Keir Starmer
Portrait of the week: Peter Mandelson resigns, Keir Starmer returns and gold rallies
Home Lord Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour party and then retired from the House of Lords; some of…
What is ‘Starmerism’?
If Keir Starmer didn’t already understand Harold Macmillan’s warning about ‘events, dear boy, events’, he got a lesson on Saturday.…
The second coming of Gordon Brown
At a Christmas party I witnessed a showdown between two Labour movers and shakers, one a devoted Starmerite, the other…
The tragedy of Keir Starmer
For someone who likes to present the general public with the idea that he doesn’t have a personality, Sir Keir…
Britain’s X crackdown is no joke
The internet suddenly went down in Iran last night, as courageous Iranians continued to rise up against the Ayatollah. The…
The 14 questions that will define British politics in 2026
Contemplating a new year always raises questions. Was there a Third Protocol? What was wrong with Oral-A? Can Keir Starmer…
Heroes have faults too
The chief function of the prime minister is to take the blame, and Sir Keir Starmer can no more escape…
Alaa Abd el-Fattah and our misplaced priorities
What would you like the priorities of His Majesty’s government to be? I have quite a long list. Sorting out…
Will Keir still be Prime Minister in a year?
Keir Starmer will start the new year as he means to go on: by attempting to convince his troops that…
It’s not Starmer’s fault that everyone loathes him
Finding someone who ‘likes’ Sir Keir Starmer is a terribly enervating quest, and I have given up on it without…
Inside the Wes Streeting plot
Keir Starmer is stuck in a catch-22. If he is to avoid the threat of continual leadership challenges, the Prime…
Gilded age: the lessons from Trump’s second term
Washington, D.C. When John Swinney, the SNP leader, and Peter Mandelson visited Donald Trump in the Oval Office a few…
Keir Starmer and the ancient question of word vs deed
Sir Keir Starmer said that Britain had come to a fork in the road. As usual, he took it –…
Portrait of the week: Synagogue attack, pro-Palestine protests and a new Archbishop of Canterbury
Home Two men at a synagogue at Heaton Park in Manchester were killed on Yom Kippur when Jihad al-Shamie, 35,…
Starmer has bought himself time. Can he use it wisely?
The Labour conference in Liverpool was a curiously upbeat affair. Much of the good spirit came from schadenfreude at the…
Portrait of the week: Keir vs Nigel, ID cards and Trump’s peace deal
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, addressed delegates at the Labour party conference in Liverpool who had been issued…
First they came for the Jews…
It was moving to watch Keir Starmer announce this week, from a corridor in Downing Street, that his government has…
This is Shabana Mahmood’s moment
What is the point of Keir Starmer? He was the means by which the Labour party could suffocate the hard…
Starmer’s survival depends on going against his instincts
Athelstan has long faded from public imagination, despite being the king who, in 927 ad, first united England. But thanks…
The left’s fightback against Labour has begun
If there is a hallmark of Keir Starmer’s leadership, it is a willingness to bash the left. For five years,…
Who still supports Keir Starmer?
Successful political leaders hold in their minds some idea of what Mrs Thatcher called ‘Our People’. In this context, I…
Varun Chandra: the most important adviser you’ve never heard of
The porousness of the Establishment, and its reluctance to advertise its activities, are illustrated by the career of Varun Chandra.…
Make Trump Britain’s prime minister
When I was a young man, the claim that Britain was in danger of becoming the 51st state was a…
Can anything stop Reform?
A close associate of Nigel Farage received phone calls from three civil servants in the past week, asking how they…
The pointlessness of ‘smashing the gangs’
‘Smash the gangs’ is the fascinating slogan that Keir Starmer’s government has settled on for tackling illegal migration. What is…
