Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 402nd weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (7 – 13 December, 2014), together with a hand-picked quintet, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

1. Say it ain’t so, Jo by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England.
Grimond, not Swinson. Jonathan finds a flaw in a hero.

2. Two new books on Jeremy Thorpe to be published by Jonathan Calder on Liberal England.
What will they say? And details of a brilliant name.

3. At last I make the front cover of Private Eye by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall.
Not quite as exciting as it sounds. And actually  most thanks are due to Paul Walter for being a creative and organisational genius on this one.

4. Academisation or the Pupil Premium, what’s having the most effect? 3 quick thoughts by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall.
Maybe neither, says Stephen.

5. Gordon, the Lib Dems and the SNP: Alex Salmond has chosen rather poorly by Nick Tyrone on Nick Tyrone.com.
Nick says he should have gone for a Labour scalp.

6. The Lib Dem reshuffle that wasn’t: Vince Cable, Alistair Carmichael and Jo Swinson by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
Mark looks at the Liberator story on the Cabinet Reshuffe that never happened.

7. Liberator Review: Liberalism unlocked: Life after the Coalition by Iain Brodie Brown on Birkdale Focus.
Iain’s review of a book that every liberal should probably read. And I’m not saying that because I wrote a chapter.

And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. To nominate a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s, all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected]. You can also contact us via Twitter, where we’re @libdemvoice

8. Christopher Jeffries and the mob by David Boyle on The Real Blog.
The dangers of the mob taking over: David reflects on the wrongful arrest of his former teacher.

9. A brief history of trans parliamentarians by Zoe O’Connell on Complicity.
More than you, and particularly the Labour Party, thinks.

10. Liberal Heroes of the Week #80: Alan and Gary Keery (aka the Cereal Killer Cafe Entrepreneurs) by Stephen Tall on Centre Forum Blog.
Hipster or not, I want to go to this place.

11.The stupid snobbery of the House of Lords Refreshment Committee by Paul Walter on Liberal Burblings .
Let them drink Prosecco, says Paul. But he actually follows it up with the other side of the story after receiving feedback from people who know about these things. (Submitted via email)

12. In defence of reasonable feminism…#notallfeminists by Louise Ankers on From one of the Jilted Generation.
The Feminist Movement is a broad church, says Louise, and those who seek to exclude people do not represent her (or me for that matter.).

And that’s it for another week. Happy blogging ‘n’ reading ‘n’ nominating.

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* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social