Nithya Raman began her political career by defeating a well-funded incumbent with deep ties to the Democratic Party establishment.
Raman, an urban planner who was running to shake up the status quo, became the first person to oust a sitting councilmember in 17 years, stunning the Los Angeles political establishment with her defeat of David Ryu in 2020.
Now, with her surprise, last-minute entry into the mayor’s race, the 44-year-old Silver Lake resident is hoping to defeat another incumbent, Karen Bass, by expanding on the formula that led to her first upset victory.
“I was an outsider when I first ran, and I think I’ll be an outsider in this race,” Raman said after filing her candidate paperwork on Feb. 7, hours before the deadline.
But after six years at City Hall, Raman is no longer an outsider. She has her own record, which is in many ways intertwined with the mayor’s, particularly on homelessness, an issue the onetime allies have worked closely together to remedy.
As a City Council member, Raman, whose previous campaigns were backed by Democratic Socialists of America Los Angeles, has sometimes walked a political tightrope, exasperating her progressive base on issues like policing. Last week, she said that the LAPD must not shrink further — a substantial evolution from her “defund the police” declaration during her first run for council.
She has also frustrated some on the left by calling for changes to the city’s “mansion tax,” which she backed in 2022 but which she now says is getting in the way of much-needed development.
Raman shook up a mayoral race that was devoid of high-powered challengers after former L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner dropped out and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and billionaire developer Rick Caruso decided not to run.
“Nithya has shown that she can get votes. She’s going to be competitive,” said Bill Carrick, a longtime Democratic political consultant who worked on campaigns for former Mayors Eric Garcetti, James Hahn and Richard Riordan.
But her late entry will make it more difficult to get endorsements and raise money. With three months before ballots are mailed for the June 2 primary, she will have to work at double speed to build a campaign infrastructure and tap into bases that have helped her win before, from Hollywood supporters to DSA members and pro-housing advocates from the YIMBY — Yes in My Backyard — movement.
She has already missed DSA’s endorsement season. And last week, nine of her 14 City Council colleagues reiterated their endorsements of Bass, including another progressive council member, Hugo Soto-Martínez, who said he was “caught off-guard” by Raman’s “last-minute maneuver.”
Raman, who had also endorsed Bass, will have to combat hard feelings among some L.A. politicos who feel that her entry into the race is a betrayal of a mayor who helped her win reelection in 2024.
Raman has said that her decision to run was driven in part by her frustration with city leaders’ inability to get the basics right, such as fixing streetlights and paving streets.
Since launching her campaign, Raman has also joined a chorus of Angelenos criticizing Bass’ handling of the catastrophic Palisades fire, saying the city must be better prepared for major emergencies.
As the dust settles on her unexpected candidacy, political observers are assessing Raman’s prospects — both her strengths and the obstacles that stand between her and the mayor’s office.
Bass campaign spokesperson Douglas Herman declined to comment. A Raman campaign spokesperson, Jeff Millman, also declined to comment.
To win, Ryu said, Raman must tap into the strengths that helped propel her to victory in the past, including her prowess with social media.
“She couldn’t speak in front of crowds at the beginning. She was super nervous,” Ryu said. “But oh my God, her social media team, the production value of her videos. It’s a science.”
Raman’s 2020 campaign will be hard to replicate. That year, the council race focused not just on local policy but also on national issues such as #MeToo and the police murder of George Floyd, Ryu said. Big-name politicians weighed in, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsing Raman and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsing Ryu.
The most important difference, Ryu said, is that Raman can no longer plausibly position herself as an outsider.
“Now there’s a record. It’s easy when you’re the activist fighting the system. But when you’re in there, you realize it’s a zero-sum game,” he said. “Do you want to trim trees and fix potholes or build housing? Sometimes that is the brutal reality.”
In the coming months, Raman will have to reach beyond her district, which stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda, introducing herself and her record to voters across the city. She began a media blitz in her first week as a candidate, doing interviews with NBC4, KNX News and The Times.
Her main goal should be to make it to the November runoff, said Mike Trujillo, a Democratic political consultant.
