Pauline Stafford

@pstafford.bsky.social

1.6K followers 360 following 480 posts

Historian of early Middle Ages, Grandmother, Leftwing, Labour, Leeds, British, European. Emerita Prof University of Liverpool

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Pauline Stafford is Professor Emerita of Early Medieval History at Liverpool University and a visiting professor at Leeds University in England. Dr. Stafford is a former vice-president of the Royal Historical Society. .. more

History 50%

Philosophy 24%

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Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

Some advice worth listening to for Labour in Gorton and Denton from @thangamdebbonaire.bsky.social who lost out to the Greens (albeit in a very different constituency) in 2024. www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Take it from me – attacking the Greens’ fringe policies won’t work for Labour in Gorton and Denton
Take it from me – attacking the Greens’ fringe policies won’t work for Labour in Gorton and Denton
Lucy Powell, deputy leader of the Labour Party (left) and Anna Turley, chair of the Labour Party (right) at the announcement that Angeliki Stogia (centre) is the party's candidate for the Gorton and Denton by-election, January 31, 2026 (PA Images / Alamy)

Baroness Debbonaire
Baroness Debbonaire

3 min read2 hr
By-elections can be a pain for campaigners. I have memories of taking my mum to a remote corner of the North West which was an hour away from any train station; it was cold and rainy, dogs howled and we didn’t win.

Voters can resent or ignore by-elections – or use them as a means of telling a governing party they are fed up. Leaflets have confusingly similar claims and counter-claims about who is the only party who can beat another party, sometimes illustrated with different coloured silhouettes of two racing horses. Rarely do so many trees die for so little effect.

In Gorton and Denton, both Labour and the Greens are pitching as the “only party who can beat Reform”. In a constituency that had a healthy Labour majority in 2024, in a Labour city with Labour MPs, council and mayor, it is noticeable that the Greens are currently the bookies’ favourite, though Reform and Labour are close by.

So, what should Labour do?

Learn more about the house
Voters need a good reason to vote Labour. Under a Labour government with a healthy majority, this needs to be better than “because the others are worse than us”. And clearly, “change”, the 2024 slogan, won’t work this time.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision about who our candidate is, we should campaign on Labour achievements and commitments.

In a seat with Reform and Greens in contention to take over a previously solid Labour seat, the temptation can be to triangulate – to Reform voters and to would-be Gree…

Reposted by Tim Bale, Peter Holmes, Pauline Stafford

Hannah Keenan @hannahkeenan.bsky.social · 1d

this is bad for the post of cabinet secretary and so bad for the civil service / good government / everyone.

Chart from the institute for government showing the tenure of cabinet secretaries from 1916 to 2026, showing a clear trend of shorter tenures over time

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

Politicians say the former all the time. It was the position of the LibDems in 2024! (With net migration at 600k). As well as Labour, Conservatives, Reform

We've been colonised plays with racial tropes of invasion, replacement, erasure & eradication in a way that is radicalised & radicalising

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 1d

More than 21 millions Americans do not have documentation proving their citizenships, and would be disenfranchised by the SAVE Act the GOP just passed through the House. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available

Requiring Americans to prove their citizenship to register to vote would exclude millions of citizens from the political process.

www.brennancenter.org

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 1d

This looks full of riches.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 2d

Strip him of his knighthood.

Sky News @news.sky.com · 2d

'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the country's richest and most influential men, has told Sky News.

news.sky.com

Sky News @news.sky.com · 2d

'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the country's richest and most influential men, has told Sky News.

news.sky.com

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 3d

🔴Reform MPs Accused of Pandering to Putin After Skipping Russian Interference Debate

Nigel Farage’s party refused to attend the debate, called after more than 100,000 people signed a petition demanding a public inquiry into Russian interference in British politics

bylinetimes.com/2026/02/10/r...

