Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
@fintan-smith.bsky.social
Previously: Polling things at Labour Together | Now: Data Scientist at The Labour Party | Too often confused with a dog called Fenton | Repost / like != endorsement. He / him.
Pinned
Hyper partisan content thrives on social media, increasing affective polarisation and poisoning political discourse. Our new paper @lewan.bsky.social, @almogsi.bsky.social, Dawn Holford, just out in @commspsychol.bsky.social, finds that inoculation interventions may help us tackle the problem. 🧵
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
It's all so bizarre because ... we just don't have to live like this? Rather than pick Denmark to emulate, they could pick Spain. It has encouraged some immigration and is booming compared to the rest of Europe 🤷♂️
Tighter visa rules will cost UK up to £10.8bn giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
December 10, 2025 at 8:42 AM
It's all so bizarre because ... we just don't have to live like this? Rather than pick Denmark to emulate, they could pick Spain. It has encouraged some immigration and is booming compared to the rest of Europe 🤷♂️
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Surely has to be some sort of projection. I've been all over the UK and US and I've never seen inequality, poverty, or destitution of the type or at the scale that I've seen it in some American cities.
December 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Surely has to be some sort of projection. I've been all over the UK and US and I've never seen inequality, poverty, or destitution of the type or at the scale that I've seen it in some American cities.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The Appendices for The British General Election of 2024 book are available (for free) under "Back Matter" at link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
The first 71 pages are constituency results analysis by John Curtice, @lottehargrave.bsky.social, @patrick-pme.bsky.social, and myself.
The first 71 pages are constituency results analysis by John Curtice, @lottehargrave.bsky.social, @patrick-pme.bsky.social, and myself.
The British General Election of 2024
The British General Election of 2024 is the definitive account of one of the most consequential elections in recent times.
link.springer.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The Appendices for The British General Election of 2024 book are available (for free) under "Back Matter" at link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
The first 71 pages are constituency results analysis by John Curtice, @lottehargrave.bsky.social, @patrick-pme.bsky.social, and myself.
The first 71 pages are constituency results analysis by John Curtice, @lottehargrave.bsky.social, @patrick-pme.bsky.social, and myself.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
My parent’s local A&E doesn’t have pillows, time, beds, capacity. The GP doesn’t have emergency appointments for emergencies, services with capacity to refer people to.
Caring like this about nomenclature and pronouns seems to me a luxury pursuit, frankly.
Caring like this about nomenclature and pronouns seems to me a luxury pursuit, frankly.
Susan Hall's condition has now reached the 'shouting at biscuits' stage.
December 8, 2025 at 6:36 PM
My parent’s local A&E doesn’t have pillows, time, beds, capacity. The GP doesn’t have emergency appointments for emergencies, services with capacity to refer people to.
Caring like this about nomenclature and pronouns seems to me a luxury pursuit, frankly.
Caring like this about nomenclature and pronouns seems to me a luxury pursuit, frankly.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The number of global deaths of children under-5 is projected to increase this year (from 4.6m to 4.8m) for the first time this century. (FT)
The price of aid cuts.
The price of aid cuts.
December 8, 2025 at 9:29 AM
The number of global deaths of children under-5 is projected to increase this year (from 4.6m to 4.8m) for the first time this century. (FT)
The price of aid cuts.
The price of aid cuts.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
No surprise that Ed West thinks you have to be white for London to be "your city", but still shocking that the *London* Standard prints this stuff.
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
December 6, 2025 at 4:46 PM
No surprise that Ed West thinks you have to be white for London to be "your city", but still shocking that the *London* Standard prints this stuff.
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Keir Starmer doing an email newsletter is a good idea, but the execution needs a complete overhaul:
Politics that makes a difference
Over half a million children, lifted out of poverty
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Keir Starmer doing an email newsletter is a good idea, but the execution needs a complete overhaul:
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Genuinely what are people like Ed West doing with their lives? Go to Wigmore Hall, go to the movies, go to Koko, go to the Vortex Jazz Club, go see an orchestra, go see the Last Dinner Party...it ought to cure you out of having this weird, unnatural reaction to your fellow citizens.
No surprise that Ed West thinks you have to be white for London to be "your city", but still shocking that the *London* Standard prints this stuff.
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
[NB 1/2 of Londoners born in 2000 were not "white British"]
www.standard.co.uk/comment/gen-...
December 6, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Genuinely what are people like Ed West doing with their lives? Go to Wigmore Hall, go to the movies, go to Koko, go to the Vortex Jazz Club, go see an orchestra, go see the Last Dinner Party...it ought to cure you out of having this weird, unnatural reaction to your fellow citizens.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Welcome to slot-machine Britain! Our cover this week is on First Past the Post, the voting system that turns multi-party politics into a lottery.
Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...
Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...
December 4, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Welcome to slot-machine Britain! Our cover this week is on First Past the Post, the voting system that turns multi-party politics into a lottery.
Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...
Featuring our new modelling of British elections: www.economist.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The Green party: We should tax wealth!
Also the Green Party: No! Not like that!
The eternal story
Also the Green Party: No! Not like that!
The eternal story
December 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
The Green party: We should tax wealth!
Also the Green Party: No! Not like that!
The eternal story
Also the Green Party: No! Not like that!
The eternal story
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
If it were steel works we would have a government bailout plan, yet losing thousands of jobs at unis is met with a shrug. & unlike steelworks universities were profitable when they had foreign students.
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
Every sympathy for University of Essex (and pressures facing them) but this is very bad news for Southend.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
Essex university to cut 400 jobs as overseas student numbers plummet
Roles to be lost are part of wave of redundancy programmes across UK’s higher education sector
giftarticle.ft.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:14 AM
If it were steel works we would have a government bailout plan, yet losing thousands of jobs at unis is met with a shrug. & unlike steelworks universities were profitable when they had foreign students.
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
You are killing the golden goose… one of our best exports…
HOW IS THIS HELPING GROWTH?!
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The whole interview is worth listening to and is a fair car crash.
But this is worth noting this segment given that some have said he's stepping away from MMT. Claiming we don't need to borrow more money, because we can print more.
But this is worth noting this segment given that some have said he's stepping away from MMT. Claiming we don't need to borrow more money, because we can print more.
December 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
The whole interview is worth listening to and is a fair car crash.
But this is worth noting this segment given that some have said he's stepping away from MMT. Claiming we don't need to borrow more money, because we can print more.
But this is worth noting this segment given that some have said he's stepping away from MMT. Claiming we don't need to borrow more money, because we can print more.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
December 1, 2025 at 1:09 PM
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Christmas is approaching, the season of giving, and this December I have decided to make a gift of my dignity by bravely/foolishly joining in a festive season challenge. Every day this month I will (attempt to) do 100 press-ups, to raise money for this fine cause: www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-he...
Donate to Help us help Moses build new sanitary toilets in Kibera, organized by Miriam Ronzoni
Moses is an activist who has dedicated much of his life to impr… Miriam Ronzoni needs your support for Help us help Moses build new sanitary toilets in Kibera
www.gofundme.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Christmas is approaching, the season of giving, and this December I have decided to make a gift of my dignity by bravely/foolishly joining in a festive season challenge. Every day this month I will (attempt to) do 100 press-ups, to raise money for this fine cause: www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-he...
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary have declared "rage bait" their word of the year, but just 35% of Britons are confident they know what the word means
Confident know what it means: 35%
Vaguely know what it means: 22%
Have heard it, but don't know what it means: 9%
Not heard it: 34%
Confident know what it means: 35%
Vaguely know what it means: 22%
Have heard it, but don't know what it means: 9%
Not heard it: 34%
December 1, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary have declared "rage bait" their word of the year, but just 35% of Britons are confident they know what the word means
Confident know what it means: 35%
Vaguely know what it means: 22%
Have heard it, but don't know what it means: 9%
Not heard it: 34%
Confident know what it means: 35%
Vaguely know what it means: 22%
Have heard it, but don't know what it means: 9%
Not heard it: 34%
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Nus Ghani MP - the Deputy Speaker - moved to the UK as a small child. She has been elected by the voters in Wealden in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024
More outright racism from the regular GB News & Talk TV contributor Lucy White - who previously called (on GB News) for all Muslims to leave Britain
More outright racism from the regular GB News & Talk TV contributor Lucy White - who previously called (on GB News) for all Muslims to leave Britain
November 26, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Nus Ghani MP - the Deputy Speaker - moved to the UK as a small child. She has been elected by the voters in Wealden in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024
More outright racism from the regular GB News & Talk TV contributor Lucy White - who previously called (on GB News) for all Muslims to leave Britain
More outright racism from the regular GB News & Talk TV contributor Lucy White - who previously called (on GB News) for all Muslims to leave Britain
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
My column in today’s FT: the vision since 2016 has been that the lever British governments pull to fight poverty is to increase the minimum wage. Time for government to start pulling its weight again too:
The minimum wage is not a cure all — we’re asking too much of business
Politicians spend too much time uttering cheap rhetoric about cheap labour
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
My column in today’s FT: the vision since 2016 has been that the lever British governments pull to fight poverty is to increase the minimum wage. Time for government to start pulling its weight again too:
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
I am very much team ‘you need to reduce the salience of asylum’ - but fixing a manifestly broken system has got to be some part of that surely.
