Roy Hattersley: Labour’s ‘nearly man’ who fought to hold the party together The former deputy leader helped to make the party electable again but became increasingly disillusioned under Tony Blair. Evening Standard · Jun 14
As John Healey goes, the political vultures circle Starmer. And so continues our history of PM-icide A small, eccentric electorate gets to oust the UK’s leaders and then chooses largely inadequate replacements. It’s an absurd process and we’re locked into it again, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins The Guardian - UK · Jun 12
As Westminster rages, and Labour sinks into civil war: what about the people? Voters are desperate for a turnaround in living standards. The runners and riders for the Labour leadership must address this, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty The Guardian - UK · May 13
Keith McDowall obituary Journalist and PR consultant who worked for Conservative and Labour ministers and enjoyed ‘mingling’ with those in power The Guardian - UK · Dec 3, 2025
Richard Gott, former Guardian journalist and historian, dies aged 87 Charismatic figure of the left is remembered as one of the most informed commentators on Latin American affairs The Guardian - UK · Nov 2, 2025
Why does Reform seem unassailable? Because this is party conference season, when politicos always lose the plot They wrote off Margaret Thatcher in 1981 when the SDP – like Reform today – was ascendant. They were wrong about her; they could also be about Starmer, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins The Guardian - UK · Oct 4, 2025
Lord Paul obituary Industrialist and philanthropist who served as deputy speaker of the House of Lords for two years The Guardian - UK · Sep 7, 2025
Tebbit the Tory hard man who took on the trade unions As Conservative Party chairman, Norman Tebbit masterminded Margaret Thatcher’s third general election victory despite tensions with the PM. Evening Standard · Jul 8, 2025
Peter Taaffe obituary Political activist who oversaw an attempt by the Militant tendency to take control of the Labour party The Guardian - UK · May 19, 2025
The Gang of Three review – inside an old boys’ club of Labour intrigue Roy Jenkins, Denis Healey and Anthony Crosland debate among themselves in Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s look at the big beasts of 70s Westminster The Guardian - UK · May 7, 2025
Former KGB double agent Oleg Gordievsky dies in Surrey aged 86 Soviet spy defected to Britain from Moscow under threat of exposure after supplying information to MI6 and MI5 The Guardian - UK · Mar 21, 2025
Oleg Gordievsky obituary Russian spy who was the highest ranking KGB officer to defect to Britain The Guardian - UK · Mar 21, 2025
For the record Southport attacks | Michael Foot | Black Cab stout | Kuba Fast | Gold vault | Mary Shelley The Guardian - UK · Jan 25, 2025
Transatlantic trepidation: Europe reacts to the new Reagan presidency – archive, 1981 No inauguration of any modern American president has been viewed in Europe with such ambiguity as that of Ronald Reagan The Guardian - UK · Jan 22, 2025
The Guardian - UK · Jan 20, 2025 Barbara Maxwell obituary Founding producer of the BBC television series Question Time, skilful at spotting broadcasting talent
The Guardian - UK · Jun 7, 2024 Sunak’s D-day failure is a campaign disaster – and a sign he’s forgotten the very recent past The prime minister had only to look back a few years to see he was making a huge mistake, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian - UK · Jan 2, 2024 Labour is the party of sound defence and hatred of tyranny. Now it must show that in Ukraine If Keir Starmer looks to history, he will find a coherent defence policy. He leads a movement that has been robust in defence of key principles, says academic and Labour historian Brian Brivati
The Conversation · Nov 8, 2023 Israel, Palestine and the Labour party history that has made Keir Starmer's position so difficult I said: “I found the British still very emotional about Palestine. Why?” And he said: “It’s associated, don’t you think with partisanship with one side or the other. I can’t think of any colony or mandate that was as demanding intellectually and emotionally as Palestine.
The Guardian - UK · Mar 22, 2023 Michael Houldey obituary Director of television documentaries whose skill at winning people’s trust helped him as a hands-on series producer
The Guardian - UK · Feb 15, 2023 Starmer is right to stop Corbyn standing for Labour at the next election – but he mustn’t purge dissent As Labour leaves special measures imposed to tackle antisemitism, it must move on: but in a way that embraces wide debate, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
Evening Standard · Oct 5, 2022 Liz Truss rails against the ‘anti-growth’ coalition In the run-up to the 1983 general election, John Golding, Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, recalled telling Michael Foot how bad the polls were. Foot couldn’t believe it.
The Guardian - UK · Jul 3, 2022 How the light gets in on the darkest days Brief letters: Leonard Cohen’s Anthem | Champagne socialists | Betting on high blood pressure | Relatives at Wimbledon | Country diary’s play on words
The Conversation · Jun 16, 2022 Keir Starmer: what Labour leader could learn from Neil Kinnock to capitalise on Boris Johnson's woes Although prime minister Boris Johnson is suffering a potentially career-ending crisis after only narrowly surviving a confidence vote in his leadership, his struggles don’t necessarily appear to be translating into a surge for the Labour opposition.
The Guardian - UK · May 10, 2022 From Michael Foot’s ‘donkey jacket’ to Barnard Castle beer … inside the People’s History Museum The Manchester museum owns 60,000 objects tracing Britain’s political history, including a pike from Peterloo and Andy Burnham’s jacket. Now it’s up for a £100,000 prize