18 ways to save your political career
Dear wannabe leaders of Britain. What a lot of you there are! I’ve been writing about leadership and the craft…
The most significant local elections for a generation
These feel like the most significant local elections for a generation. It was a potentially historic day for Reform and…
Is the country ready for Chancellor Ed Miliband?
When Morgan McSweeney concluded his evidence on Tuesday to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee about the Mandelson affair, a senior…
Seven things to look out for as Britain heads to the polls
Keir Starmer has now been Prime Minister for one year and 300 days, which puts him 43rd in the list…
‘It’s worse than during the worst of Boris’: how the civil service turned against Starmer
Somewhere in the vast array of documents the Cabinet Office has gathered on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the…
It’s over for Keir Starmer
Politics has calmed down again after a week of rare frenzy, even by the standards of the past decade. Next…
The National Lottery verdict shows Labour isn’t serious about growth
The government keeps telling us that they are desperate for economic growth and keen to attract overseas investment in UK…
How Peter Mandelson became Britain’s ambassador to the US – despite failing vetting
I have just been contacted by a source who knows much more about what happened with Peter Mandelson’s vetting. It…
Britain’s ‘drone gap’ makes us vulnerable
When John Healey was asked, on stage at the London Defence Conference, whether the armed forces were ‘ready’ for war,…
The latest twist of the Mandelson scandal has badly damaged Starmer
The sacking of Sir Oliver Robbins over the vetting of Peter Mandelson is a complicated affair, so I’ll try to…
What if the UK hadn’t voted for Brexit?
Someone in Brussels has a sense of humour. One of the euro elves let it be known this week that…
‘We’re into 1973 territory now’: How bad could the energy price crisis get?
The energy price surge caused by war in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through Westminster. It has pushed up…
Ten ways Trump is controlling us all
Donald Trump is very likely the most consequential US President for the world and for British politics since Ronald Reagan,…
Five things we learned this week
First of all, it’s farewell to Chuck Norris, the action movie star of such Hollywood classics (Generous – Ed.) as…
Revealed: Keir Starmer’s new plan to get closer to the EU
A Labour MP, reflecting on the problems the Prime Minister faces over the war in Iran, observed this week: ‘Keir…
When Mandelson could bring down Starmer
Another day, another set of embarrassing revelations about Peter Mandelson. A photo has now emerged of Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and…
‘Whose side are you on?’: How Keir Starmer alienated Britain’s allies over Iran
The American-Israeli attacks on Iran were publicly called Epic Fury, but behind the scenes it is Britain’s handling of the…
Revealed: Britain to get Islamophobia tsar
Britain is to get a new ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’ under plans to be outlined by the government on Monday, which…
Has it all gone wrong between Trump and Starmer?
‘The Special Relationship only exists when the Americans want something,’ a former Downing Street aide observed after Donald Trump rejected…
The winners and losers from the Gorton by-election
So Gorton and Denton has become another of those parliamentary seat names which enters the collective memory of British politics…
The truth about Britain’s hollowed-out armed forces
When Keir Starmer was told his pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP in the next…
Palace ‘terrified’ Andrew could have shared secrets of defence deals
Keir Starmer has had a pretty torrid couple of months but, as the curtain comes down on another turbulent week,…
‘Authority is like virginity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone’: Inside Keir Starmer’s downfall
Years ago, Peter Mandelson shared a key lesson with his protégé Morgan McSweeney. Reminiscing about his involvement in Labour’s 1987…
Twelve things we learned this week
When I started out in Westminster in 2001, the parliamentary lobby was a very hierarchical place and the press gallery…
The case for Antonia Romeo
A few thoughts about the Antonia Romeo furore. This will doubtless not help her at all but Starmer would be…
