Happy Times
The strange hierarchy of the press gallery
Keir Starmer became leader of the Labour party just under a year ago. He isn’t doing great; he isn’t doing terribly either, but few seem to believe he currently is doing a brilliant job. One might argue that no politician could master the art of opposition in the current political circumstances anyway, but it isn’t just that. While it seemed fair to give him and his team a few months to find their feet at the beginning, it feels like they are still struggling to exit this initial phase. This was seen most recently in a poll from J.L. Partners, which found that Red Wall voters were still turned off by Labour, mostly because “it is unclear what Keir Starmer stands for”. This isn’t especially surprising, as evidenced by the many pieces published over the past six months telling the leader what he should (and should not) be doing to forge a path forward. Of…
The strange hierarchy of the press gallery
Sir Anthony Seldon's new book goes down well with Olly Robbins
Jonathan Agnew – a politician?
Allison Pearson hosts a dinner for the bravest pro-Leave writers
Hugh Laurie on what Dickens would have made of Brexit
There’s plenty of egg-on-face - or just embarrassed silence - for the many pundit hacks, often former Tory colleagues of Boris, who wrote him off as a priapic
George Peel surveys the best of the new crop and finds much to celebrate in all the parties
Christopher Jackson provides an update of a department about to enter a period of considerable flux.
When the clocks struck 11pm on 31 January, it was the end of our 45-year relationship with the EU.