Jennifer Williams
@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
Northern correspondent, Financial Times
📍Manchester
📍Manchester
There’s several stories likely to come out of next years locals but for me, two key ones: all-outs in Labour mets that could switch to Reform control in one go, as happened in counties this year; and the fragmentation of its vote in cities, where Labour is fighting on both flanks
And there are a lot of Labour held places up for election with large numbers of such voters - London of course, and also other big cities with Labour councils - Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds. Could be big swings to Greens in many such places.
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
There’s several stories likely to come out of next years locals but for me, two key ones: all-outs in Labour mets that could switch to Reform control in one go, as happened in counties this year; and the fragmentation of its vote in cities, where Labour is fighting on both flanks
Like the true self parody I am, I wrote a travel feature from Manchester and spent most of it going on about rail investment
on.ft.com/4otjcoL
on.ft.com/4otjcoL
Postcard from Manchester: a Landmark Trust retreat at the heart of railway history
[FREE TO READ] A house that was at the centre of the 19th-century rail revolution can now be yours for the weekend
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Like the true self parody I am, I wrote a travel feature from Manchester and spent most of it going on about rail investment
on.ft.com/4otjcoL
on.ft.com/4otjcoL
A brief interjection from sofa-bound Covid malaise (boo, so boring) to bring you some thoughts on Reform, six months on
Fantastic Inside Politics by Jen Williams today:
Nigel Farage’s army of councillors balance piracy and professionalism
Party rides high as it battles dropouts among the recently elected and struggles for ‘massive savings’
www.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:31 PM
A brief interjection from sofa-bound Covid malaise (boo, so boring) to bring you some thoughts on Reform, six months on
Reposted by Jennifer Williams
Cambridgeshire train stabbings: ‘heroic’ LNER staff member suffered ‘life threatening injuries’
Cambridgeshire train stabbings: ‘heroic’ LNER staff member suffered ‘life threatening injuries’
British Transport Police say rail staff member was recorded on CCTV intervening in attempt to stop attacker
A “heroic” rail staff member who intervened in a mass stabbing to save the lives of high-speed train passengers suffered life threatening injuries, police said on Sunday, as a suspect remains in custody.
The member of LNER staff was recorded on CCTV attempting to stop the attacker as the train travelled between Peterborough and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, British Transport Police said.
Additional reporting: Harry Taylor and Vikram Dodd Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Cambridgeshire train stabbings: ‘heroic’ LNER staff member suffered ‘life threatening injuries’
Reposted by Jennifer Williams
Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC
November 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Next time someone tells you that train drivers "just push buttons" show them this from the BBC
Should have posted this sooner but didn’t
Birmingham and HS2. Both hopeless, supposedly. And yet they’re both obviously not
on.ft.com/47wTRmD
Birmingham and HS2. Both hopeless, supposedly. And yet they’re both obviously not
on.ft.com/47wTRmD
Birmingham eyes ‘Zone 5’ status with long-awaited HS2
[FREE TO READ] Civic leaders and investors believe rail link is key to renaissance of UK’s second-largest city
on.ft.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Should have posted this sooner but didn’t
Birmingham and HS2. Both hopeless, supposedly. And yet they’re both obviously not
on.ft.com/47wTRmD
Birmingham and HS2. Both hopeless, supposedly. And yet they’re both obviously not
on.ft.com/47wTRmD
Reposted by Jennifer Williams
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
To add: waste is not cuts. Waste is stuff you didn’t need to be doing. Local govt has taken that out
Doge has not been in anywhere to do any auditing work, and has no agreements to do so, nearly six months after the May elections
on.ft.com/48MzODg
on.ft.com/48MzODg
Reform UK’s ‘Doge’ unit yet to carry out any council audits
[FREE TO READ] Party promised six months ago that a specialist team would tackle wasteful spending in local government
on.ft.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:09 PM
To add: waste is not cuts. Waste is stuff you didn’t need to be doing. Local govt has taken that out
Doge has not been in anywhere to do any auditing work, and has no agreements to do so, nearly six months after the May elections
on.ft.com/48MzODg
on.ft.com/48MzODg
Reform UK’s ‘Doge’ unit yet to carry out any council audits
[FREE TO READ] Party promised six months ago that a specialist team would tackle wasteful spending in local government
on.ft.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Doge has not been in anywhere to do any auditing work, and has no agreements to do so, nearly six months after the May elections
on.ft.com/48MzODg
on.ft.com/48MzODg
Oh god I love the Diplomat. Especially the female writing
October 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Oh god I love the Diplomat. Especially the female writing
Be warned @stephenkb.bsky.social next time I write your newsletter the cultural bit will almost certainly be this
October 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Be warned @stephenkb.bsky.social next time I write your newsletter the cultural bit will almost certainly be this
This Cross Country train smells like an Avanti. So much so that I double checked I wasn’t accidentally going to London
October 21, 2025 at 6:34 AM
This Cross Country train smells like an Avanti. So much so that I double checked I wasn’t accidentally going to London
Reposted by Jennifer Williams
Try as I might, I can't get Reform to answer a simple question about their candidate in the Caerphilly by-election Llyr Powell.
When did he last have contact with Nathan Gill, the party's former leader in Wales who has admitted taking Russian bribes?
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/why-cant-r...
When did he last have contact with Nathan Gill, the party's former leader in Wales who has admitted taking Russian bribes?
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/why-cant-r...
Why can't Reform answer this question?
