lines blog argues we could see a general election sooner than you...

I enjoyed following the career of Peter Bruinvels in the 1980s - it was difficult not to as he was rarely out of the papers - and 20 years on I enjoyed writing about him for Total Politics magazine. My "Where Are They Now?" feature for the magazine is now in its fifth month - previous subjects have been Walter Sweeney, Bill Pitt, David Bookbinder and David...

I wasn't planning on posting today, but in typical fashion I made the mistake of browsing through the blogs and came across the sad news that The Cynical Dragon is no more. David from Newport has decided to call it a day in what he sees as inevitable.This blog is now dead. A former blog. Due to work and personal commitments I've found it impossible to keep up and know that these commitments will consume moreof my time in the coming months. I've enjoyed the experience. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers who've helped, commented and offered support.All I can suggest is that you keep the blog open in case you get the urge to blog again, even if your posts will be sporadic. Finding time to blog is always difficult, and I've noticed this morning that the rumour mongers didn't sleep last night on...

The latest issue of Total Politics carries a conference survival guide wot I wrote. Here’s an extract: Conference is ultimately an extended four or five-day piss up for most of the younger delegates. Do your liver a favour and pace yourself. Perhaps have a soft drink or water between double vodka and Red Bulls, or go...

The latest edition of Total Politics is now in circulation together with the fourth instalment of my "Where Are They Now?" series of columns. This one focuses on the Liberal Democrat David Bellotti who won one of the most significant by-elections in modern times in 1990, but whose newsworthiness lay less in his rather inconsequential political career and more in having been one of the worst football club proprietors in the history of the game....

I have just noticed that The Wilted Rose has made the Total Politics Top 100, number 52 in fact, but my smile turned into a frown when I discovered that it is in the Top 100 Labour Blogs! Ah well, those of you who read this blog know that there is probably no one more anti Labour than me, so I can sleep soundly at night.  It just shows the low quality of Labour Blogs if a blog that is totally opposed to the Labour Party reaches number 51 in the Top 100 Labour Blogs…       ...

I have to say, I have been trying to get my head round news this week that I have been ranked as the 61st best Labour blog by the new Guide to Political Blogging.Two years ago, I was ranked the top Labour blogger - and last year, when I personally had felt the site had improved, I was probably a more realistic third in the list.To now be ranked outside the top 50, is to be perfectly honest, a bit of a surprise. Especially to be so far behind people who blog far less often, behind people who have only been blogging a couple of months, and, of course, the biggest insult of all being 24 places underneath John McDonnell MP!It's something you just have to take on the chin.I note that following the publication of this year's edition of the Political Guide to Blogging, Iain Dale says:• Labour...

Five Welsh blogs (numbers 58, 59, 61, 72 and 79) have made it into Iain Dale's Top 100 UK Political Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.1. (2) Guido Fawkes2. (1) Iain Dale3. (4) Conservative Home4. (3) Dizzy Thinks5. (-) Political Betting6. (-) Devil's Kitchen7. (9) Spectator Coffee House8. (12) Burning our Money9. (42) John Redwood10. (14) Ben Brogan11. (20) EU Referendum12. (15) Tim Worstall13. (-) Tom Harris MP14. (13) Archbishop Cranmer15. (54) LibDem Voice16. (16) Mr Eugenides17. (-) Hopi Sen18. (85) Daniel Hannan MEP19. (-) Three Line Whip20. (70) Stumbling & Mumbling21. (35) Donal Blaney22. (128) Boulton & Co23. (-) Liberal Conspiracy24. (8) Nick Robinson25. (-) People's Republic of Mortimer26. (11) Recess Monkey27. (56) Adam Smith Institute28....

