Steve Richards



Profile:
Full name: Steve Richards

Area of interest: Politics

Journals/Organisation: The Independent | The Guardian | The Times

Email: [mailto:s.richards@independent.co.uk s.richards@independent.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/steve-richards | http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/steve-richards

Blog:

Representation:

Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/steverichards14



Biography:
About:

Education: University of York: History; London College of Printing: journalism

Career: Worked in local radio and regional TV in Newcastle; BBC: political correspondent, 1990/1995; New Statesman: political editor, 1996/2000; The Independent: chief political commentator, 2000-
 * Also has a concurrent TV/Radio career (see below)

Current position/role: The Independent: Chief political commentator


 * also writes/has written for: Evening Standard

Other roles/Main role: TV and radio presenter

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media: Wrote and presented two hour-long films about Tony Blair for Channel Four
 * Presenter on BBC2's Despatch Box
 * Presenter on Radio 4's Week in Westminster
 * Chairman of Radio 4’s Parliamentary Questions
 * Current presenter of GMTV's flagship current affairs show The Sunday Programme
 * Appears regularly on News 24’s Head 2 Head programme and BBC News Channel's Dateline London

Video: IMDb

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours: Named Political Journalist of the Year in the Political Studies Association's annual awards, 2008

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:
Latest work: Whatever it takes: the inside story of Gordon Brown and New Labour OCLC373477873, September 2010, Fourth Estate, reviewed here by John Rentoul

Speaking/Appearances:
 * Rock 'n' Roll Politics, Soho Theatre, 2nd-6th July 2013
 * Politics Live, Kings Place Festival, 14th September 2013

Current debate: 

The Independent:
Column name:

Remit/Info: Politics

Section:

Role: Chief political commentator

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:s.richards@independent.co.uk s.richards@independent.co.uk]

Website: Independent.co/Steve Richards

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Tuesday and Thursday (not exclusively)

Regularity: Twice-weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2016

 * MPs aren't the only ones who should have to publish their tax returns - what about media moguls and the super-rich? - Transparency is not the best response to the Panama Papers, however popular a policy it might be - 12th April
 * The Panama papers tax avoidance scandal shows just how powerless Cameron and Osborne really are - The contrast between the pathetic attempts of supposedly mighty elected leaders to address tax avoidance and the mountain of documents from one law firm showing how tax is easily avoided becomes one of the great emblematic sagas of our times - 5th April
 * Labour and the Tories are in turmoil - and, despite what many say, it's nothing to do with Corbyn's leadership - The financial crash of 2008 made it impossible for both parties to exist united in their current forms - 29th March
 * How do we decode the sensational resignation of IDS - and what do the signs really mean? - Osborne is trapped by the pivotal decision he took in opposition, to seek a quick return from deficit to surplus his defining mission - 22nd March
 * The only figure that matters for Osborne this week is the majority of 12 - With the referendum looming, the Chancellor has to approach his address as if it were a pre-election Budget - 15th March
 * Will George Osborne or Boris Johnson become the next Prime Minister? - Agree or disagree with George Osborne he is better placed than Boris Johnson to become Conservative party leader - 8th March
 * The EU Out crowd is flamboyant, but the In team has clarity - Cameron is a powerful advocate because he knows the case and believes in it. The argument is what matters - 1st March
 * David Cameron has landed an EU deal – but at a cost to his leadership - As the PM made a Commons statement on his new EU deal I thought of John Major in the mid-Nineties - 23rd February
 * Brexit is an emotional rollercoaster - and we can't get off it now - To lead an ‘out’ campaign demands a high level of conviction as well as calculations about ambition - 16th February
 * Cameron’s right to tackle prisons, but his answer is wrong - One problem with the debate is the simplistic juxtaposition of tough versus soft. In challenging this, Cameron is breaking new ground - 9th February
 * The fall of Kids Company exposes the fatal flaw in Cameron's big idea - Kids Company’s failure is the consequence of ideological disdain for the state and a faith in the light regulatory touch - 2nd February
 * Forget the EU – let’s call a referendum on higher taxes to save the NHS - We are about to have a referendum on the wrong topic. Responding to the needs of a growing elderly population is the overwhelming challenge - 27th January
 * It’s the miners’ strike all over again - with all the same mistakes - Why can’t we have a grown-up debate about the level of healthcare we want and how we can pay for it? - 12th January
 * Opinion polls misled us all in 2015, but now they're as powerful as ever - As tribal loyalties die, detached voters change their minds on issues suddenly. Opinion polls become the only reliable guide - 5th January



Articles: 2015

 * This is how Osborne gets away with looking financially responsible, even as the floodwaters rise - Praise for Osborne after the Autumn Statement was a vivid reminder that public spending cuts are welcomed in general, but when anyone bothers to pay attention to the specifics, alarm bells ring - 29th December
 * Corbyn is going nowhere - and neither are his critics. So what next? - The alternative to there being no alternative government is 20 years of one-party rule – 2010 to 2030, and perhaps beyond - 22nd December
 * The referendum has weakened Cameron’s hand in Europe - The In/Out vote has generated bewildered mistrust both on the Continent and within his own party - 16th December
 * Political leadership is impossible in the age of social media - as Jeremy Corbyn has found - The tweet reporting Corbyn’s intentions was accurate – but then became inaccurate because frontbenchers went apoplectic when they read it - 7th December
 * A split or a unifying leader are the only ways to end Labour's civil war - A Labour MP could grow into a Wilson-like figure and seek to be a unifying leader…Only political titans willing to age quickly need apply for that task - 1st December
 * For Cameron, read Blair. For Syria, read Iraq - Labour MPs who despair of Corbyn must think very carefully whether they have heard enough from the PM to justify air strikes - 24th November
 * Osborne must get his story straight to win the tax credit battle - With his lack of coherence, Osborne is fortunate that he is facing a Labour Party that both supports and opposes Trident - 10th November
 * Grant the spies their powers – but force them to speak up - When a tiny light is shone on MI5 and MI6, as in the Commons’ hearing two years ago, there is no threat - 3rd November
 * David Cameron faces much larger obstacles than the Lords to control the UK - Osborne’s Budget charter compels him to deliver a speedy surplus; the charter is the source of all his difficulties - 27th October
 * George Osborne knew what would happen if he cut tax credits – and did it anyway - Making a very big reduction in one single leap was not a mistake - 20th October
 * Hang on to your hats – the referendum will be a bumpy ride - The timing will be very delicate, as Prime Ministers do not call referendums unless they are sure that they can win them - 13th October
 * Cameron's compassion is all rhetoric and no reality - The claim to support working people simply does not stand up - 8th October
 * The rebirth of Adonis is a demonstration of Osborne’s ambition - The Chancellor has acquired one of the few ministers who made a mark in the last Labour government – and a man with a genuine passion for transport - 6th October
 * Jeremy Corbyn is ushering in a welcome new era of non-macho politics - The outdated combative style began with Margaret Thatcher, whose self-confident assertiveness was partly an act - 29th September
 * Are Jeremy Corbyn's policies really more 'extreme' than those of the 'centrist' Tory Government? - We need an urgent review of the terms we use to describe politics - 22nd September
 * For good or ill, Jeremy Corbyn becoming Labour leader has brought the party back to life - The volcanic eruption triggered by the contest's outcome is an opportunity for the party - 15th September
 * David Cameron's response to the refugee crisis is mainly about keeping the Tories united - Fragile, narrow-minded expediency is playing a key part in the PM's calculations - 8th September
 * If Labour wants to win again in 2020 it needs to unite and distance itself from the past - Tony Blair didn't go around in the mid-1990s pointing out that Harold Wilson had won four elections - 11th August
 * Labour is misreading election results: Five years is a long time in politics - Though after the events of the last few weeks Labour is doomed to be all over the place for quite some time - 24th July
 * Hyperactive Tories are punching above their weight - While New Labour shied away from its contentious past, current ministers happily pay homage to Thatcherite policies - 21st July
 * Labour leadership: Supporting Geroge Osborne’s interventionism would help Labour - If William Hague had supported Labour’s early tax and spending plans in 1997 he would have unnerved his opponents - 14th July
 * There can no longer be any pretence that EU leaders are in full control of their economies - Who is accountable? Until that is sorted, the EU will flounder - 23rd June
 * If Labour can’t take on Osborne and win, he’ll be PM in 2020 - Instead of waffling nervously about 'supporting' surpluses, they must turn his arguments on their head - 17th June
 * When a party wants to remove its leader, here are the iron laws... - Although instead of trying to force anyone out, parties should be worrying more the about their selection of candidates - 9th June
 * The complacency of Europhiles could lose them the referendum - The fragility of the renegotiation and the volcanic implications for the Conservative party should alert the “Yes” campaign to the need for robust arguments - 2nd June
 * The Queen’s Speech was full of pledges made in a panic during the election campaign - Cameron was returned to power on the back of policies he did not expect or want to implement - 28th May
 * Labour leadership contest: 'Moderniser' is just a vague and overused label - It remains one of the more ubiquitous terms in British politics - 26th May
 * Cameron is sincere in his 'truly seven day' NHS plans - but where is the money? - Those seeking a return to power need to be very careful what they say - during the election the Tories pledged spending increases and tax cuts that were not fully costed - 19th May
 * How the Labour party's next leader can unite the richest and poorest - 'No taxation without explanation' must be part of their repertoire - 12th May
 * England is moving away from Scotland rather than the other way round - One Tory minister from the last parliament has already made a list of what was blocked then and can go ahead now - 9th May
 * General Election 2015: What if Cameron were to end up in debt to the SNP? - In combination with other opposition parties the SNP could defeat David Cameron at key moments and might be inclined to do so - 5th May
 * General Election 2015: Ed Miliband hasn’t ‘suddenly’ become a robust leader. He always was - Voters are choosing to see qualities that were there along - 28th April
 * General Election 2015: If Nicola Sturgeon is such a threat, how is it she’s so popular? - For all the fury of Tory newspapers fearing the election of an administration that would not pay homage to their editors and owners, parliamentary arithmetic is set to prevail - 21st April
 * A leader not even standing will determine the election’s outcome - Ed Miliband’s response to the rise of the SNP and Sturgeon’s prominence requires subtlety rather than a sledgehammer - 8th April
 * David Cameron needs to learn some new tricks – and fast - Everything is different about this election – apart from the message the Tories are sending out - 31st March
 * So many setbacks – yet somehow Labour is still in the game - The lack of one-on-one debates and rise of the SNP should be causing the party serious pain, but the weakness of the Tories is helping maintain a balance - 24th March
 * Budget 2015: George Osborne’s avowed return to 2000 spending levels lets Labour in - Osborne’s ‘reforms’ will not be adequate to meet the rising demands from a growing population - 19th March
 * Osborne’s assault on the state matters a lot more than the TV debates - Now the Chancellor has published his spending plans for all of us to view, there is no confusion or ambiguity - 10th March
 * Security never drives our leaders, it just soaks up their time - May defended scrapping orders while arguing she had brought them back. Quite a contortion - 3rd March
 * There's a cure for the lobbying problem reignited by Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind sting, but you won't want to hear it - The talent pool for the big jobs in government is narrow enough as it is - 24th February
 * Only when Ed Miliband is shaking things up is he at ease with leadership - Ed Miliband’s authentic public voice is that of the insurgent - 17th February
 * Where are the leaders who cast a spell? Neither Cameron nor Miliband have that quality - If you’re not strong, at least appear to be strong - 11th February
 * Reform is the watchword, right across the political spectrum. But what does it mean? - From Education to the NHS, the debate is framed in terms that are far too simplistic - 3rd February
 * Greece elections: Where does power lie? This is the question that ties the UK to Athens - Many voters have been motivated by a sense of powerlessness in both countries - 27th January
 * Do not adjust your TV. This election will be decided on the doorstep - There will be no uniform national swing but a hundred different local swings - 20th January
 * Don’t mistake Ed Miliband for Neil Kinnock — he is in a far better place - The Tories are failing to win the battle of ideas, while the tide is moving increasingly in Miliband's favour - 13th January



