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Radlett Wire

@radlettwire.bsky.social

16 followers 53 following 17 posts

We're new here but we've been keeping an eye on our small town in Hertfordshire - and its Parliamentary constituency Hertsmere - for 15 years.

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Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Feb 9

At Radlett Wire we've been droning on about local and Parliamentary politics, planning, business, schools and so on… for 15 years ffs. We've made a speciality of keeping an eye on our MP (Sir Oliver Dowden KCE CBE) and most recently on a HUGE data centre project planned for the area bit.ly/4jJOrKr

Computer rendering of a huge data centre planned for a site in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, UK. A hyper-modern, two-storey building with much green planting around it.

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · May 9

We've been relying on @theyworkforyou.com in our ceaseless sarcasm about politics - local and Parliamentary - for many years. They're launching an enhancement to their vital service…

Alex Parsons @alexparsons.bsky.social · May 9

On the 20th, we're launching a new annex to TheyWorkForYou to provide richer voting information - sign up for the launch event to hear more www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-the-rec...

On the Record: updates to TWFY voting information

Join us for a one-hour webinar explaining why we publish MP votes on TheyWorkForYou, and talking through the latest improvements.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · May 7

So, what happened here? It's the Hertfordshire County Council elections post-mortem you've been waiting for, WITH CHARTS, showing how what must have been one of the Toriest places in England suddenly became a much more mixed political location: bit.ly/3SqGaP0

Vote share, Hertfordshire County Council, 1973-2025 - tab-delimited table
1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Conservative 35 65 43 36 45 27 38 40 46 55 46 51 46 22
Labour 33 6 29 27 27 30 30 27 16 3 15 9 7 5
Liberal Democrat 3 0 4 14 5 19 9 10 14 17 16 18 23 31
Reform UK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
Green 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 5
BNP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Independent 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · May 2

With only SIX SEATS counted, this is what Hertfordshire County Council looks like at 10:15 on the day after polling day. No news yet from our division, Watling, where Caroline Clapper is going to be looking closely at her 2021 share of 75%!

Pie chart showing share of vote in Hertfordshire County Council election of 1 May 2025. The largest chunk (two-thirds of the pie - four seats) is the dark blue of the Conservatives and the smaller in light blue (two seats) is for Reform UK.

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

You'll also learn how the Reform candidate for Watling division, a first-timer from Radlett called Gus Channer, got into trouble because he took a sick day from his job teaching in an FE college so he could appear on stage with Nigel Farage. Oops. bit.ly/42SZ8CN (that's him on the left).

Reform politicians Gus Channer (left) and Darren Selkus standing behind a table covered in a Reform cloth campaigning for the party in Radlett, Hertfordshire

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

Also how much money Clapper pulls down in 'allowances' from her two different councillor roles, Hertfordshire and Hertsmere (clue: it's more than the average wage in the UK): bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Screenshot of spreadsheet showing councillors' allowances

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

Just how dominant our councillor Caroline Clapper has been in the Watling division since she was first elected in 2009 (she wins the kind of majorities that national politicians can only dream of): bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Hertfordshire politician Caroline Clapper speaking in the assembly chamber

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

That in county council elections they're called 'divisions' and not 'wards' and that our one, which is called Watling, goes all the way from the boundary of North London to the edge of St Albans. bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Map showing the route of Watling Street, from Edgware in North London to St Albans

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

Just how badly Labour has done in the county since their 1993 high point when they were the largest party in Hertfordshire (spoiler: very badly). bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Line Graph with a single red line going down and to the right

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

What happened to the cheeky Tory county councillor who switched to Reform a few weeks before the election and now plans to stand is his current seat for his new party (this is him in a bike shed). bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Cllr Graham McAndrew at the cycle racks at Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre. He was formerly East Herts Council’s executive member for environmental sustainability

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

You will learn: what Hertfordshire and Isles of Scilly have in common bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Aerial view from Google Maps of the Isles of Scilly

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 27

Democracy question: which are the most boring elections? parish, borough, county or Parliamentary? We think it's obvious: county, right? Who are they? What do they even do? Anyway, if you can bear to, click here for everything you need to know about Thursday's county council elections bit.ly/42SZ8CN

Map of the Watling electoral division in Hertfordshire, UK. Watling is outlined in dark blue and filled with a lighter blue

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 5

And if you want to go deeper on the @DC01UK development, we're saving all the links, references and background reading here: bit.ly/3E3rhPf

Shelves full of disordered books

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 5

And here's part three, in which we survey the factors that might derail this enormous development - from grumpy neighbours to drought (this data centre will need 250M litres of water per year to cool the servers and they're building it in a 'water-stressed area') to Donald Trump: bit.ly/4jhIxz3

Visually arresting splash of water thrown across a pale brlue background

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Apr 5

Here's part two of our deep dive on the proposed Hertsmere data centre, which could be Europe's biggest - an overview of the ENORMOUS demands of a data centre. This one, for instance, will draw three times as much electricity as the neighbouring town of St Albans, population 150,000! bit.ly/4hD2Sxz

Aerial visualisation of proposed data centre near Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, UK

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Feb 12

If you're interested in where your MP's head is at right now, you might want to watch this clip from Parliament earlier today in which Sir Oliver Dowden asks if the UK Government has been grovelling sufficiently to Elon Musk…

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Feb 9

Here's everything we've managed to learn about the new development - ownership, scale, barriers to completion, planning context etc.: bit.ly/4jJOrKr

DC01UK: Hertsmere steps into history

Well, possibly. Data centres are the cotton mills and steel foundries of our day. Vast, industrial-scale facilities that are right at the heart of the fourth industrial revolution. And one might be bu...

Radlett Wire @radlettwire.bsky.social · Feb 9

At Radlett Wire we've been droning on about local and Parliamentary politics, planning, business, schools and so on… for 15 years ffs. We've made a speciality of keeping an eye on our MP (Sir Oliver Dowden KCE CBE) and most recently on a HUGE data centre project planned for the area bit.ly/4jJOrKr

Computer rendering of a huge data centre planned for a site in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, UK. A hyper-modern, two-storey building with much green planting around it.