Five Welsh blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 100 Right of Centre Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.28. Glyn Davies85. Lone Voice95. David Jones MP98. Linguanaut99. The Right StudentThe full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

Nine Welsh blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 100 Left of Centre Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.19. Ordovicius35. Bethan Jenkins AM39. Adam Price MP47. Cynical Dragon59. Guerrilla Welsh-fare60. Welsh Ramblings73. Blog Menai87. Amlwch to Magor90. Paul FlynnI would never have described The Cynical Dragon as left of centre.The full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

Thanks to those of you who voted for this blog in Iain Dale's annual contest. In its first year in contention, no 36 seems like not a bad result in the 'Top 100 left of centre blogs'. Congratulations to Tom Harris and Hopi Sen for their top rankings. Thanks also to Iain Dale for including the blog in his list of the Top 50 political blogs on the Total Politics website. The full top 100 list is:1. Tom Harris MP2. Hopi Sen3. Stumbling & Mumbling4. Liberal Conspiracy5. Recess Monkey6. Luke Akehurst7. LabourHome8. Tom Watson MP9. Ministry of Truth10. Dave's Part11. Sadie's Tavern12. Harry's Place13. SNP Tactical Voting14. Socialist Unity15. Paul Linford16. Labour Outlook17. A Very Public Sociologist18. Obsolete19. Ordovicius20. Normblog21. Bloggers4Labour22. Theo's Blog23. Kezia Dugdale's...

The blog of Leighton Andrews AM - holding up the fine tradition of blogging Ministers:Editorial PolicyThis blog does not publish anonymous comments, unless they are really witty and I like them. If you have something to say, then have the courage of your convictions and use your name or an identifiable alias. Even then I reserve the right not to publish comments that are malicious, defamatory, stupid, pointlessly cynical or boring.There are very few [no] comments on the 'Look at Me' blog of Leighton Andrews AM, and that's only if you include the posts on Cardiff City FC. Senedd Whip demands to have him removed from the No. 33 spot on Iain Dale's list of Top-40 Welsh Blogs. Partly for its pointless use of space on the web, and mainly for being the definitive boring political...

Just come across a light-hearted article I worked on for Total Politics during its early stages. The concept didn’t make the final cut, but I’m posting it here as some of the jokes aren’t half-bad. As you can probably tell, it was written around the time the Peter Hain and George Osbourne donation stories were...

Two Welsh blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 50 LibDem Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.8. Peter Black AM19. Dib LemmingThe full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

Sorry, this is all navel-gazing stuff. But since I mentioned it already, I should probably point out that the results are up. If this happened on the train I would probably be complaining quite vociferously. As it is, I lie between the Brian Taylor and Calum Cashley in Iain Dale’s top 40 Scottish political blogs, as voted for by readers. More to the point, this list is definitive proof that this blog is the second best non-aligned non-MSM Scottish political blog (behind Ideas of Civilisation). I always knew it. (Any way to make the result sound more impressive, huh?) Overall this blog is 16th, which is a dramatic fall of fourteen places from my previous position in this list. Still, I got off lightly. The person who was number 1 in that previous poll is nowhere to be seen in the top...

It seems that life doesn't begin at 40, according to one reader that commented upon Iain Dale's announcement of the Total Politics Top 40 Welsh Blogs:Being no 40 on a list of Welsh bloggers is quite a thing. To receive such an accolade is a bit like being singled out as the 40th most pro-democracy member of the Chinese politburo or the 40th most attractive check-out girl in the Croydon branch of Tesco! Respect. Ha ha consider who is number 40 that's probably the most accurate thing ever written.No. 40. Martin EaglestoneMartin, don't listen to them...

Last week there was a little stooshie over an interview in which Alex Salmond appeared to defend Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies. I’m not interested in discussing the merits or otherwise of Thatcher’s policies just now. What interests me about this story is that it is a perfect example of the danger the SNP is always in, having positioned themselves as primary political spokespeople for the nation of Scotland. For a number of years in the past the SNP has used the slogan “Scotland’s Party”. You often hear them distinguish themselves from other parties by highlighting the fact that the other parties are “run from London” and so on and so forth. It is inherent in the nationalist ideology that there is a distinctively...

Forty Welsh blogs [a high number, I thought] have made it into Iain Dale's Top 40 Welsh Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.As Iain puts it "Plaid Cymru will be pleased with their showing in the Welsh Top Blogs list, with 18 of the 40 places going to nationalist blogs." Those Nationalists have far too much time on their hands!Peter Black AMGlyn DaviesOrdoviciusMiss Wagstaff PresentsDavid CornockMiserable Old FartCambria PoliticoBethan Jenkins AMBetsan PowysAdam Price MPCynical DragonVaughan RoderickGuerilla Welsh FareValleys MamWelsh RamblingsDib LemmingHen Rech FlinBlog MenaiLone VoiceAmlwch to MagorWelsh Blog IndexDavid Jones MPPaul Flynn MP07.25 to PaddingtonBorthlasBlog DafaelJohn MoorcraftAndrew NuttCeredigNicolas WebbDylan Jones-Evans Inside Out @...

