Politics

Listening this week to someone from the Electoral Reform Society droning on about how we have just had the least representative election ever, I suddenly had an aperçu. Until now, I had argued that it was true that ‘first past the post’ was unfair, but this was a small price to pay for the way it usually produced a decisive national result. I now realise that this is to concede too much to the proportional representation case. The present system is unfair only to parties. It is not unfair to voters, unless one can prove that voters expect the system to represent their party preferences mathematically or wish that it

As the Chancellor prepares his post-election Budget, he faces an obvious opportunity. Throughout the last general election campaign, we heard from a great many people advocating higher taxes. And it’s not all vindictive: many, like the writer Polly Toynbee, would actually be liable for a higher tax on the 1pc. A significant number of wealthy people in Britain do actually want to give the government more of their money and at present, there is no easy way for them to do so. Strikingly the singer, Charlotte Church, recently declared that: “I have paid all my tax since I was 12 years old, and I would certainly be happy if the rate was 60 per

Given that Zac Goldsmith once likened the possibility of himself running for City Hall to ‘a suicide mission‘, it comes as little surprise that not everyone in the Tory camp is ecstatic about the Richmond Park MP’s rumoured London mayoral bid. Mr S understands that there are concerns that after Labour increased its control of the capital in the general election, the Old Etonian, who is currently the odds-on favourite to be the Conservative candidate, may be viewed as too posh to appeal to the more diverse London boroughs. As a result, Steerpike hears that there is growing support in the Conservative camp for Syed Kamall to go for the top job. As the working-class

The Labour leadership contest will heat up in the next few days. Tomorrow, the Fabian Society will host a hustings with all of the declared candidates. Liz Kendall is set for a grilling on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. On Monday, all of the candidates will address the Parliamentary Labour Party before heading to Dublin for the GMB union’s annual conference. And at noon on Tuesday, the nomination process officially begins. Each of the candidates has something to prove over the next few days. Andy Burnham needs to demonstrate whether he is standing as a reformed Blairite or a Miliband-esque defender of public services. Yvette Cooper needs to prove she has

When you’re a smaller party I think it naturally gives you an understanding of what it feels like to be an underdog, and a passion to level the playing field. For too long, small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) – independent traders, the self-employed, local businesses – have been neglected by the two bigger parties. Labour remains in hock to the trade unions; the Tories genuflect before big business. The liberal tradition is anti-monopoly, pro-competition and supports the promotion of fairness for all. So which party will stand up for the UK’s 1.2 million small businesses? The plumber who gets up at the crack of dawn to do their accounts, the young

Renegotiating substantial change in Britain’s EU relationship is a problem for David Cameron. On the one hand, the Eurozone is facing an unknown challenge with a Grexit on the horizon. But many in the Tory party believe the Prime Minister’s efforts are smoke and mirrors, and he won’t achieve the change they crave. Michael Gove is one, and Nigel Lawson is another. The Tory grandee spoke to Newsnight about what he expects from the renegotiations. Not much, it seems: ‘I think that the odds are we will see a repetition of what happened in 1975. I think it’s likely that the changes that David Cameron will secure will be inconsequential, of no significance at