Tom Powdrill
@tompowdrill.bsky.social
Labour and Capital: stewardship, labour rights, unions, pensions, corporate governance, workforce engagement
This is not going to change.
The UK government needs to just have the fight. It might even gain some respect, since I’m guessing the number of people who think the freedom to generate sexualised images of people without their consent is an important line in the sand is not large
The UK government needs to just have the fight. It might even gain some respect, since I’m guessing the number of people who think the freedom to generate sexualised images of people without their consent is an important line in the sand is not large
January 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM
This is not going to change.
The UK government needs to just have the fight. It might even gain some respect, since I’m guessing the number of people who think the freedom to generate sexualised images of people without their consent is an important line in the sand is not large
The UK government needs to just have the fight. It might even gain some respect, since I’m guessing the number of people who think the freedom to generate sexualised images of people without their consent is an important line in the sand is not large
I’m getting close to not caring in any case, but, trying to be objective, I think this is fundamentally wrong. Reform voters hate Labour, so they aren’t very likely to save it
Only Reform voters can save Labour
By Luke Akehurst
By Luke Akehurst
Only Reform voters can save Labour
A progressive coalition simply doesn't have the vote share
www.newstatesman.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:32 PM
I’m getting close to not caring in any case, but, trying to be objective, I think this is fundamentally wrong. Reform voters hate Labour, so they aren’t very likely to save it
I think being concerned about getting the label right is a waste of time. What would result even if we could reach a reasonably definitive answer?
What does matter is what we expect him to do.
www.ft.com/content/3610...
What does matter is what we expect him to do.
www.ft.com/content/3610...
Defining Donald Trump
The US leader is often called a fascist but he represents a different kind of political authoritarianism
www.ft.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:51 PM
I think being concerned about getting the label right is a waste of time. What would result even if we could reach a reasonably definitive answer?
What does matter is what we expect him to do.
www.ft.com/content/3610...
What does matter is what we expect him to do.
www.ft.com/content/3610...
I don’t miss this from Twitter: reading meaning into froth. Reform is on 31% in both but “showing signs of advancing in one” in January and “support flattening out” in October.
Nothing real has changed in any case, it’s just polling.
Nothing real has changed in any case, it’s just polling.
January 7, 2026 at 3:43 PM
I don’t miss this from Twitter: reading meaning into froth. Reform is on 31% in both but “showing signs of advancing in one” in January and “support flattening out” in October.
Nothing real has changed in any case, it’s just polling.
Nothing real has changed in any case, it’s just polling.
Was looking at Trump-related content on Twitter yesterday. Took about a minute before I saw a white nationalist successfully getting Grok to generate a violent racist image of Trump saying he will kill an entire ethnic group.
That said, it does enable engagement so who can say what’s right & wrong…
That said, it does enable engagement so who can say what’s right & wrong…
January 7, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Was looking at Trump-related content on Twitter yesterday. Took about a minute before I saw a white nationalist successfully getting Grok to generate a violent racist image of Trump saying he will kill an entire ethnic group.
That said, it does enable engagement so who can say what’s right & wrong…
That said, it does enable engagement so who can say what’s right & wrong…
This is so obviously true to anyone who has lived here any significant length of time. Some of the people who attack London definitely know this. The ones who live in newly posh areas and still pretend it’s a crime-ridden hellhole are particularly annoying
The idea that London has become less safe in recent years is quite strange - just look at how once "dangerous" areas have been transformed in recent years. Gentrification comes with its own issues but streets are packed with visitors and city far more welcoming than when I moved here a decade ago.
January 7, 2026 at 1:10 PM
This is so obviously true to anyone who has lived here any significant length of time. Some of the people who attack London definitely know this. The ones who live in newly posh areas and still pretend it’s a crime-ridden hellhole are particularly annoying
…he’s Eberneezer Goode
At political cabinet today, Morgan McSweeney gave a presentation on “three Es” on how the government can connect with voters - emotion, empathy and evidence.