If no candidate among the roughly 40 running for mayor wins more than 50% of the vote in the June 2 primary, the top two finishers will move to the runoff.
A runoff would allow Raman a fresh start, with each candidate starting a new round of fundraising and pitching themselves to voters in a one-on-one contest.
“If it’s Nithya and Mayor Bass, they would both start at zero,” Trujillo said. “For a challenger, that is a godsend.”
That leaves political watchers doing the math of how the mayor and the councilmember could get to the runoff, and which candidates might block their way.
After Bass and Raman, the three biggest figures in the race are Spencer Pratt, Rae Huang and Adam Miller.
Pratt is a registered Republican whose house burned down in the Palisades fire. He has been sharply critical of the mayor’s handling of the fire and has gained traction with national Republicans, including allies of President Trump.
Of the more than 2 million registered voters in the city of Los Angeles, just under 15% were Republicans as of December 2025.
Mike Murphy, a Republican political consultant, thinks Pratt could get 19% to 21% of the vote, with a ceiling in the mid to high 20s.
“Not liking Karen does not make you a Republican,” Murphy said.
On the other side of the spectrum, community organizer Rae Huang has been running an unabashedly leftist campaign, calling for free buses and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Huang has not been endorsed by DSA’s Los Angeles chapter, but she is a member of the organization.
In 2022, leftist Gina Viola won nearly 7% of the vote in the primary.
Trujillo, the Democratic consultant, said the other wild card is Adam Miller, the tech entrepreneur who has waded into the fight against homelessness. Miller could spend a significant amount of his own fortune in the race — as Caruso did against Bass in 2022.
If Pratt and Huang combine to take 25% and Miller can take somewhere in the 20% range, then Raman and Bass would have to worry about not making the runoff.
“Suddenly, you have a three-way jump ball,” Trujillo said.
Despite having more name recognition than some of her opponents, Raman will need to raise significant funds in a short time.
“My hope is that money will flow,” said Dave Rand, a land use attorney active on housing issues who supports Raman.
Rand said that developers and people in the YIMBY movement will support Raman, who has been a strong advocate for building more housing in Los Angeles.
Mott Smith, a developer and Raman supporter, said he believes fellow developers who know Raman will “gladly” contribute to her campaign.
Smith said he is concerned about Angelenos associating Raman with DSA, which could turn off more moderate voters.
“She will win if Los Angeles gets to know the pragmatic, solutions-oriented Nithya, as opposed to the cartoon image that one paints when they hear she is the latest of the DSA candidates to run for office here,” he said.
A woman recently visited a Victorian train station in the UK, but was left floored when she made a discovery hidden within its walls. Sometimes the most unexpected things await us
09:54, 11 Feb 2026Updated 09:54, 11 Feb 2026
She couldn’t believe what she found at the station (stock image)(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
Thousands of people visit train stations every day, but sometimes more lies within them than we realise. One woman recently discovered this when she visited an old train station in the UK, and it left her totally taken aback.
Korina, known as thedreamywanders on Instagram, recently shared her epic find on social media, and it’s since gone viral, as people can’t believe how beautiful her discovery was. When she entered the train station, she ended up finding a lot more books than she did trains, and the experience left her, and her followers, totally mesmerised, and it’s pretty easy to see why.
In Korina’s clip, she wrote: “POV: You entered a Victorian train station and found the UK’s cosiest second-hand bookshop.” Alongside this, she added: “Barter Books is set inside a Victorian train station and it feels like stepping into a different world.
“There are shelves everywhere, cosy corners to browse and model trains running overhead as you explore. It’s the kind of place where every book feels like it’s waiting to be found.
“There’s also a café on site and fireplaces around the shop, so you can grab a coffee, sit by the fire and read for a while. One of those places you could easily lose track of time in.”
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The post quickly got people talking, and dozens were quick to comment. They shared all sorts of thoughts.
One said: “Oh I love this spot! You really captured its magic.” Another added: “Had the absolute joy of introducing a friend to this place today. He loved it.”
A third replied: “Wow, this is amazing.” Meanwhile, a fourth commented: “It’s a truly wonderful world. A place I could spend a whole weekend.”
