News and Opinion

The SNP has won an emphatic victory in the Holyrood elections, but did not gain an overall majority. Nicola Sturgeon’s party took 64 seats – 62 in constituencies and one on the Highlands and Islands and another in the South Scotland regional list – one shy of a majority but well ahead of the Tories […]

Alex Salmond will not return to the Scottish Parliament after he failed in his bid to pick up a seat on the North East regional list. The former first minster had hoped to boost the Scottish independence cause by returning to frontline politics with his Alba Party. But his party failed to pick up a […]

An honest referendum about the future of the UK and EU seems a long way off after the latest election results The results suggest that the UK is beyond redemption. How people can see past the lies, and continue to support the Tories is truly astonishing. It really doesn’t bode well for the years ahead. […]

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has been sacked as party chair and national campaign coordinator following poor local election results across England. Labour received a drubbing in the local elections in England, losing control of a host of councils and suffering defeat at the hands of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in the Hartlepool by-election – the first time […]

When it comes to people who try to police our grammar, Winston Churchill (apparently) knew how to deal with them There is a grammar joke about Winston Churchill which is well known, even if it probably isn’t true. When a draft of an upcoming speech of his was circulated to aides, one of them, a […]

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has suggested he would entertain becoming leader of the Labour Party “in the distant future”. Burnham was speaking to the media after being re-elected to office with a landslide level of support. Asked on Sky News whether he wanted to lead the party following reports he would be a […]

Labour candidate Dan Norris has been elected West of England mayor, beating Conservative candidate Samuel Williams. Former government minister and Labour MP Dan Norris secured victory in a second preference vote run-off against his Tory rival. Norris secured 59.1% of the vote in the second round compared to Williams’ 40.9%.  The position has been held […]

Andy Burnham has been re-elected as the mayor of Greater Manchester. The Labour politician received 67% of the vote with his main opponent, the Conservative’s Laura Evans, receiving just 16.8%. The Greens came third on 4.5%, followed by the Liberal Democrats. Burnham added 4% on his vote share from four years before when he was first elected […]

An intriguing new exhibition allows the public to view paintings from the Golden Age of Dutch art while experiencing the smells associated with them.  A painting is a painting is a painting. You look at it. It might mesmerise you; Jackson Pollock. Make you smile ironically; Rene Magritte. Lift your soul to the heavens; Tiepolo or, a Damien […]

Mark Drakeford has vowed to be “radical” and “ambitious” in government as his party looks set to remain in power in Wales. Labour has equalled its best ever Senedd election result by winning 30 seats – just one short of a majority – though it is not expected to take any of the remaining four […]

Financial scandals are never fatal for PMs, but they do lasting damage There is a familiar sequence. Another allegation about the misconduct of Boris Johnson erupts on the front pages. Those that despair of Johnson’s leadership say to themselves or aloud that “surely this one will get him”. A poll is published a day later […]

If a picture is worth a thousand words – and if you need that picture to assuage the feeling that football is being sold to the devil – study this photograph. The scene is Wembley Stadium last Sunday evening. Moments after the final whistle of this season’s first cup final, Tottenham’s defeated Son Heung-min is […]

Politicians are badly letting down the electorate, and more than ever we need a coherent opposition. UK politics has failed us badly and the people know it. But opposition politicians have swallowed the Brexit pill and say we are in a long game. Labour’s loss in Hartlepool shows that our political landscape needs restorative action […]

The results in Scotland and Wales shows voters turned their backs on Boris Johnson, so why not in England? Why can so many English people not see through Boris Johnson? The Scots and Welsh clearly can – it was as heartening to see the election results north and west of Little England as it was […]

It would be little surprise if Boris Johnson turned out to be the ‘chatty rat’ the leak inquiry has yet to identify. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have something of an addiction to my phone. Nor is this a new thing. As far back as 1997, journalist John Williams, who was with […]

The electorate may still view Boris Johnson favourably, but the prime minister may not get the same reception internationally. Current reporting would suggest that a large proportion of the electorate is not too concerned about Boris Johnson’s competence or character, as long as they believe that the country is being tolerably well run – vaccination […]

TANIT KOCH on how the quest for equality is having an impact on the German language. Some of us have put lockdown to great use and improved our language skills at home. Some, like editor-at-large Alastair Campbell, have even chosen German, despite the lasting damage done to its reputation by Mark Twain (The Awful German Language), Hollywood (“Achtung! Schnell, […]

Nicola Sturgeon has said voters showed that racists and fascists are “not welcome anywhere in Scotland” after two far-right candidates picked up less than 200 votes and one was ejected from the count. Glasgow Southside independent candidate Jayda Fransen confronted the SNP leader and first minister during the campaign on Thursday, accusing her of supporting […]

There are few European leaders more colourful and controversial than Bulgaria’s Boyko Borisov. Now, demographic forces unleashed by the pandemic could topple him and offer a new start for the EU’s poorest nation The beginning of the end for Bulgaria’s bruising former bodyguard turned prime minister Boyko Borisov came last summer, when a photo surfaced showing […]

Mark Drakeford’s Welsh Labour has declared its strong Senedd election performance as “an extraordinary set of results in extraordinary times” as the party look favourite to retain control of the Welsh government. The party has exceeded expectations as counting for the Welsh parliament election continues, having so far lost just one of its seats and […]

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to hold a referendum on Scottish independence “when the time is right”, as she retained her Glasgow seat. Giving an acceptance speech in Glasgow after she defeated Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar by 19,735 votes to 10,279, the first minister said her party is set for a […]

Welsh Labour appears to have exceeded expectations as counting for the Welsh Parliament election continues. Only one of Wales’ so-called red wall seats, the Vale of Clwyd, fell to the Welsh Conservatives, while Labour sources are also confident of unseating the former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in Rhondda. Changes to ensure social distancing at […]

Boris Johnson met a 30ft inflatable version of himself during a victorious visit to Hartlepool after his party won a historic by-election. The PM said the £2,000 replica reminded him of Superintendent Ted Hastings from Line Of Duty, while a member of the press asked if he thought it looked like TV host Chris Tarrant. […]

Keir Starmer has said he will do “whatever is necessary” to rebuild trust in Labour following its “bitterly disappointing” defeat in the Hartlepool by-election. After seeing another pillar in its once impregnable “red wall” fall to the Tories, the Labour leader told his party to “stop quarrelling among ourselves” and address the needs of the […]

Liverpool has elected its first black female mayor as Labour held on to the role despite corruption allegations. Joanne Anderson was named as the successor to Joe Anderson, after the former mayor chose not to stand following his arrest as part of a Merseyside Police fraud investigation. After her victory, Anderson, no relation to her predecessor, […]

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is “extremely confident” the party is heading back into power at Holyrood – although she conceded winning an overall majority of MSPs there is a “very, very long shot”. As early results started to come in from Thursday’s Scottish parliament elections, the Scottish first minister downplayed the prospect of winning a […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that he will do “whatever it takes” to rebuild trust in the party following its “bitterly disappointing” by-election defeat in Hartlepool. Starmer has come under fire from all sides after Labour suffered a crushing defeat. In a stunning result, the Conservatives took the seat – which had been […]

The SNP will be the “leading and largest party” in the new Scottish parliament, deputy first minister John Swinney has declared – though he said it was still too early to say if the party would win an overall majority at Holyrood. Swinney, also the education secretary in the Scottish government, comfortably held his Perthshire […]