Lucy Dunn is The Spectator's political correspondent. She is a qualified doctor from Glasgow.
Kate Forbes’s announcement on Monday that she would be standing down as an MSP next year caught most people – her political allies, former backers, current colleagues – by surprise. She decided to make her intentions clear a few days prior to her attendance at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, where she was set to be
Nicola Sturgeon may be stepping down as an MSP next year, but that doesn’t mean she’s done with Scottish politics. Instead it seems like her 32-year-old mini-me, Màiri McAllan, is being primed by the former first minister and her allies to become the party’s future leader. The remarkable similarities between the pair suggest Sturgeon sees a little
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Nigel Farage hosted a press conference today as part of Reform’s summer crime campaign ‘Britain is lawless’. He unveiled the latest Tory defector: Leicestershire’s Police & Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews. Amidst all the noise of whether crime in the UK is falling or not, plus the impact of migration on crime, is Reform’s messaging cutting
A year is a long time in politics. Just over 12 months ago, Kate Forbes MSP was made Deputy First Minister of Scotland when John Swinney took the reins from Humza Yousaf. This morning, with less than a year to go until the 2026 Holyrood election – and after the SNP had finalised its candidate
Senior Tories are floating the idea of an electoral pact with Nigel Farage’s Scottish outfit It’s not a good time to be a Scottish Conservative. While the SNP has seen a bounce in the polls – despite the infighting that followed Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation and the Operation Branchform police probe – the Tories and Labour
Today, Green party members can begin voting for their next party leader – or leaders – as ballots in the leadership contest have now opened. Voting will take place across the month before ballots close on 30 August with the result to be announced on 2 September, just a month before the party heads to
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The dispute between the British Medical Association (BMA) – a trade union for doctors – and the government continues, following the five-day strike by junior doctors. Doctors argue that pay is still far below relative levels from almost two decades ago, combined with the cost of study, the cost of living and housing crises, as
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Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney unveiled his strategy for pursuing a second independence referendum this week, arguing that an SNP majority at next year’s Holyrood elections is the only way to guarantee it. This is seen as an attempt to put Scottish independence back on the table as well as combat the rising popularity of
Tumult, turmoil, chaos: select as appropriate how best to describe the last two years for the Scottish National party. Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, the infighting that followed and the infamous Operation Branchform police probe caused public trust in the party of government to plummet. Fast forward through the gaffe-a-day leadership of Humza Yousaf and current First
As Keir Starmer prepared to meet Donald Trump at his Scottish golf course this afternoon, Nigel Farage kept himself busy with another ‘Lawless Britain’ press conference in London. (‘I had dinner with Donald Trump Junior the other week,’ he said to reporters asking if he had been able to secure an audience with the US
It’s often the rotator blades of Marine One that blare over Donald Trump’s voice as he stands near the helipad on the south lawn of the White House. In Turnberry, Scotland, it was bagpipes. Trump, playing host to the British Prime Minister in Britain, performed his now familiar ingratiation ritual as he welcomed Sir Keir and
The UK has finally signed a free-trade deal with India after three-and-a-half years of negotiation. The agreement will open up trade for cars, whisky, clothing and food products, with ministers claiming it will boost the British economy by £4.8 billion. For Keir Starmer, it offers much-needed economic and political good news. For Indian prime minister
The Commons is closing down for the summer, but Kemi Badenoch has treated us to a shadow cabinet reshuffle. At the beginning of the year, Badenoch’s team were keen to stress stability, dismissing talk of an early reshuffle. But, as so often in politics, events have forced her hand. Ed Argar, the shadow health secretary,
Despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s efforts, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced this afternoon that the doctors’ strikes are on. From 7 a.m. this Friday until 7 a.m. next Wednesday, medics across England will stage a walkout – the first of Keir Starmer’s premiership – over pay disputes. The announcement by the doctors’ union
In just a few days, doctors across England will stage strikes for five days. Hospitals are preparing for staff shortages from Friday until next Wednesday, hoping that bulked-up locum rates will attract enough ‘scabs’ to mitigate the walkouts. But now the BMA has taken aim at NHS bosses, warning that the decision not to cancel
As the 2026 Holyrood election looms, parties are scrambling to get their candidate lists finalised. Today the Scottish Greens have released their regional list names – with some rather interesting selections amid party splits. One of the most significant decisions sees the current MSP for the North East region, Maggie Chapman, demoted on the list
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Nigel Farage has unveiled the party’s policy proposals for tackling crime should they get into government. The Reform leader said that his entire policy platform would cost £17.4 billion, and suggested that a Reform government would introduce a ‘three strikes’ system for repeat serious offenders. Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Tim Shipman about
On 18 September 2014, Scotland went to the polls to decide its future in the United Kingdom. While the outcome was decisive – 55 per cent of voters couldn’t bring themselves to back independence – the turnout for the poll, at 85 per cent, was one of the highest recorded in Britain. The significance of
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Lots to discuss today, between Diane Abbott being suspended (again) and Labour handing the vote to 16-year-olds just before we head into recess. Abbott’s suspension comes after she was accused of ‘doubling down’ on previous claims that Jewish people experience racism differently from black people. She is the latest Labour troublemaker to be left out
Recent years have seen an explosion of a new kind of medical role across the NHS: physician’s associates (PAs). Yet while their numbers are increasing in hospitals and GP practices – and all major political parties have committed to expanding the role further – today’s review into the job role have revealed some rather disturbing
