Labour Party
Portrait of the year: Subpostmasters scandal, Rishi in the rain and Syrian rebels topple regime
January After an ITV drama, the government suddenly proposed to do something about the unjust prosecution of sub-postmasters. Junior doctors…
Why 2025 could redefine politics
Santa will have a tricky time this year fulfilling all the Christmas wish lists in Westminster. Keir Starmer is desperately…
The marketing genius of Jaguar
Woke it may be, but Jaguar’s ‘Copy Nothing’ video is a work of marketing genius. With its ungendered models, ungrammatical…
Portrait of the week: Labour’s ‘plan for change’, falling productivity and 20,000 wolves in the EU
Home The Labour government announced a ‘Plan for Change’ that it refused to call a reset. Sir Chris Wormald was…
Can Labour’s reset see off Reform?
Arriving on stage to accept ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards, Nigel Farage gave…
I hope you didn’t sign that petition
Did you sign it, then? And if so, what were your expectations? That Sir Keir Starmer would look at the…
Wild Wes: Streeting is causing trouble for Starmer
Avote on assisted dying was supposed to be one of the easiest reforms for Keir Starmer’s government. To many, including…
Labour’s Chinese takeaway
I was thrilled to learn that our government intends to enjoy an ‘open’ relationship with China – one of my…
Assisted dying is becoming Starmer’s mess
In the months before the general election, the Labour party had an internal debate about starting a ‘national conversation’ on…
Labour’s war with Elon Musk
How do you solve a problem like Elon? That is the dilemma facing Keir Starmer. Musk seems particularly exercised about…
The problem with Dawn Butler
We hear a lot about white supremacy these days. But for some reason we rarely hear about black supremacy. I…
Inside Kemi Badenoch’s first shadow cabinet
At her first shadow cabinet as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch walked into the room and declared that there were ‘still…
Labour’s war on the countryside
Two miles from where I am writing, the neighbouring village is plastered with posters demanding ‘Say No to Pylons’. The…
Portrait of the week: Tax rises, a cheddar heist and snail delivery man gets slapped
Home Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, repeatedly mentioning an inherited ‘£22 billion black hole’, raised taxes by £40…
Portrait of the week: Budget leaks, prisoners released and Israel kills Hamas leader
Home Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was expected to freeze tax thresholds in the Budget on 30 October,…
Does Wes Streeting’s ten-year NHS plan amount to anything?
The Health Secretary is making a big fanfare about a cash boost in the Budget and a new plan to…
Labour were right to protect Taylor Swift
Still making headlines, it seems, is one of the more trivial scandals to have dogged the Labour government in its…
Starmer’s first 100 days: the commentariat turns
Oh dear. Keir Starmer today marks his first 100 days in 10 Downing Street, but he has little cause for…
Can Morgan McSweeney reboot the government machine?
The Queen is dead: long live the King. This week brought an end to Downing Street’s unhappy experiment in dyarchy.…
The joy of opposition
By rights, the Conservative party conference in Birmingham ought to have been a funereal affair. It was the first time…
In defence of Rosie Duffield
Rosie Duffield’s magnificently rancorous resignation of the Labour whip has reduced the number of MPs on the government side who…
Inside Labour’s love affair with Lord Alli
As a peer who hates publicity, Lord Alli might have been expected to dodge the Labour conference – given the…
The best podcasts to fall asleep to
‘Yous!’ a train cleaner in rubber gloves says as we arrive at Liverpool Lime Street. ‘What are yous doing here?’…
Richard Burgon fails to draw a crowd at Labour conference
Oh for the days of ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’. It only seems like yesterday that the likes of John McDonnell and…
Nigel’s next target: Reform has Labour in its sights
At this weekend’s Reform conference in Birmingham, the opening speech will be given by a man who wasn’t even a…
