Matt T. Clark, University of Leeds Just over 18 months ago, Keir Starmer said the “fight for trust is the battle that defines our age”. Now a scandal surrounding his former ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, could end his political career, precisely because of the damage it could cause to public trust. At
Ph. FLickr/House of Commons, CC BY-NC-ND Thomas Caygill, Nottingham Trent University Keir Starmer is in the middle of his worst crisis yet following further damaging revelations about Peter Mandelson’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Emails released by the US government revealed the depth of Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein and confirmed that it
Ph. helloRuby/Shutterstock Robert Dover, University of Hull The alleged Chinese spying affair currently troubling the UK government after the collapse of a trial is markedly different from previous espionage scandals. That is because it is centred not on the actions of suspected spies, but on the behaviour of the government. How did this
ph. A year in, Starmer still has a mountain to climb. Flickr/Number 10 , CC BY-NC-ND Rohan McWilliam, Anglia Ruskin University In the build-up to the 2024 election, Keir Starmer worked hard to show that his party could run Britain better than the Tories. He promised his government would offer stability after years of chaos –
ph. Under pressure. Flickr/UK Parliament, CC BY-NC-ND Tony McNulty, Queen Mary University of London The government has promised to make major concessions to its universal credit and personal independence payment bill after a large-scale and very public rebellion by Labour MPs threatened to derail a vote due on July 1. The Commons order
Martin Farr, Newcastle University Labour’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has declared that Keir Starmer’s government has driven “a knife into the heart of what I believed Labour stood for” and called for party members, unions and MPs to take back control. The text was McDonnell’s, but the pretext was Nigel Farage. Earlier
Ph. William Barton/Shutterstock Linda Yueh, University of Oxford “Iron-clad” and “non-negotiable” is how UK prime minister Keir Starmer recently described the country’s fiscal rules. The government has been coming under pressure to relax the rules and cut itself some financial slack. But according to the PM, these self-imposed restrictions are vital for maintaining
Ph. UK Defence secretary John Healey and Prime Minister Keir Starmer visit Washington. U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery Frank Ledwidge, University of Portsmouth The election of Donald Trump as US president puts the UK in a tricky position on many global issues. But even beyond concerns about Nato’s
Rohan McWilliam, Anglia Ruskin University Many prime ministers at some point find themselves in a situation where nothing they do seems to go right. It happened to Jim Callaghan in the late 1970s, to Gordon Brown in the 2000s and to every Conservative prime minister since 2019. After barely 100 days in office,
Title: Keir Starmer: The Biography Author: Tom Baldwin Pages: 448 Tom Baldwin’s “Keir Starmer: The Biography” is a riveting exploration of one of the most enigmatic figures in contemporary British politics. As a political biography, it stands out not only for its depth and thoroughness but also for its unexpected intimacy, offering readers