With Starmer’s enemies short on options, Labour MPs have to make do with gossip

In the corner of one of Westminster’s endless Christmas receptions, a Conservative veteran of the Brexit years admits they are somewhat baffled by the frenzied leadership speculation among the new Labour ranks.It was easy to forget, they said, given how many Tory leaders the party cycled through – but prime ministers were not that easy to dislodge.Theresa May’s predicament is a useful point of comparison. She lost a majority, lost multiple Commons votes on her flagship policy, lost dozens of ministers and cabinet ministers, had members of her own party selling “chuck Chequers” badges at her party conference, and narrowly survived a confidence vote before she was finally ousted. Yes, the Labour leader is polling at historic lows – but things can get a lot worse

No news whatsoever as Keir bores everyone to death. He’s a natural | John Crace

An afternoon with Keir Starmer isn’t necessarily many people’s idea of fun. A period of time when every minute feels like five.Sadly, for the select committee chairs who make up the liaison super-committee, they didn’t have the option of saying no. This was one of their unavoidable tri-annual encounters with the prime minister. Still, at least they all had the Xmas recess to look forward to at the end of the week

Who is Al Carns? Former Marine and Labour minister with sights on leadership

A former special forces colonel, government minister Al Carns was this week on manouevres warning that the UK needs to be preparing for war with Russia.“The shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more. That’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it,” he said, in comments that go beyond previous warnings by his boss, the defence secretary, John Healey.“Collectively, everybody – what is their role if we get caught in an existential crisis, and what do they need to be aware they need to do and what they can’t do, and how do we mobilise the nation to support a military endeavour?”It was stark language from the 45-year-old Scottish-born MP, who has had an exceptionally swift rise to his role of armed forces minister

Infighting, broken promises and insisting on the national anthem: what seven months of Reform UK in charge actually looks like

Nigel Farage’s party is gunning for power – so what is it like in the places where they’ve already got it? We embedded with Lancashire county council to find out what happens when rhetoric meets reality22 May 2025: a new dawn for Lancashire. Outside Preston’s grand old county hall, 53 brand new Reform UK councillors in turquoise ties – and one petite woman with an enormous turquoise hair bow – are hot-footing it past a gaggle of protesters for their first full council meeting. Most keep their heads down and get into the building as quickly as possible. But Joel Tetlow, a first-time politician who has made a few unfortunate headlines before even taking his seat, is intrigued. He stands in the doorway, vaping, as a demonstrator bellows: “Reform is a far right party and Nigel Farage is a racist and a fascist!”Tetlow – late 40s with a full head of vertiginous hair, wearing a powder-blue three-piece suit – insists he isn’t bothered

Reform UK claims it has overtaken Labour as Britain’s largest party

Reform UK says it is now the largest political party in Britain and has overtaken Labour, which has reportedly seen its membership fall below 250,000.Nigel Farage’s party says it has more than 268,000 members on the live tracker displayed on its website.Farage said: “As we have suspected for some time, Reform has overtaken Labour to become the largest political party in British politics – a huge milestone on our journey to win the next election. The age of two-party politics is dead.”Meanwhile, the Times reported that, according to internal figures, the Labour party’s paid-up membership had fallen below 250,000

‘There’s been a Badenoch bounce’: is the Tory leader finally cutting through?

At a Conservative donors event last week, Kemi Badenoch was asked for a selfie by the former Spice Girl Geri Horner. The Tory leader was, her allies say, a little bemused. But they were clear about what the approach meant: cut-through.Badenoch’s leadership got off to a poor start. Still reeling from the Tories’ worst general election defeat, she took over a diminished and disheartened party, which was languishing in the polls and facing an existential threat in the form of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK