Adam Bienkov
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adambienkov.bsky.social
Adam Bienkov
@adambienkov.bsky.social
Political Editor of Byline Times and Online Editor of BylineTimes.com. Lobby journalist in the House of Commons. 📩Adam@bylinetimes.com

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https://www.adambienkov.co.uk
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To all the newly-arrived Twitter refugees, I've created a starter pack of UK political journalists, experts, commentators and politicos to follow here

go.bsky.app/2CwmVfN
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
I enjoyed reading this column, which somehow blames Keir Starmer for the result of an employment tribunal following laws passed under the Tory government regarding an incident and suspension that took place before the last election.
January 31, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Why Kemi Badenoch’s woeful response to those calling for her to shift the Conservative party back to the centre ground tells you everything you need to know about her leadership

www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/kemi-baden...
Kemi Badenoch Tells Conservative Voters to ‘Get Out of the Way’
To repeat the Conservative Party's leader's favourite phrase, "this isn't serious"
www.adambienkov.co.uk
January 31, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
As events in America are now showing, democracies are only as strong as their weakest point. And right now, the weakest point in our own democracy is the continued rise of one Nigel Farage

www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/nigel-fara...
Nigel Farage's Plans to Put Our Democracy on ICE
What is happening under Trump could very quickly happen in the UK too
www.adambienkov.co.uk
January 31, 2026 at 9:21 AM
As events in America are now showing, democracies are only as strong as their weakest point. And right now, the weakest point in our own democracy is the continued rise of one Nigel Farage

www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/nigel-fara...
Nigel Farage's Plans to Put Our Democracy on ICE
What is happening under Trump could very quickly happen in the UK too
www.adambienkov.co.uk
January 31, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
So if I’m understanding this sequence correctly, from Thanksgiving to Christmas 2012, Elon Musk was essentially pestering registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to throw him a wild party on the island.
January 30, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
Whoa. This is from an FBI email with the subect "Re: Epstein - Cellmate Interview"

Here are the summaries provided by the FBI agent.
January 31, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Damning piece from Labour MP @labourlewis.bsky.social about what the Andy Burnham saga has revealed about Keir Starmer

bylinetimes.com/2026/01/30/k...
Keir Starmer's Brutal Treatment of Andy Burnham Has Destroyed All Illusions About His Premiership
The true motivations of this Prime Minister can now be seen by all, argues Labour MP Clive Lewis
bylinetimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Not only are they arresting journalists now, but they're gloating about it too.

It's obvious where this is all going
January 30, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
Matt Goodwin and the end of England: How one man's career explains our public life iandunt.substack.com/p/matt-goodw...
Matt Goodwin and the end of England
How one man's career explains our public life.
iandunt.substack.com
January 30, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
I remember growing up in a period when America took itself seriously, and now it's just going to let the president loot $10 billion from the treasury?
President Trump has filed a lawsuit against the IRS, in which he demands that the IRS, which he as president controls, pay him $10 billion.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 30, 2026 at 1:09 AM
The Greens have picked local councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer as their candidate for the Gorton & Denton by-election.

If successful, she will be the party's first MP in the North
January 30, 2026 at 11:07 AM
Nigel Farage and Reform are threatening to sue the Conservative party for using "alleged mental ill-health as a political weapon" against Suella Braverman.

Just imagine doing such a thing
January 29, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
On almost everything – fraud, polarisation, radicalisation, misinformation – evidence suggests that over 60s are in much more urgent need of online protection and education than teenagers.

But that issue gets zero political attention, and is a total non-starter. Nothing good will come of it.
This was a minor story on London news this morning - but suspect is a real cautionary (and alarming) tale of an older man getting radicalised online.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sidcup man convicted aover explosive attack on Ulez camera
Kevin Rees's homemade bomb caused damage to vehicles and property including a child's bedroom.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Great piece on why this Labour Government's failure has primarily been a moral one
My Trade Secrets today, in which it's fair to say I go off on one.

The Labour party is famously "a moral crusade or it is nothing". On aid, immigration and trade they're going for the latter option, with betrayals of principle both repugnant and pointless. 1/n
The abandonment of Labour’s moral crusade
[FREE TO READ] The UK is taking a cynical but fruitless turn to the reactionary and insular on aid, immigration and trade
as.ft.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
Wild how both former main parties now hate their natural supporters and want them to vote for someone else
Centrist ideas no longer wanted in Conservative party, says Kemi Badenoch
Party leader tells MPs that one-nation Tories doubting her rightward direction ‘need to get out of the way’
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
No response yet from Reform pundit and activist Tim Montgomerie about his party's selection in Gorton and Denton
January 28, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Wonder if Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin remembers this.
January 28, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
So basically Albert Speer’s defense at Nuremberg.
January 28, 2026 at 3:00 AM
No response yet from Reform pundit and activist Tim Montgomerie about his party's selection in Gorton and Denton
January 28, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
Goodwin was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Farage needs a geography lesson.
January 28, 2026 at 7:37 AM
There's a good chance they will come third but if this is expectation management then it's pretty poor.

Nobody is going to congratulate them if they come second in one of their safest seats in the country
January 28, 2026 at 10:18 AM
There's so much Labour could use to attack him and they go with this www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour...
Labour Criticised Over 'Misleading' Video Attacking Reform By-Election Candidate Matt Goodwin
The Gorton and Denton contest is already getting dirty.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
Matt Goodwin makes a living out of railing against university educated elites & his whole schtick is "he was the first person in his family to go to university", which is a bit weird given that his Dad, now being heavily invoked for his Manchester connection, appears to have a string of degrees.
January 27, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Adam Bienkov
It does seem slightly problematic for the British Polling Council that a pollster who over-estimated Reform by 5 points in their final poll at the 2024 general election is standing for the party within two years.
January 27, 2026 at 5:12 PM
This is how the BBC is reporting Matt Goodwin's selection as Reform's candidate in Gorton and Denton.

He's not an academic. He holds no academic position and hasn't done for quite some time.
January 27, 2026 at 2:44 PM