Tomorrow the Conservative Party conference starts in Birmingham. To prepare for it I have been reading one of the most significant political texts of the last decade, a book which I think is essential to understanding the modern British right. It is Liz Truss’s autobiography, Ten Years to Save the West. Its subtitle is Lessons … Read more
Something fairly fundamental is about to change in British politics. For the last few decades Britain has operated a slightly odd system for financing politics. We restrict how much political parties can spend during elections. We require larger donations to be declared. We restrict who is allowed to donate. But once someone qualifies as a … Read more
By-elections are supposed to be strange. Low turnout, odd swings, protest votes. But every so often they tell you something real about the direction of travel. This one did. Start with the Greens. On the face of it, good news. They can clearly mobilise a vote and, in the right conditions, win. But their real … Read more
Last week, Nigel Farage announced that a future Reform government would ban working from home. If that sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve heard it before. Boris Johnson floated the same idea four years ago. Same rhetoric. Same applause lines. Same fatal flaw. Reform supporters bristle when critics describe the party as a retirement home for … Read more
The biggest political story of the weekend wasn’t the soap opera around Andy Burnham. It was the death of the Conservative Party. For those who missed it, there has been a furious online row among the British right over the Government’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands. In the real world this is not … Read more
The Battle Over Indefinite Leave to Remain: Labour, Conservatives, and Reform Compared Labour, the Conservatives, and Reform UK have all announced plans to tighten the rules around Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). On the surface, they’re united by a single goal — reducing net migration. But dig deeper, and the differences are huge. What Is … Read more
Immigration in Britain has become one of the defining political issues of the last decade. From Brexit to the rise of Reform UK, arguments over net migration shape headlines and elections alike. This survey is your chance to cut through the noise and share your own view on what immigration means for Britain today. Loading…
In case you hadn’t noticed, The Telegraph has gone bonkers. Completely batshit. Once, it was the grown-up voice of British Conservatism — stiff upper lip, officer class, snobbish but sensible. Now it prints provably false nonsense in a tone of shrieking hysteria designed to farm clicks, likes, and shares. In the last year alone, The … Read more
We are down to the last 2 of the Conservative leadership contest: Badenoch and Jenrick. Two authoritarian right wingers, two cosplay Farages in Halloween fancy dress. The most sensible candidate left in the race, James Cleverley, lost out by 2 votes, apparently a cock up by his supporters who thought he was certain of a … Read more
With a couple of days to digest we can start and see some trends emerging from the rubble of the Conservative Party Labour were expected to win a landslide with 40%+ of the vote. In the end they won a landslide with a much lower vote share, with other parties also doing incredibly well. … Read more