Articles: 2014

 * Our public services are in steep decline. Can we change track? - Some of the failures we've seen recently would shame a Third World country - 30th December
 * Could the real Theresa May please stand up? - The Home Secretary is shy and lacking in overt political guile, and yet at the same time an almost certain leadership candidate - 23rd December
 * Miliband should lead the fight to make life affordable for all of us - From the poor to the middle classes, the cost of living has become a big theme - 9th December
 * Autumn Statement 2014: George Osborne is a man on a mission — I’m just not sure what it is - These are safe pledges to make before an election, but billions will still have to be cut for the Chancellor's target to be met - 4th December
 * The remarkable highs and lows of Gordon Brown - If he had been gentler in his approach he might have been more successful - 2nd December
 * Our political landscape is not changing anywhere near as much as we assume it is - With the Ukip rise, the Green surge, and the soaring of the SNP, it's easy to get carried away and think we're heading towards some sort of revolution - 25th November
 * The Colchester hospital crisis shows the NHS is still in need of major surgery - Intense, forensic scrutiny is part of the future for the NHS. Poor managers must go - 17th November
 * Miliband's problem isn't that he's out of touch, but that he's too neurotically in touch - Instead of fretting about the polls and focus groups, he needs to bind together a team with a shared sense of purpose - 10th November
 * Merkel has set the boundaries of Cameron’s EU negotiations: he would be well-advised to take heed - No wonder Cameron is taking his time to deliver the immigration speech - 4th November
 * Ed Miliband isn’t the villain of the Scottish Labour piece - The calls from several senior Labour figures in Scotland for their party to become autonomous are illogical and dangerous - 28th October
 * You want constitutional change? Fixed-term parliaments have already done the job - Why our politics could be in chaos after the next election - 21st October
 * Labour’s time is right, but do they know it? - The party needs to show that it can reach out to beyond its core vote - 14th October
 * The Liberal Democrats now know what happens when you neglect your supporters - Nick Clegg is paying the price for becoming a Tory cheerleader - 7th October
 * The more the Tories try to be like Ukip, the worse the outcome for them will be - The capacity of the modern Conservative party to generate fear takes many forms - 30th September
 * Miliband has excellent ideas – he just needs to make himself more visible - It’s no good preparing for set-pieces if you can’t also be spontaneous - 23rd September
 * Forget devolution, the only thing that matters in Westminster is the next General Election - It is in the Conservatives’ interests to stop Scottish MPs voting on English matters - 20th September
 * Scottish independence: After the revolution the rest of the UK will be seeking a rebalancing act - Ed Miliband has to play down some of the ideological differences to keep his party united - 16th September
 * Where’s the vision from the ‘No’ side? Opponents of Scottish independence may be doing too little too late - The problem for defenders of the Union is that every time they raise their game, Alex Salmond will say they’re panicking - 8th September
 * Carswell’s defection was a nightmare for Cameron but disaffected Tories would be wise to stay put - For any Eurosceptic MP, Cameron's original offer is still their best bet - 2nd September
 * Obama and Cameron’s response to the nightmare of Iraq is an incoherent mess - But after all the mistakes of 2003, are our Western leaders right to be so hesitant? - 12th August
 * Wanted: a leader with the strength to withstand criticism from the media - Must also have a background in epic political battles, and a nose for PR. Does this sound like Ed Miliband? - 29th July
 * David Cameron will lose the battle of ideas if he keeps firing 1979's bullets - Even with a growing economy, the Tories still trail Labour at the polls. Thatcherite thinking just won't cut at the 2015 election - 28th July
 * The intensity of the adulation for Blair ought to concern Labour’s ‘new’ man - They cheer for Blair because he is not Miliband, who they fear will lead their party to defeat - 22nd July
 * After the reshuffle, the Tory front bench is about to become more feminine - But it will take more than symbolism to win next election - 15th July
 * Nothing Cameron could have done would have changed outcome in Europe - And a referendum won’t make the issue go away - 1st July
 * Of course Blair won’t say Iraq was a mistake - In following Bush he was only continuing the same strategy that got him elected - 17th June
 * Trojan Horse squabble masks a major flaw in Tory policy – how can we shrink the state and maintain standards? - If Gove seeks uniform standards he needs to establish a structure that provides them - 10th June
 * The public thinks MPs are on another planet – so why stop John Bercow trying to bring them back to earth? - He is the first Speaker in the modern era to be a substantial reformer, and some of the traditionalists are uneasy - 3rd June
 * What now for Cameron, Miliband and Clegg? After a poor election, each party leader has an acute identity crisis to face - Cameron’s party will not tolerate a repeat of his Blair-like attempt at a public identity - 27th May
 * The real surprise is that Ukip did not do better - Now we can discern the haziest outlines of the next 12 months - 24th May
 * Local election results 2014: Hatred of elected politicians has led to this outcome - 23rd May
 * Faragemania simply cannot last - these European elections will be the crest of his power - An ideological vacuum gives space for populist to rise and appeal across the spectrum - 20th May
 * Despite the rifts, the Coalition will stagger on until the election. But can you imagine Cameron and Clegg reunited in the rose garden? - There are Tory MPs aching for a brief period of minority government - 13th May
 * Despite appearances, it’s Miliband, not Farage, who’s breaking with tradition and upsetting the status quo - If voters want more of the same they must choose between Farage and Cameron - 6th May
 * It would help the Tories to lose the 2015 general election - That way they avoid a crisis that could wreck the party - 29th April
 * I’m not a fan of referendums. But giving the public a chance to voice their opinion could be the only way to improve the NHS - No politician is allowed to pledge a penny of extra spending on any cause - 22nd April
 * A Ministry for Complaints might sound like something out of Monty Python, but if it improves public services, bring it on - I am still waiting for a refund I claimed from a train company a year ago - 15th April
 * The theatre of politics is compelling, but Clegg v Farage was dull - It was like watching two sides prepare for this summer's World Cup three years ago, while unsure whether the event would even happen - 8th April
 * Regardless of the result, pro-Unionists need to accept that Scotland has already left the UK behind - Tony Blair’s devolution settlement, intended to be cautious, was the trigger - 1st April
 * When you’re not in government, it’s very easy to argue that there should be ‘power to the people’. But what does it actually mean? - No leader of the opposition can resist the offer to give more power to the voters - 25th March
 * Budget 2014: The Chancellor's mind is on politics as well as economics - But I would be surprised if the Budget alone greatly changes the electoral mood - 20th March
 * In praise of smog: Why the fumes over Paris and Beijing can be secretly, cautiously celebrated - There's a silver lining to these toxic clouds - 18th March
 * By itself, even the most public of scandals won’t fix the police, the banks, the energy companies. It’s time for the sledgehammer - These institutions are behaving like alcoholics who cannot resist another drink - 11th March
 * Britain is responding to the crisis in Ukraine without a coherent foreign policy. And that’s a very good thing - There is no 'Hague doctrine'. Cameron tried out being Blair. He got nowhere - 4th March
 * The Government is more anti-EU than at any time in the last 20 years. So why are Eurosceptics still so gloomy? - Those who insisted Britain must not join the euro have achieved all that they wanted - 25th February
 * Nick Clegg may be batting his eyelashes at Labour, but he won't turn a cold shoulder on the Tories - The key issue in any future negotiations for a coalition is the precise context in which they take place, not Clegg’s politics - 18th February
 * Who’s responsible for the hopeless response to the floods? In typical British fashion, it’s everyone and no one - The governments does not believe in – or is afraid of taking – direct responsibility, but still wants to retain control - 11th February
 * Michael Gove is on a political journey. And people he once took with him – like Sally Morgan – are now being left behind - Gove’s move signals the end of the Tory modernisers’ dream - 4th February
 * Forget the furore over the 50p tax rate. The Tories will regret it if they underestimate the Balls/Miliband team - They’ve fought four elections navigating the hazardous politics of “tax and spend” - 28th January
 * Nick Clegg can’t sack Lord Rennard, and Lord Rennard can’t apologise. It’s just another day of lose-lose politics - The term “sexual harassment” is part of the problem with this saga - 21st January
 * He's not the Education Secretary, he's a very silly boy - Michael Gove's silliness reached a new peak in his comments on the First World War - 7th January



