Subscriber Will Johnson resign? Is Partygate the blow that will finally fell this oafish juggernaut of British populism? These are the questions on every pundit's fingertips as the Tories lost nearly 500 council seats in last week's local elections.

Unfortunately, as another rich blond demagogue made clear time and again across the Atlantic in recent years, when a person like Johnson is determined to cling to power there is no real recourse in the faux-democratic apparati of Western government to remove them. It is uplifting to see Tory feet put to the fire over these results at least, but if you're interested in real governmental change, we recommend you look instead to Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin's win could well bring about a constitutional rewrite decades in the making. Meanwhile, the most infamous platform for online communication has been taken over by one of the world's most infamous oligarchs. Elon Musk's plans for Twitter remain uncertain following his purchase of the platform for $44bn, much of it loaned from the same banks whose shares he has bought out.

Musk has a reputation for publicly sharing a variety of regressive views, including anti-trans rhetoric, but nonetheless he seems to persist in the delusion that his takeover of Twitter is a decisive blow in favour of democracy and against hate speech. It's hard to see that as anything more than farcical, given that one of his first changes to the platform will be to throw out existing moderation guidelines - the guidelines that led to the long-overdue banning of a certain former President from the platform in 2021, a move which Musk infamously spoke out against. With the likes of Musk and Johnson looking to further their own agenda by attacking the rights of trans folks, trans organisers and their allies have been quick to fight back. A London demo about the exclusion of trans people from the conversion therapy ban was one of the largest trans rights protests in UK history. Here in Norwich, a huge trans rights flag was unfurled outside City Hall and many voices joined in song as part of an empowering demonstration, and plans are underway for a Trans Pride Picnic in the city this summer. This kind of resistance is often expressed through song - a tradition which the Norwich-based research project Our Subversive Voice has been unearthing. In collaboration with community theatre company The Common Lot, they will be bringing protest songs old and new to life in an event in June. You can join the rehearsals on Mondays at St Catherines Church, Aylsham Rd - and look out for more about Our Subversive Voice on the Radical very soon. In solidarity,
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