Chris Whiteside's Blog

Distinguished pollster Lord Kellner has published an interesting piece on the way the ratings of Britain's political leaders vary according to which pollster is asking and what question they ask and how those ratings are changing over time. You can read the whole thing  here . But there are some key takeaways. The first is that, although different companies asking different questions show different results, all of them show a consistent improvement, typically in the range 20 to 25 percentage points,  in Kemi's ratings in the ten months from October 2025 to this month. At the time Sir Keir Starmer announced his resignation, Kemi Badenoch's approval ratings were well ahead of his or of those of Nigel Farage or Zack Polanski. Andy Burnham is currently enjoying a honeymoon period and is in the lead, but Kemi's ratings have held steady and she remains well ahead of Farage and Polanski. Most interesting are the ratings for "PM in Waiting." Kellner writes: " You...

Just announced: new shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith, Claire Coutinho and Richard Fuller will form the new Conservative Economic Unit. Together, they’ll be focused on one thing: building a stronger economy.

Continuing my series of music by British born composers who were working between the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 and "the rise of Elgar," which I am defining as starting with the date of his first public composition, 1889. Sir Arthur Sullivan was born in Lambeth in 1842 (so 147 years after the death of Henry Purcell.) His father Thomas Sullivan was based from 1845 to 1857 at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was the bandmaster and taught music privately to supplement his income. Young Arthur became proficient with many of the instruments in the band and composed an anthem, "By the Waters of Babylon", when he was eight. He later recalled: " I was intensely interested in all that the band did, and learned to play every wind instrument, with which I formed not merely a passing acquaintance, but a real, life-long, intimate friendship. I gradually learned the peculiarities of each ... what it could do and what it was unable to do. I learned in the b...

 

Continuing my series of music by British born composers who were working between the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 and "the rise of Elgar," which I am defining as starting with the date of his first public composition, 1889. Sir John Goss was born in Fareham in 1800 (so 105 years after the death of Henry Purcell) and died in 1880 (Nine years before Elgar's first published work. He was organist at St Paul's Cathedral from 1838 to 1872, knighted in 1872 by Queen Victoria, and taught as Professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music (1827–1874) where his pupils included notable composers like Arthur Sullivan and John Stainer (both of whom were also knighted by Queen Victoria). Hymn tunes composed by John Goss still sung today include those to which  "Praise, my soul, the King of heaven" and "See, amid the winter's snow" are most often sung, but my favourite John Goss piece of music is the anthem "O Saviour of the world" -

 

Former PM Boris Johnson was interviewed at the ET World Leaders Forum 2026 by Executive Editor of The Economic Times Sruthijith KK, August 22,2026. Here is a short extract from the interview: you can read the whole transcript at Transcript of Boris Johnson Interview: ET World Leaders Forum 2026 – The Singju Post SRUTHIJITH KK : (00:26:07 – 00:26:32): In April this year, you went to the front lines of the war in Ukraine. You have since spoken out about the impact of drone warfare. Yes. How are drones changing the— I mean, firstly, take us through your thoughts on the war and where it’s going, and especially how are drones changing the equations on the ground? BORIS JOHNSON : (00:26:32 – 00:32:30): Yeah, well, SK, I mean, it’s a brilliant point. I mean, I don’t know whether anybody has been to Ukraine or talked to the Ukrainians about what’s happened, or to the Russians, but the drone thing is really terrifying. You can be blapped, you’ve zapped, blipped at any time, and miles f...

I published a good recording of Sir John Stainer's Trinity Sunday anthem "I saw the Lord," earlier today, then found this one by The Sixteen which is even better.

James Cleverly is resigning from the Shadow Cabinet to seek the Conservative nomination o be mayor of London. James would be a fantastic mayor. I hope he wins.

Sir John Stainer was born in Southwark, London in 1840 (145 years after the death of Henry Purcell) and was already a prolific composer when he was appointed organist of Magdalen College Oxford at the age of 20 (29 years before Elgar's first published work.)  He was knighted by Queen Victoria in  1888 for his services to music and his other honours included being invited to be a juror at the French Exhibition in Paris in 1878, an  adjudicator at the Welsh Eisteddfod at Caernarvon in 1880. He was also made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by France in in 1879. The piece for which he is perhaps best remembered and which is most often heard today is his major work "The Crucifixion" but my favourite piece by Stainer, also still performed, especially for Trinity Sunday, is the anthem "I saw the Lord"  

 

"Rule Britannia by London born composer Thomas Arne was the finale of the patriotic opera "Alfred" which was, obviously, about Alfred the Great, and was first performed in August 1740 (55 years after the death of Henry Purcell.) The rest of the opera is rarely performed today, which is rather a shame as it contained some rather great music, but "Rule Britannia" soon became and has remained one of Britain's favourite and most stirring patriotic songs.

