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Phil Rodgers Profile
Phil Rodgers

@PhilRodgers

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Well I thought it was interesting. Mostly about Cambridge. DMs open, or you can email me at phil @philrodgers .co.uk

Cambridge, UK
Joined February 2009
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
Does this look like an electoral system that's working?
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
200 years from now, people are going to be writing PhDs about the social and economic forces that led to a railway being built that looked like this.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
8 years
Nigel Farage's record as candidate for MP: 1994: Lost 1997: Lost 2001: Lost 2005: Lost 2006: Lost 2010: Lost 2015: Lost 2017: Didn't stand
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
8 years
I don't think I'm committing an election offence to reveal that one voter drew a portrait of Iron Man on their PCC ballot & voted for it.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
13 years
And in those days Caesar Augustus decreed that all must return to the town of their birth, that they might sort out their parents' computers
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
8 years
You've got to admire the scrupulous pedantry that went into this Telegraph picture caption.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
@repav23 It doesn't necessarily keep extremists at bay. It keeps parties whose support isn't geographically concentrated at bay.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
12 years
And in those days Caesar Augustus decreed that all must return to the town of their birth, that they might sort out their parents' computers
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
The Covid-19 testing service at @Cambridge_Uni is continuing to test over 6,000 people a week who don't have symptoms - and has found zero cases in the last five weeks.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
This barrier was originally going to be temporary, but three and a half years on it’s still obstructing pedestrians, cyclists, and the disabled, as well as adding a garish splash of ugliness to our most iconic streetscape. Can we have a more Cambridge-appropriate alternative?
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
@garylmarks Here's one from 2017, will that do?
@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
How you voted, compared with what you got.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
@drew_wils0n Here's me highlighting the pitfalls of FPTP when it was in the favour of the Tories.
@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
How you voted, compared with what you got.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Gaza and Cambridgeshire at the same scale. Gaza has 2.7 times the population of Cambridgeshire in just 11% of the area.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
What a stunning result. The consequences for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are profound. Congratulations to @CambridgeMagpie .
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
New cattle grids by the Mill, eliminating the decades-old tradition of awkwardly squeezing your bike through the swing gate against the flow of pedestrians
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
10 years
Somewhere in the basement of Labour HQ there must be dusty boxes of "90-Day Detention" and "Let's Bomb Iraq" mugs. http://t.co/1b7qPdOoUm
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
10 years
My plan for the future government of England http://t.co/vWI1TOZvwa
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 years
Just nine cases in week 9 of @Cambridge_Uni 's testing programme, all from tests on people with symptoms. The University also tested 10,121 people without symptoms, and found zero cases. Details at
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
I'm not sure this thing has entirely got the Three Laws of Robotics straight. #ChatGPT
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
How you voted for Cambridge City Council, compared with what you got
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
Cambridge EU Election results
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 years
Wow. Charging for computer time in @CambsCC libraries raises just £4k of a forecast £108k, but reduces usage by 54%. And the charging system cost over £18k to put in place. What a stupid, pointless waste of our money.
@greenarteries
Wendy Blythe
6 years
Library computer charging fails – cllr David Jenkins
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Some Google Maps contributor isn't happy
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 months
A stunning result in North West Cambridgeshire as @sam_carling_ unseats @ShaileshVara by just 39 votes. At 22, Sam will be one of the youngest MPs in the new Parliament, if not the youngest.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
8 years
Well go on then. #wheresliztruss
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
I am now calling the race for Labour's Nik Johnson @CambridgeMagpie - a sensational victory.
@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Cambridge Lib Dem transfers put Labour's Nik Johnson 4,556 votes ahead in the Mayoral race. 87% of Lib Dem votes transferred, and 80% of them went to Labour.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
This is the most iconic streetscape in Cambridge. Surely we can do better than these big blue open-top plastic bins?
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
10 years
Here's gender balance by subject for @Cambridge_Uni undergraduates. Computer Science: 88% male; Education: 82% female http://t.co/PEI7OoJIOF
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
If you are on a bike, the 15-minute city is quite large. Here's where you get to by bike in 15 minutes starting from the Guildhall, according to
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
An astonishing arithmetical error from @GreaterCambs in this FOI response. They claim that a population increase of 17.6% in Cambridge and 8.9% in South Cambs means the Greater Cambs population has increased by 26.5%.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
"As a rule, the reticulated python seems able to swallow prey up to one-quarter its own length and up to its own weight". So the cats of north Cambridge should be on the alert.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
Some @xr_cambridge activists engaged in criminal damage at Trinity College. Will @CambsCops do anything about it?
@cambfoodtour
Cambridge Food Tour
5 years
Only fellows allowed on the grass!’ @xr_cambridge
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
9 months
What a terrible shame it is that @CambsCC ever left Cambridge in the first place. Future generations will think we were mad. Cambridge is the county town of Cambridgeshire and the County Council should have its headquarters here.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Cambridge traffic jam
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Are there many better commutes than cycling across Midsummer Common on a springtime morning? I think not.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Here is a zoomable map of the proposed Cambridge congestion charge zone. This is an unofficial map made by me based on the lower-res map published by @GreaterCambs . If implemented, driving a car anywhere in this zone 7am-7pm Mon-Fri would cost £5 per day.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
One of these days I am going to run for County Council on the single issue of getting rid of that massive puddle that appears on the corner of St Andrew’s St and Downing St whenever it rains
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
Wow. 9,668 EU citizens living in Cambridge were unable to vote *despite being registered* because they didn't complete an additional form by 7 May. Something has gone badly wrong.
@camcitco
Cambridge City Council
5 years
This year, 1,825 out of 11,493 registered EU citizens completed the separate form to register to vote from Cambridge. Regrettably, not everyone registered by the deadline, which was set by government, meaning they could not vote on 23 May
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Now call me suspicious, but that doesn't entirely look like Cambridgeshire to me.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Cambridge Lib Dem transfers put Labour's Nik Johnson 4,556 votes ahead in the Mayoral race. 87% of Lib Dem votes transferred, and 80% of them went to Labour.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Of the Lib Dem votes in Peterborough, 80% transferred and Labour got 63% of those - more than enough for victory.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
The Cambs Mayoral second vote is democratic because it means that 51% of voters chose the Mayor, instead of 40% under First Past the Post.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
So it seems the Conservative candidate for Cambridge MP is a Leave supporter. Good luck with that on the doorsteps.
@DrJohnHayward
John Hayward
8 years
Land of hope and glory. #EURefResults
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
@alexbeckett From what I remember it would have made closer results a bit more proportional, but would have exaggerated landslides even more than FPTP. AV on its own isn’t really much of an improvement
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
Party vote shares in the Cambridge local elections: Lib Dem 37.15% Labour 37.07% Conservative 14.8% Green 8.2% UKIP 0.7% Ind 2.0%
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
What an extraordinary result in @SouthCambs . Here's a graphic showing the party strength on the council before and after the elections.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
. @jameschappers criticises BBC for reporting Boris Johnson's lie on £350m as a "controversial claim" #ldconf
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 years
Today is the last time the sun will set before 6pm in Cambridge until 18 October. The clocks go forward two weeks on Sunday.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 months
Very sorry to hear that Chris Lloyd has died. He was landlord of the Free Press for many years and from 2002 the Cambridge Blue. Here are Chris and Debbie christening a new boat ‘Free Press 21st’ in 1999 – the 21st anniversary of the Free Press rowing club
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
. @camcitco 's Planning Committee has approved the application to install solar panels on the roof of King's College Chapel. Excellent news - a great symbol for 21st century Cambridge.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
10 years
In 1981, an MP attempts to legislate against the pernicious threat of space invader machines http://t.co/Kz8OChfUhy
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@SimonParkin
Simon Parkin
10 years
This transcript from a 1981 Parliament Bill proposing the "control of Space Invaders" I found today is INCREDIBLE: http://t.co/5e4W8Mz2Sv
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Now that the dust has settled from the election counts, I think it's time to say a big thank you to the City Council's election team at @votecambridge . They have truly done an amazing job this year.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 months
Here's the story in Ely & East Cambs - a narrow Lib Dem majority of just 495 votes
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
It’s not often I visit a part of Cambridge I’ve never been to before - especially one with cliffs
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
The gap is too narrow for bikes to pass both ways, and part of it is in the cobblestoned gutter. If @camcitco wanted to send a message that they don't care about cyclists, it's hard to think of a better way to do it. (Photo from @smithsam )
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 months
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my first ever 100% set of city council predictions - holds everywhere except for the Green gain in Newnham. Graphs follow in a moment.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 months
In Ely where my daughter was flagbearer for her medieval swordfighting club in the Eel Day parade
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
After going to great lengths yesterday to explain why they couldn't arrest @xr_cambridge activists involved in criminal damage, @CambsCops have today started arresting them. Better late than never. Can we stop them delaying emergency ambulances now?
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Here is the overall result for Mayor of @CambsPboroCA , including second round transfers of Lib Dem votes. The huge Labour vote in Cambridge and a smaller win in South Cambs overcame the Conservative lead in the other four districts.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
I always check my shoelaces coming down here (niche Cambridge reference)
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
It looks like the new voter ID rules have disenfranchised nearly two million people. Last year there were 7 allegations of personation at a polling station. All parties should commit to reverse this utterly unnecessary policy.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
A particularly big thank you today to Covid data hero Pouria Hadjibagheri, a key member of the amazing team behind the UK Coronavirus Dashboard. Thank you @pouriaa and very best wishes for the future.
