Five Most Popular Posts in May

What a scorcher! No, not just the month but the traffic on this blog! If you're inclined to believe the very basic Google stats package built into this platform, we had almost a million page views last month. Unfortunately, because this has been the pattern for a while it's not a sign of my breaking through into the big time. More a matter of generative AI repeatedly crawling though the pages looking for new words to chew on. I hope it makes them choke. And so, because the stats package is useless I have little idea of whether I'm addressing an audience that could fit into a seldom-seen phone box, or multitudes. Anyway, onwards!

1. The Road to Wigan Keir
2. Should the Greens Stand in Makerfield?
3. Andy Burnham's Second Coming
4. It's the Differential Turnout, Stupid
5. Labour's Political Paralysis

The evaporation of Andy Burnham's soft leftism as he entered the fray of the Makerfield by-election got the top spot. Though now we see he's decided PR might be a good idea after all, and would go into the next Labour manifesto. And there are also suggestions that he's quite keen on a progressive alliance between parties. His re-entry into national politics has proven itself a tale of vibes and counter-vibes so far. In second was the debate in and around the Greens about whether they should stand a candidate - my argument was that the party should demand something in exchange for either standing aside or running a low key campaign. Third, it was Andy Burnham again on the occasion of his Makerfield announcement. In at four were some suggested rules about interpreting the results of the local elections in England, and in at last was the impasse Labour was in at the beginning of the month - a hapless leader, but no one in the PLP being in a position to remove him.

As a believer in second chances, for the second time the spotlight returns to ... this post's predecessor. Tony Blair has said a few things, and what's interesting about his essay is the no frills assertion of what's best for the ruling class, and damn everyone else.

Looking ahead, right now I have no idea what I'll be talking about. But if past behaviour is any indicator, look back at May's content for what will likely crop up in the month.

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