Islands of inspiration: a poet’s life on Shetland
Jen Hadfield is not only spellbound by the moods of the ocean and the hectic weather but by the Shaetlan dialect itself – which ‘struck me immediately as a poetic language’
Streeting declares: ‘the NHS is broken’
Wes Streeting has just given a striking statement on arrival at the Department of Health and Social Care in which…
How Keir Starmer can make it up to Rosie Duffield
Congratulations to Rosie Duffield, who has won re-election for a third time as Labour MP for Canterbury. For many women…
Keir Starmer channeled Obama in his first Downing Street speech
In his first speech from the Downing Street lectern, Sir Keir Starmer was setting out to reaffirm those qualities that…
Meet Labour’s elite Scottish MPs
Scottish Labour has won 37 of the 57 seats north of the border, an increase of 36 on the 2019…
The election has left Irish unionism in crisis
The voters of Northern Ireland are used to being an impenetrable afterthought to most mainstream commentators in Britain. The general…
What Keir Starmer’s first Downing Street speech reveals
Keir Starmer has given his first speech as prime minister. Labour’s seventh leader to make it to 10 Downing Street…
Full text: I’ll govern ‘unburdened by doctrine’
I have just returned from Buckingham Palace, where I accepted an invitation from His Majesty the King to form the…
How the Tories changed Britain
The late Roger Scruton (whose wrongful sacking as a housing adviser by a Tory minister in 2019 was a sign that things…
Starmer’s ruthless efficiency has risks
A couple of years ago, an anecdote about Keir Starmer did the rounds at Westminster. The story was that when…
The triumph of Sinn Fein
Sinn Fein has consolidated its position as the biggest political party in Northern Ireland. It retained its seven seats and,…
Why the Lib Dems did so well
It has been quite a 14 years for the Liberal Democrats – from the coalition in 2010 to near total…
Sunak’s perfect resignation
Rishi Sunak’s resignation speech was classy, generous and a model of the British system at its best. He started by…
Full text: I will resign as Conservative leader
Good morning. I will shortly be seeing His Majesty the King to offer my resignation as Prime Minister. To the…
Why Muslim voters turned their backs on Starmer’s Labour
In an otherwise jubilant night for Labour, the party has performed badly in areas with a high proportion of Muslim…
Labour passes its first test with the markets
Markets don’t like surprises. And the election results, while explosive, are not a surprise – or at least the winner…
Why conservatives should get behind Starmer
The Conservatives are going down to one of their worst defeats ever. The opposition has come from nowhere to absolutely…
Jeremy Corybn and the rise of the Gaza independents
A counterpoint to the main story of Labour’s election victory is the way Gaza has cost the party at least…
Rishi Sunak should do the honourable thing – and stay put
A record number of cabinet ministers gone. A wipeout in Wales. Only 22 per cent of the vote, with Reform…
Labour’s Potemkin landslide
So far, something pretty big is missing from Labour’s historic landslide: voters. Keir Starmer is set to win 64 per…
Voters never forgave Liz Truss for her mini-Budget
Tonight was the first time since Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership that voters got to have their say on exactly what…
Watch: Liz Truss loses her seat
It’s the Portillo moment of 2024. Liz Truss sensationally lost her safe South West Norfolk seat this morning, less than…
The game is up for the SNP
Every election is historic in its own way, and of course the top line this 2024 general election is Labour’s…
Looking to the past won’t help the Tories navigate their future
These are going to be dark days of introspection for Conservatives. And, as they try to make sense of the…
Will the Tories finally get the message?
Can it just be a coincidence that most of the leading figures of the Tory left lost their seats, while…