Articles: 2013

 * The Coalition will stay the course, but they won’t be getting the band back together after 2015 - What can Cameron offer Clegg compared to the box of gifts from 2010? - 31st December
 * We love Christmas for the same reason we that love the royal family. They give modern Britain a rare sense of community - For a few days we are all in this together and that’s what matters, even if our upbeat behaviour is irrational - 24th December
 * It’s taken politicians long enough to realise the scale of the housing problem. Now, we must act quickly - Miliband has pledged to build 200,000 new homes a year by the end of the next parliament - 17th December
 * If we truly value democratic politics, then we must say MPs deserve their pay rise - I can understand some of the disillusionment, but too much of it is baseless - 10th December
 * The power of George Osborne is growing by the day - The rise of the Chancellor as such an overwhelmingly dominant figure is new - 3rd December
 * For the state to intervene in the free market would have been anathema to Osborne. How times change - For now, Osborne still has a foot in the old era of state inactivity - 26th November
 * If you want a lesson in how to solve social mobility, try reading Harry Redknapp’s autobiography - John Major’s solution to the problem of social mobility– a grammar school in every town – made matters worse - 19th November
 * What should Ed do? Stand firm on Europe? Or let the people decide? - Whenever Miliband follows his convictions he becomes stronger, not weaker - 5th November
 * HS2: The train now departing... needs to reach its destination - There is in theory a political consensus around this project. Treasure it - 29th October
 * The caring face of Conservatism? Look no further than John Major - The former PM’s ideas offend the ideological souls who currently lead the party - 24th October
 * The police have been exposed over plebgate. Now give Mitchell his job back - It's fortunate that the former Chief Whip recorded his police interview - 18th October
 * Newspapers are ignoring the reality. Our press will still be free - The reaction of some newspaper executives conveys a lofty sense of power - 10th October
 * Cameron responds to Miliband, but still keeps his options open - An opposition leader hasn’t set the agenda in such a challenging way since Thatcher - 3rd October
 * The Conservatives face a battle of ideas and are not sure how to win it - Ed Miliband has laid down an ideological challenge, and voters seem pleased - 1st October
 * Miliband has great strengths – but can he convince the voters in time? - He may not look prime ministerial, but his background gives him more experience of power than Blair, Brown, Cameron, Osborne and Clegg had when they came to office - 23rd September
 * Damian McBride's book details past machinations, but its impact will reverberate through the present - and the future - Brown’s main allies now lead the party. The tension has not died - 21st September
 * Take note, Ed Miliband: Starting a fight doesn’t make you strong - I cannot understand how inciting fury is in itself an act of good leadership -12th September
 * Ed, don’t listen to the advice – shouting louder won’t help you - Miliband is not currently in a strong enough position to spell out his plans - 23rd August
 * Tories heading for victory? Don’t you believe it - The economy will still be fragile by 2015, and Labour have cards to play - 15th August
 * ‘Bongo bongo land’? Ukip’s lunatic fringe has done David Cameron a favour - Defiant as the MEP may be, Godfrey Bloom's comments won't help his party - 8th August
 * If all our politicians play it safe, who’ll be a Tony Benn 30 years from now? - Nick Clegg has started to look miserable at times during Prime Minister’s Questions and wears a tribal yellow tie, but that's about it in terms of political dissent - 2nd August
 * Enjoy this Con-Lib union while it lasts. Come the election it will all be over - Clegg will struggle to get an agreement from his party for a renewal of the partnership - 23rd July
 * Cameron wants to reform the NHS. But it was his government that handed over the levers - The labyrinthine management structures of the NHS and BBC stymie change - 18th July
 * A lesson from the PMQs: Voters are disdainful of politics and will not pay for state funding of parties - Last week it was Ed at bay in PMQs, now it’s Cameron. Both leaders are vulnerable over party funding - 11th july
 * HS2 must not fail. If it does, investment in our future is doomed - In this country a gimmick, like the Olympics, is required to justify spending - 3rd July
 * From rescue to recovery? It’s not as simple as that, George - Labour’s position in relation to spending is more astute than the Chancellor suggests - 27th June
 * Intervention: too much of it abroad, not enough of it at home - The mark of the liberal interventionist is a mix of faith in the state, and scepticism about it - 20th June
 * Prism, Edward Snowden the whistleblower and the frenzy that makes no sense - Freedom of information is all very well, but the act of shining a light on darkness generates a sense of breathless excitement that the documents themselves often lack - 13th June
 * Miliband and Balls look to the past to plan for their future - They are unusual in having experience of shaping policy while working in opposition - 6th June
 * Cameron the new Major? Don’t buy that myth - The current issue for the Conservatives is discordance rather than disunity - 30th May
 * Our British democracy is a presidential system - minus the President - Cameron is only the latest Prime Minister to be in intense trouble, but this new pressure on a single individual makes being presidential almost impossible''] - 22nd May
 * Old Tory scepticism has won, yet Europe still ravages the part - Cameron has little room to manoeuvre as he twists towards the next crisis - 15th May
 * The England we see in the Thatcher funeral coverage bears little relation to the real England - There has been self-generated media excess, disconnected with the level of interest of even the most ardent Conservatives, and we've all been swept along - 18th April
 * The debate about the 80s had moved on. Now Thatcher is dragging us back - There were institutions that Thatcher loathed but which still got away with a lot - 16th April
 * Cameron knows that comparison with Thatcher won’t flatter him - The PM has never established an authentic public voice - and Conservative adulation of Thatcher in the wake of her death casts the Cameron in a poor light - 11th April
 * The mark of her Thatcher's success was how she forced her every enemy to change - She turned the crises of the 1970s to her lasting advantage: that was her genius - 9th April
 * David Miliband’s dignified exit does everyone a favour – including him - Most of what you think you know about the elder brother is wrong. Despite the prevailing orthodoxy, he is neither a Blairite nor the best leader Labour never had - 28th March
 * Boris is leader-in-waiting. He’ll never be leader - Discontent with a current leader creates an irrational sense of hope in an alternative - 26th March
 * Trapped by his own ideology, the Chancellor is lonelier than ever - Cabinet ministers are becoming more assertive, behind the scenes and publicly - 22nd March
 * It looked like the Cabinet would act against instinct on alcohol pricing. What a shame it didn't - The u-turn on this policy will cost lives, and Cameron could have driven it through - 14th March
 * Labour and the Tories both think they'll lose 2015 and they can't both be right - The mood in each camp is downbeat and introspective, but “Sorry we blew it last time" isn't the kind of slogan that wins elections - 12th March
 * Now the Tories see the reality of public-spending cuts - and they don't like it - The bedroom tax in particular is threatening to spin out of control - 7th March
 * As Osborne reels, why is Balls feeling the heat? - There are calls for the shadow Chancellor to be replaced - but Balls is one of the few politicians who has the economic experience to rise to the challenge of a crisis - 5th March
 * Calamitous result for Conservatives as Lib Dems win Eastleigh - The confidence boost for Clegg will lead to more stability at the top of the Coalition - 1st March
 * Everyone's a winner if the Lib Dems win Eastleigh - It has been a closely fought election, yet despite appearances, there is a single outcome in Eastleigh that would suit all three main parties - 28th February
 * The Lord Rennard scandal marks the moment the Lib Dems discovered they are on the big stage - Clegg would not for a second be indifferent to precise allegations, but the response to this media frenzy does expose his party's inexperience - 26th February
 * The lesson from Eastleigh is simple: the Conservative leadership has lost control of the party - A new assertiveness at local level is changing the dynamics of Westminster. Where did it come from, and how should parties react? - 21st February
 * Iraq 10 years on: So you think you know why Blair went to war? - Being seen as Bush’s poodle was much safer than being accused of anti-Americanism - 19th February
 * Ed Miliband’s big speeches raise more questions than they answer. Now is the time for policy - The Labour leader is has an unusual mix of radicalism and caution. The temptation to say little is immense, given his poll lead; but voters will ask what he stands for - 14th February
 * Horsemeat: Regulation doesn’t taste so bad now, does it? - The question is no longer over the FSA’s existence but over whether it is powerful enough - 12th February
 * Stafford Hospital, NHS managers, and why money rather than reform sometimes really is the answer - A confused, simplistic and narrow debate about the true meaning of NHS reform has been exposed by the appalling neglect of patients in this exceptional case - 7th February
 * Gay marriage: No one can stop this social revolution now - but its political impact won't last - Some lives will be improved, a wider signal conveyed about tolerance, but the legalisation of gay marriage will have a negligible effect on the next electio - 4th February
 * Why fixed terms parliaments are a nightmare for leaders and a gift for rebel MPs - Our Chief Political Commentator says that Conservative MPs can plot and stir because the next election is still years away - 31st January
 * HS2 shows that investment is not such a dirty word after all. But how did the Coalition get here? - When the Coalition first came to power, nothing much happened on high-speed rail. So this sudden burst of energy is welcome, even if the impact remains years away - 29th January
 * Cameron's speech on Europe makes it less likely he will be Prime Minister after the next election - His position on Europe means that another coalition with the Lib Dems is impossible. Given the likelihood of another hung parliament, that spells danger for him - 24th January
 * Europe and terror: as Cameron moves onto dangerous terrain, he is lucky to have a Foreign Secretary with experience but no political ambition - Our Chief Political Commentator on the quiet virtue of William Hague - 22nd January
 * Cameron's 'historic' speech proves he's the latest leader to lose control of his party over Europe - It's so out of character for Cameron to take an interest in putting his case to the public, that we must wonder what this sudden bout of speechifying signals - 17th January
 * Let’s see the top civil servants on television - Jeremy Heywood is now with his third successive PM. He and other officials should be held to account - 15th January
 * Nothing in British politics is harder than welfare reform. The dogfight over it is a distraction - Nuanced arguments, such as those of David Miliband, gain less traction than they deserve as the goal of delivering fair, affordable welfare seems as distant as ever - 10th January
 * Forward, say Cameron and Clegg. But to where? - Their confidence belies the fact they are the most trapped governing leaders since those that tried to rule in the late 1970s - 8th January



