Labour
Boris's poll slump isn't such good news for Starmer
Labour narrowing the poll gap with the Conservatives has got to be good news for Keir Starmer, right? Wrong, actually.…
Floods force Labour reconciliation
The morass of flooding politics have claimed a fair few scalps over the years. Those with long memories will recall the…
Starmer faces a difficult summer
Like Covid data, polling data has a built-in time lag of several days. Those sifting the evidence on coronavirus typically…
Kicking out the cranks won't save Labour
There is a problem with Sir Keir Starmer’s reported plan to expel 1,000 Labour members associated with ‘poisonous’ groups, and…
Jess Phillips and the assault on biology
Jess Phillips thinks that transwomen — like me — are not female, but we should be treated as women. She…
Keir Starmer's fundamental problem
Half a century ago, Willie Whitelaw accused Harold Wilson of ‘going around the country stirring up apathy’. I can think…
Why are Labour MPs excusing Cuba’s authoritarian regime?
Thousands have taken to the streets in Cuba this week to protest against the authoritarian government that rules over them.…
Labour's unlocking problem
Labour is unhappy with the government’s plan for unlocking, with leader Sir Keir Starmer calling it ‘reckless’. In the Commons…
Labour’s disastrous switch to economic nationalism
The government will ‘Buy British’ whenever possible. A new law would force every public body to publish the percentage of…
The problem with linking trade deals to human rights
Trade deals are in the air post-Brexit, but not everybody is happy. In a speech this week Frances O’Grady, the…
Can Labour afford to continue its culture war?
After being soundly beaten by the Tories in Hartlepool and winning a paltry 1.6 per cent of the vote share…
How Keir Starmer can rescue his leadership
In January 1990 things looked truly bleak for Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager. He had not won a trophy…
What does Starmer actually stand for?
The biggest reason Keir Starmer has proved a flop is not that he leads an unelectable rabble, or that Labour’s…
How crises shape government
Crises often exhaust the capacity of governments to renew themselves. All consuming problems do not allow prime ministers to have…
Why Labour should stick with Starmer – even if he loses Batley
Things could be bleak for Labour in the Batley and Spen by-election this Thursday. Throughout an ugly and dispiriting campaign…
Labour's worrying descent into communalism
Labour’s candidate in Batley and Spen, Kim Leadbeater, reportedly pulled out of a hustings featuring George Galloway over the weekend.…
Keir Starmer is alienating both sides in the Brexit debate
What is it with Labour and Brexit? An issue that during Theresa May’s premiership looked like it could rip the…
How Starmer can beat Boris
How should Keir Starmer deal with a problem like Boris Johnson? Despite the Prime Minister’s mistakes in the handling of…
Labour is in last chance saloon
If they have any sense – a proposition I will test later – officials from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and…
Keir Starmer’s interview gamble pays off
One of the biggest challenges for any leader of the opposition is getting noticed. Doing that requires taking some risks…
Watch: Keir Starmer refuses to deny taking drugs at university
Keir Starmer’s appearance on Piers Morgan’s ‘Life Stories’ is a sign of desperation. The Labour leader knows he must do…
'There is no alternative': Why Boris will keep winning
Those of us who generally wish this Government well and consider Boris Johnson a preferable holder of the office of…
An electoral pact would be disastrous for Labour
How do you tell a politician who has just been punched in the face by the electorate that something is…
Andy Burnham is Labour's king over the water
There are few things so perilous for an under-performing opposition leader as the emergence of a ‘king over the water’.…
Is it time for Keir Starmer to forget about uniting his party?
Campaigning to become Labour leader last year, Keir Starmer said Harold Wilson was his favourite party leader of the last…
