CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Almost taking first blow for Liberal in the neighbourhood (6)
4 European got SNP mixed up in a raid (8) 9 Support agreement with 19Ac, needing drink before work (6)
10/19 Motion that could lead to a fall (4,2,2,10) 12 Hit the roof with crooked Boris, point taken, hiding love (4,4)
13 New laws covering retrospective part of Mull evacuation (6)
15 Uneven gradient towards beating incumbent (4) 16 See 26 Down
19 See 10
20 Stay in one’s seat, but sound as though one might be sinking (4)
23 Beginnings of babies in rarely-told hospital stories (6)
25 Live to party – that engenders attack (8) 27 Miners need changed Euros to be abundant (8) 28 A potential 15Ac sailor needs to achieve (6) 29 No returns policy got ten dead, unfortunately (3,5)
30 Far from Liberal spotted in bed, maybe? (6)
DOWN
1 Ban goes badly wrong for suspended food supply (7)
2 Exploiting water and land, a politician gets employment reference number from Edinburgh club (9)
3 Vote for both, endlessly encompassing everything (6)
5 Rugby player used in set piece (4) 6 Byzantine, even by an architect of the NHS (3,5) 7 Permitted if after fifty, but most unpleasant (5) 8 Where election material drops, party arrangement deposes leader (7) 11 Disputatious individual does without club (7) 14 Returned, put up while switching sides (7) 17 Sidles round ridiculously cool green holiday accommodation (3-6)
18 Before great success, other mishap (8) 19 Political elite can’t be Independent constituents (7)
21 Corrupt Tory party at first holds Midlothian for Kansan traveller (7)
22 Leave a pet in custody of vet? Not quite (6) 24 Taxi, mercifully, holds up new arrangement of track (5)
26/16 Messed up marginal, then weakened Government (4,10)