Articles: 2012

 * Damned and cast out prematurely. No wonder Mitchell is angry - Sometimes in these storms spin doctors can make mistakes - Mitchell's apology, in staged public circumstances, seemed an implicit acceptance of guilt - 20th December
 * The fight for the centre ground between Nick Clegg and David Cameron makes the Coalition fragile - In his latest speech, the Deputy Prime Minister tried to distinguish himself from his Tory boss and rival. But in doing so, he creates tensions that may be his undoing - 18th December
 * Tantric sex similes don't usually turn me on, but I'm still excited about the PM's Europe speech - No one can accuse the Prime Minister of indiscriminately rushing his speech on Europe, but he's taking his time because he has no choice - 13th December
 * On gay marriage, Cameron and Osborne have reached the right decision - for the wrong reason - The Prime Minister and Chancellor deserve credit for embracing a policy that promotes equality. But history shows that acting for strategic reasons only can backfire - 11th December
 * Nothing George Osborne said in his Autumn Statement can disguise how bleak the figures are - The Chancellor has little ammunition to make his case - and there will be a lot of "extending" and "stretching" resources this grim Christmas - 6th December
 * Perhaps George Osborne is indeed a fine political tactician. But is his economic medicine working? - The Chancellor's political antennae have long been regarded as refined. In the Autumn Statement this week, however, it's his economic stewardship that's under scrutiny - 4th December
 * David Cameron's gamble in siding with the press over Leveson's recommendations could backfire - The Prime Minister is trying to have the best of both worlds - or the worst of both - by calling a review and then avoid the awkward consequences - 30th November
 * The idea of an electoral pact with Ukip is crazy. Tories should take on Nigel Farage, not woo him - A broad range of factors has taken the party from the political fringes to a major force. But Cameron knows it would be mad, impracticable, and philosophically incoherent - 27th November
 * However modest they may be, Lord Leveson's proposal will give Cameron a nightmarish dilemma - Either he incurs the wrath of powerful forces within the media, or his Coalition partners, Tory rebels and the Labour Party. Which way will the Prime Minister face? - 22nd November
 * Anyone who believes in Britain's membership of the European Union should stand up and be heard - As ever with Europe, there is an appearance of flux while so much essentially remains the same. When will pro-Europeans start to make their case? - 20th November
 * George Osborne knows President Obama won by blaming a predecessor. That is why the Chancellor will make Gordon Brown central to the next election - Why the recent past is the most dangerously thorny terrain in politics - 15th November
 * BBC scandal: The seeds of disaster lay in a bloated management structure - It's inexcusable that Entwistle didn't know something was up with the Newsnight programme, but why didn't any of the BBC's horde of managers give him a nudge? - 13th November
 * 'Modernisation' is widely misunderstood. But who can doubt Heseltine is the true Tory moderniser? - The former Deputy Prime Minister's weighty report into economic growth is a bold challenge to the laissez-faire orthodoxy which still holds the Tory leadership in thrall - 31st October
 * Will George Osborne dare to be radical when he appoints the next Governor of the Bank of England? - The sheer power of modern Governors makes the Chancellor's decision momentous - which is why senior Liberal Democrats are so determined to have a say in it - 30th October
 * Politicians of all hues want more local democracy. But do any of them know what it actually means? - What should be a glorious era for councils is anything but. For decades, powers have been switched from the local to the centre by those who promise to do the opposite - 25th October
 * Peter Rippon, Jimmy Savile, and why the BBC must learn lessons from a crisis of its own making - There were errors and misjudgements of varying size, and unacceptable passivity. But the idea that this was something more sinister just doesn't stand up - 22nd October
 * For all the fuss over interference, there's nothing in Prince Charles' letters that we don't already know - And what the Prince thinks or does is of little practical importance - 18th October
 * Hopelessly flawed and never quite what they seem - but leaders cling to referendums for comfort - Alex Salmond is reputed to be the greatest political conjuror of recent times. But do his latest manoeuvres prove that the SNP leader has finally run out of tricks? - 16th October
 * His conference speech was statesmanlike, resolute and human. But David Cameron is beset by perils - The Prime Minister looked fresh and unfazed during his conference speech, and he put the Tory case well. But will that be enough to save him? - 11th October
 * Tories ache for a hero and they think it's Boris - Our writer reports from a Conservative party conference where, once again, the base is unhappy with its leader, modernisation and the public sector - 9th October
 * This West Coast rail fiasco reveals a secretive shambles at the heart of the Civil Service - Functioning in the dark, secure in their posts, these servants have been found a hindrance by successive governments. But there is never space for substantial reform - 4th October
 * The birth of One Nation Labour: Ed Miliband's display of style and substance will worry the Tories - Stunningly artful in positioning and projection, this speech by the Labour leader will resonate with many of the Liberal Democrats in government - 3rd October
 * Balls and Miliband know talking about themselves is easy, but policy is hard. At least they've made a start - The ideas Labour leaders have brought to this conference are distinctive, potentially vote-winning and far more important than their own personalities - 2nd October
 * Power has come at a colossal price that Clegg isn't ready to concede - The Deputy PM insisted there is space for "big and bold" projects to boost growth - 27th September
 * What exactly makes the Lib Dems different? - Going into conference the party has two problems: lack of policy impact and ambivalence over the true meaning of localism. Can they be resolved? - 20th September
 * Is this Britain's last Coalition government? - Coalition often works well at local level. But several factors, including the electoral system, may limit how many national ones we get - 18th September
 * Not Ofqual? Not Gove? Is no one responsible for the exam fiasco? - It’s not that ministers wield too much power over our education system – but rather that they don’t wield enough - 13th September
 * An unhappy marriage: union influence may cost Labour election chances - By threatening more strikes union leaders prove they have not adjusted to poorer times - and their selfishness will only push voters away - 11th September
 * Ed and Ed won't split – they know there's too much at stake - There will be no repeat of the Blair/Brown rivalry that still traumatises Labour - 7th September
 * PM shows he has no ability to think outside the box - Reshuffles rarely change the fate of a government. Cameron's first does not challenge the pattern - 5th September
 * It's not the names that matter but the policies - Only two reshuffles in 30 years have made a big difference to the fate of a government - 4th September
 * The stakes are unbearably high for Salmond and Cameron - Were Scotland's First Minister to win the referendum on independence, it would be a devastating blow to the PM's authority - 30th August
 * Don't laugh, politicians deserve pity not ridicule - The comic as swaggering bully making jokes about Cameron being posh, I don't think it's funny any more - 1st August
 * Boris to lead the Tories? It won't happen – and here's why - The lights would not shine so brightly if Boris were to return to national politics - 31st July
 * Time for a new plan or a new Chancellor - Osborne assumed that government had no other role than to get smaller very quickly - 26th July
 * Vince Cable is now a plausible leader-in-waiting - Cable could avert a meltdown in support for his party, and change the dynamics of an election - 24th July
 * Time to explode the myth that the private sector is always better - Ministers still prefer the deceptive swagger of the incompetent entrepreneur - 19th July
 * Time to act on these summer washouts - We need a new approach to public policy for an island that doesn’t get summers, but acts as if it does - 17th July
 * What's in it for us? The question Nick Clegg must ask himself - For Labour this a blissful moment with both Coalition leaders in severe discomfort - 12th July
 * It's now or never for Lords reform – and it looks like never - How long can this continue? All three parties affecting support for reform, but then no reform - 10th July
 * Change is in the air. Labour understands this, Tories don't - Bob Diamond's resignation is the latest vivid sign that the old order is crumbling - 5th July
 * A referendum offer is a poisoned chalice - Cameron cannot avoid pledging a referendum given the intensity of feeling in his party - 3rd July
 * At a time of crisis, we need more experience at the top than this - I look at Cameron and Osborne's erratic policy journey and wonder if they know where they are going - 28th June
 * Cameron is just after a quick hit in the polls - He gives a clue that he is seeking to trap Labour into being the party that stands up for benefit cheats - 26th June
 * Forcing peers to face the voters will make them obey the rules - If Conservatives feel the need to make police chiefs accountable, why not an elected chamber? - 21st June
 * Muddling through may just be our salvation - Greece is the Jeremy Hunt of this crisis–remaining in place in order to protect more important players - 19th June
 * Amid all the evasions, let's not forget who is really in the dock - The question is not why these people worshipped at the altar, but how the altar became so powerful - 14th June
 * What's needed at the BBC is the rigour of the John Birt era - Fortunately, the current chairman, Chris Patten, recognises the BBC's flaws while being a supporter - 12th June
 * Warsi's problem is that her job just doesn't matter enough - Modern parties make it impossible for anyone to be a wholehearted success as chairman - 7th June
 * Our need to belong is powerful – and political - These days of rain-soaked celebration show there is a hunger for community and association - 5th June
 * Call it Plan A, B or C, just give us some growth - Osborne wants to delay popular tax cuts but even the IMF is calling for policies to promote growth - 24th May
 * Michael Gove v Jamie Oliver? It's no contest - Without nationally imposed rules, food standards will become erratic at best - 22nd May
 * Loyalty and unity used to be Tory trademarks - A senior Conservative said about George Osborne, 'We'll kill him.' The metaphor is in regular use - 17th May
 * A ragbag of eye-catching measures worthy of Tony Blair - There is as much chance of agreement on Lords reform as there is of the sun shining in May - 10th May
 * A rescue mission that itself needs rescuing - The biggest challenge arises not from what Cameron and Clegg disagree over but from what they agree on - 8th May
 * Labour (and Ed Miliband) are no longer doomed - The Labour Party is in real contention as an alternative to the Coalition at the next general election - 5th May
 * Which mayoral candidate will improve life in the city? That's all London need ask - I have no doubt the capital would be a better place to live in four years' time if Ken were to win again. - 3rd May
 * This crisis goes beyond integrity. It’s now about accountability - Leveson cannot judge on the relationship between a minister and his special adviser - 1st May
 * Cameron can't easily dismiss the toxic trail to Murdoch's bid - A government has not been this fragile since John Major staggered from crisis to crisis - 26th April
 * The Lords is undemocratic and increasingly silly - Clegg is right to push on. Nearly all opposition is on Machiavellian grounds rather than principle - 24th April
 * It's no accident that the wheels have come off the Government - The problem is not that Cameron does too little but that his government does too much - 19th April
 * The 'anti-politics' vote won't do people any good - Smaller parties are unburdened by such tedious concerns as how to win power - 17th April
 * Bus fares and gas bills are once more deciding who we vote for - We are closer to the 1970s when Wilson won two elections by promising to cut the price of bread - 12th April
 * A chance has opened up for Miliband. But can he take it? - If the Labour leader's ratings were high, he could impose his views. As it is, he has to appease - 5th April
 * There's too little scrutiny of the four top men - In the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s, they make decisions without any experience of power - 3rd April
 * The liberal dilemma - how to rule and stick to your principles - Facing possible terror attacks is more frightening as a PM than from the luxury of Opposition - 29th March
 * Political fundraising is humiliating but party leaders see no option - Partly, this is about the decline of parties. It is cheaper and more fun to tweet or blog than pay a fee - 27th March
 * Same old Tories? That's a message that could start to stick - It will be remembered as the Budget in which the Chancellor cut the top rate of tax for the rich - 22nd March
 * Economically it's a neutral Budget, politically it's radical - How each party moves now will determine their fate. We are in the most important months of this parliament - 20th March
 * Coalition will be harder now for a PM who yearns to be a President - There is nothing quite so intoxicating in its theatricality. Cameron has had a ball in the US - 15th March
 * Gordon Brown is nowhere, yet everywhere - Without acknowledgement from either side, it is Brown's rulebook that persists - 13th March
 * It's easy to talk about fairness – but hard to put into practice - The urgent need for both parties to be seen as 'fair' is a sea change in British politics - 7th March
 * Not every pensioner needs a free train ticket - In essence, universal benefits waste public money by subsidising those who already have enough - 6th March
 * Now we're seeing where the real divisions in the Coalition lie - We are not used to this, cards being played in public so close to a pivotal Budget - 23rd February
 * No U-turn on NHS reform? We're halfway there - There are deep parallels between what is happening now and the poll tax in the late 1980s - 21st February
 * Binge-drinking can go the way of smoking - Cameron's proposals might help ease the pressure on crazily overworked A&E wards on weekend nights - 16th February
 * No one is above the law – and that includes 'The Sun' - Politicians are still in awe of newspapers, fearful of them like children in the playground - 14th February
 * Run the NHS better or scrap it – but give up reforming it - 'Patient choice' is largely a myth, unless we pay for half-empty hospital wards - 9th February
 * Will nobody challenge the Falklands War myths? - Leaders insist on the islands' right to self-determination. Scotland's right to it is less clearly stated - 7th February
 * Cameron isn't a lucky leader, but Miliband is - Miliband's response to events has had more impact than that ofany leader of the opposition in recent times - 2nd February
 * We are in a new era, but bankers haven't noticed - At no point did Hester consider that he already had enough money and so would forgo his bonus - 31st January
 * Politics Elected mayors are a great way to return power to the people - Local government became moribund in the 1980s and has never recovered - 26th January
 * NHS reform should be dropped, before it's too late - Sweeping upheaval is a polite way of expressing the chaos that is being imposed - 24th January
 * Labour deserves oblivion if it listens to the unions on pay - Some unions are threatening to break ties. Miliband should be relaxed about this - 19th January
 * Don't be fooled by the power of false assumptions - As the abuse has grown, Miliband has passed one of the tests of leadership. He has kept calm - 17th January
 * Neither PM nor Salmond can control the ending of this drama - A vote against Scottish independence in a straightforward ballot will not end the story. Referendums never do - 13th January
 * In turbulent times, can the PM go with the flow? - Leaders are slow to move in a time of flux. They look back, then forwards and act in conflicting ways - 10th January
 * PM's big idea is still alive – but is it really that big? - What is striking is the degree to which the idea of the Big Society has shaped Cameron's leadership from the start - 5th January



