All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
The three members of Irish rap band Kneecap are ‘ceasefire babies’: they grew up on the streets of Belfast around the time of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. So did I. But the similarities between me and the band end there. Despite what some of Kneecap’s fans might think, there was nothing glamorous about
The UK has a peerless reputation for producing some of the catchiest and most imaginative pop music on the planet. Little wonder that a dazzling and diverse roster of home-grown artists (pop stars in old money) have exerted dominance over the international music charts for decades. Yet despite the fact we gifted the Beatles, David
Uh oh. Commons Leader Lucy Powell has found herself in hot water after making some rather careless remarks on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions yesterday. The Labour politician sparked outrage over her reaction to a point by Tim Montgomerie – the founder of Conservative Home who has since aligned himself with Reform – who brought
Tonight, Australia voted decisively for continuity. The Labor government of prime minister Anthony Albanese has not merely been re-elected. It has absolutely thumped the conservative Liberal-National party coalition, headed by Liberal leader Peter Dutton. At the close of counting tonight, Labor achieved a majority in the 150-seat parliament, winning 77 seats and leading in another
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As the parties regroup following the local elections, both Labour and the Conservatives have to face a miserable result. Lucy Dunn speaks to Isabel Hardman and pollster Luke Tryl about the anger and disillusionment amongst the electorate, and why Keir Starmer message ‘we need to go further and faster’ can’t cut through.
In the gilded corridors of Trump Tower and the manicured greens of exclusive golf courses, a new Trump is quietly ascending. At just 17, Kai Trump – the eldest of the President’s grandchildren – is executing what appears to be a carefully orchestrated entry into public life, blending the traditional pathways of political families with the modern
It’s always sad to discover that one of your favourite quotations was made up. After communism’s fall, Robert Conquest’s American publisher was said to have asked him for a new title for a republished edition of The Great Terror, his seminal book documenting Stalin’s mass murder of his own citizens. His suggestion? I told you
It was always unlikely that Prince Harry was going to take his latest and perhaps most humiliating legal defeat with calmness and equanimity, and so it proved swiftly afterwards. Not only did he give a lengthy interview to the BBC in which he alternated between anger and blame and claiming that it was his intention to reconcile with his
The Cholmondeley Arms is set just off the main road of the quaint, red-bricked market town of Frodsham. Not that this watering hole is much of a tranquil escape: it’s lavishly draped in Union Jacks and VE day memorabilia and boasts a spacious beer garden out the back. It doesn’t serve food and features a
The Green party has done well at the local elections, making dozens of gains across England. But do those who voted Green, perhaps for the first time, realise what they have done? If not, they will spend the next four years regretting their vote. Perhaps the party’s name led them to naively conclude that the
Australia goes to the polls today, pitting the first-term Labor government of prime minister Anthony Albanese against the Liberal-National party coalition headed by Liberal leader Peter Dutton. As the election campaign for the federal election entered its final week, the agenda-setting Newspoll in the Australian newspaper asked voters whether Albanese’s government deserves re-election. Damningly, less
The Chinese community in Britain has long been seen as peaceful and law-abiding. Yet beneath the surface, there is a darker, more complex reality which only comes to light when organised criminal activity is in the news. One of the most harrowing reminders of this came in 2000, when 58 Chinese migrants suffocated inside a
A controversial and wildly popular right-wing television star says that he orchestrated a ‘prank’ that he was about to jump into the French presidential race. Cyril Hanouna is a foul-mouthed and hugely influential television star. His politics are messy, his delivery erratic, but he has a vast audience and momentum. He’s anti-woke and talks a
In 1982, to the shock of almost everyone who knew me, I began a two-year training programme designed to turn me into a competent prison governor. It was a largely unmemorable experience but with a singular exception. I read an article about the commandants of the Nazi death camps called ‘A curious absence of monsters.’
There’s no doubt that Friday’s local election results belonged to Reform. Nigel Farage’s party has picked up hordes of councils, councillors and mayoralties at the expense of the two major parties. However, it won’t only be Farage and co. who are heading into the bank holiday on a high. The Lib Dems have made meaningful
Prince Harry has said he ‘would love a reconciliation’ with the Royals after losing a legal challenge over his security in Britain. The Duke of Sussex told the BBC that King Charles ‘won’t speak to me because of this security stuff’, but insisted he would love to get back on speaking terms with his family:
In normal political times, local election and by-election results would show a bad night for the government and a good night for the official opposition. Not so with this set of results in English councils and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, where both Labour and the Conservatives have been given bloody noses and Nigel Farage
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The word ‘unprecedented’ is often overused in politics, but these local elections have proved to be just that. The headline is: sweeping success for Reform. Nigel Farage’s ‘teal tsunami’ comes at the expense of the main parties – turning the two-party consensus on its head. The recriminations for Labour and the Tories have already begun.