There’s aspects of what was announced yesterday I’m not sure will work, but there’s not enough people on here engaging with the problem itself imo
There’s aspects of what was announced yesterday I’m not sure will work, but there’s not enough people on here engaging with the problem itself imo
What the Home Sec announced today is not the politics of compromise but of being compromised.
Labour has just increased the salience of an issue they will always be outbid on by the right.
Labour has just increased the salience of an issue they will always be outbid on by the right.
@pimlicat.bsky.social: "Multiple studies show that ramping up ever-harsher rhetoric on immigration and asylum never wins over Reform-curious voters. The government would be wiser to make the case for the international institutions and protections we all depend on.”
https://bit.ly/49YBJVD
https://bit.ly/49YBJVD
November 18, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I am very much team ‘you need to reduce the salience of asylum’ - but fixing a manifestly broken system has got to be some part of that surely.
There’s aspects of what was announced yesterday I’m not sure will work, but there’s not enough people on here engaging with the problem itself imo
There’s aspects of what was announced yesterday I’m not sure will work, but there’s not enough people on here engaging with the problem itself imo
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Thought the plan was to smash the smuggling gangs not emulate them.
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Thought the plan was to smash the smuggling gangs not emulate them.
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
This is true in Britain also. Many such cases! Twitter weirdos are just that - weirdos! Stop treating them as the voice of a generation!
Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵
November 14, 2025 at 11:37 PM
This is true in Britain also. Many such cases! Twitter weirdos are just that - weirdos! Stop treating them as the voice of a generation!
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
A month ago I looked at what I called Labour's midlife crisis- an obsession with chasing socially conservative Reform-curious voters and ignoring groups of disaffected voters with social attitudes much closer to Labour voters. But some people thought there was method in their madness. Was there? 1/n
November 12, 2025 at 3:01 PM
A month ago I looked at what I called Labour's midlife crisis- an obsession with chasing socially conservative Reform-curious voters and ignoring groups of disaffected voters with social attitudes much closer to Labour voters. But some people thought there was method in their madness. Was there? 1/n
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
Voters *already* think Labour have broken their tax promises
So much of UK politics seems as a weird tangled misreading of public opinion.
Shall we raise tax? Voters won’t like it. But need to deliver for voters and tax rises necessary to for that. Voters need to see change. But cant break promise, because voters. But is a U-turn even worse, because voters?
Shall we raise tax? Voters won’t like it. But need to deliver for voters and tax rises necessary to for that. Voters need to see change. But cant break promise, because voters. But is a U-turn even worse, because voters?
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Voters *already* think Labour have broken their tax promises
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
"The most common response among men aged 18-25, as with their female peers, is to state that they would never consider voting for Reform."
Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte & Emilia Belknap argue that most British young men reject the right
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/most-british-young-men-reject-the-far-right/
Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte & Emilia Belknap argue that most British young men reject the right
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/most-british-young-men-reject-the-far-right/
Most British young men reject the far right - UK in a changing Europe
Emilia Belknap and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte explain their analysis on the demographics of Reform UK voters in the UK. They argue that while the dominant narrative is that young men are the most likely to turn to the party, the evidence does not support this.
ukandeu.ac.uk
November 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
"The most common response among men aged 18-25, as with their female peers, is to state that they would never consider voting for Reform."
Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte & Emilia Belknap argue that most British young men reject the right
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/most-british-young-men-reject-the-far-right/
Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte & Emilia Belknap argue that most British young men reject the right
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/most-british-young-men-reject-the-far-right/
Reposted by Fintan Smith (Mac Gabhann)
🚨 Earth's vital signs are flashing red.
🌡️ 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.
Read the latest Climate report from @williamripple.bsky.social and Christopher Wolf's team, published in BioScience.
oxford.ly/47i6K5j
🌡️ 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.
Read the latest Climate report from @williamripple.bsky.social and Christopher Wolf's team, published in BioScience.
oxford.ly/47i6K5j
October 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM
🚨 Earth's vital signs are flashing red.
🌡️ 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.
Read the latest Climate report from @williamripple.bsky.social and Christopher Wolf's team, published in BioScience.
oxford.ly/47i6K5j
🌡️ 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.
Read the latest Climate report from @williamripple.bsky.social and Christopher Wolf's team, published in BioScience.
oxford.ly/47i6K5j