By: Alys Denby

Alys Denby is opinion and features editor of City AM. She writes the weekly Free Thinking newsletter and presents the video series of the same name. She regularly appears in broadcast media including BBC, Channel 5 Sky News, Times Radio, LBC and GB News. She has previously worked for a think tank and as a parliamentary researcher

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All 68 Articles

Andy Burnham will crumble like a biscuit he can’t even name

Opinion

Andy Burnham’s record and character will not withstand the national scrutiny that will come with a bid to become Prime Minister, says Alys Denby Once, when asked which was his favourite biscuit, Andy Burnham replied “beer and chips and gravy”. If the Mayor of Manchester wins the Makerfield by-election today and graduates from local celebrity [...]
Cruxy founder: The worst advice I’ve ever had? Stay in your lane

Opinion

Each week, we dig into the memory bank of the City’s great and good. Today, Carrie Osman tells us about going from mucking out stables to building a tech start-up in Square Mile and Me CV What was your first job? Helping out around stables from when I was about three! Horses teach accountability faster than [...]
Conservatives have the right diagnosis, but can they cure Britain’s ailments?

Opinion

Mel Stride has set out his vision for the economic future of the UK, Matthew Bowles gives his analysis Westminster has spent much of the past week discussing the emergence of a supposed “Burnham premium” on British borrowing costs – the suggestion being that the mere prospect of Andy Burnham returning to national politics could [...]

I’m a Tory – here’s why I’m voting Labour in the local elections

April 30, 2026

In a time of messy, multi-party politics, tactical voting is likely to define contests in next week’s local elections. Alys Denby is not prepared to let the Green Party take control of her bin collection I’m about to do something against which all my instincts recoil, something so shameful I hesitate to admit in this [...]
Drivers are greedy and lazy, but Sadiq Khan is also to blame for Tube strikes

April 21, 2026

Who can blame Tube drivers for demanding more money for less work when Sadiq Khan has proved he’ll always cave to their demands, says Alys Denby If you’re reading this on an agonising commute, perhaps having queued for hours to cram yourself between strangers’ armpits, you don’t need to be told how disruptive Tube strikes [...]
IMF downgrade Reeves is gaslighting voters on energy crisis

April 15, 2026

Rachel Reeves is set to urge other countries to “follow her plan” for the energy crisis, but international analysts expect Britain to perform the worst among comparable nations thanks to decisions she has made, says Alys Denby The war in Iran has come at the worst possible time for a government already struggling to command [...]
Rejoining the single market by stealth is a danger to democracy

April 14, 2026

Keir Starmer once accused conservatives of “silencing parliament” by using Henry VIII powers. Now he’s doing the exact same thing, says Alys Denby Denby pottery and Gentleman’s Relish: two icons have gone to the wall in recent weeks. One I’m taking personally. The loss of these brands leaves our commercial landscape a little blander and [...]
Christian nationalism is a dead end for British conservatives

April 8, 2026

JD Vance supports re-election of Viktor Orban because the Hungarian autocrat funds a network of think tanks and writers that are crucial to his own succession of Donald Trump. This is not the way forward for the British right, says Alys Denby “This is the horniest place I’ve ever been,” a fellow attendee said, noting [...]
Donald Trump is deluded, but so are we

March 25, 2026

On the public finances, energy and national security, comforting rhetoric has concealed policy drift that has undermined the status quo it purported to uphold, says Alys Denby Donald Trump’s claims of an imminent end to the war in Iran may bear only a tenuous connection to reality – like his on/off tariff threats – but [...]
Iran war: blood, sweat, toil and Keir

March 6, 2026

Trump is right: weak, vacillating and indecisive Keir Starmer, overly influenced by his worst cabinet minister Ed Miliband, is no Winston Churchill, says Alys Denby In war, Britain once offered blood, toil and tears – now we must make do with blood, toil and Keir. There is a case to be made that America and [...]

Economic benefit of Heathrow expansion slashed by a tenth

Platitudes in women’s sport are empty, patronising and offensive

Fogo de Chao nominated for Best Casual Dining Toast award

By: Alys Denby

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