Articles: 2011

 * Well done Alex and Ed, but David wins by a head - Leaders or aspiring leaders must try to appear overwhelmingly dominant, when mostly they are not - 27th December
 * Are the Lib Dems and Labour testing out their own Coalition? - The sequence of events since the euro veto highlights the battering the Coalition has taken - 22nd December
 * His jokes fall flat, but could Ed have the last laugh? - Like a new band playing a stadium tour, the Labour leader has hits that his indiscriminately belligerent critics ignore - 20th December
 * The man who should speak remains silent - Gordon Brown is the convenient scapegoat, the chosen villain of the entire media and political class - 15th December
 * Nick Clegg must face up to the truth about his Coalition partner - The Prime Minister is the considerate, constructive wrecker of Britain's relationship with Europe - 13th December
 * This sleeping monster could unleash chaos - When the NHS saga reaches its baffling denouement the Government risks losing a reputation for competence - 8th December
 * If everyone wants high speed rail, why is it doomed? - On a project of this scale, momentum is all. Since the election, there has been virtually none - 6th December
 * You can't be Santa or Scrooge, I'm afraid, George - The good news, in the form of capital spending, can't be over-spun without giving the wrong impression - 29th November
 * He'll deny it, but Osborne is backing away from Plan A - If the Tories want to win next time, they need to change their policies, not just their message - 25th November
 * Leaders who are having to learn as they go along - The misjudgement over Northern Rock was the first of many in response to the economic crisis - 18th November
 * Tory or Labour, the time for speaking up for Europe has gone - Both sides now accept that any transfer of powers will require a referendum - 15th November
 * Demanding Theresa May's head on a plate solves nothing - Accountability must widen much further across government to include senior officials - 10th November
 * It's Miliband who captures the mood of the times - There was once an unswerving consensus that we all benefited from a few people getting filthy rich. Not any longer - 8th November
 * Britain is charging towards indiscriminate Euroscepticism at an alarming speed - Britain is farther away from the European Union than at any point since it joined - 29th October
 * Get used to it Mr Cameron, MPs matter again - There are MPs on all sides who think this week's revolt was seismic. I agree - 27th October
 * Sceptics' rage over Europe is a proxy battle - It is less about Europe more about PM's relationship with his parliamentary party - 25th October
 * Eurosceptics are stirring again and there's panic in Downing Street - They have leapt on the new fashion for petitions - 20th October
 * Lobbyists are not as influential as they seem - Most cabinet ministers are relatively weak, soon out of a job or in a new one - 18th October
 * If the Health Secretary won't be accountable, then who will? - The Coalition is coming unstuck through an idea - 13th October
 * Ministerial stability is a good thing - As a leader, Cameron tends to stand by his appointees - 11th October
 * Epic times called for better than this - Who is against good leadership? Cameron sought to play the centrist’s card, reassuring many, challenging few - 6th October
 * Listen for what Osborne didn't say - He has made his call on deficit reduction and is not budging - 4th October
 * Let the battle of ideas commence - Miliband takes a big risk, but external events give him a chance. And there are dangers and problems with PM’s vision - 29th September
 * Miliband takes a brave step to the centre-left... - ... now he needs to find the policies - 28th September
 * Too much pessimism is self-fulfilling - 'Sorry, we screwed up – Vote Labour' is not a winning slogan - 27th September
 * Now Cameron faces a new dilemma - Liberal Democrats will cling to any sign of progress like trophies. This is why the Tory leadership should be worried - 22nd September
 * A party that doesn't realise the power at its disposal - At this stage of the political cycle, Cameron cannot do without the Lib Dems. The Tories have no overall majority, as the fate of the health reforms highlighted - 20th September
 * Clegg has turned disaster on its head - In British politics what is supposed to happen rarely happens - 16th September
 * Bankers are the unions of our time - How to remain a global financial centre while also regulating banks? - 13th September
 * 'Free' schools are illusions of both freedom and choice - Schools are not 'free' because they can't be if government has sense of society - 8th September
 * Darling's book spells danger for Miliband - Voters will pick up a sense that the Labour government fell apart in chaos - 5th September
 * Too much money is as bad for bankers as for footballers - The Premier League brings to life the dangers of lightly regulated sectors where a form of crazed hysteria replaces the disciplines of more effective markets - 1st September
 * The tax wars have just begun - I cannot recall a period since 1992 when the politics of taxation has been so highly charged and potentially divisive - 30th August
 * Cameron must now walk a high wire - The choreography of the riots shows again how ideological ambition clashes with reality when a crisis erupts - 12th August
 * MPs find their voice at last - New Labour wanted a Parliament that caused it not a flicker of concern. Such manoeuvring is impossible now - 4th August
 * History repeats itself in Libya - Why do political leaders stride into the same trap, even having witnessed the fate of those who went before them? - 2nd August
 * Rise of the Tory Romantics - Usually there is only a 'feel-good factor' when the economy is doing well enough to make the electorate feel good about itself - 27th July
 * By any name, Osborne needs a Plan B - No need to pretend that Britain was in a similar situation to Greece last summer - 26th July
 * Cameron's immaturity lies exposed - His errors in this affair are part of a pattern of policy making. They are not fatal but they damage him - 21st July
 * Politicians don't see so much has changed - Power – in the media, the police or politics – must be held to account - 19th July
 * Now we know who runs the country - We need to know a lot more about the activities of bankers, business leaders, civil servants, police, and the media - 14th July
 * Hail the dawn of a healthier democracy - It's a great irony that Murdoch's papers would surely have backed Cameron at the last election even if a chimpanzee had been his press secretary - 9th July
 * Politicians are finally free from Murdoch's tyranny - The choreography was always the same: elected leaders who were neurotically keen to impress the non-elected media titans - 7th July
 * Can the Coalition plan for our future? - Governments commission reports, but when they'e published, nothing happens- 5th July
 * What the Germans can teach us - For Blue Labour Germany is the model with its collaborative labour policies, vocational education and regional banks - 30th June
 * An issue that can no longer be avoided - The bankers still collect their mind-boggling bonuses while relatively low-paid workers take a pay cut - 28th June
 * Suddenly Parliament matters again - The use of the urgent question has made the Commons as relevant as the Today programme and sometimes more so - 23rd June
 * The roads to reform are paved with good intentions - Market-based reforms are not the solution the Coalition's evangelists suggest - 21st June
 * Blair's approval keeps Cameron safe - Whatever the motivation of Blair, the consequences are deep. For Cameron, the glow of approval is like gold dust - 16th June
 * Explosive memos? Calm down, dears - This is an exercise aimed at damaging Ed Balls. Yet, the documents are not incriminating - 11th June
 * The end of the Tories' romantic dream - Romantics are original thinkers driven by ideas, vision and with the courage and guile to follow through with policy - 9th June
 * Out of the media limelight, but obsessed with headlines - In a rather barren field George Osborne is in danger of becoming interesting - 7th June
 * Why cling to the least helpful targets? - As ministers insist they have no time for targets, you cannot move for them in relation to the economy - 2nd June
 * The art of oratory is fast on the way out - No one needs direct contact any more. Politicians thrive by being dull - 31st May
 * Will Cameron's idea of happiness last? - Could 'wellbeing' become as important as the monthly inflation figures? - 24th May
 * Brown's bid to run the IMF deserves a fair hearing - There is evidence that Brown's fiscal stimulus propelled Britain and other countries towards growth - 23rd May
 * Anyone hear what Clarke really said? - The scale of Labour's response was misjudged and revealing about its future positioning in relation to crime - 19th May
 * Lib Dems' troubles may blight the Tories - Suddenly Labour are not alone in questioning Cameron and Osborne - 17th May
 * A privacy law may be the lesser evil - Of course I want to know all about the stars and their affairs, but I do not see why I should have the right to know - 12th May
 * Lansley won't survive the coming surgery - The Government can't let the NHS turn into a quango-administered free-for-all - 10th May
 * It was in Clegg's moment of triumph that the seeds of disaster were sown - The Lib Dems' dream of electoral reform, which seemed so close to realisation, becomes an elusive fantasy - 7th May
 * This referendum is a much bigger moment than it seems - While we await the result, a mountain of significant lessons arises - 5th May
 * Our republican conspiracy of silence - No public figure that governs, or hopes to govern can go near the issue - 21st April
 * Were we duped by those TV debates? - Post-Diana Britain has a primitive side and needs idols. Nick Clegg had 'won' and parts of Britain went bonkers - 14th April
 * Health reforms are the real faultline - For the Lib Dems NHS changes are as important as the war in Iraq - 12th April
 * This loathing of politicians must end - Too quickly, the focus of the public is on the integrity of those involved rather than their fraught calculations - 7th April
 * Has Cameron forgotten about the poll tax? - The danger for revolutionaries is to change course reluctantly - 5th April
 * The Lib Dems irrelevant? Far from it - In important ways, the Tories' partners have been a benevolent force - 31st March
 * Miliband must say where Labour is heading - Miliband and Balls are being urged to apologise for leaving Britain in a mess - 29th March
 * Osborne's triumph of chutzpah, not economics - It was as if we had all fought a successful war under his command, were back from the trenches, and could relax - 24th March
 * Iraq’s shadow hangs over Cameron - So soon after Iraq, Britain is involved in another military venture of uncertain outcome - 19th March
 * It's a poor choice... - ... but I'm voting Yes to voting reform - 17th March
 * The Eds face an open goal, but can they score? - Policy-wise, Miliband/Balls is more complicated than Blair/Brown - 15th March
 * The rise and fall of William Hague - Even close colleagues are questioning whether he's really cut out for power - 10th March
 * Murdoch already has an iron grip on Britain's political culture. And it is getting tighter - Cameron is not alone – Ed Miliband is also not going out of his way to make an enemy of this powerful empire - 4th March
 * Foreign policy lesson No 1...Don't rush - Perhaps due to criticism, Mr Cameron acquired a foreign policy last Monday - 3rd March
 * PM has worst week – and more are to come - Blair used to joke: "This has been my worst week until the next one." - 26th February
 * In the long shadow of the SDP - Party boundaries are under more strain than usual - 24th February
 * In his reforms of public services, Cameron is like Blair on cocaine - Blair's reforms were't thought through - 22nd February
 * The coming 'Yes' vote will be explosive - The anti-politics mood means voters won't reject the chance for change - 17th February
 * No wonder Cameron loves this cause - There are parts of Government more excited about this agenda than any other - 15th February
 * University access for state-school pupils will determine Clegg's legacy - The saga over Nick Clegg and tuition fees reaches a pivotal phase - 10th February
 * Can the Big Society work? - In the first part of a three-day debate, our chief political commentator examines the genesis, development and ultimate misjudgment of a Coalition policy that, he argues, is doomed to fail - 8th February
 * Cuts, control and accountability - The Coalition likes to hail its commitment to redistributing power - 3rd February
 * Egypt is a reminder of the errors that drove the Iraq war - The uprising shows that attempts at regime change can take many forms - 1st February
 * The truth about Osborne and Balls - The Chancellor will insist there is no Plan B until he has to implement one - 27th January
 * The curious indifference of rival papers and politicians - The elected leaders still pay homage to non-elected media owners - 25th January
 * Miliband made a mistake... - ... Now it has been corrected - 21st January
 * The 'heirs to Blair' are nothing like him - His testimony is of historic interest but no current relevance - 20th January
 * A revolution that shows Cameron in his true colours - David Cameron is proving to be a charmingly evasive public figure - 18th January
 * The banks debate has a 1970s parallel - The small state free-marketeers sense something is wrong with the greed of bankers but they do not want to act - 13th January
 * Labour's profligacy is a myth - Cameron, Osborne, and Clegg insisted on an apparently bleak inheritance - 11th January
 * The Tory right's fears can be allayed - What is happening in politics is rarely the same as what is perceived to be happening - 6th January



Articles: 2010

 * Year in Review: Labour'' - Goodbye, Gordon. Hello to an era of opposition - 24th December
 * rise was exaggerated...'' - ... So too has been his demise - 23rd December
 * dangers of shock and awe politics'' - In its first six months the Coalition has accelerated with a dizzier speed than Thatcher in 1979 – and on more fronts - 21st December
 * the power of the instant opinion'' - Rolling comment is as significant a development as rolling news. Indeed its influence is greater - 16th December
 * party this divided can't hold together'' - Those that don't see public spending as sinful will be sorely tested - 14th December
 * expect protests to achieve much'' - The acts of orthodox politics will have prevailed over protest - 9th December
 * Tories win from the student saga'' - If Miliband adopts a graduate tax there will be much internal stirring - 7th December
 * game that had already been decided'' - England's 2018 World Cup bid out in the first round - 3rd December
 * Lack of information isn't the problem'' - The leak is on such a scale the intake of breath is greater - 2nd December
 * cannot rewrite Lib Dem tragedy'' - At the top, the Lib Dems are happy with the policies they've ended up with - 30th November
 * needs to rewrite his homework'' - In its complacent selfishness, the drive for free schools is part of an atomised, reactionary vision - 25th November
 * a risk, Ed – say what you believe'' - He must convey an alternative to the current consensus - 23rd November
 * crazed zeal for inheritance and fame'' - The last Labour government probably contained more closet republicans than any previous administration - 18th November
 * people want Power to the People?'' - No leader is going to seek election on "Less Power to the People" - 9th November
 * the first time in four decades 'Europe' is no longer poisonous'' - Europe nearly killed Labour in the late 1970s. In the 1990s it tore apart the Conservatives - 4th November
 * liberalism is strained'' - "Liberal" is the fashionable word but it invites a thousand interpretations - 2nd November
 * real battle for power has begun'' - Labour voters should recall it's the Tories, not the Lib Dems, who are their main opponents - 28th October
 * as in the '80s, ideology is driving cuts'' - Choices are being made on the basis of how politicians view the state - as benevolent, or stifling - 26th October
 * wealth, welfare and worship'' - Imagine what it must be like if you are a tenant on housing benefit and a fan of Manchester United - 23rd October
 * passed test – for now. His opposite number failed'' - The Chancellor looked as if he was throwing money around when he was being miserably prudent - 21st October
 * dangers that stalk Johnson'' - How can Labour win an election offering tax rises against Conservative tax cuts? - 19th October
 * U-turn that will wreck public trust'' - The Liberal Democrats benefited electorally from their opposition to increases in tuition fees - 14th October
 * won't get his 25 per cent'' - Miliband had a choice of two economists with political guile who could produce their own radical plan. But in choosing Alan Johnson he went for the quiet life - 12th October
 * of politics...'' - ...but where was the economics in George Osborne's speech? - 5th October
 * that expose a Miliband myth'' - In ruthlessly highlighting Labour's mistakes, Ed makes possible a realignment of the centre-left - 30th September
 * been compared to Kinnock, and to Duncan Smith. But what about Thatcher?'' - Today Ed Miliband must explain why his vision of a fairer country does not mark him out as a wild communist, but places him on the political centre ground - 28th September
 * Cable does No 10 a favour'' - The deficit remains the defining issue in British politics - 23rd September
 * silences the doubters – for now'' - Clegg's claims over speed and depth of cuts will be tested over the next few years - 21st September
 * need for distance from the unions'' - The debate about public spending is predictably backward looking - 16th September
 * to a more vibrant Commons'' - MPs now have the power to challenge - and in some cases to stop - proposals from going ahead - 10th September
 * that Coulson must answer'' - A new police investigation into alleged phone-hacking is urgently necessary - 7th September
 * journey that leads to Cameron'' - Blair is wrong about Brown, and about the crisis - 2nd September
 * time to move on from New Labour'' - The tortured triangulation of the mid-1990s is no longer an option - 31st August
 * journey is Labour's problem'' - As a leader he could be engagingly self-deprecating, and yet he extra- polated an entire global phenomenon - 26th August
 * has no room for manoeuvre'' - Clegg's agile positioning in the aftermath of the election is undermined almost fatally by his apparently enthusiastic support for the risky spending cuts that define the Coalition - 24th August
 * debate that turns politics upside down'' - The Lib Dems will never commit to a semi-permanent alliance with the Tories - 29th July
 * Tories are running the show'' - The coalition Government largely acts as a majority Conservative government - 27th July
 * can't go back, can't go forward'' - If it is electorally fatal for aspirant leaders to move a little to the left they might as well give up - 22nd July
 * what if the Big Society doesn't work?'' - It's not all about money, but a lack of resources is why the vision is so limited - 20th July
 * Labour: mad, bad, and dangerous?'' - Running a party from the very top becomes as destructively intense as one in which every member is consulted - 15th July
 * exactly will we hold to account?'' - Cameron and Clegg champion localism. But at the Treasury they worry about letting go of the purse strings - 13th July
 * power of referendums'' - Cameron wonders whether he is leading an historic realignment of the centre and centre-right - 9th July
 * doesn't make up for rabid cuts'' - Cameron doesn't worry about a minor change in the voting system - 6th July
 * breaks free of a failed approach'' - Spending a fortune on incarcerating those who should not be inside is another example of destructive waste - 1st July
 * biggest deficit is democratic'' - Cameron, Osborne and Clegg should have said more in advance about cuts - 29th June
 * beginning of the end of the state'' - Parts of the Budget were astutely judged, but Osborne's debut veered more towards the reactionary, at times dangerously so - 23rd June
 * real purpose of public inquiries'' - There is a deceptive purity about them. But the context of these acts is always multilayered - 17th June
 * deficit slashers are plain wrong'' - Economic hawks act from a dangerous mix of conviction and political calculation - 15th June
 * alone is enough to keep them united'' - The coalition - 12th June
 * leader – a hell of a job'' - The Labour leadership contest is attracting limited media attention and for good reason - 10th June
 * so much progressive as painful'' - Cameron, Osborne and Clegg know how to play the mood music of spending cuts - 8th June
 * time, Parliament can't be ignored'' - Labour had big majorities but this coalition won't be able to take the Commons for granted - 3rd June
 * reform with the Civil Service'' - Normally any minister who ends up in the Cabinet Office pulls levers and discovers nothing happens - 21st May
 * is a sincere and coherent vision for rolling back the state. But will it work?'' - Unity at the very top of the new coalition is secure and genuine whatever happens further below - 19th May
 * tents don't have room for all'' - Cameron and Osborne prefer the choreography of politics to policy details - 18th May
 * politics? Don't you believe it. Old rivalries will soon be back'' - The so-called new politics is the logical extension of Blairism rather than a break from it, with both leaders testing their parties' ideological flexibility - 13th May
 * won't sustain this alliance'' - Cameron has always been a brilliant choreographer, and he will manage the Tory right and Lib Dem left with charm - 12th May
 * resignation that changes everything'' - How characteristic of Gordon to make his departure a game-changer - 11th May
 * political hell is all but over; for his rivals the nightmare's about to begin'' - By next week we could be back to the early 1990s with a right-wing dominated party screaming about Europe, demanding even bigger spending cuts - 6th May
 * of the old politics?'' - Whatever the outcome tomorrow, the dramas of this campaign have created an impetus for change that may prove irresistible - 5th May
 * is just more of the past'' - A break with the past is more likely if Labour's younger generation, less scarred by defeat in the 1980s, can form a relationship of sorts with the Lib Dems and introduce electoral reform - 4th May
 * have these showdowns taught us?'' - There are big lessons to learn about the impact of the leaders' debates - 1st May
 * Democrat leader prevailed over the three legs'' - Before a word was uttered last night a pattern of sorts had formed in the polls - 30th April
 * did Brown make this blunder?'' - In releasing his frustration about an incident that had gone well, he made matters worse. He cannot read political situations any more - 29th April
 * is a conviction opportunist'' - The key to success in opposition is to build a coherent programme - 27th April
 * of the revolution is still premature'' - It is possible that the mould will not be broken. Moulds are hard to break - 24th April
 * gap between them was narrowed, but not reversed'' - Brown cannot spend another week admitting that he lost on style - 23rd April
 * looks ever more like King Lear'' - This is a sweaty, nerve-wracking, gloriously unpredictable election, but there is one constant, unchanging - 21st April
 * had to give – and it has'' - Brown now knows that all the cards are up in the air once more - 20th April
 * is giving us more questions than answers'' - Lib Dem proposals are the most openly redistributive of any of the main parties - 15th April
 * sort of change do voters want?'' - Manifesto shows how the economic crisis has liberated its leadership - 13th April
 * have forgotten how to box clever'' - Labour has fallen into a "tax and spend" trap for the first time since 1992 - 8th April
 * step into the political unknown'' - The day Gordon Brown triggered the most unpredictable election for decades - 7th April
 * I thought the Tories had changed'' - What surprises me is Cameron and Osborne's amateurishness - 30th March
 * was a sparse Budget with a big political message'' - There is a tangible divide: is government part of the problem or part of the solution? - 25th March
 * prepares for his ultimate test'' - He should say: 'Read what I said in December. Thank you and good night' - 23rd March
 * doesn't run Labour – it can't even run itself'' - If we want parties less dependent on outside funding we should pay them with state cash - 18th March
 * only question asked of Nick Clegg'' - What, he is asked, would you do in the event of a hung parliament? - 16th March
 * forward the minister with a scheme'' - Adonis is a role model for future cabinet ministers - 11th March
 * Brown is the great survivor'' - No one can survive as long as the PM without having a few epic strengths - 9th March
 * was in his element buried in detail of policy'' - Gordon Brown's appearance in front of the Iraq Inquiry confirmed what we already knew. Brown supported the war. If he had opposed it, he would have prevented Tony Blair from going ahead - 6th March (Iraq war inquiry)
 * Foot – a combination of idealism and pragmatism'' - He had a capacity for idolatory, but it was not a passive form of hero-worship - 4th March
 * may fuel cynicism, rather than address it'' - Brown worries that his opponents have hours to prepare while he is distracted by his PM duties - 3rd March
 * why the Tory lead is narrowing'' - Policies were not bomb-proofed, and now there are explosions - 2nd March
 * original thinker who realised that the public has lost faith in politicians'' - Purnell moved on from the Blair era, arguing that New Labour was paralysed by caution - 20th February
 * false promise of romantic ideas'' - Practical politicians raise taxpayer money. Romantics just sing along to John Lennon - 18th February
 * won't be so easy to dismiss now'' - Almost everything you think you know about the PM is untrue - 16th February
 * tide has turned, against the Tories'' - Since autumn of 2008, Cameron and Osborne have been less sure-footed - 11th February
 * cheers for the new crying game'' - Blubbing will do Labour no good, but humanising moments have their place - 9th February
 * Liberal Democrats' hour has come round at last'' - At least Clegg knows his voice will be heard when before it would have been drowned out - 4th February
 * Tories have had it easy too long'' - I cannot recall an opposition that has changed its approach to tax/spend so often - 2nd February
 * he may be, but devil lurks in the detail he ignored'' - Blair got to the crux of the matter within minutes of his appearance: "We had taken the decision that Saddam had to be confronted post-September 11th." Who had taken that decision and why? - 30th January
 * Iraq reckoning'' - He had come to regard the removal of dictators as one of his causes - 28th January
 * now or cut later - the election decider'' - Surely this time voters won't be able to say 'they're all the same' - 26th January
 * values have the Tories in a twist'' - What is it about the politics of the family? - 21st January
 * the Tories get top marks? Not yet...'' - Cameron and Gove are trying to bring about a cultural shift in teaching - 19th January
 * mighty Chancellor, weak PM'' - Mandelson, Harman and Alexander are in charge of the election campaign - 12th January
 * daring and a passionate Eurosceptic'' - As far as the Conservatives have changed under the leadership of David Cameron, Steve Hilton is the driving force - 9th January
 * needs a lesson in political warfare'' - Miliband is in that notoriously awkward position, a leader in waiting during a long phase of mutinous plotting against the serving leader - 8th January
 * plot will damage Labour'' - The madness of this move overwhelms the reason - 7th January
 * the first-round winner is... Clegg'' - Both Cameron and Brown are taking him seriously. Finally he is in the game - 5th January



