Labour
No one wants to fight a national campaign. This will be the least general election in years
There’s normally an easy way to tell which party is losing a general election campaign. Whenever one side starts telling…
Why an SNP surge at Westminster could mean the end of Britain
A landslide for the SNP will inevitably lead to the end of the Union
Even the people who make political adverts aren’t sure they work
It is a common prejudice about modern politics that it is all focus groups and spin, all public relations and…
Immigration, not money, will improve Scotland's most deprived schools
I suppose we should be thankful that Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged there’s a problem with Scotland’s public education system, even…
How Labour lost Scotland (and could lose the Union)
Just four months ago Scotland was the scene of great cross-party co-operation — unprecedented in peace-time politics. Gordon Brown was…
Come on, Tristram Hunt, if you think you’re hard enough
For a brief moment earlier this week, I thought education might become an issue in the general election campaign. The…
Maybe it’s a problem when all artists are like James Blunt. But it’s worse when Labour MPs are like Chris Bryant
What should we do with James Blunt? This is what I have been asking myself. And I am not looking…
Blame Tony Blair for Labour’s new stupidity about wealth
Labour's attitude to wealth is sliding back into the 1970s - and Tony Blair's new career is one reason why
Why the Greek election could decide Britain's next government
Before the eurozone crisis, Greek elections didn’t receive much attention in Westminster. At the moment, however, the polls from Athens…
Why no one will win on 7 May 2015
Whatever happens on 7 May, both main party leaders face disaster
What David Cameron must do to win (properly this time)
Almost exactly five years ago, the Conservatives fired the starting gun for a general election — and shot themselves in…
National Theatre’s 3 Winters: a hideous Balkans ballyhoo
A masterpiece at the National. A masterpiece of persuasion and bewitchment. Croatian word-athlete Tena Stivicic has miraculously convinced director Howard…
From coalition to chaos – get ready for the age of indecision
A recent email from Samantha Cameron started an intriguing debate in the Prime Minister’s social circle. It was an invitation…
What’s behind the Boris Johnson show?
To interview the Mayor of London is to witness an extraordinary performance
The National shows just how much danger the Union – and Scotland – is still in
The successful launch of a nationalist newspaper shows just how much trouble the Union is still in
What football can tell you about Jim Murphy (and what Jim Murphy can tell you about football)
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
The Tories are paying the price for their swagger over the Rochester by-election
In a corner of the Ukip campaign office in Rochester, a light-up orb is spinning, with the words ‘Vote Mark…
It’s not just Ed Miliband. Labour’s on the wrong side of history
Thanks to globalisation, ‘progressive’ politicians have nowhere to turn
There’s only one Alan Johnson (that's why Labour's in such trouble)
Labour voters feel hope and despair; hope, because the Tories are doing no better than we, and despair, for that…
Ukip is a party for people who hate London. That’s why Labour should be scared
It is interesting that neither Scotland nor Wales have been much bitten by the Ukip bug. The supposedly sensible view…
Who are Ukip’s new voters? The kind of people who decide elections
An opinion poll to be published next week will reveal that Labour leader Ed Miliband is slightly less popular with…
Ukip's logo is quite successful – in communicating a spirit of gung-ho crapness
Now that the conference season is over, we can compare not just the party policies, but their logos too. Last…
Britain doesn't need hateful laws to defeat hate preachers
If the Labour party conference in Manchester felt like a funeral, the Conservatives’ gathering in Birmingham had the air of…
Which party has the most MPs’ children in Parliament?
Commons inheritance Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony and niece of Hilary, has won the right to stand for Labour in…
Peter Mandelson’s diary: The accomplishments of George Osborne – and Vladimir Putin
My trips to meet Russians in Russia these days are a little less controversial than my encounter with them in…