It was widely expected that Reform were going to do well in yesterday’s elections – but perhaps not this well. So far, its performance has been at the very top of pollsters’ expectations, a fact made all the more remarkable by the fact that several of its most promising races have been postponed to next year. If
Some real characters being elected today. Remember Azhar Ali? He was dropped as Labour’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election last year after he was recorded claiming that Israel ‘allowed’ the 7 October massacre, and making dark insinuations about ‘Jewish quarters’ of the media… Well, Mr Ali (these days an independent) has just been re-elected by
What will it take for Labour and the Tories to realise how bad their situation is? Reform’s by-election victory in Runcorn and Helsby is symbolic of a much wider success, with support for Westminster’s two traditional parties falling through the floor. Britain’s traditional two-party electoral system has morphed into a multi-party system because voters are
Well, what did Prince Harry expect? The Duke of Sussex has been involved in plenty of hubristic and pointless things since he decided to step down as a member of the royal family in 2020. But taking the government to court on the grounds that they were refusing to provide security to the levels that
These local elections – last fought at the height of the vaccine bounce of 2021 – were always going to be tough for the Conservatives. But the evidence thus far suggests the party has done worse than most initially feared. At 1:30 p.m, Tory losses were running at 44 per cent of total contests, according
By officially classing the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as ‘right-wing extremists’, the German establishment may have scored an own goal – or even shot itself in the foot. The domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), announced its decision today after keeping the insurgent party under close observation –
To Durham, the mining heartland of the UK and a traditional working class county. Yet despite its rich history with the reds, being the first of England’s county councils to be controlled by Labour – with the party retaining that control for over a century – Nigel Farage’s Reform party is making gains. Now it
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has been classified as ‘confirmed right-wing extremist’ by Germany’s domestic intelligence service. Until now, the party – which came second in federal elections in February – had been considered ‘suspected right-wing extremist’. After this upgrade, in the eyes of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
It’s been an eventful day – and there are still many more local election results to go. After a long night in Runcorn, and a full recount, Nigel Farage’s Reform party clinched the win in what had been a Labour safe seat by just six votes – securing a fifth parliamentarian and their first female
There is not much that Chancellor Rachel Reeves can look forward to right now. The Labour party has just been hammered in the local elections. The economy has stagnated, and government borrowing has started to spiral out of control. There is, however, this: the City now expects interest rates to start falling at the fastest
Nigel Farage declared earlier this year that ‘economics might be bigger than immigration for us at the next election’. Most people at Westminster didn’t take him particularly seriously. After all, Reform UK is all about immigration, right? Westminster didn’t take Farage seriously. After all, Reform UK is all about immigration, right? When Farage based his local election
A man from John Lewis came yesterday to measure up for some window blinds. When he started struggling with the mobile broadband on his phone – which he required to be able to give a quote – I made what I thought was a straightforward offer for him to sign onto my home broadband. He
After defeat, comes the recriminations. The bulk of council seats are still yet to declare but already the blame game within Labour has started after the loss of their Runcorn safe seat. A handful of MPs on the left of the party have started publicly demanding a change of direction by the government. Richard Burgon
There’s been a teal tsunami. Of the 23 councils up for election, Reform took 10 while the Tories lost 15. Reform also gained an MP in Runcorn and two mayoralties, in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. Reform won the Runcorn by-election by just six votes after a recount requested by Labour. It’s the
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Votes are being counted across England, but there is a clear early winner from these local elections: Nigel Farage. His party triumphed in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election this morning, overturning a 14,000-odd majority and winning by just six votes! Elsewhere, Andrea Jenkyns triumphed in Lincolnshire; Reform came second in a number of mayoral races;
Andrea Jenkyns may have won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral election with over 100,000 votes, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the Reform candidate this morning. An interview with Sky News turned sour when Jenkyns was probed about previous comments she’d made about a rival’s South African accent after the other mayoral candidate claimed