Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Friday

Nick Cohen

Keir Starmer was a fool to ever tie himself to Peter Mandelson

There is a unique, and bitter, flavour to the corruption of the men of the 1990s. Peter Mandelson – who was yesterday sacked as UK ambassador to Washington – Tony Blair, and the former German and US leaders Gerhard Schroeder and Bill Clinton came from the left, and offered a hard but plausible message to their supporters. The right had monopolised power under Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, they said. The only way to win in the late 20th century was for Labour in the UK, the Democrats in the US, and the Social Democrats in Germany to abandon their old notions of standing up to the bosses on behalf of the

Thursday

Michael Gove

Why Mandelson had to go & the legacy of Charlie Kirk

40 min listen

In this bonus episode Michael and Madeline tackle two extraordinary political stories. First, the dramatic resignation of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s US ambassador, following renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Why did Keir Starmer take so long to act – and what does the debacle reveal about his leadership style? Then, across the Atlantic, America is reeling from the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Michael and Madeline reflect on the tragedy, what it means for free speech, and whether political violence is reshaping the way debate happens in the public square. Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Oscar Bicket and Matt Miszczak.

Steerpike

Labour by-election campaign in meltdown

Oh dear. It’s not just in Westminster that Keir Starmer’s party is having trouble. Welsh Labour are also having a meltdown as they prepare to face their next electoral test. The Caerphilly by-election – called after the tragic death of Hefin David – has kicked off in earnest, ahead of polling day on 23 October. The Welsh parliamentary constituency has been held by Labour since its creation in 1999. But it seems that the reds are doing all they can to lose this onetime safe seat, with both Plaid and Reform UK breathing down their necks… The Labour leader of Caerphilly council has sensationally resigned and left the Labour Party

Tim Shipman

Kemi Badenoch has a sliver of hope

I can’t remember when I last wrote anything as reckless, but the last week has been a good one for Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives, perhaps the best since she won the leadership last November.  After months of ineffectual performances (not least the week before when Badenoch missed an open goal on Angela Rayner’s stamp duty shemozzle) the leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition landed a bullseye by going after Peter Mandelson on Wednesday. Keir Starmer was notably uncomfortable defending his Washington ambassador.  To reinforce the pain, Neil O’Brien, near-universally welcomed as the new Tory head of policy in Badenoch’s reshuffle, showed how smart he was by tabling an Urgent Question

Madeline Grant

How could Starmer not see the Mandelson disaster coming?

‘Oh, Mandy Well, you kissed me And stopped me from shaking And I need you today Oh, Mandy’ So sang Barry Manilow. I can imagine at one point, looking into his bathroom mirror, in the early days of his leadership, so did Sir Keir Starmer. Today, however, the government needed Mandy like a hole in the head.  Lord Mandelson having to resign in disgrace is one of the cast iron rules of British politics Lord Mandelson having to resign in disgrace is one of the cast iron rules of British politics. That Sir Keir couldn’t have predicted this – or more likely, thought he could rough it out – speaks to

Tim Shipman

Prince of Darkness sacked (again)

22 min listen

Another week, another departure. Conservative MP Neil O’Brien – who serves in the shadow cabinet as minister for policy renewal and development – was granted an urgent question in Parliament this morning, to question the government about Peter Mandelson. Then the news broke that Lord Mandelson had been sacked by Keir Starmer following further disclosures about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Neil joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the latest developments and also the questions that still remain: what did they know about Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein; if they didn’t know, why didn’t they know; and will the government be forced to release their vetting files on Mandelson’s

Steerpike

Farage: UK ambassador to US job 'very tempting'

A day is a long time in politics. On Wednesday Keir Starmer said during PMQs he had full confidence in the UK’s ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson, despite concerns about his relationship with American paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Less than 24 hours later, Mandelson has got the sack. Life comes at you fast, eh? While the Prime Minister and his team figure out how to fend off further questions about exactly what was known – and when – about the details of Mandelson’s relationship with the convicted abuser, attention is beginning to turn to who might step into the Prince of Darkness’s shoes. The Labour veteran was valuable in the US

Ross Clark

Ed Miliband’s lonely war on the North Sea

When even green energy tycoons are telling him to embrace the North Sea oil and gas industries, Ed Miliband really is beginning to look somewhat isolated. Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity and a Labour donor (as well as a former donor to Just Stop Oil, no less), has made an extraordinary intervention today, suggesting that the North Sea be offered the same subsidies as are granted to the operators of wind and solar farms. ‘It’s time for Labour to put its arms around the North Sea,’ he says. ‘Our North Sea is in decline, let’s protect it during the transition and optimise our use of resources that are left.’ Remarkably,

Steerpike

Labour MP's office targeted in suspected arson attack

It’s not been a quiet news week. From Israel’s strikes in Qatar to Russian drones appearing in Polish airspace to the increasing scrutiny of Donald Trump over Jeffrey Epstein – and the sacking of UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson over his links to the paedophile – there’s been no let up. In the last 24 hours, the theme of political violence has dominated the news too. The death of political activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk has shocked people across the world, after he was shot during an event at Utah Valley University last night. And today, closer to home, a Labour MP awoke to find her constituency

James Heale

Lord Mandelson sacked as US ambassador

Peter Mandelson has been sacked as British Ambassador to the United States after further revelations emerged about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed Mandelson less than 24 hours after insisting: ‘I have confidence in him’. Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told the House of Commons this morning that Mandelson was dismissed ‘in light of additional information’. Mandelson has now become the first public figure in modern British history to have been forced out office for three different scandals across four different decades. It follows two days of controversy after emails between Mandelson and the paedophile financier were published. In one letter, he called Epstein his

Alexander Larman

Will Prince Harry keep quiet about his meeting with King Charles?

