Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
(Picture: AP)Isn’t it lovely not to hear so much news about politicians these days? Since I make my living thinking and writing about politics I probably shouldn’t reveal this, but even I’m relieved by days when the headlines aren’t dominated by politicians yelling insults at each other about yet another mega-crisis.
I can let you into another secret too: the politicians are relieved as well. A lot of them are rather enjoying the way Westminster is becoming a quieter, more boring and — whisper it — nicer place than it’s been for several years now. That niceness is the most interesting change in the political village in recent weeks. Politicians and staffers who used to spit venom at each other are, privately, rubbing along in an almost friendly fashion. In the past few days I’ve heard a Cabinet minister describe Sir Keir Starmer as “a decent guy who’ll make a decent prime minister”. Not long after that, I heard a famously combative Labour figure heap praise on a Tory minister and add: “I agree with about 90 per cent of his policies.”
