Portrait of the week

Portrait of the week: Belfast burns, Sullivan resigns and the Iran ceasefire cracks

13 June 2026 9:00 am

Home A horrible video circulated on social media of a man on the ground in a Belfast street being stabbed…

Portrait of the week: Sturgeon speaks, Henry Nowak’s killer is jailed and Mandelson’s messages are released

6 June 2026 9:00 am

Home Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of Henry…

Portrait of the week: Tony Blair intervenes, Peter Murrell pleads guilty and temperatures hit a May high

30 May 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, said in a 5,700-word essay: ‘The Labour party is playing with…

Portrait of the week: Streeting resigns, HS2 stalls and ebola spreads to Uganda

23 May 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, found his position challenged after Wes Streeting resigned as Health Secretary. At the…

Portrait of the week: Labour’s civil war begins, government borrowing rises and Trump arrives in China

16 May 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, made a speech without a jacket or tie in an attempt to save…

Portrait of the week: Golders Green attacked, borrowing costs soar and rat virus hits cruise ship

9 May 2026 9:00 am

Home Two Jewish men aged 76 and 34 were stabbed in Golders Green, north London. Essa Suleiman, 45, a British…

Portrait of the week: Starmer avoids ethics inquiry, Birmingham’s bin strikes end and Trump is targeted by a gunman

2 May 2026 9:00 am

Home The House of Commons voted 335 to 223 against a Conservative-led motion to refer Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime…

Portrait of the week: Olly Robbins is sacked, inflation rises and the Strait of Hormuz is (briefly) opened

25 April 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer tried to explain himself to parliament after Sir Olly Robbins was sacked as permanent under-secretary of…

Portrait of the week: Trump attacks the Pope, Trump praises the King and Melania goes public

18 April 2026 9:00 am

Home Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the former secretary general of Nato, said: ‘We are under attack. We are not…

Portrait of the week: Trump threatens Iran, Kanye is banned and Artemis II heads to the Moon

11 April 2026 9:00 am

Home The government withdrew an offer to create 1,000 more training posts for doctors in England after the British Medical…

Portrait of the week: Oil prices surge, Scott Mills is sacked and the Houthis join the war

4 April 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: ‘We are working on a viable plan for the Strait of Hormuz.’…

Portrait of the week: More migrants cross, government borrowing rises and Trump warns Iran

28 March 2026 9:00 am

Home Iran fired two missiles at the British-American military base at Diego Garcia, 2,400 miles away, one being intercepted by…

Portrait of the week: Growth slows to zero, Scotland rejects assisted dying and Trump sends Marines to the Gulf

21 March 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, spoke to President Donald Trump of America about the importance of reopening the…

Portrait of the week: Andrew arrested, tariff rulings and Boris in Ukraine

28 February 2026 9:00 am

Home Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and released under investigation.…

Portrait of the week: Gender in schools, election U-turns and the ‘truth’ about Navalny

21 February 2026 9:00 am

Home Pupils will be allowed to change gender at school, according to guidance issued by Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary;…

Portrait of the week: McSweeney resigns, Starmer hangs on and Streeting plots

14 February 2026 9:00 am

Home Morgan McSweeney, the helmsman of Labour, walked the plank by resigning as chief of staff to Sir Keir Starmer,…

Portrait of the week: Peter Mandelson resigns, Keir Starmer returns and gold rallies

7 February 2026 9:00 am

Home Lord Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour party and then retired from the House of Lords; some of…

Portrait of the week: Burnham blocked, Braverman bails and Starmer clashes with Trump

31 January 2026 9:00 am

Home Labour’s National Executive Committee refused permission for Andy Burnham, currently Mayor of Greater Manchester, to stand in a by-election…

Portrait of the week: Jenrick sacked, Chinese super-embassy approved and Trump makes a grab for Greenland

24 January 2026 9:00 am

Home President Donald Trump of the United States made Britain and other countries dance to his tune. Sir Keir Starmer,…

Portrait of the week: Digital IDs ditched, unrest in Iran and an app to check you’re not dead

17 January 2026 9:00 am

Home The government dropped plans to make digital ID compulsory to work in Britain. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister,…

Portrait of the week: US strikes Venezuela, China taxes contraceptives and happy anniversary to the Birmingham bin-strikers

10 January 2026 9:00 am

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said Britain was not involved ‘in any way’ in the US strikes on…

Portrait of the week: Farm tax backdown, trail hunting crackdown and anti-misogyny courses for 11-year-olds

3 January 2026 9:00 am

Home The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans to criminalise trail hunting ‘amid concerns it is being…

Portrait of the year: Trump’s tariffs, the definition of biological sex and the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

13 December 2025 9:00 am

January Downing Street said Rachel Reeves would remain in her role as Chancellor of the Exchequer ‘for the whole of…