@Pouriaaa
Pouria Hadjibagheri
3 years
Some personal news (a 🧵): On 4 October 2021, I resigned from my role as the Deputy Head of Software Engineering for Web and Data at @UKHSA . This means that 1 January 2022 will mark my final day in the agency — but *not* on the dashboard, so this is not goodbye. ...[1/10]
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 years
Charging for computer use in libraries cost £18k to set up but raised only £9k rather than the predicted £108k. A completely disastrous policy - computer use fell and it cost more than simply leaving things as they were.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 years
The number of Covid-19 patients in Addenbrooke's has now fallen to just three. Eight weeks ago there were 266.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
You have to admire this. A Cambridge resident cycles to 150 nearby villages. In alphabetical order.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Well, I wasn’t entirely expecting to be doing this, but it’s partly the once-in-a-lifetime historical aspect, and it’s partly the extreme Britishness of it all. #TheQueue
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
South Cambs EU election results with percentages
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
If you've asked me something and I haven't replied, that's probably because it's got buried in a torrent of notifications. And hello to all my new followers! I hope you like graphs.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 months
Here's the view from the media balcony at the South Cambs count, in the Conservation Hall at @IWMDuxford
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
An FOI request asks for the names of @CambsCC 's gritters. So here they are.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
@NeilDotObrien What does that graph look like in absolute cash terms, rather than as a % of income? I suspect that 10% and 15% of not very much might not compare so favourably with 2% or 3% of really quite a lot.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Together with @ChrisHowell and Martin Lucas-Smith, I'm launching a new campaign for better local government in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Find out more at , and if you agree with us, please sign up to support the campaign.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 months
So here is the new political map of Cambridgeshire - three Labour MPs, three Lib Dem MPs, and just two surviving Conservative MPs
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
4 years
Woo hoo!
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Image from #Cambridge - football slogan in Latin
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Here's the swing from Labour to the Conservatives across the city - pretty remarkable that the Conservatives gained ground over Labour in every ward of the city, particularly given the national results.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
I knew that a symptom of coronavirus is loss of the sense of taste. I didn't realise that included typefaces.
@10DowningStreet
UK Prime Minister
5 years
We will be able to see our friends and loved ones again soon. But only if for now we keep doing what we’ve been doing. #StayHomeSaveLives
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Many thanks to @CambridgeIndy for giving me the opportunity to write a monthly column. The first one is in this week’s paper.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
A week to go until @CambsCC must respond to this #FoI request from law professor Kathy Liddell asking for the STZ consultation data to be released. The response should be quite interesting as Professor Liddell has clearly been reading up on the case law.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Here's a graph comparing today's temperatures in Cambridge (red) with the temperatures on the day in 2019 when the UK recorded its current record high of 38.7C. So far it's looking slightly cooler, though it's unlikely that we have a 7pm rainshower to look forward to today.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
The final result in South Cambs is now in, and it's pretty remarkable: Lib Dems 37 (up 8) Conservatives 8 (down 4) Labour 0 (down 2) Independents 0 (down 2)
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 months
Absolutely huge Pride parade winding its way through central Cambridge in spite of the weather. Lovely to see some old friends.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Dear @CambsCC , can you please find out who is responsible for putting up this idiotic sign in Fair Street and get them to remove it? There is neither a cycle lane here nor any need for cyclists to dismount.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Several planets have just been delivered to Midsummer Common
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Nature is returning.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
Reality Checkpoint in the mist
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
2 years
ABBEY - Green gain Rosy ANSELL (Lib Dem) 184 Amanda HAWKES (Lab) 974 Matt HOWARD (Green) 1254 David SMITH (Con) 201
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 years
I have the solution to Brexit, based on a detailed analysis of national political opinion, using datasets from Parliament's petition website. And the answer is...puppies.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
How you voted, compared with what you got.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
6 months
Seems that someone’s alarm clock didn’t go off
@votecambridge
Cambridge Electoral Services
6 months
Voters at Milton Road Library get to experience the rare sight of voting from the back of a car as we've had problems getting into the building … hopefully we'll be in soon but for now our polling staff are doing a great job ensuring early voters can still cast their vote!
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
1 year
Here's the graph of the King's Hedges by-election result - although I was expecting a Labour hold, the Conservatives just took the seat with a majority of 24 votes. The Lib Dems also increased their vote share but were still some way behind in third place, and the Green vote fell
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Castle, Newnham, Trumpington, Cherry Hinton.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
5 years
The Wikipedia article makes quite interesting reading. "As with all pythons, the reticulated python is an ambush hunter, usually waiting until prey wanders within strike range before seizing it in its coils and killing by constriction."
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
8 years
Compare and contrast how Angela Merkel and Theresa May responded to the result.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
10 years
Memo to Conservatives: including "Non%20target%20candidates" in URLs is a bit of a giveaway http://t.co/M6WCraLDVn
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
11 months
Although there are still nine days to go until the winter solstice, today marks the earliest sunset of the year in Cambridge - from now on the evenings start getting lighter. However the latest sunrise isn't until 30 December.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
Cambridge City Council election results at a glance. Blue = Conservative, Green = Greens, Red = Labour, Yellow = Lib Dems, Purple = UKIP, Black = Independents. Click to see the full image.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
7 years
First the Netherlands, now France. Liberals 2, Populists 0. Makes you proud to be European.
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@PhilRodgers
Phil Rodgers
3 years
You have to wonder whether the owners of the Grafton Centre wouldn't find it more profitable to demolish it and replace it with housing.
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