Am told he said the government currently has a “deficit in emotion”
Am told he said the government currently has a “deficit in emotion”
January 6, 2026 at 10:00 PM
…he’s Eberneezer Goode
It’s amazing that in politics everyone can see “that guy is driving the car into a wall” but we have to wait until the actual crash before the passengers are happy asking publicly “should we change the driver?” and even then many will argue “getting another driver is hard, they might hit a wall too”
Latest YouGov Westminster voting intention (4-5 January 2026)
Reform UK: 26% (+1 from 21-22 Dec 2025)
Conservative: 19% (=)
Labour: 17% (-3)
Lib Dem: 16% (+1)
Green: 15% (=)
yougov.co.uk/topics/polit...
Reform UK: 26% (+1 from 21-22 Dec 2025)
Conservative: 19% (=)
Labour: 17% (-3)
Lib Dem: 16% (+1)
Green: 15% (=)
yougov.co.uk/topics/polit...
January 6, 2026 at 3:20 PM
It’s amazing that in politics everyone can see “that guy is driving the car into a wall” but we have to wait until the actual crash before the passengers are happy asking publicly “should we change the driver?” and even then many will argue “getting another driver is hard, they might hit a wall too”
No-one is coming to save us
tompowdrill.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...
tompowdrill.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...
Reform UK rolls on
A New Year, but the same political trajectory.
tompowdrill.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:32 AM
No-one is coming to save us
tompowdrill.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...
tompowdrill.substack.com/p/reform-uk-...
It’s quite possible this is part of US thinking
January 4, 2026 at 10:58 AM
It’s quite possible this is part of US thinking
Heads up: the Greens aren’t running to the rescue of the left at the next election. You can also see this in local election results - slow build up, not a breakthrough. The Lib Dems are doing better in terms of seats won.
www.moreincommon.org.uk/latest-insig...
www.moreincommon.org.uk/latest-insig...
More in Common's January MRP
More in Common’s new MRP projects a Reform UK majority if a General Election were held today. Based on polling of more than 16,000 Britons, the model estimates that Reform would take 381 seats - with ...
www.moreincommon.org.uk
January 4, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Heads up: the Greens aren’t running to the rescue of the left at the next election. You can also see this in local election results - slow build up, not a breakthrough. The Lib Dems are doing better in terms of seats won.
www.moreincommon.org.uk/latest-insig...
www.moreincommon.org.uk/latest-insig...
Interesting piece
www.thetimes.com/business/com...
www.thetimes.com/business/com...
Why activists are barging in on Britain’s biggest brands
Experts predict a surge in campaigns by rebel shareholders as weaker listed companies are exposed by the FTSE 100 riding at all-time highs
www.thetimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Interesting piece
www.thetimes.com/business/com...
www.thetimes.com/business/com...
So this must affect China’s thinking about Taiwan.
January 3, 2026 at 10:04 AM
So this must affect China’s thinking about Taiwan.
Reposted by Tom Powdrill
The FIFA Peace Prize doesn't mean what it used to
January 3, 2026 at 9:42 AM
The FIFA Peace Prize doesn't mean what it used to
Really interesting thing about that Paul Ovenden piece for me is that I have no feeling whatsoever of being on the same team. I’m a lifelong Labour supporter and have been involved in public policy in various ways of the years. But I don’t get any sense that we share the same worldview.
January 2, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Really interesting thing about that Paul Ovenden piece for me is that I have no feeling whatsoever of being on the same team. I’m a lifelong Labour supporter and have been involved in public policy in various ways of the years. But I don’t get any sense that we share the same worldview.
Reposted by Tom Powdrill
This does seem just a little bit bad! Idk the sort of thing you’d think politicians might distance themselves from or something!
January 2, 2026 at 10:47 AM
This does seem just a little bit bad! Idk the sort of thing you’d think politicians might distance themselves from or something!
Stewarding the last war
open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...
open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...
Stewarding the last war
Lessons in where power lies from the BP skirmish
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Stewarding the last war
open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...
open.substack.com/pub/tompowdr...
