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This is the home of my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and Sunday Politics
13:42 UK time, Friday, 19 April 2013
They've become a force in European elections, and have been getting decent poll ratings for some time.
But in May's local elections UKIP would love to make the kind of breakthrough that could bury accusations it's a single-issue party.
13:08 UK time, Friday, 12 April 2013
There's been much debate about Margaret Thatcher's political legacy in the days since her death.
I have little doubt she is the most significant UK politician of my lifetime.
15:07 UK time, Friday, 22 March 2013
On the face of it the government's decision to back the bulk of Lord Heseltine's blueprint for growth looks good news for England's cities.
But some are already wondering whether the government's pledge of support actually amounts to the revolution that the former deputy prime minister proposed in his No Stone Unturned report.
13:48 UK time, Friday, 15 March 2013
The government says it'll empower tenants, but there's growing concern that changes to the way housing benefit works could lead to more evictions.
Housing benefit as a separate payment will begin to disappear from October when it gets rolled into the new universal credit.
10:51 UK time, Thursday, 14 March 2013
It's the part of government we don't see - the engine room some say.
But now you can get a chance to get a glimpse inside the whips' offices - or at least a recreation of them.
13:24 UK time, Friday, 8 March 2013
As the UK builds up to a possible referendum on EU membership, people will be searching for hints at what life might be like outside the union.
And one country many Euro-sceptics are keen to point to is Norway.
09:52 UK time, Wednesday, 20 February 2013
It's a bacteria that lives harmlessly in many of us, but for newborn babies it can be lethal.
Group B Streptococcus infection kills around 40 babies every year and leaves a further 25 with serious disabilities.
13:11 UK time, Friday, 15 February 2013
Although one in six people have a disability, only a handful of our MPs are disabled people.
And it seems despite the success of the likes of Jack Ashley and David Blunkett, the political representation of disabled people hasn't really improved substantially in recent years.
10:37 UK time, Thursday, 14 February 2013
They receive around half of the government's welfare budget but so far older people have largely dodged the austerity bullet.
Unlike working age benefits, their pensions will go up by at least the rate of inflation for the next few years.
12:16 UK time, Friday, 8 February 2013
They've been in office for less than three months but the new police and crime commissioners are already having to make a big decision.
Should they look to raise council tax to bring in extra funds, or should they listen to the government and freeze the charge?
13:56 UK time, Friday, 1 February 2013
For the second time in 14 years the hunt for a long-term solution to Britain's nuclear waste stockpile seems to have foundered in Cumbria.
In 1999 Cumbria County Council rejected plans for a rock laboratory that could have paved the way for an underground nuclear waste store.
11:06 UK time, Friday, 11 January 2013
Another benefits bombshell could be on the way for some of the poorest in society.
Just as they adjust to the idea that their benefits will rise below inflation for the next three years, some now also face paying council tax for the first time.
13:28 UK time, Monday, 17 December 2012
As a council leader you have to be prepared to slug it out with the political opposition.
But you might not expect to have to take on the likes of Sting, Mark Knopfler and Bryan Ferry.
13:19 UK time, Friday, 7 December 2012
Every politician agrees that the scourge of youth unemployment needs to be tackled.
The government has put £1 billion into the Youth Contract to try to do just that.
13:31 UK time, Friday, 30 November 2012
Richard added analysis to:
There were two parties celebrating after the by-election declaration.
It was a good, comfortable win for Labour's Andy McDonald. The party's majority dropped by 500 from 2010 but its share of the vote actually increased.
11:26 UK time, Thursday, 29 November 2012
Those of us who live and work up north know that it's far from grim.
Apart from having some vibrant cities and amazing countryside, it also has economic success stories.
14:59 UK time, Friday, 23 November 2012
Like many parts of the North East, Middlesbrough has remained loyal to Labour through thick and thin.
Since the current parliamentary seat was reinstated in 1974, Labour has won every election with some degree of comfort.
20:01 UK time, Friday, 16 November 2012
Richard added analysis to:
The Conservatives will be delighted to have won in Cumbria. But they know the result might have been very different.
Had independent candidate Mary Robinson made it to the second ballot, they feared she might win by taking many of the second preference votes.
13:47 UK time, Friday, 9 November 2012
For decades our prison population has been growing but now one Conservative MP has come up with a solution - force inmates to learn to read and write.
It is estimated around half of prisoners cannot read or write. Hexham backbencher and lawyer Guy Opperman believes unless that is tackled reoffending will remain a significant problem.
15:48 UK time, Friday, 2 November 2012
On New Year's Day 2012 David Rowe confronted a scene of unimaginable horror.
He found his partner, her daughter and his partner's sister dead or dying from gunshot wounds at a house in Horden in County Durham.
Richard is the political editor for the North East and Cumbria.
He has worked for the BBC since 1997, and has worked as a journalist in the region for 20 years.
He's interviewed three Prime Ministers and hundreds of other politicians, covering everything from parish councils to US presidential elections.
Richard grew up near Cockermouth in Cumbria, and now lives in the North East.
Arif Ansari
Political editor, North West
Updates on political issues from Cheshire to South Cumbria
Len Tingle
Political editor, Yorkshire
Political view of Yorkshire and the North Midlands
Andrew Neil
Daily and Sunday Politics
People and policies that make Westminster tick
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