Reform MPs Accused of Pandering to Putin After Skipping Russian Interference Debate

Nigel Farage's party refused to attend the debate, called after more than 100,000 people signed a petition demanding a public inquiry into Russian interference in British politics

bylinetimes.com

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Tim Bale, Stephen Jones , and 1 more Ben H. Ansell, Tim Bale, Stephen Jones, Pauline Stafford

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 3d

Right, but if you strip out the hyperbole it's just "the public are angry about the cost of living, immigration and the NHS and don't particularly understand any of them" which, sure, but what do I do with that?

Robert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 3d

You may not like it, but strip out the hyperbole and abuse and it's quite hard to argue with this Cummings asssessment of the public mood

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 3d

How did large-scale landowning work on the ground, in a society without centralized landownership records? A brand-new article by Julio Escalona suggests it's about 'Dense Local Knowledge': onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

May I pick your brain? Local minds as living cadastres in a Portuguese eleventh‐century lawsuit

In the context of a dispute with the monastery of Lorvão, in the late eleventh century, the monks of Vacariça, near Coimbra (modern Portugal), carried out a field enquiry in the village of Recardães....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social · 3d

Really was a pleasure.

Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social · 3d

Many thanks to @royalhistsoc.org for making this lecture by @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social available so quickly. Succeeds brilliantly in placing #queens as the mobile pieces in post-Carolingian world and thus in a crucial stage of the making of Europe.Big picture thinking. @medievalists.bsky.social

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 3d

Video and audio recordings are now available of the Society's latest lecture (6 February):

‘Alike in Appearance but not in Scope’: Queens and the Making of Medieval Europe' with Professor Charles West (University of Edinburgh) bit.ly/46j42f5

@pseudo-isidore.bsky.social #Skystorians

Queens and the Making of Medieval Europe: lecture recordings now available - RHS

On Friday 6 February the Society hosted the first lecture in its 2026 programme. Our great thanks to Professor Charles West (University of Edinburgh) who spoke on: ‘"Alike in Appearance but not in Sco...

bit.ly

Reposted by Charles West, Pauline Stafford

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 3d

Queens and the Making of Medieval Europe: lecture recordings now available - RHS

bit.ly

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d

This is big.

£5bn council SEND debts to be paid off by government

It comes days after the Local Government Association warned that eight in 10 English councils would face bankruptcy, if they had to honour deficits.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Tim Bale, Jonathan Hopkin , and 1 more Jonathan Portes, Tim Bale, Jonathan Hopkin, Pauline Stafford

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 3d

If Starmer wants a reset - and not yet another U-turn when the parliamentary party balks at a policy - here is his chance.

Benjamin Welby @bm.wel.by · 3d

300,000 children face 10-year wait for settled status under UK plans, says IPPR

The consultation closes on Thursday. What is being proposed is dreadful. Can I encourage you to engage with the consultation and put your dissent on record?

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Pauline Stafford

Ian McMillan @imcmillan.bsky.social · 3d

First cup of tea: the day’s parachute opens and I float gently into the morning.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Steven Fielding @polprofsteve2024.bsky.social · 3d

The Guardian today claims Starmer’s leadership is in peril and in tumult after McSweeney‘s departure. But it was anyway, and if McSweeney’s exit is accompanied by those of others and a change of approach then this tumult might be something many in the party have been wanting for quite some.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

LabourList @labourlist.bsky.social · 4d

💬 'The members seemed, dare I say, positive?' 👀🤔

🔴 James Tibbitts reports on his experience from the Gorton and Denton by-election campaign this weekend.

Read here 👇

labourlist.org/2026/02/some...

‘Someone to bring them together’: The Gorton and Denton by-election campaign from the ground… – LabourList

In writing this article, I will begin with the extremely obvious: it has been, and continues to be, a crazy few days within the Labour…

labourlist.org

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 4d

I spoke with non-citizen Massachusetts residents who have been put through absolute ICE hell, including malnutrition, solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and deportation—all of which might have been avoided if not for Massachusetts working so closely with ICE.

boltsmag.org/massachusett...

Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State - Bolts

Luis Perez waited 53 and a half years to be freed from prison. When his day finally came, on Jan. 16, 2025, he could practically feel the warmth and quiet... Read More

boltsmag.org

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 4d

I know anything he says and does is infra dig as far as many are concerned, but I thought this was very good, actually.

I’m sleepless, angry and anxious over this - and I know I'm not alone

Editor-at-large Alastair Campbell on the reaction to the Mandelson affair, the calls for Starmer to go, and what happens to this government - and the United Kingdom - next

www.thenewworld.co.uk

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Steven Fielding @polprofsteve2024.bsky.social · 4d

There could be 2 quick fixes.
Stop talking about immigration: it doesn’t impress the voters you‘ll never get back & pisses off those you can.
Start talking more about the Labour things you are actually doing instead of being embarrassed by them.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 4d

ICE HELL

Irishman 🇮🇪 lived in 🇺🇸 for 20 yrs. Built own plastering business in Boston. Valid work permit. Married to 🇺🇸 citizen. No convictions “not even a parking ticket”. Green card application underway since April 2025. Would normally be granted.

www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September

Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record

www.irishtimes.com

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

medievalicious.bsky.social @medievalicious.bsky.social · 5d

Still can't get over how magnificent this 15th century medieval hammer-beam roof is at St Colleen's in Llangollen. It's glorious!!! #Wales #Church #medieval #History

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tim Bale, Pauline Stafford

Paul Brand @paulbrand.bsky.social · 5d

Not *all* Labour MPs wanted McSweeney out.

“Gutted about Morgan”, one texts.

“So many of us know he’s brilliant to work with, so exceptional at the bigger picture strategic thinking, relentlessly focused on the moving pieces… and credit him with winning the majority”.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 5d

This series of articles by Peter Oborne is so spot on - withering about McSweeney - and his obsessive focus on party politics, scheming and tactics, at expense of policy conducive to the national interest - and in process ultimately ruining Starmer’s govt.

Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social · 5d

Let’s not forget the other faces of Labour.

Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 6d

Great video. The homes are thoughtful, attractive and well designed. Khan is eloquent and considerate. Much more like this please.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 10d

A real pleasure to meet George Clarke and hear about his experiences growing up on a council estate. We both know the positive impact social housing can have on families’ lives.

That’s why I’m determined to continue delivering more council homes as we build a fairer London for everyone.

Pauline Stafford @pstafford.bsky.social · 5d

Well done Ed Davey. Maybe we can turn attention to the misogyny, and questions of control of and access to women’s bodies that lies at the heart of the camaraderie of patriarchy in the Epstein affair.

Cat Neilan @catneilan.bsky.social · 5d

Ed Davey has finally taken action against Lord Rennard - after @aligoldsworthy.bsky.social asked him to "apply the same rules to your party", after his condemnation of Mandelson this week

Very important story by @katemaltby.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

It’s years too late, but at least Ed Davey is learning fr...

The Lib Dem leader has finally taken action against a peer who was at the centre of 2013 inquiry involving complaints by four women

observer.co.uk

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

Cat Neilan @catneilan.bsky.social · 5d

It’s years too late, but at least Ed Davey is learning fr...

The Lib Dem leader has finally taken action against a peer who was at the centre of 2013 inquiry involving complaints by four women

observer.co.uk

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 5d

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

Reposted by Stacy D. VanDeveer, Pauline Stafford

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 5d

Republicans have mastered the art of closed-door testimony. They ask kangaroo court questions, then selectively publish the answers in official reports that provide fodder for the online right and Fox News for months or years – keeping the full transcript sealed. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Clintons call for their Epstein testimony to be held publicly

Bill Clinton says closed-door depositions would be akin to ‘kangaroo court’ as Hillary Clinton says they have already told House committee what they know

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