Three Welsh blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 20 Non Aligned Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.6. Miss Wagstaff Presents9. Cambria Politico10. Miserable Old FartThis list excludes Media blogs.The full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

The September issue of Total Politics is now available online. We're delighted that in addition to WH Smith Travel outlets at stations and airports stocking it, WH Smith High Street shops will now also be stocking the magazine. You can read it on the E-Zine, or you'll find each article on THIS page. Here are some of the highlights.Extended interview with Alex SalmondInterview with Boris JohnsonInterview with Peter RobinsonSurvey: Councillors back All Out ElectionsInterview with the Prime Minister of GibraltarPete Wishart MP: My Political HinterlandPolitical Diets: The curse of the canapeIf I Were PM: Ian RankinWhy are female MPs do dowdy?Debate: Is the Green Belt Sacred?We've had a design makeover for this issue and hope you like the result.We've also had some great press coverage for...

So I'm 31 years old today. Ugh.If you have ever wondered what I do with myself on such special occasions, you may be interested in reading my latest article for the Local Government Blog over on the Total Politics website.Or you could seek some professional help for such a worrying affliction.Either is fine by me. ;-)-(Image Source: Local Government Blog, Total...

No Welsh Green blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 20 Green Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.It seems that we only eat greens in Wales.The full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

Four Welsh MP blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 20 MP Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.6. Adam Price MP10. David Jones MP11. Paul Flynn MP15. Elfyn Llwyd MPElfyn Llwyd blogging!?!The full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

Four Welsh Media blogs have made it into Iain Dale's Top 30 Media Blogs list for his Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9.8. David Cornock (BBC, though not an official one)12. Betsan Powys (BBC)13. Vaughan Roderick (BBC)20. 07:25 to Paddington (Western Mail)The full list and entire series can be followed by clicking on the following link to Iain Dale's...

If you are interested in an interview with yours truly over on the Total Politics: Daily Politico feature, you can go have a read by clicking here.And if you are not interested, you can still have a read by clicking that link.(BTW, if you are a Tory, you may be better served spending the time finding out where Birmingham is instead.)Thank...

Iain Dale's TOTAL POLITICS is asking for your votes to decide the Top 100 UK Political Blogs.How to Vote:Either email your Top Ten (ranked from 1 to 10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com (Please type Top 10 in the subject line)Or you can leave your Top Ten in the Comments section of Iain Dale's post (you must be logged in to blogger).Total Politics and Iain Dale will then compile the Top 100 from those that you send in. Just order them from 1 to 10. Your top blog gets 10 points and your tenth gets 1 point.The deadline for submitting your Top 10 is Friday August 15th.Once all the entries are in a lucky dip draw will take place and the winner will be sent £100 worth of political books!The rules are simple:1. Please only vote once2. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are...

There are two weeks left to get your votes in. Don't forget to vote for some Welsh...

My second monthly "Where are they now?" contribution to Total Politics magazine can now be found online HERE and deals with the short parliamentary career of Bill Pitt. Hopefully this won't persuade him to attempt a political comeback, unlike last month's subject, Walter Sweeney....

Well it seems as though everyone else has been doing it, especially on the Scottish blogs. It’s all in aid of the 2008-9 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK by Iain Dale. He’s asking everyone to vote you see. Last year, quite incredibly, this blog was named as the number 2 Scottish political blog thanks to Grant Thoms of Tartan Hero fame. Some will say that this blog is indeed a load of number 2, so the position is pretty apt. But I would be amazed if I repeated the feat this year. So vote for me now! As a few other bloggers have done, I will reveal my top ten political blogs. If nothing else, it fills a bit of space here. You might also be interested in my recent post on ten excellent blogs. It’s not easy choosing just ten great blogs — and choosing the order...