The King received a man at Clarence House yesterday afternoon who has a justifiable right to be aggrieved with the ill treatment that has been meted over to him over the years. He has been unfairly discriminated against for reasons that are not his fault, and he has dealt with the opprobrium that has been hurled his way with dignity, maturity and personal righteousness. If he has a persecution complex, then he can hardly be blamed for having developed such a thing. He deserves our respect and admiration. Yes, King Charles’s encounter with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, for whom he performed an investiture, was important and no doubt affecting for

James Heale

Emily Thornberry drops out of Labour deputy leadership contest

Emily Thornberry has this morning dropped out of the race to be Labour’s new deputy leader. The one-time shadow foreign secretary was the first to signal that she wanted the job, using an interview on the BBC on Sunday to politely fillet Keir Starmer’s government. But, in a race dominated by identity politics, she was always going to struggle. Despite her many fans in the media, Thornberry could not muster more than 13 public declarations of support from MPs. Too many of her colleagues reasoned they could not elect a north London lawyer to act as deputy to another north London lawyer. ‘At least Emily has a personality,’ mused one

Charlie Kirk

A revolution is coming to the UK

In May, Charlie Kirk, who was killed on Wednesday from a gunshot wound, visited the United Kingdom to debate the students of Oxford and Cambridge. The Spectator asked him to write about the experience. The result was this well-observed, funny and now strangely prophetic-sounding piece about the condition of England. Charlie Kirk believed in free speech. He died speaking freely. RIP. When I was growing up, people often said British politics were where America’s would be in five, ten or 20 years. What this meant was that Britain was more to the left of America: more secular, more socially liberal, more environmentalist, more globalised. The assumption was that, over time,

Jacob Heilbrunn

Charlie Kirk believed in free speech. He died for it

Charlie Kirk was shot on stage yesterday, speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University. The Turning Point USA co-founder was announced dead by the President of the United States. ‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’ Debate is supposed to be the essence of the college experience, and

Brendan O’Neill

The usual suspects were curiously quiet about Iryna Zarutska's brutal murder

Did Iryna Zarutska’s life matter? Judging by the delayed, sheepish media coverage of her killing in North Carolina last month, it seems not. Apparently the violent death of this young, beautiful refugee to the United States was a non-event, undeserving of the liberal rage and tsunami of pained thinkpieces that tend to follow other senseless killings in the US. For two weeks her tragedy was disregarded, her suffering ignored. The suspect is one Decarlos Brown Jr, a mentally ill, African-American vagrant. He has been charged with first-degree murder We need answers on the cold indifference of the activist class and the media establishment to this abominable slaying of an innocent.

William Moore

Royal treatment, neurodiverse history & is everyone on Ozempic?

45 min listen

First: a look ahead to President Trump’s state visit next week Transatlantic tensions are growing as the row over Peter Mandelson’s role provides an ominous overture to Donald Trump’s state visit next week. Political editor Tim Shipman has the inside scoop on how No. 10 is preparing. Keir Starmer’s aides are braced for turbulence. ‘The one thing about Trump which is entirely predictable is his unpredictability,’ one ventures. And government figures fear he may go off message on broadcast – he is scheduled to be interviewed by GB News. It is rare for leaders to receive a second visit, especially those in their second term. But, as Tim says, ‘Britishness is

Sam Olsen

Will Nato pass – or fail – Russia's great test?

Poland woke yesterday morning to what its prime minister, Donald Tusk, called an “unprecedented violation of Polish airspace.” In the early hours, a “huge” swarm of Russian drones – at least 19 by Warsaw’s count, perhaps 23 according to Polish media – crossed the frontier during overnight strikes on Ukraine. Polish and Nato fighters scrambled, including Dutch F-35s, to bring them down. Airports were closed as air-raid sirens wailed. In one village, falling debris from an intercepted drone crashed into a residential block. For Vladimir Putin, Ukraine is not the goal but the stepping stone This was not business as usual. Drones have strayed into Poland’s skies before, but this

Rod Liddle

The misplaced sympathy for Angela Rayner

One evening last week I came home, flipped on the TV and saw on the news what must surely be a eulogy for some sainted figure who had been taken from us prematurely, such was the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. Mother Teresa, I wondered? Isn’t she dead already? Only as I sat down with my cup of tea and saw a photograph of a woman with what looked like a dead fox on her head did I realise that the lamenting was on behalf of Our Blessed Lady of the Ginger Growler and the Vapes who had, apparently, resigned. It would not have surprised me, from the tone

The Spectator

Starmer’s survival depends on going against his instincts

Athelstan has long faded from public imagination, despite being the king who, in 927 ad, first united England. But thanks to a campaign by historians such as Tom Holland, David Woodman and Michael Wood, the 1,100th anniversary of his coronation last week was celebrated with a memorial service, a new biography and the naming of a train in his honour. Athelstan’s kingdom fragmented after his death, but its brief unification reminds us of the deep history of England and its constitutional order. What followed from Athelstan was the rule of law, parliamentary sovereignty, Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights: principles that have survived for centuries and inspired imitation across