Articles: 2009

 * to keep you going until new year'' - The leaders’ debates will dominate the campaign, but they won’t change much - 24th December
 * of the Year 2009: Brown vs Cameron'' - Locked in deadly combat on Westminster's high wire - 23rd December
 * have all the big beasts gone?'' - Who was your political star of the year? I couldn't say - 22nd December
 * politics of ownership could define the next decade'' - Government realises the issue cannot be busked forever - 17th December
 * truth about the cuts debate'' - The decision to put up taxes again caused angst beyond the Treasury - 15th December
 * has found his sense of humour'' - His proposal produced his first good jokes since becoming Prime Minister - 4th December
 * is following in footsteps of Hague'' - Both sought to modernise their party. In both cases, the results were mixed - 2nd December
 * real reasons why Blair went to war'' - To him, the domestic calculations pointed overwhelmingly in one direction - 27th November
 * on a hung parliament – and the drama that goes with it'' - Labour's 1997 landslide turned out tobeacurse on the Government - 25th November
 * leaders still fear the Holiday Test'' - Blair took his family to Australia in the winter of 1996. Revealingly, no one raised a murmur - 20th November
 * Queen's Speech too far? Not if Labour turns radical'' - Today’s package shows that Labour can still make a positive difference - 18th November
 * should not be everything in Cameron's vision of a modern state'' - I have no doubt that he is genuinely interested in redistributing power - 13th November
 * with a deadly aftertaste'' - MPs are loathed, while those wielding power without responsibility are revered - 3rd November
 * of the main parties has a true policy on Europe'' - The Lisbon treaty is not the end of the debate, it is just the beginning - 30th October
 * is the only man for this job'' - As PM he never tired of Europe even if his pragmatism led him towards Washington - 30th October
 * is a tempting opportunity'' - David Miliband has come to life. During his speech to Labour's conference last month he made a bold defence of the European Union - 27th October
 * will be toughest on the banks?'' - Behind Osborne's speech was an ambivalence shared by the Government - 27th October
 * enemies of democracy are very grateful for this free gift'' - These are unusually febrile times. The BNP could fill a dangerous gap in the market - 22nd October
 * fine example of how not to govern'' - The Balls-Sheerman spat shows the danger of half-hearted reform - 20th October
 * contradictions of Tory localism'' - Osborne wants to cap local government pay whilst saying he wants to give power away - 16th October
 * panel format may allow Griffin to thrive'' - The BBC is right to give airtime to Nick Griffin, but wrong to offer him a place on the panel of Question Time, a format which will almost certainly fail to expose or closely scrutinise the foolishly dangerous views he holds - 14th October
 * isn't corrupt, just mediocre'' - The focus on MPs' integrity is a red herring, as it usually is in British politics - 13th October
 * just how is Cameron going to give power to the people?'' - There's a paradox in aiming to improve services even as the Government does less - 9th October
 * will be one of Cameron's great regrets'' - What is said and done in opposition shapes the contours of power - 6th October
 * are signs of a Labour fightback'' - On one level the Labour conference that ended in Brighton yesterday was a curiously dated affair - 2nd October
 * takes moral high ground in battle for Middle England'' - Mr Brown has always been a moral crusader determined to outmanoeuvre political opponents at any available opportunity - 30th September
 * of panic, despite Operation Fightback'' - Labour is re-writing the rules about how parties are meant to behave in public - 29th September
 * Labour has a strong case to make'' - PM needs to go for the Tories and encourage other ministers to as well - 26th September
 * stumbling on a 'tax and spend' landmine...'' - ... Clegg aims his fire at the Tories - 24th September
 * Lib Dems' real test is after the election'' - Clegg is desperate to be heard, as if it were an end in itself - 22nd September
 * flies when an election looms'' - It is already too late for any party to change tack, let alone replace a leader - 18th September
 * policy is a recipe for disaster'' - Despite everything, and Mandelson's main argument is irrefutable - 15th September
 * should Brown stay or should he go?'' - And does it really matter? - 11th September
 * will the axe fall?'' - It is 'tax and spend' that will decide the next election, as it always does - 8th September
 * cannot stay silent when the media spotlight is upon him'' - Blair advocated first and developed policy second; Brown opts for reverse - 4th September
 * you want reform, pay for it'' - Free-market reforms won't automatically raise standards and save costs - 1st September
 * of these two will lead Labour'' - With Gordon away, Harriet and Peter come out to play - 7th August
 * still pull the levers of power'' - The argument used to justify high salaries and bonuses is absurd - 4th August
 * last thing we need is a televised debate'' - None of the issues would get a look-in; the event would be the only talking point - 31st July
 * Cameron cut with too much severity?'' - He will be attacked as ‘weak’ if he acts pragmatically and sensibly - 28th July
 * falls but Brown is still safe'' - MPs have no energy for insurrection. Some don’t seem to mind if they lose - 25th July
 * farce of constitutional change'' - Opportunities for reform only appear at a parliament's start - 21st July
 * revolution in front of our eyes'' - Brown has gone through a profound sea change on the environment - 17th July
 * grapes and failed politicians'' - The criticisms made of the PM are all conveniently imprecise - 14th July
 * we see this project in our lifetime?'' - At least while the obstinate Adonis is there the project is alive - 13th July
 * trouble when the spin doctor becomes part of the story'' - Coulson is the latest figure to be part of the mad interface between press and politics - 10th July
 * question of power and responsibility'' - David Cameron could become a forensic government reformer - 7th July
 * can tell a lot about a Prime Minister from his U-turns'' - The U-turn is the most vivid and unflattering metaphor in British politics. Leaders are fearful of any association with the image, one that suggests they are weakly, pathetically turning back from their previously declared destination - 2nd July
 * election campaign has begun'' - Yesterday's Queen's Speech was even messier than most - 30th June
 * time people knew how their money was being spent'' - Whoever wins the next election must debate public spending more openly - 26th June
 * man's triumph reveals the Tories' dark side'' - Five myths whirl around the election of John Bercow as Speaker. The false assumptions shed light that extends well beyond a single parochial contest - 24th June
 * how to embolden our MPs'' - We need a separation of the executive and the legislature - 23rd June
 * cloth-eared Prime Minister and a pantomime of disunity'' - Two unrelated sagas from recent days shine more light on Brown's weakness - 19th June
 * I'd vote for Bercow as Speaker'' - The next Speaker should do away with rituals, and tour the country - 16th June
 * has the tone...'' - ... but he still doesn't have the policies - 12th June
 * myths whirling round this crisis'' - Cabinet ministers were not cowardly staying in their jobs - 9th June
 * has become an ungovernable party'' - The name of Gordon Brown's game is now only survival - 6th June
 * No 10's bunker, the gang of three hatch a strategy for survival'' - While ministers and MPs were scattered around the country seeking last-minute support in the European and local elections, Gordon Brown spent much of yesterday in No 10 plotting his survival - 5th June
 * is the most dangerous week in the PM's career'' - Stand by for the most exciting and unpredictable few days in British politics for years - 3rd June
 * things really that bad for Labour?'' - Some Conservatives have doubts over the next election - 2nd June
 * is resigned to a massacre'' - Normally, the opposition would expect to thrive in these circumstances - 30th May
 * may all be victims of this debacle'' - I fear the long-term consequences: rotting schools and useless hospitals - 29th May
 * people's questions deserve big answers'' - Suddenly there is heady talk of a constitutional revolution - 27th May