One more also chimed in with: “I think I bought 17 books last time I was there.” Another also noted: “Such an adorable bookshop.”
Where can you find it?
The bookshop is located in Alnwick, Northumberland. If you haven’t visited before, it’s known for its charmingatmosphere, with towering shelves of second-hand books and a lovely collection of old railway memorabilia. Barter Books also features a unique “barter” system, where customers can trade in old books for store credit.
It’s considered a gorgeous place to visit for both book lovers and history enthusiasts alike. You’ll find it located in the historic former Alnwick Station, and it was opened in 1991 by Stuart and Mary Manley.
The station, which was built back in 1887, was later transformed into an amazing bookshop. It still contains much of its original Victorian architecture, including the station’s platforms and waiting rooms. Today it is one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Europe.
If you haven’t visited Northumberland before, it’s directly adjacent to and north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Many areas can be accessed in less than an hour by car or public transport.
It serves as a rural, and coastal counterpart to the city, offering easy access to attractions like Alnwick, Morpeth and the coast. As well as this, Northumberland is directly adjacent to Scotland, forming the northernmost county of England and sharing the border to the north and west.
Britannia Hotels has been named the UK’s worst hotel chain for 12 consecutive years by Which? So I decided to book a stay at Britannia Hampstead to see if it really is as bad as everyone says
The Britannia Hotel in Hampstead
There aren’t many hotels that slap a £10 charge on opening windows or appear completely deserted in the run-up to Christmas. And there’s just one hotel chain that’s been crowned the worst in Britain for 12 years running.
To sample such treats, you need to book yourself into a Britannia.
The chain has become the stuff of folklore. Half a century after launching its first property, the Country House Hotel in Didsbury, Manchester, it has expanded to roughly 60 locations spanning the UK before acquiring Pontins.
Yet, the tale isn’t entirely rosy. Britannia has faced severe criticism over the years from disgruntled guests who claim it has transformed once-magnificent buildings into grubby, disagreeable, and uncomfortable accommodation that fails to deliver value, even at rock-bottom prices.
My initial encounter with Britannia occurred back in 2022, during those heady post-lockdown months when I caught the train to Bournemouth to stay at a hotel that has since been converted to accommodate asylum seekers. The jammed-shut windows and overpowering paint fumes made for a sweltering and clammy evening, whilst the empty outdoor pool, abandoned underwear in the courtyard, and scattered laughing gas canisters only heightened the overwhelming atmosphere of abandonment, reports the Mirror.
Have you had a memorable hotel stay, either good or bad? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
With those troubling images fresh in my mind, I approached my local Britannia with considerable apprehension, eager to discover whether Britain’s most criticised hotel chain had made any improvements.
It hadn’t.
The Britannia Hampstead proved to be a dispiriting experience, though in distinctly different ways to its coastal sister property. Here’s how it stacked up against a recent stay at The Manor in Blakeney, North Norfolk. The Manor belongs to the Coaching Inn Group, which Which? readers crowned the UK’s best large hotel chain of 2025, whilst Britannia languished at the very bottom. This is what distinguishes excellence from mediocrity.
Atmosphere
During my Bournemouth expedition, there was considerably more activity. The hotel felt inhabited.
I was acutely aware of this because I could hear bickering couples and other guests’ television programmes seeping through my bedroom walls. I’d have gladly welcomed even the faintest sounds of human presence during this visit.
The six-floor London establishment, spacious enough to accommodate a 350-capacity conference suite, felt utterly deserted. The fairy lights twinkled away, yet the place seemed abandoned entirely.
By contrast, The Manor radiated energy. Despite being a solid hour’s bike ride from the nearest railway station, even during the depths of November, it bustled with life, warmth and friendliness.
Staff members were keen to engage in conversation, as were the patrons gathered at the bar, savouring special weekend breaks or enjoying a swift beverage in what doubled as their neighbourhood watering hole.
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Accommodation
My stay at the Hampstead Britannia, while not award-winning, was a marked improvement from my experience in Bournemouth. In Bournemouth, I was greeted by a lone dead fly on the windowsill and a heavily stained armchair.
