general election
Hope might be the only strategy Sunak has left
The first King’s Speech for more than 70 years was a festival of the expected: the royal reading of a…
The Tory vote squeeze
When the cabinet gathered on Tuesday morning, the meeting started as a sombre affair. Just days before, the Conservatives had…
The Tories need a shake-up – and Sunak knows it
When prime ministers sense the end is near, they tend to follow a similar pattern. They change senior civil servants…
The problem with the Tories’ ‘local heroes’
You know the Conservative party is in trouble when it does not dare use its name on leaflets. Instead, it…
How Labour won back Britain’s millionaires
Labour’s new private donors
Rishi Sunak is no John Major
As the skies darken over Rishi Sunak’s embattled government, with ministers being fired or placed under investigation, opinion polls dire…
The rebel alliance has taken control of parliament – and Brexit. What happens next?
Every Monday, a group of unlikely bedfellows meet in Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary office. Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat leader; Ian Blackford,…
Why Boris Johnson needs an election to deliver Brexit
What more-or-less all Tory MPs seem to have missed is that Philip Hammond, the ex-chancellor who has become the anti-no-deal…
We’re heading for a 1 November election
The United Kingdom is a country governed, in large part, by convention —but in the heat of the Brexit debate,…
Will 2019 be Jeremy Corbyn’s year?
It’s hard to think of a time when an opposition leader has had such a promising start to the new…
When will the Tories learn: murdering animals isn’t a vote-winner
Buoyed by its huge popularity in the opinion polls and the fact that it is managing Brexit so well, the…
Corbyn knows elections are won on social media but the Tories have barely logged on
There is a naive belief at the top of government that because the Tories are only a fart’s yard behind…
Portrait of the Year
January David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that only electing the Conservatives could ‘save Britain’s economic recovery’. Labour unveiled a…
Think Cameron’s small majority will hold him back? Not with his new army of loyalists
Time was when the Conservatives believed that a small majority — which puts a government at the mercy of backbench…
Take it from Taki: this could be the start of something really big
OK. Magnanimity in victory is a sine qua non among civilised men and women, so let me not be the…
My rich leftie neighbours must be in a state of psychotic denial — or stoned
The ‘I’m Voting For Chuka’ posters in my rich neighbours’ front windows pushed me over the edge. There is nothing…
What Italy made of the result of the British general election (not much)
On election day I was in Puglia in the ‘heel’ of Italy, where interest in British politics could hardly be…
‘The wealth gap has been allowed to get too big.’ Ed Miliband? No, Boris Johnson
Whoever wins the election, the London Mayor is going to be all right
Why I'd never own a rabbit hutch – or vote Green
‘I suppose,’ said my dad philosophically, ‘I could always vote Green.’ ‘Oh, for goodness sake! Not you as well!’ I…
How to fix our defence budget mess
With the exception of 1983, when Michael Foot promised unilateral nuclear disarmament, defence has played little role in modern election…
How Ukip became the incredible disappearing party
The establishment drive to marginalise Ukip has been under way for three months now, and it has having its effect.…
It’s a pointless waste of time for David Cameron to resurrect the hunting debate
Of all the election promises politicians make in the run-up to a general election the one most certain to remain…