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August 18, 2026, 01:34 PM - 6 min read
This byelection was less about political choices than the expression of a public mood – democracy as a register of feelings rather than the “who gets what, when and how”.
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August 3, 2026, 01:00 PM - 5 min read
A diverse cabinet can still pursue policies that many minority communities oppose. Inclusion at the top no longer guarantees substantive representation below. That is the defining political challenge of Britain’s “post-first” era. The politics of representation have moved beyond celebrating symbolic milestones. The politics of the “first” have given way to the politics of governing. The central question is no longer who gets into the room, but what they do once they are there.
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June 24, 2026, 12:31 PM - 6 min read
The period since 2010 has been shaky. The UK system that was famed for having the stability of government at its core suddenly started shedding prime ministers like winter coats in the height of summer. Only one, David Cameron, left voluntarily after defeat in the Brexit referendum. Sunak lost an election, while the rest were dispatched either because of scandal or party politics.
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June 22, 2026, 04:40 PM - 6 min read
Fittingly, the resignation took place almost exactly 10 years to the day of the 2016 Brexit referendum. Make no mistake, the divides created and solidified as a result of the Brexit moment are still at the heart of British politics – even if many people have forgotten the details of that dispute.
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February 10, 2026, 01:34 PM - 7 min read
If this is the end for Starmer, a serious and damaging pattern in British politics and public life will have been reinforced. Since David Cameron stepped down in 2016, no prime minister has lasted more than about three years. The impatience and intolerance of voters with the political classes has increased, and will only increase further.
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November 30, 2025, 12:49 PM - 6 min read
While Starmer and Reeves have arguably performed poorly, perhaps their biggest mistake is to have fundamentally misread the nature of the political moment they are in. They are governing as if it were still 1997. The current situation now is much closer to 1945 or 1979–when there was an urgent need for new politics.
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November 21, 2025, 03:31 PM - 5 min read
All prime ministers are paranoid. Such paranoia comes from having to sit and smile around a cabinet table when you know that most of your colleagues hanker after your job. But Starmer is projecting something very different. His paranoia reflects a deeper awareness that a vacuum exists at the apex of British government, and at some point this weakness will lead to a challenge.
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