 “Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.” — Ronald Reagan

William Boyce was born in London in 1711, (so sixteen years after the death of Henry Purcell.) He was one of the most famouss composers of the 18th century. This piece is an ode to the year 1772: interesting concept, but it is a lovely bit of music.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was born to a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin in 1852. At the age of 29 he became one of he founding professors at the Royal College of Music in London, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. Some very distinguished composers including Gustav Holst, Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughn-Williams were among his pupils. He had a particularly enormous influence on English church music, and this setting of the canticles for evening prayer is still frequently sung in English cathedrals and churches, and indeed others round the world, today.

"It is bad enough that so many people believe things without any evidence. What is worse is that some people have no conception of evidence and regard facts as just someone else's opinion." — Thomas Sowell

Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was one of three members of the prolific and talented Wesley family with that Christian name, and was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. His grandfather, also called Samuel Wesley, was a famous poet: his uncle was John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some of his admirers "the English Mozart", but he had a son, Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810 - 1876) who went on to be an even more famous composer than he was. Sadly the Samuel Wesley who wrote the piece below lived before the existence of recording devices, so itis impossible to compare his playing of the organ with those who lived in other centuries, but if half of what was said of his playing by his contemporaries is true he must have been one of the best organists who ever lived. Unfortunately many of his compositions do not survive, but here is one which does.

 National Highways have confirmed that they are proposing to cut the speed limit on the section of the A595 through Bigrigg in West Cumbria from 40mph to 30mph. The speed limit would be enforced by average speed limit cameras. There will be a public consultation before a final decision is taken. If approved the reduced speed limit would come into effect next year (2027.)

"Hope is no basis for a defence policy." Margaret Thatcher

Sir Hubert Parry was born in Bournemouth in 1840,  145 years after the death of Henry Purcell, and his first published major compositions appeared in 1880, nine years before Elgar's first published work. This piece, " Blest Pair Of Sirens, " was first performed on 17th May 1887, at St James's Hall, London.  

 

Politics ends at the waters' edge. Today is Ukrainian Independence day. The Chancellor, John Healey, posted the following: "For as long as it takes, Britain will stand with Ukraine in their fight against Putin's illegal invasion.  On their Independence Day today, we salute the Ukrainian people for their bravery, and fearless determination to fight for their future. Slava Ukraini"

Maurice Green was born in London in 1696, the year after Henry Purcell died. I have often posted his anthem " Lord, let me know mine end " but for a change, here is a lovely little baritone solo called " His name shall endure for ever. " (It comes from a collection called "Hearken unto me, ye holy children.")

 

 

For the avoidance of doubt, in reposting the tweet below by Peter North I am not endorsing every word of it and nor do I endorse many of the other things Peter has said in the past. Nevertheless, I think his post today on why someone who was a harsh critic of the previous Conservative government is coming round to the possibility that he might vote for Kemi's Conservatives at the next election is extremely interesting. I have published the whole thing below, leaving in a few bits which I personally disagree with - memo to the candidates' department, you don't need to purge me for not supporting Kemi on ECHR because I do support her - so that it will be clear that I am not using the all-too-common tactic of selective quotation. This is what Peter North had to say today. "There's a fact that many on the right, myself included, will not like at all. Though with caveats,  @KemiBadenoch 's Conservative Party is the party of the right most capable of forming a viab...

English organist and composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley lived from August 14, 1810, (115 years after the death of Purcell) to April 19, 1876 (13 years before the publication of Elgar's first published piece.) This lovely anthem was pulished in 1853.

I had pre-planned this post before my decision yesterday that for the next fortnight I will be publishing a daily music spot from British-born composers writing between 1695 and 1889. (after some nitwit on X seriously annoyed me by suggesting that there was a dearth of significant British born composers between the death of Purcell and the rise of Elgar.) Thomas Tallis died 110 years before Henry Purcell, so this one doesn't count, and I shall publish a second Sunday Music post today which will.

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, has described the prospect of a coalition government with Reform UK as “monstrous”. Again ruling out the prospect of a deal between the two parties, she said any agreement would “put off” as many voters as it would attract. Badenoch: Tory deal with Reform would be ‘monstrous’

"Change all laws and treaties that thwart robust border control. Detain those arriving. Sign return agreements with nations amenable to them. All the rest: deport to Rwanda or other nations willing to do a deal." Matthew Syed in today's Sunday Times on how to stop the boats:-