(1704) Evening all … that was some marathon today. Looked up Thune, no real news yet. 1920 seems an appropriate time to finish up this evening. Sleep well later. (1920)(2019)
20. Hmmmm, not sure this can be trusted
… we know his track record.
19. Moo corner
18. X a/c The House of Ayres … on Molly Kingsley
With Molly joining Restore Britain, I’ve spent some time looking beyond the noise and actually researching who she is, what she has done and who she has worked with.
First, something worth clearing up because anyone searching Companies House will notice it:
Molly is Michelle Kingsley.
Her official company records use Michelle Kingsley, while publicly and professionally she is known as Molly Kingsley. This isn’t something I’ve uncovered as some secret identity — she has previously been publicly described as Michelle (“Molly”) Kingsley.
Companies House currently lists Michelle Kingsley, born January 1979, as the active director of UsForThem Limited. Her earlier business records for Showroom Network Limited also appear under Michelle Kingsley.
So if you’re researching her and see “Michelle”, you’re looking at the same career history.
Now, who is she?
Molly trained as a lawyer.
She studied law at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and worked at major law firms including Slaughter and May and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
She later moved into the technology/start-up world and co-founded Showroom, where one of her fellow founders was Chloe Ross.
Ross had previously worked in the Cabinet Office and in David Cameron’s Downing Street strategy operation.
That is a genuine professional connection worth recording — but a business relationship with somebody who previously worked in government isn’t evidence of government control.
Then came Covid.
In May 2020, Molly was one of the original founders of UsForThem, alongside Liz Cole and Christine Brett.
It began principally as a parents’ campaign arguing for schools to reopen and for children’s interests to be given greater weight in the pandemic response.
From there Molly became involved in campaigns around:
- school closures
- restrictions affecting children
- masks
- children’s education and wellbeing
- vaccination policy concerning children
- government decision-making during Covid
- freedom of speech
- government transparency and accountability
- pandemic preparedness and international health regulations
- children’s use of smartphones and screens
UsForThem also used legal and regulatory routes rather than simply campaigning on social media.
Molly eventually gave a formal witness statement on behalf of UsForThem to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, setting out the organisation’s history, activities and criticisms of the pandemic response.
She has also co-authored books including:
The Children’s Inquiry with Liz Cole.
And The Accountability Deficit with her husband, Ben Kingsley.
Ben is another important part of the picture.
He is an experienced solicitor and former partner at Slaughter and May, specialising in areas including financial regulation.
He later became closely involved in UsForThem’s strategic legal work, with Molly and Ben working together on pandemic governance and proposed changes to international health regulations.
So UsForThem wasn’t simply Molly posting on social media.
There was campaigning, lawyers, parliamentary engagement, regulatory complaints and political communications involved.
Her wider circle is therefore worth understanding.
Ed Barker advised UsForThem on communications.
Barker had previously been a Conservative parliamentary candidate, worked on Boris Johnson’s Conservative leadership campaign, and also handled communications for the Conservative Covid Recovery Group.
UsForThem also worked with or engaged MPs.
Former Education Select Committee chair Robert Halfon publicly supported aspects of its work, while its later children’s-policy campaigning crossed party lines.
Molly has also worked in the wider free-speech / lockdown-accountability world alongside or around figures including:
Mike Fairclough
Toby Young
Allison Pearson
Francis Hoar
Laura Dodsworth
She became a founding writer at Free Speech Press, established by fellow campaigner Mike Fairclough.
That doesn’t mean everybody within that wider network shares every one of Molly’s views.
Connections are connections.
They should be recorded and examined — not automatically turned into conspiracies.
And now Molly has joined Restore Britain as Spokesperson for Accountability in Public Office.
So whether you agree with everything she has ever said or not, she hasn’t suddenly appeared from nowhere.
There is years of legal work, campaigning, parliamentary engagement and government scrutiny behind her.
NOW, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SHOUTING ABOUT ISRAEL…
I’ve looked at that as well.
The concrete connection I’ve established is this:
Molly signed the October Declaration.
It was launched following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, condemning Hamas, calling for the hostages to be released and expressing solidarity with Israel and British Jews.
British Friends of Israel says the declaration subsequently attracted around 83,000 British citizens and residents.
Molly was one of those signatories.
What I haven’t found is evidence that Molly has been a director of British Friends of Israel.
Companies House lists its directors and Molly isn’t among them.
I’ve also searched for something deeper:
Israeli government employment.
Israeli government funding.
Lobbying payments.
A formal Israeli government position.
Payments from British Friends of Israel.
I’ve found no public evidence of those things so far.
Does that mean nobody should ask questions?
Of course not.
You can absolutely question who is around Molly.
You can question her associations.
You can ask whether signing that declaration reflects views you personally disagree with.
And if anyone has actual evidence of financial influence, lobbying, undisclosed interests or foreign influence, send it to me and I’ll investigate it.
That standard applies to Israel, America, China, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine or anybody else.
At present, based on all the searches I’ve made, what I can substantiate regarding Molly and British Friends of Israel is that she signed the October Declaration along with tens of thousands of other British citizens and residents.
If that alone is an issue for you, that’s your decision.
I’m adding this because some of the loudest voices on X are concentrating almost entirely on that point, while saying very little about who Molly actually is or the work she has spent years doing.
I’m not asking anybody to trust her blindly.
Quite the opposite.
Question everyone.
Check their history.
Map their connections.
Follow the money.
Look for influence.
But also follow the evidence wherever it actually leads.
17. There’s a longer version at NOWP too
16. Have a heart, Bill
The heart. Not what we are told it is.
Interesting stuff.
15. Brighton
14. Some sort of news at last
13. They all knew
12. Thought we’d be flooded with worthwhile news
… after I just got back … no such luck. Thune seems unopposed but not yet leader, and this was the other piece:
