Last week’s elections created a new patchwork of political control of local authorities across the country, reflecting our emerging five-party system. London is particularly striking in its new patchwork comprising all of the five parties, and most noticeably the number of Labour-controlled councils reduced from 21 to 8. While its all change for councils and their leadership, the challenges facing local authorities remain distinctly unchanged. And in the case of public infr

Earlier this year, I decided to push my boundaries in listening to locals, and agreed to stand in the May local elections as a Conservative candidate for Richmond Council in SW London, representing the area where I live, Mortlake & Barnes Common. I had three motivations. First, I live adjacent to a major redevelopment site (the largest in Richmond and one of the largest in London) which has finally received planning consent after more than a decade of negotiation and a seri

Earlier this year I spent a few weeks in San Francisco, and was amazed at how in the two years since my previous visit, the city had become dominated by AI . Waymo, the driverless taxis owned by Alphabet, parent company of Google, is perhaps the most visible element of this change. The white, camera-laden electric jaguars are everywhere – and while my first ride was quite thrilling (see video below) subsequent rides became normative. My Waymo rides were safe, convenient a