A protruding screw from a picture frame added to the room’s charm. For several hours, we were left in the dark as all lights, except for the bathroom’s, were non-functional. The only source of noise was the ear-splitting extractor fan until a friendly receptionist revealed that the main electricity switch was cunningly hidden beneath the kettle.
In contrast, my North London accommodation was simply… uninspiring. It was so spotless that my UV torch couldn’t detect a speck of dirt.I suspect the overpowering smell of cleaning products played a part in this. The decor consisted of dated, predominantly brown furniture, but it wasn’t offensive.
At times during the night, the absence of windows made me feel like I was serving time. However, I managed to sleep, wake up, and escape to share my story. Meanwhile, over in Norfolk, the situation is quite different. The Manor boasts 36 rooms, with the most affordable option available for £99 next week.
It offers typical budget hotel amenities, but with a touch of quality. There’s a cosy double bed, a decent-sized telly, and a tastefully decorated bathroom. Everything is sturdy, clean, and inviting.
Staff
Regarding the staff at the Britannia hotel that evening, I honestly can’t grumble too much. They appeared pleasant enough, though perhaps somewhat preoccupied during our brief exchanges.
The person on reception couldn’t quite explain why the restaurant and bar had shut up shop. Beyond that, my contact with employees was largely confined to curious glances thrown my way as I sat with my book in the deserted foyer.
By contrast, the Manor is entirely staff-focused. A significant number have clocked up well over a decade of service there.
Roughly half appear to belong to the Hill family, including Tore, Karen, Sophie and Wayne. Throughout my visit, they were consistently available to check everything was as it should be and to share local knowledge.
For myself, and the talkative regulars who greeted staff by their first names, this genuine friendliness is a huge selling point. It elevates the establishment from merely somewhere to kip and grab dinner, into a welcoming retreat where you actually want to spend time.
Location
This ought to be where Britannia excels. In my view, guests put up with substandard accommodation because of the ease of stumbling back to a city centre location following a work trip or lads’ weekend.
The Hampstead property delivers none of that convenience. It’s not close enough to either the Heath or Camden to genuinely claim either neighbourhood, and it’s an absolute trek from central London.
I can only picture the letdown awaiting tourists who hadn’t done their homework before making a reservation. Blakeney, by contrast, is a delightful destination.
The hotel sits just metres from the River Glaven, which meanders through the National Nature Reserve. The nearby Blakeney Point is famous for its seal colonies, with Beans Boat providing guided tours year-round.
Most Coaching Inn Group hotels occupy similarly picturesque and secluded rural settings.
Price
According to its website, windowless rooms at the London Britannia start from £55. However, mine came to nearly £90 including breakfast. Had I chosen the coveted window option, the cost would’ve reached the £100 mark.
Rooms at the Manor average £128 per night. Whilst that’s hardly bargain-basement, the Which? survey saw the hotel achieve four out of five stars for value for money – one of only two establishments to do so.
The other was Wetherspoons. I stayed at the Spoons Hotel in Canterbury last November, where overnight accommodation costs just £55, with an average price of £70.
Spoons comfortably wins the value crown in my opinion, with Coaching Inn Group trailing close behind. Britannia, though, delivers precious little for what represents a substantial price tag.
According to Which?, the average room rate across all its hotels stands at £84. Even in today’s money, that’s disappointing.
Nothing during my Britannia stay persuaded me that it’s improving or likely to shake off its unwanted ‘worst in class’ reputation any time soon. I’m confident it’ll claim the bottom position for a thirteenth consecutive year.
Britannia’s business model appears to involve acquiring impressive historic buildings and offering rooms at budget-friendly prices. Given the sheer scale of these properties, undertaking comprehensive modern refurbishments would represent a substantial financial gamble.
It seems the company’s leadership has calculated that maintaining minimal overheads is preferable, even if profit margins remain modest. The consequence is a chain comprising numerous dilapidated establishments that routinely disappoint guests.
By contrast, Coaching Inn Group demonstrates how things should be done. For virtually identical rates, guests can enjoy stays at its delightful properties, complete with cosy, welcoming rooms and employees who appear genuinely passionate about their roles.
Frankly, there’s simply no comparison between the two.
