General Election

Many progressives are certain that the only hope for ending Tory rule is to replace first past the post. Polling expert PETER KELLNER is not so sure it is a good idea The case is made easily – and frequently: if we had a different method for electing our MPs, Britain would still be in […]

Don't expect a political earthquake, but the Green Party is already re-shaping the left of British politics

Millionaire Brexit-backing businessman Arron Banks has claimed a six-figure inheritance tax bill on his donations to UKIP is discriminatory at the Court of Appeal. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) previously assessed Banks – one of the self-styled “Bad Boys of Brexit” – as owing just over £160,000 on almost £1 million in donations to UKIP […]

New research shows how the Conservatives are hoovering up Christian support The past six years have seen the old rules of British politics torn up. Identities such as ‘Tory’, ‘Labour’, ‘working class’ or ‘middle class’ have been replaced by ‘Remainer’ or ‘Brexiteer’ and voters are deserting their traditional parties. The Conservatives, once the party of choice for middle-class professionals, […]

Len McCluskey has been a large, often disruptive, figure in the Labour Party. With his departure, will his Unite union revert to its former, steadying role? Keir Starmer had a bit of good news this week, for a change. Not only is his most dangerous enemy, Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite trade union, […]

Armin Laschet has won the support of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to become the party’s candidate in this September’s federal election. Laschet, who has been the leader of the CDU since January, gained the support of 77.5% of the party board to enter the race to replace chancellor Angela Merkel – a total […]

Labour must be ready to fight a general election in as little as two years, Sir Keir Starmer has warned as he promised bold action to “get Britain working again”. Sir Keir, who marks the first anniversary of his election as party leader, said Labour’s ambition “must match the moment” with a plan to build […]

If our letters page is anything to go by, The New European’s readers are no fans of First Past The Post. But what exactly is the best way to ‘make every vote count’? MICK O’HARE considers the options. December 2019’s general election suggested that voters wanted an opportunity to think again about Brexit. Parties advocating […]

A surprise general election could suit the Tories - and Boris Johnson will have the power to do it.

Voters will reportedly be required to bring photo ID when casting their ballots in elections from 2023. The proposal is part of a new Electoral Integrity Bill which will form part of the Queen’s Speech in spring and be in force by the time local elections are held two years from now, according to the […]

Party leader Ed Davey talks to MATT WITHERS about this burning issue, why social care is his top priority and the Lib Dems’ controversial Brexit policy. Here’s a pretty non-scientific experiment into the current state of what was until very recently the third force in British politics. Try typing “What is the point of the […]

Downing Street is reportedly preparing for Boris Johnson to fight Andy Burnham at the next general election. Sir Keir’s leadership has been called into question over the past 10 days following a series of poor polling numbers – sparking speculation of a leadership challenge if the numbers do not improve. Now Downing Street believes that the most […]

JAC LARNER and RICHARD WYN JONES on what lessons progressives can learn from the Welsh experience of devolution. The establishment in 1999 of what is now formally known as the Senedd was the culmination of a century and more of argument in favour of what used to be known – more pleasingly, we suggest – […]

Piers Morgan has challenged the government over what type of Brexit deal it is looking to achieve at the end of the transition period. The Good Morning Britain presenter was interviewing Alok Sharma when he asked about the differing definitions of the trading relationship the UK wants with the European Union. “If you get a No Deal […]

A video of Boris Johnson at the last election claiming nobody would be talking about Brexit in 2020 because he will have done his trade deal has gone viral as the UK’s departure from the European Union still dominates headlines. Brexit has overtaken the coronavirus as the top story on news headlines, with the UK […]

Boris Johnson has been reminded of comments around a Brexit trade deal with the EU in which he claimed that “100% of issues” relating to a trade agreement had been resolved already. During another visit to a car factory days before the general election, the prime minister was questioned about the likeliness of a trade agreement […]

Jeremy Corbyn has announced plans for a new organisation to support social justice, peace and human rights in the UK and around the world, one year after Labour was heavily defeated at the general election. The former Labour leader said his Peace and Justice Project will “bring people together” to create “a future that works […]

In a special report on the anniversary of the 2019 election, Francis Beckett pieces together the inside moments and key decisions – or lack of them – which sealed Labour’s fate. A year ago, a hard Brexit and an 80 seat parliamentary majority for Boris Johnson was the nightmare scenario which few expected. Johnson was […]

In recent days Conservative ministers have scrambled to insist that Boris Johnson’s “oven-ready” Brexit deal pledge at the election only related to the Withdrawal Agreement. But one year ago, days before the general election, the then chief secretary to the Treasury claimed there was no need for no-deal Brexit planning because “we have got this […]

Former BBC politics presenter David Dimbleby has rated Boris Johnson’s government the lowest of the low. Dimbleby, who covered every general election for the broadcaster between 1979 and 2017 as well as hosting the EU referendum coverage, said it had been the worst administration he had witnessed since he was born in 1938. Asked by Krishnan […]

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin, who boasted of donating £50,000 to the Tory party ahead of the 2019 general election, has now blasted the “reckless” government for their decisions over the coronavirus pandemic. The pro-Brexit chairman has written to MPs criticising the second lockdown for their policies, which he says is hurting pubs. He wrote: “It is […]

It is far from a settled issue, but have public passions finally cooled over Brexit? Leading pollster SIR JOHN CURTICE reports. Last year the headlines were dominated by Brexit. This year the issue has only sporadically made it onto the news agenda. This is despite the fact that an agreement has still not been reached […]

A former Labour frontbencher used his maiden speech in the House of Lords to express his pride at having helped to stop Jeremy Corbyn win the general election. John Woodcock, who sits as Lord Walney in the upper chamber, also revealed his criticism of the ex-party leader, had strained long-term friendships and also led to […]

A cross-party group of MPs and peers have filed legal proceedings against the government, accusing ministers of failing to protect the UK’s democracy against Russian interference during the EU referendum and subsequent elections. The claimants, backed by a former national security adviser, have accused the prime minister of wanting to “keep us in the dark” […]

Boris Johnson has been warned by more than 50 Tory MPs that his handling of the coronavirus pandemic could “send the North into reverse”. A group of northern Conservative backbenchers, led by former northern powerhouse minister Jake Berry, has written to the prime minister expressing their concerns. The Northern Research Group (NRG) wants Johnson to […]

Liz Gerard is correct to identify the first-past-the-post electoral system as a major cause of our divisive and dysfunctional politics and to say that electoral reform is the only way to escape this. However, she is mistaken to describe the alternative vote (AV), the subject of the 2011 referendum, as “a sort of PR” – […]

The Conservatives spent more than £16 million at the 2019 general election, new figures show. The Electoral Commission revealed the governing party spent £16,486,871 across the country to win its 80-seat majority. The biggest chunk of the money, £5,818,998 went on “unsolicited material to electors”, the Electoral Commission said. Marketing and canvassing cost £4,471,937, and advertising […]

I don’t know about you, but I rather miss being bored by British politics. For the last couple of decades, I’ve been obsessively following American political developments; in fact, for much of the early part of the period I paid rather more attention to events across the pond than to what was happening over here. […]