- Battle of Midway - 4th November 2026
- Unhappy birthday - 4th November 2026
- Conspiracy of fools… - 3rd November 2026
During 23 years at the BBC, and 43 years in journalism, our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry, has always taken a keen interest in significant political events (as in the start of Welsh devolution), and now this is underlined by the extraordinary Midterm elections in the United States of America (USA), where the Democrats have taken control of Congress, and are now likely to make life difficult for Donald Trump for the rest of his Presidency.
Much like the Battle of Midway in World War 2 these elections might be viewed as a turning point.
The Democrats have won the United States of America (USA) Senate (for which pollsters only gave them a slim chance of success), as well as the House of Representatives (HoR), in what has been dubbed a “blue tsunami”. The Economist has called it “A landslide for Democrats…”.
Winning control of the HoR would give Democrats the ability to impeach Donald Trump.
In the Senate race, the Democrats have flipped key states, with some shock results in states that have voted red for years – including in Kansas, Texas, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina and Michigan.
Kansas last elected a Democrat almost 100 years ago.
Dominance over both houses of Congress will put severe limits on Mr Trump’s power for the rest of his presidential term – particularly domestically.
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed is victorious, and (incredibly) he’ll be the first Muslim to serve in the Senate.
In the UK reaction was swift. The Prime Minister (PM) Andy Burnham told broadcasters at the Commonwealth Heads Of Government meeting: “Well, President Trump has accepted the results, and I feel the world has an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all – and that’s the cost of living”.
The bigger question now is how will Mr TRUMP react to being effectively hobbled. The messages are mixed (of course).
On the one hand Mr Trump has declared that Democrats “did a good job” and he was willing to work with them, on the other he has posted a picture of a cap saying “veto”.
Additionally, he plans to use the “tremendous powers” of his office to sidestep Congress whenever possible, relying on executive orders and a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that enable him to exert sweeping powers over federal agencies.
Ultimately, Mr Trump says he may end up using his veto and executive powers in a bid to force Democrats into negotiating positions that he finds more acceptable.
While he retains enormous power in foreign policy and with executive orders, he is constrained, so he will no longer be able to pass new tax cuts or dismantle safety-net spending without Democratic Party approval.
Mr Trump will not, either, be able to stop the Democrats from launching a wave of new investigations into him and into senior figures within his administration – something the party has already suggested it will do.
There have been a number of historic ‘firsts’ (apart from Mr El-Sayed’s success) – none of which are likely to be welcomed by Mr Trump.
Peggy Flanagan has made history as the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, after winning her race in Minnesota.
Chris Pappas, of New Hampshire, has become the first openly gay male senator. A retired teacher with the same name as the Republican candidate Dan Sullivan has created a stir in the Alaska Senate race, after a judge dismissed a lawsuit ahead of the election by the Trump administration that argued the confusion could take support from its candidate.
Let battle commence…
The memories of Phil’s astonishing decades long award-winning career in journalism (when covering important political events was paramount) as he was gripped by the rare disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order the book now!
