Tomorrow's edition of Andrew's Previews, covering five by-elections, is now available for paid subscribers:
11.03.2026 17:06
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Tomorrow's edition of Andrew's Previews, covering five by-elections, is now available for paid subscribers:
Fulham Town made a number of the top 100 lists at the 2021 census. It ranked in the top 30 wards in England and Wales for residents born in Oceania (2.5%) or the EU-14 states (14.6%), in the top 40 for residents with degree-level qualifications (68.7%) and those working in professional, scientific or technical activities (18.3%), in the top 50 for the White Other ethnic group (28.6%), residents working in financial or insurance activities (14.8%) and residents working in higher managerial occupations (32.2%), and in the top 100 for full-time employment (50.1%) and residents working in real-estate activities (3.5%). The census enumerators do not appear to have tabulated in the religion question adherents to the Aetherius Society, whose head office has been here on the Fulham Road since the 1950s. This part-scientific, part-religious group was founded in 1955 by George King, who claimed to be the Earth's representative to the Interplanetary Parliament (which meets on Saturn) and to be in telepathic conversation with the Master Aetherius (who lives on Venus, and speaks all known Earth languages except French and Norwegian) and other extraterrestrial characters. The Society's beliefs have been described as "based on New Age and UFO beliefs and a mixture of Christian, Hindu and Buddhist millenarianism, or in other words a belief that a major transformation of society is coming" while its goal is "to promote world peace between earth peoples and alien masters through a telepathic transfer of spirituality". It has claimed to have saved the world on several occasions by charging the tops of mountains with cosmic energy.
All this was quickly noticed by the well-known astronomer Patrick Moore, who mercilessly lampooned the Aetherius Society by inserting bizarre pseudonymous letters by supposedly sympathetic scientists into the Society's journal Cosmic Voice. Moore also attended a public meeting in London given by Aetherius himself, via George King's vocal chords, and he caused bafflement by asking questions of Aetherius in French and Norwegian. In 1969 Moore included the Aetherius Society in a BBC documentary on "independent thinkers" of the day, and he travelled to the Fulham Road to interview the society's representative Mr Robertson. (King had by this time emigrated to the USA, to found a branch of the Society in Hollywood.) From this interview we learn, among many other things, that the Saturnians who host the Interplanetary Parliament appear as "an ovoid shape, like a large incandescent egg maybe forty feet tall." Upon hearing this, Moore "commented that the Saturnians seemed to be complete balls, and Mr Robertson agreed that this was a perfectly sound description". The Aetherius Society are still here in Fulham, but George King departed this world (by death, rather than by flying saucer) in California in 1997, and I fear it may be some time before Andrew's Previews can talk about the election of his successor as Earth's representative to the Interplanetary Parliament. In the meantime, though, we can talk about elections to Hammersmith and Fulham council. I hope this will be an acceptable substitute.
An inhabitant of Saturn, according to Aetherius
You won't get this quality of political analysis anywhere other than Andrew's Previews.
Too soon, OpenStreetMap, too soon. www.openstreetmap.org#map=18/55.86...
Bob.
Local Elections Archive Project: Dudley 2024 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1jl2
Local Elections Archive Project: Dudley 2023 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1hl2
This is worth a bit of attention too. Tamworth has been extremely two-party for a long time, and here we have Con and Lab on third and fourth.
I hope my avatar isn't giving him ideas.
We had pretty much the same question in our quiz league last week. People in Bolton have heard of you.
We've published the 2025 local elections handbook in collaboration with the University of Exeter's Elections Centre. This includes ward- and candidate-level results from last year's locals. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/2025-local-e...
Friends don't let friends overanalyse single council by-elections that are very likely outliers.
Unless it becomes part of a pattern, it is just a single datapoint, which cannot outweigh all other evidence without good reason.
Looking at @electionmaps.uk posts, I rather suspect that Bluesky is focusing on the wrong result.
All of tonight's by-election results are in.
Stroud, Thrupp: Grn hold
Sevenoaks, Hextable: C gain from Ind
Braintree, Coggeshall: RUK gain from Ind
Tamworth, Spital: RUK gain from Lab
Durham, Murton: Lab gain from RUK
Previews: andrewteale.me.uk/previews
All of tonight's by-election results are in.
Stroud, Thrupp: Grn hold
Sevenoaks, Hextable: C gain from Ind
Braintree, Coggeshall: RUK gain from Ind
Tamworth, Spital: RUK gain from Lab
Durham, Murton: Lab gain from RUK
Previews: andrewteale.me.uk/previews
Local Elections Archive Project: Buckinghamshire 2025 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1k2d
The polls are now closed in today's 5 by-elections and all five counts are taking place tonight. Defences are Ind 2 Grn 1 Lab 1 RUK 1, but only Andrew's Previews for @britainelects.com will give you the full context...
Updating my slides for my local government module - any guesses as to what these maps are showing?
Remind me, what do points mean?
It's by-election Thursday!
- 5 polls today, defences Ind 2 Grn 1 Lab 1 RUK 1
The only political analysis you will read featuring fairground rides, the film Alien 3, and a hairbrained ship design ...
Andrew's Previews for @britainelects.com:
Tomorrow's edition of Andrew's Previews for @britainelects.com, covering five local by-elections, has gone out to paid subscribers:
andrewspreviews.substack.com/p/previewing...
"The people have spoken, the bastards"
Local Elections Archive Project: Cambridgeshire CC 2025 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1knw
Local Elections Archive Project: Newcastle upon Tyne 2024 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1je2
Local Elections Archive Project: Newcastle upon Tyne 2023 results added www.andrewteale.me.uk/1he2
Yesterday's council by-election result in Southampton has been added to the Local Elections Archivd Project
andrewteale.me.uk/1ldb
On the Democracy Volunteers kerfuffle ... I profiled their head John Ault for a Cornwall council by-election in 2014, and came away from that research with the strong impression that he'd written his own Wikipedia page.
Manchester is not known for being a council that counts votes quickly. So you still have plenty of time to peruse the Gorton and Denton Parliamentary Special before the Hot Takes start to arrive... andrewspreviews.substack.com/p/previewing...
...all three Conservative Club teams lost in the Bolton Premier Quiz League this week. Including my own Astley Bridge Conservative Club :(
I have crunched the results and I have news of big Conservative losses...