Reposted by Tom Powdrill
Two predictions from me for 2026:
1) Anti-Labour tactical voting, which I know sounds obvious but the massive extent to which I think this will happen is still going underpriced imo
2) Tactical voting against Gaza independents, which is a more medium-/long-term thing to look out for in the future
1) Anti-Labour tactical voting, which I know sounds obvious but the massive extent to which I think this will happen is still going underpriced imo
2) Tactical voting against Gaza independents, which is a more medium-/long-term thing to look out for in the future
Two Voting Predictions For 2026
One obvious, one with potential
jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Two predictions from me for 2026:
1) Anti-Labour tactical voting, which I know sounds obvious but the massive extent to which I think this will happen is still going underpriced imo
2) Tactical voting against Gaza independents, which is a more medium-/long-term thing to look out for in the future
1) Anti-Labour tactical voting, which I know sounds obvious but the massive extent to which I think this will happen is still going underpriced imo
2) Tactical voting against Gaza independents, which is a more medium-/long-term thing to look out for in the future
thought this was interesting. I’m too unclear what Labour’s economic thinking is to be able to assess how they’d respond. My guess is there’s a muscle memory response to attack it in trad terms (‘this is picking winners’). But it would fit securonomics if still a thing
www.cityam.com/zia-yusuf-re...
www.cityam.com/zia-yusuf-re...
Reform would partially nationalise Rolls-Royce through 'strategic stake'
A Reform government would partially nationalise Rolls-Royce as a quid pro quo for helping it ramp up capacity for its small modular reactors.
www.cityam.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:20 PM
thought this was interesting. I’m too unclear what Labour’s economic thinking is to be able to assess how they’d respond. My guess is there’s a muscle memory response to attack it in trad terms (‘this is picking winners’). But it would fit securonomics if still a thing
www.cityam.com/zia-yusuf-re...
www.cityam.com/zia-yusuf-re...
My totally unsurprising beliefs heading into 2026 part 1: unions (self-organised independent worker organisations) are still a very good idea, no one has found an alternative that does the job better, the decline of unions is part of the explanation for a number of problems society now grapples with
December 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM
My totally unsurprising beliefs heading into 2026 part 1: unions (self-organised independent worker organisations) are still a very good idea, no one has found an alternative that does the job better, the decline of unions is part of the explanation for a number of problems society now grapples with
The public’s mix of views is not unreasonable IMHO (if we treat “unaffordable” as “very expensive to provide”). It’s a more sensible than the proposition the state pension costs a lot and therefore we should cut it. That = Young people getting back at boomers by taking £££ off their future selves.
Europeans and Americans say state pension systems are unaffordable, but also that they are not generous enough - and they don't support reform options
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
December 31, 2025 at 10:06 AM
The public’s mix of views is not unreasonable IMHO (if we treat “unaffordable” as “very expensive to provide”). It’s a more sensible than the proposition the state pension costs a lot and therefore we should cut it. That = Young people getting back at boomers by taking £££ off their future selves.
Striking thing here is that UK populist Right supporters are the most Trump friendly. Maybe more receptive to anti-government anti-public sector DOGE-type stuff than equivalents in France & Germany?
www.politico.eu/article/poli...
www.politico.eu/article/poli...
Trump is unpopular in Europe — even among right-wing populist supporters, POLITICO Poll shows
The U.S. president gets favorable views from only about a third of people who support the parties Trump wants to see win power in France and Germany.
www.politico.eu
December 29, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Striking thing here is that UK populist Right supporters are the most Trump friendly. Maybe more receptive to anti-government anti-public sector DOGE-type stuff than equivalents in France & Germany?
www.politico.eu/article/poli...
www.politico.eu/article/poli...
Reposted by Tom Powdrill
i post this story every christmas, and will keep doing so until it stops making me cry
merry christmas xx
merry christmas xx
A real Good Samaritan
One act of kindness that befell Leeds writer Bernard Hare in 1982 changed him profoundly. Here he tells his story.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
i post this story every christmas, and will keep doing so until it stops making me cry
merry christmas xx
merry christmas xx