Plus predictions for the Caerphilly by-election
willhaywardwales.substack.com
October 19, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Try as I might, I can't get Reform to answer a simple question about their candidate in the Caerphilly by-election Llyr Powell.
When did he last have contact with Nathan Gill, the party's former leader in Wales who has admitted taking Russian bribes?
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/why-cant-r...
When did he last have contact with Nathan Gill, the party's former leader in Wales who has admitted taking Russian bribes?
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/why-cant-r...
If the current chat about Birmingham was translated to Manchester, on a personal level I would be unable to not be raging, and have thought similarly when watching similar narratives about London.
The Westminster chatterati’s perception of Birmingham is so utterly deranged by this point I’m actually sitting here laughing
The way people are talking about it you’d think it was some dystopia from the Hunger Games or something
Go outside, touch grass, come to Birmingham - you’ll be fine 😂
The way people are talking about it you’d think it was some dystopia from the Hunger Games or something
Go outside, touch grass, come to Birmingham - you’ll be fine 😂
October 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
If the current chat about Birmingham was translated to Manchester, on a personal level I would be unable to not be raging, and have thought similarly when watching similar narratives about London.
There was a deadly terror attack on a synagogue here just over a week ago; for many Jewish people it was what they had long feared. The next day, the Labour DPM was booed and heckled at the vigil. I’d be more surprised if a Labour DL candidate wasn’t asked for her views on the context tbh
BBC asking Bridget Phillipson at length about rising antisemitism in the UK (which actually fell last year according to new figures, albeit still very high) but not at all about rising Islamophobia, which is up by 19% year-on-year
October 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
There was a deadly terror attack on a synagogue here just over a week ago; for many Jewish people it was what they had long feared. The next day, the Labour DPM was booed and heckled at the vigil. I’d be more surprised if a Labour DL candidate wasn’t asked for her views on the context tbh
Woke up in the night to a podcast still autoplaying and talking about pancakes, so it had to be done (far better than my usual efforts)
October 11, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Woke up in the night to a podcast still autoplaying and talking about pancakes, so it had to be done (far better than my usual efforts)
Reposted by Jennifer Williams
Good morning and welcome to your FT Weekend highlights in threaded gift link form. Each is free x300 and then it's gone but if you miss out you can pop out and buy a paper! It lasts all week! Enjoy!
October 11, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Good morning and welcome to your FT Weekend highlights in threaded gift link form. Each is free x300 and then it's gone but if you miss out you can pop out and buy a paper! It lasts all week! Enjoy!
AB did, as the article says, shoot and miss. What it doesn’t note is he did also make a distinct pitch in the run-up to and during conference that Labour should blame Farage for a lot of what’s happening. My recollection is hearing that first from AB, not Starmer
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Keir Starmer’s plan to blame Nigel Farage for budget tax rises
With Reform UK threatening the end of two-party politics, both Labour and the Tories are fighting to stay relevant as conference season comes to an end
www.thetimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
AB did, as the article says, shoot and miss. What it doesn’t note is he did also make a distinct pitch in the run-up to and during conference that Labour should blame Farage for a lot of what’s happening. My recollection is hearing that first from AB, not Starmer
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Anyone know if the food floor in the Manchester Harvey Nichols still exists? I’ve only been there once and that was 15 years ago so I’m not going to go to the effort of going upstairs again if it’s not there. Thanks in advance, this feels like a good use of social media #journorequest
October 9, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Anyone know if the food floor in the Manchester Harvey Nichols still exists? I’ve only been there once and that was 15 years ago so I’m not going to go to the effort of going upstairs again if it’s not there. Thanks in advance, this feels like a good use of social media #journorequest
Alan Carr is going to be amazing on this #celebritytraitors
October 8, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Alan Carr is going to be amazing on this #celebritytraitors
Ok ok everyone is saying this is great, I’ll take it back out of the charity shop bag
October 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Ok ok everyone is saying this is great, I’ll take it back out of the charity shop bag
Today’s task is to go through many dusty books I scooped up when clearing out my parents’ house, from a high shelf on the landing. Retro. I remember the winemaking phase, but only because the “wine” remained in the airing cupboard gathering dust through the 90s
October 6, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Today’s task is to go through many dusty books I scooped up when clearing out my parents’ house, from a high shelf on the landing. Retro. I remember the winemaking phase, but only because the “wine” remained in the airing cupboard gathering dust through the 90s
For obvious news reasons - Burnham, terrorism - I’ve not written about the reform councils elsewhere for a few weeks. But the general vibe is “we can’t rule out CT rises”.
The narrative, ie blame govt, is therefore already being established.
It’s true (central govt £ DOES dictate this), but 1/
The narrative, ie blame govt, is therefore already being established.
It’s true (central govt £ DOES dictate this), but 1/
Another day through the looking glass with UK politics starts with Reform finding out strangely enough that local government isn't spending all (or indeed virtually any) money on woke initiatives they can easily cut. www.ft.com/content/277c...
Reform likely to raise Kent council tax after cost-cutting drive falters
Nigel Farage’s party promised to revive local authority finances by slashing wasteful spending
www.ft.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:50 AM
For obvious news reasons - Burnham, terrorism - I’ve not written about the reform councils elsewhere for a few weeks. But the general vibe is “we can’t rule out CT rises”.
The narrative, ie blame govt, is therefore already being established.
It’s true (central govt £ DOES dictate this), but 1/
The narrative, ie blame govt, is therefore already being established.
It’s true (central govt £ DOES dictate this), but 1/