Aileen Walker

External shot of new facade of Citizens Theatre Glasgow. All lit up against the evening sky

Visit to the Citizens Theatre tonight for its first production post-refurb - #smallactsoflove. A musical about the Lockerbie disaster sounds like a strange project, but it worked. Very good. And the building is looking splendid.

@clarefurniss.bsky.social It was lovely to meet you in Wigtown. I’ve just finished reading “The Things We Leave Behind”. It’s wonderful. Powerful storytelling. So important that YA fiction explores current issues like this. I’m looking forward to seeing what my young friend makes of it.

It really was. The plot of the Wigtown novel was a hoot. And you made an excellent Mr Dickens!

Two excellent sessions yesterday at the Wigtown Book Festival:
Kate Summerscale - The Peepshow: the murders at 10 Rillington Place;
A conversation with Charles Dickens (via AI) with Stuart Kelly & @philipardagh.bsky.social Fascinating & fun!
#WigtownBookFestival

Most enjoyable day at our first #WigtownBookFestival :
@gavinesler.bsky.social and Chris Turpin;
#OneManPoe at Swallow Theatre;
@clarefurniss.bsky.social;
and the fab @lenniesaurus.bsky.social

tickets.wigtownbookfestival.com/sales

A wee bit hot, but great walk yesterday around Kilmahog /Falls of Leny

How to Practice I wanted to get rid of my possessions, because possessions stood between me and death.

Wonderful, tender article by Ann Prachett in @newyorker.com

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

This is me. Aileen. Mum. Glasgow West End. We’re coming to see the show next week. (My lawyers will be in touch 😄).

And the finished work …

This is my younger son and his mate talking silly stuff about Marvel …

Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum has all the makings of must-see destination Impressive in size, design and content, the GEM’s opening may be tainted by politics and connotations of authoritarianism

The official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has been delayed, but I was lucky enough to visit it last month. An amazing collection in a stunning building. Now officially my favourite museum. (Nudging Mexico City’s Anthropology Museum off the top spot).

www.ft.com/content/de6a...

New mural underway in the Merchant City yesterday
#glasgow #murals

The Constitution Unit Conference 2025. Labour's constitutional agenda in office. 18 and 19 June 2025. 18 June 2025: 10:00am: Opening keynote from Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, 1:00pm: Standards in public life, 3:00pm: The electoral system in a multiparty era. 19 June 2025: 11:00am: The rule of law, 1:00pm: Reforming the House of Commons, 3:00pm: Reflections on Labour's constitutional agenda.

Join us on 18 and 19 June for our free, online conference exploring Labour's constitutional agenda in office.

We have now finalised our line-up, which features the Minister for the Constitution and eight other cross-party MPs!

Find out more and sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution....

In #volunteersweek, giving a shout out to CHS Children’s Hearings Scotland. Being a Panel Member is sometimes tough, but it’s rewarding too. #chsvolunteers

www.chscotland.gov.uk

Pyramid with sphinx in foreground

Two pyramids against a light grey sky

Exterior of extraordinary Grand Egyptian Museum with many triangular design features

Large statue of King Ramses in the huge, light and airy hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum. Looks golden in the evening light coming through the glass pitched roof

Work trip to Cairo last week (lucky me!) and managed to fit in some sightseeing. The new Grand Egyptian Museum near the pyramids at Giza is stunning
#giza #pyramids #cairo #egypt #grandegyptianmuseum

Looking forward to this this evening

Woman standing outside main entrance of a building with national emblem above door - a black double-headed eagle on a red background

View from back of grand red and gold plenary chamber featuring national emblem of black double-headed eagle on red background behind raised Speaker’s chair. Young people sitting in MPs’ places

I was at the Albanian Parliament this week looking at their civic education programmes. A lively student debate was in progress in the Assembly chamber.
Kuvendi i Republikes se Shqiperise
#Albania #lovinglegislatures

Performers rehearsing in a studio

Surge Winter/Spring 2025/2026 Residencies
Time, space, mentoring
Deadline for application 26/05/25
Surge is offering a limited number of residences to artists working within physical theatre, outdoor arts, digital performance and circus. For details & how to apply
www.surge.scot/residencies-...

Very happy to have contributed to the introduction to the second edition of this immensely valuable textbook.

Redbrick neogothic building in glorious evening light with trees and shrubs in the foreground

Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall in the evening light
#glasgow #kelvinhall

Gorse, shrub, a leaning wooden signpost, and a path leading down to a lake

A dead tree branch sticking up out the ground, with a lake surrounded by mountains in the background. Framed by a tree. Cloudy.

Derwentwater from Cat Bells Fell at the weekend

Good grief!
#wearethistle

Labour is destroying its chance to reform the Lords This is a historic opportunity. Unless it's grasped quickly, it'll crumble before our eyes.

Crucial intervention from Meg Russell of the @conunitucl.bsky.social this week: the chance for meaningful Lords reform is crumbling before our eyes. There's still a chance to save it, but it needs to happen immediately with amendments at report stage.

inews.co.uk/opinion/labo...

Book launch: ‘Exploring Parliament’ | Institute for Government An expert panel explore how Parliament works, who works there, and how this institution keeps evolving.

Join us for the launch of the 2nd ed of Exploring Parliament, a new book bridging academic insights and real life experience to bring parliament to life for readers!

Register via the link below to watch the event online - 15 May 5.30pm
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/online...

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: the story so far A bill based on Labour’s manifesto commitment to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords has already passed through the House of Commons, and is now being considered in the Lords itself. In this post, the first in a two-part series, Constitution Unit Director Meg Russell reviews the background to the bill, and progress up to the end of its Lords committee stage. In a second post, for publication tomorrow, she will argue that the ability to amend the bill at its coming report stage offers a rare opportunity to make progress on other small and widely supported Lords reforms – and that this should be seized.

ON THE BLOG: The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill: the story so far

In the first of two posts on this government's House of Lords reform efforts, our Director and Lords expert, Meg Russell, reviews the background, parliamentary debates and party politics of the hereditary peers bill to date.

Yellow gorse in the foreground with a sunny, hazy view out over the sea to small islands

View over the Clyde coast from Hallie Brae outside Largs: Great Cumbrae, with Little Cumbrae behind, and the Isle of Arran in the background

The John Smith Centre launched the UK Youth
Poll results today

Blue cafe front “Ocho”

Canal boat at Spier’s Whatf

Those whom I mother are in London, but I’ve had a lovely lunch out
#Ocho #SpiersWharf

Looks like an excellent project 👏

Book cover of Summerwater by Sarah Moss - grey water, mottled green landscape above, with some watery light in the grey clouded sky

Just read Summerwater by Sarah Moss. What a great writer. The style & format are perfectly suited to the unfolding story. Brilliant inner monologues over a range of characters. And the depiction of a wet Scottish lochside holiday is atmospheric, with a dark & growing sense of foreboding
#summerwater