By: John Oxley

John Oxley is a corporate strategist and political commentator. He publishes a weekly Substack, Joxley Writes, and frequently appears in other print and broadcast media. He is an associate fellow of the Bright Blue think-tank and an adviser to the Conservative YIMBY campaign.

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Politics and football have more in common than you think

Opinion

If politics is showbiz for ugly people, it might also be seen as sport for the unathletic. It often carries the same partisanship, the obsession with obscure statistics, and the familiar pattern of renewed hope, only to be dampened by reality, says John Oxley By the time you read things, two things will have happened [...]
Westminster permadrama is sabotaging productivity

Opinion

The constant drama of Westminster is distracting politicians, investors and the general public from getting on with what they're meant to.
Can Reeves’ fiscal devolution plans defeat the Nimbys?

Opinion

Rachel Reeves plans to end the paradox of British politics whereby local people bear the costs of growth but rarely feel the benefits. Will it work? Asks John Oxley Rachel Reeves attracts many descriptions, but few would peg her as a revolutionary. Her new plan for the economic landscape of the country might change this. [...]

Winter Olympics can show Britain how to start winning again

February 19, 2026

Britain’s success in the Winter Olympics is a corrective to narratives about our decline – and hold lessons for funding our public services too, says John Oxley Narratives of Britain’s decline abound. From our stalling economic growth to our inability to build sufficient housing to our overwhelmed public services, all point to the country’s struggles. [...]
Tories will become irrelevant if they keep losing in London

January 16, 2026

If the Conservative party can no longer rely on the votes of the Yuppies of today, it will have to become a very different beast to have any chance of continued relevance, says John Oxley The year might have only just begun, but already London’s big political battle is on the horizon. May will see [...]
How AI hoaxes could move markets

December 11, 2025

If a fake image of a collapsed bridge can stop trains imagine what else AI generated scams could do? Asks John Oxley Last week, a few dozen trains around Carlisle were delayed. It appears to be an unremarkable story, especially for anyone familiar with the state of British railways. The cause, however, was novel: a [...]
Young people are headed for pensioner poverty – and there’ll be no Triple Lock to save them

September 18, 2025

Younger generations stand no chance of enjoying the kind of comfort current pensioners in their old age. We need a policy reset to help the young build wealth now, says John Oxley There was good news once again this week for pensioners, as the Triple lock delivers them a 4.7 per cent increase next year. [...]
Why does London have no good public spaces?

August 20, 2025

London deserves its own great public square – one worthy of postcards, of celebrations, of idle evenings spent in good company, writes John Oxley.
Should politicians try to understand the people behind the polling?

July 17, 2025

Trying to identify different types of voters is fun, but ultimately a futile exercise in reducing people to stereotypes, says John Oxley There was one question doing the rounds this week in Westminster – “Which one are you?”. It was raised by a new report from think tank More in Common, which set out to [...]
Don’t exempt Indian workers from NI, abolish it altogether

May 8, 2025

The row over Indian visas is really a sign of how misleading and poorly-understood the tax system is, says John Oxley The row over National Insurance exemptions for Indian workers shows the difficulty the government has in balancing trade deals with concerns about immigration. It also points to the confusions which abound around National Insurance [...]

Vistry angers market with £30m loss as new boss faces turbulent start

EuroLeague CEO interview: ‘NBA Europe? We have never been stronger and will never disappear’

First look: The Ferrari Daytona Shooting Brake ‘Hommage’

By: John Oxley

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