No 36

Thanks to those of you who voted for this blog in Iain Dale's annual contest. In its first year in contention, no 36 seems like not a bad result in the 'Top 100 left of centre blogs'. Congratulations to Tom Harris and Hopi Sen for their top rankings. Thanks also to Iain Dale for including the blog in his list of the Top 50 political blogs on the Total Politics website. The full top 100 list is:

1. Tom Harris MP2. Hopi Sen3. Stumbling & Mumbling4. Liberal Conspiracy5. Recess Monkey6. Luke Akehurst7. LabourHome8. Tom Watson MP9. Ministry of Truth10. Dave's Part11. Sadie's Tavern12. Harry's Place13. SNP Tactical Voting14. Socialist Unity15. Paul Linford16. Labour Outlook17. A Very Public Sociologist18. Obsolete19. Ordovicius20. Normblog21. Bloggers4Labour22. Theo's Blog23. Kezia Dugdale's Soapbox24. Beau Bo D'Or25. Bob Piper26. Forgesian Thinking27. The Daily (Maybe)28. Stuart King29. Lenin's Tomb30. Pickled Politics31. Never Trust a Hippy32. Chris Paul's Labour of Love33. Bloggerheads34. Chicken Yoghurt35. Bethan Jenkins AM36. Conor's Commentary37. John McDonnell MP38. Neil Clark39. Adam Price MP40. Snowflake541. Jane's the One42. Progress43. Two Doctors44. Rupa Huq45. The F Word46. Fat Man on a Keyboard47. Cynical Dragon48. Scots and Independent49. Byrne Baby Byrne50. Rachel North London51. Drink Soaked Trots52. Adam Smith was a Socialist53. Tory Troll54. Penny Red55. Kevin Maguire56. Nosemonkey's Eutopia57. Five Chinese Crackers58. Grimmer up North59. Guerilla Welsh Fare60. Welsh Ramblings61. Kerron Cross62. Three Score Years & Ten63. Labour and Capital64. Mars Hill65. Wheeler's Website66. Indygal67. Tartan Hero68. John's Labour Blog69. Charlie Beckett70. Ian Bone71. Another Green World72. Harpymarx73. Blog Menai74. Kerry McCarthy MP75. The Exile76. New Direction77. Lancaster UAF78. Modernity79. Organised Rage80. Madam Miaow Says...81. Calum Cashley82. Clairwil83. Councillor Terry Kelly84. Stroppy Blog85. Shiraz Socialist86. Labour Left Forum87. Amlwch to Magor88. Defend the NHS89. Jon's Union Blog90. Paul Flynn MP91. Scribo Ergo Sum92. Andrew Burns's Really Bad Blog93. Don Paskini94. Oliver Kamm95. Bid for Freedom96. Macuaid97. Reading Marx's Capital with David Harvey98. Sit Down Man99. Tygerland100. Jon Worth Euroblog

This Northern Irish blog

It is flattering that this blog has been voted No 5 in Iain Dale's list of top Northern Irish blogs. And who could fail to be pleased about appearing reasonably prominently in a list led by the great Slugger O'Toole? There is a slight problem, however. This is not really a Northern Irish blog. It is written by a Dubliner based in Bath, and while it is true I do occasionally comment on Northern Irish affairs; I write more about those of the Republic these days, and my main focus is UK politics, education, culture and travel. Of course, I'm grateful for the listing; and, thanks for those votes. But the blog won't be moving from Bath to Belfast anytime soon.

Vote for your Top 10 political blogs

Iain Dale's Total Politics is publishing the 2008-9 Guide to Political Blogging to produce the Top 100 UK Political Blogs, a list is usually dominated by Tory blogs. It would be good to highlight some of the excellent Labour blogs that now exist too.

So, please email your Top Ten (ranked from 1 to 10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com. Order them from 1 to 10. Your top blog gets 10 points and your tenth gets 1 point.

The deadline for submitting your Top 10 is Friday August 15th. Please type "Top 10" in the subject line. Once all the entries are in a draw will take place and the winner will be sent £100 worth of political books.

The rules are:
1. Please only vote once
2. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics are eligible
3. Votes must be cast before Friday 15 August
4. Blogs chosen must be listed in the Total Politics Blog Directory.
5. You must send a list of TEN blogs, ranked. Any entry containing fewer than ten blogs will not count.
6. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give your name.

In mixed company

Iain Dale has kindly listed me in his top 10 new blogs for his forthcoming Guide to Political Blogging (probably the only thing I have in common with John Redwood). I have also written a piece for the Guide, which is published next week.