The number of Liberal Democrat party members has almost halved in the last five years, according to BBC analysis of available figures. The figure has fallen from just under 118,000 in 2020, when Sir Ed Davey became leader, to 60,000. That is despite the Lib Dems having their most successful general election ever last year in terms of seats won.
Under the terms of their new policy, the Greens would put more regulation and taxes on private rentals to make it difficult for landlords to make a profit, while boosting housebuilding by councils. It would use existing Green policies such as imposing rent controls, ending buy-to-let mortgages and giving councils the 'right to buy' a rental property when it is sold at a discounted price.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
Polanski told the Guardian he was alarmed at the polling success for Reform UK, a party he described as on the far right, or at least far right-adjacent in terms of the causes and issues they're willing to align with. He condemned Labour and Keir Starmer for failing to properly challenge Reform's rhetoric over proposed mass deportations, saying that mainstream parties were failing to step up to the challenge of pushing back against Farage's ideas.
The Green party can and must lead a hopeful fightback, offering a genuine alternative and a home for voters who feel abandoned by Labour and the Tories.
"I think that this is what they wanted," she told The Local in an interview. "I think the fundamental problem is that the intention behind these new rules seems to be to delay the processing of citizenships, and not primarily because they fear some people might have security problems."
"Duddridge remains in the property but says the threat of eviction has caused her and her family significant stress, while Labour has accused Pedley of hypocrisy given his party's opposition to no-fault evictions."
