Andy Burnham should show London he cares by funding this one transport project July 23, 2026 The ascendancy of the ‘King of the North’ has spooked London. James Ford outlines that this can easily be fixed by greenlighting the West London Orbital Railway London is anxious. The new Prime Minister is not just something of an unknown quantity, but – worse still – he is (whisper it quietly) Northern. Now, we’ve [...]
‘Fantastic news’ as Burnham brings Britain’s AI minister into Cabinet July 21, 2026 Andy Burnham has promoted Kanishka Narayan to a Cabinet position as Britain’s AI minister as part of his first major government reshuffle, handing artificial intelligence its first dedicated seat at the Cabinet table. Narayan will attend Cabinet for the first time after surviving Burnham’s sweeping reshuffle, which saw several senior ministers leave government and the [...]
Victory wasted: The cautionary tale of Keir Starmer July 20, 2026 Keir Starmer sold himself as a non-politician, and proved again and again why political skills matter, writes Eliot Wilson.
Forget Burnham, what will Starmer do next? July 16, 2026 The end of a premiership means finding an epilogue, so what will Keir Starmer’s be, asks John Oxley Around the summer parties of Westminster, the key conversation is “What will Andy actually do?” The presumptive PM has always been something of a political enigma (or weathervane, depending on your perspective). He has been out of [...]
Businesses can’t keep waiting for political stability July 7, 2026 We’ve created a hidden economy of underemployment. Thousands of highly skilled, self-employed professionals don’t appear in the unemployment figures because, technically, they have work. But many are quietly living off savings while they wait for businesses to regain the confidence to make decisions, says Aceil Haddad I was so annoyed watching the political drama unfold [...]
Fractured politics has its upsides – trust me, I led Vote Leave June 30, 2026 For all the challenges of multi-party politics, the policy competition it encourages is already bearing fruit, writes former Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliott.
What if Andy Burnham had become Labour leader in 2015? June 24, 2026 On his third try, Andy Burnham looks all but certain to become Labour leader. But what if he had taken the reins of the party eleven years earlier? Matt Kenyon imagines an alternative timeline… 2015 It’s a world that looks a lot like our own. There’s just one, seemingly minor, difference: A cluster of well-meaning [...]
Streeting backs Burnham as ‘King of the North’ calls for ‘orderly’ transfer of power June 22, 2026 Wes Streeting has backed Andy Burnham to become Prime Minister as the former Manchester mayor formally announced his leadership bid. The former health secretary said Burnham “can win the fight of our lives against the forces of nationalism”. Streeting said he had spoken “at length” with Burnham and said the former Manchester mayor was “committed [...]
Beware a desperate Prime Minister in search of a legacy June 18, 2026 From Theresa May to Rishi Sunak and now Keir Starmer’s, Prime Ministers have long sought to ban things just before leaving Downing Street, says Tom Harwood Is it too soon to write the Prime Minister’s obituary? As Keir Starmer returns from his latest bout of wining and dining with world leaders in Évian-les-Bains by Lake [...]
‘Poorly designed’ policies threatening London’s grip on global tourism June 15, 2026 London’s competitiveness as a leading culture and tourism destination is being undermined by “poorly designed” policies, the West End’s leading business advocate has warned. Dee Corsi, chief executive of the New West End Company (NWEC), has said that London is “competing with one hand tied behind its back” compared to global rivals whose policymakers are [...]