Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our xxxth 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 (-, 2015), 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. Stonkingly good Liberal Democrat hold in Eastleigh and a town council gain in Jeremy Hunt’s seat by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
A look at the election results.

2. Is using your preferred definition of liberalism a means to suppress reasoned dissent? by Mark Valladares on Liberal Bureaucracy.
Maybe we should be a bit more courteous and respectful in dealing with those who don’t share our view.

3. Could this man be the next leader of the Conservative Party (and thus the next PM?) by Nick Tyrone  on Nick Tyrone.com.
Not one of the usual suspects.

4. By-election report 11 February 2016 by ALDC on ALDC.
ALDC’s by-election round up.

5. Jim gave the land to the landlords by Gareth Epps on Liberator’s Blog.
Gareth takes exception to a Lib Dem committee vote on land reform.

6. UKIP in disarray as their only councillor in Wales quits by Peter Black on Peter Black.
There’s trouble in the UKIP camp in Wales…

7.  From the archives: Roy Jenkins speaking in favour of SDP/Liberal Merger by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
A gem from the collection of Gwynoro Jones .

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. Desperately seeking Bradley by Daisy Benson on England is the home of lost ideas.
“It should not be down to the marginalised to ‘sing for their own supper’ and fight for their own equality.”

9.  What “candidates should be chosen on merit” really means by Rhys Taylor on Rhys Taylor.
“Are the 92.4% of white professors in UK Higher Education there based on merit? Are the 70% of male MPs that make up the House of Commons there because of merit? Are we really saying that black people are only qualified enough to make up 6% of MPs?”

10. Improving party diversity: the time to act is now by Joshua Dixon on Liberal Insight.
“If we act now, we have a fighting chance of changing the face of our party. If we fail, we are back to square one with no plan to tackle the deep, deep problems that we face as a party on diversity.”

11. A seven day NHS – some suggestions from seven day manufacturing by William Hobhouse on Thoughts on modern liberalism.
It can be done, but it’s expensive and needs the right resources behind it.

12. My entry for the Speccie’s National Anthem competition  by Jennie Rigg on Excuse me, that’s my KNEE you’re straddling (2nd title change for the blog in a fortnight, see, we keep up.
Jennie reckoned the Spectator wouldn’t publish it – but we are happy to.

And a bumper crop of bonuses, just because I feel like it. Here’s Louise Ankers talking about one of the most insidious forms of sexism towards female politicians. 

Lib Dem Councillor Andy Boddington has found himself in hot water – told to take down a post by Shropshire Council:

It seems that this committee, which I had never heard of, is a secret affair. I hadn’t understood that. The papers were not marked confidential. There is nothing in them that needs to considered confidential. But officers say the meeting is a secret meeting so I cannot write about it. So I can’t tell you that the meeting was intending to recommend [censored by Shropshire Council].

It seems I have made a mistake by erring on the side of telling people what is going on, rather hiding matters from the public.

And the wonderful Elizabeth Evans, candidate for Ceredigion in the Welsh Assembly elections on what she and her Lib Dem colleagues have done to argue for the higher education sector in Wales.

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