Stephen Bush

Friday, 23 February, 2024

Gaza vote highlights security fears in parliament

Commons Speaker’s unprecedented action will give way to wider debate over balance between MPs’ security and right to protest

Thursday, 22 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Why are MPs angry with the Commons speaker?

After Gaza ceasefire debate, Lindsay Hoyle is under fire but his post is not yet threatened

Wednesday, 21 February, 2024

UK politics

Starmer will only reveal his true face in power

What we talk about when we talk about Labour party factions

Wednesday, 21 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Gaza interventions by prince and Starmer will lead both to regret

Labour’s tactics for crunch vote will hardly defuse SNP’s attacks and risks repelling wings of its voter base

Tuesday, 20 February, 2024

Inside Politics

BBC’s app can tell us the political weather

Broadcaster’s news reaches 73% of UK adults, making it a key gauge of whether a policy row is getting attention

Monday, 19 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Starmer and Sunak’s party wisdom gets health check after by-elections

Tories’ official line could damage PM if some mutinous MPs exploit the results to agitate for leadership change

Tuesday, 13 February, 2024

Racial equality

Do mixed-race people really enjoy the ‘best of both worlds’?

The reality is more complex than some would suggest

Friday, 9 February, 2024

Keir Starmer

Little good can come of Starmer’s green U-turn

Labour’s retreat reflects a number of changing tides in politics — but it has also produced bitter internal rancour

Friday, 9 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Labour is in a strategic hole of its own making

Party’s retreat from £28bn-a-year green plan still leaves it open to Tory attack and has dealt a blow to Keir Starmer’s authority

Thursday, 8 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Starmer’s gamble on ultra-cautiousness could store up trouble

Rishi Sunak yet to effectively exploit Labour leader’s weakness, with his latest attack over trans rights drawing criticism

Wednesday, 7 February, 2024

Inside Politics

As Truss pops up, talk turns to the next Tory leader

A successful coup against Rishi Sunak still looks unlikely, but the direction of the party could shift post-election as MPs’ fears change

Tuesday, 6 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Labour’s equal pay plan for ethnic minorities is all stakeholder, and no substance

Given current law prohibits paying someone less on grounds of race or disability, Labour’s proposal could make claims more not less complicated

Tuesday, 6 February, 2024

Technology

Why accountability is an increasingly elusive endeavour

In the age of algorithmic decision-making, allocating blame is a fraught process — but this doesn’t have to be a bad thing

Friday, 2 February, 2024

Political Fix podcast37 min listen

Who still votes Conservative?

Gender, age, religion: the new faultlines in how the UK votes

Friday, 2 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Labour is in a muddle over its £28bn green plan and tax

Announcements in Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget will place constraints on shadow chancellor

Thursday, 1 February, 2024

Inside Politics

Tories remain restless for excitement as the nation loses trust in their delivery

The best way the Conservative party could turn itself round is by governing well

Wednesday, 31 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Tories will struggle to square tax cuts with political reality

Past Conservative governments have found it difficult to reduce spending after period of austerity

Tuesday, 30 January, 2024

Inside Politics

DUP deal to restore power-sharing still faces threats

Plus, UK’s post-study visa at a crossroads

Tuesday, 30 January, 2024

Chinese politics & policy

Goodbye to the days of ambient cultural liberalism

China’s rise will alter the worldview of at least some consumers who live in democracies

Monday, 29 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Sunak’s smoking and vaping ban will pass and endure despite rightwing rebellion

Tory opposition unlikely to be large enough to block new policy that Labour is expected to support in Commons next month

Friday, 26 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Anti-Sunak plot is both serious and silly

Media backing and funding from anonymous Tory donors suggests plot against PM is set to cause more party ructions

Thursday, 25 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Does the anti-Sunak campaign have legs?

Polls feed the mood of rebellion in Tory party as No 10 aide quits to join Conservative Britain Alliance

Wednesday, 24 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Unrealistic call to replace Sunak reveals a bigger blow to his election campaign

Stinging op-ed from the rightwing Telegraph newspaper shows Tory-friendly media is not on his side

Tuesday, 23 January, 2024

Inside Politics

Starmer bets on swerving culture wars as he sets out Labour’s stall

Plus, it’s in Rishi Sunak’s interest to hold an election in October or later, though speculation swirls over a May vote

Stephen Bush

Columnist and Associate Editor

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