 * paths to the Speaker's chair'' - John Bercow and Frank Field are mirror images of each other - 26th May
 * we really accept a genuine political revolution?'' - Are they and we up for it? - 22nd May
 * Speaker is doomed - but that is not all'' - His removal would address none of the more awkward fundamental issues - 19th May
 * at a true turning point...'' - ... The future must be fairer. All public institutions are going to have to become much more accountable - 15th May
 * money and the real meaning of modernisation'' - The most ubiquitous and imprecise term in British politics is "modernisation" - 13th May
 * great myth of public service'' - Let us not pretend there is a unique public ethos - 12th May
 * catastrophe that leaves our democracy in crisis'' - The saga over MPs' expenses is the most explosively accessible political story to have erupted for years - 9th May
 * blame it all on Brown...'' - ... His party is in crisis too - 8th May
 * has staked everything on a recovery this winter'' - Alistair Darling yesterday delivered a Budget that was ghoulishly compelling - 23rd April
 * Darling about to offer a third way?'' - The Government wants to prove it can cut without impairing public services - 21st April
 * contempt for politicians is neither daring nor clever'' - An attack on Gordon Brown makes you part of the pack, safely protected - 17th April
 * fiasco may have fatally damaged Gordon Brown’s capacity to take on the Tories'' - Without a clear media strategy in modern politics there is no chance of success - 14th April
 * arresting display of ineptitude'' - The crisis around the Met is due to the blurred lines of accountability - 10th April
 * is preparing for a long battle'' - He detects no sign of deep thinking in the policy-making of the Tory leadership - 7th April
 * Brown credit for some success'' - He wouldn't be human if he did not get a buzz from Obama's glowing words of support - 3rd April
 * words expose weakness of leaders' convictions'' - Do not be deceived by the grandeur of the event or the posturing of participants - 2nd April
 * are angry – and this is very dangerous'' - Britain's MPs aren't corrupt – but too many are plain mediocre and the public mood is turning against all of them - 31st March
 * Brown's G20 boasts go the way of the election that wasn't?'' - For the PM this is the World Cup final and a trip to Mars all rolled into one - 27th March
 * wasn't mistaken – just honest'' - His intervention highlights the danger of Cameron's policy vacuum - 24th March
 * one measure that could make the Tories look serious'' - Scrapping pledge to abolish Inheritance Tax would throw Labour into turmoil - 20th March
 * hung Parliament may hang Tories'' - Dialogue between some Labour MPs and a few Lib Dems is intense and serious - 17th March
 * value for money from government'' - If users could track how their money is spent, minds would be focused in Whitehall - 13th March
 * must look to change from without'' - The decline of the big parties is not a healthy development - 10th March
 * Brown still has one thing in his favour – authenticity'' - The new economic era is a left-of-centre one. Doors are opening that were once untouched - 6th March
 * needs help to save the world'' - On the overwhelming issue of their times, Mr Obama indicated, in general terms at least, that he shared Mr Brown's assessment about the origins of the economic crisis and what needs to be done about it - 4th March
 * leaders intent on mutual benefit'' - If Obama did not rate him, Brown would not be getting star treatment - 3rd March
 * so great about privatisation?'' - The Royal Mail could benefit from outside expertise without having to be sold off - 27th February
 * probably know everything already'' - Two separate questions merge awkwardly in the row over cabinet discussions or the lack of them in the build-up to war. The first is the most fundamental. Was the Cabinet informed in detail about the build-up to war and its legality? - 25th February
 * last, some healthy rows in cabinet'' - Differences within Government means normal politics has returned - 24th February
 * this is a leadership contest, where are the real leaders?'' - All of the possible successors to Brown are testing the water - 20th February
 * regulation was purely optional'' - Why didn't Gordon Brown realise banks were losing control? - 13th February
 * vilify the bankers but don't act'' - Political leaders are fearful of coming up with precise policies - 10th February
 * should follow Obama's lead'' - In contrast to the self confidence of Obama, the Prime Minister is trapped by the past - 7th February
 * is too early to anoint Cameron'' - The Tory leader is not distinct enough to count on victory - 3rd February
 * every party is in favour of a high-speed line'' - Does it signal a cultural breakthrough which would bring Britain in line with Europe? - 30th January
 * remains trapped by his past'' - After the carnage in Iraq and collapse in the markets, Labour struggles for definition - 27th January
 * what does 'progressive' mean?'' - In claiming the mantle, Cameron has astutely seized terrain vacated by the Government - 23rd January
 * the bullet and nationalise the banks'' - The Prime Minister is the equivalent of a doctor asked to save the same life several times. At first the relatives are grateful but then they wonder why his services are required so often - 20th January
 * Heathrow decision is not only wrong but unnecessary'' - Better trains should be the priority - 16th January
 * takes bravery to break class barriers'' - Despite proclamations of courage, this Government is not famous for boldness - 13th January
 * Darling's blank-cheque dilemma'' - How does the Government keep its distance while putting pressure on banks? - 9th January
 * dividing lines between the parties remain blurred'' - So will the Tories fall into the tax-cut trap once again? - 6th January



Articles: 2008

 * should base his policies on Clegg'' - Clegg has supported a stimulus, but not the Government's version - 23rd December 2008
 * taken a crisis for Labour to rediscover its unity'' - To the amazement of his listeners, Brown said 'Mandelson gets it. He gets globalisation' - 19th December 2008
 * out for the real crunch – it will be in the public services'' - From welfare to the health service, expectations rise as budgets tighten - 12th December 2008
 * mountain out of a Martin molehill'' - Everyone hails 'parliamentary privilege' but no one agrees what it is - 9th December 2008
 * Green will soon be forgotten'' - Cameron’s speech, though good, was upstaged by Brown’s mortgage coup - 4th December 2008
 * is accountable for the police?'' - Why was Damian Green arrested with such spectacular insensitivity? - 2nd December 2008
 * did you do in the war, Gordon?'' - The Government may get the blame. But it may not be that simple - 28th November 2008
 * last – Brown is forced to be bold'' - It's taken a recession for Brown to be candid about what it takes to make a fairer society - 25th November 2008
 * on the edge of the economic precipice'' - The Prime Minister shows again that he is a sharp reader of dance-floor moves - 21st November 2008
 * changes tack'' - The recession has forced Cameron to revive the failed policies of old - 19th November 2008
 * is not to be underestimated'' - The shadow Chancellor continues to display tactical insight - 18th November 2008
 * shameful political point-scoring over Baby P'' - A whiff of panic from Downing Street, then a swift announcement of yet another inquiry - 15th November 2008
 * this is pure fiction, we've lived it for a decade'' - Hare claims that his play is pure fiction and yet one that draws on public events - 12th November 2008
 * battle of ideas will win the election'' - Cameron needs to decide where this crisis leaves his party - 11th November 2008
 * - The Bruce Forsyth of British politics'' - From being written off, Gordon Brown shows an extraordinary capacity to keep going - 8th November 2008
 * our relationship with the US about to become special again?'' - Obama has a chance to make waves almost immediately - 7th November 2008
 * Darling, the master of contortion'' - Labour is busking its approach to policy-making. So where are its values? - 31st October 2008
 * this rate, it won't be long before we're joining the euro'' - Cracks are appearing in relations between the Government and the Bank of England - 28th October 2008
 * bred by party breakdown'' - Osborne's freedom to make complacent misjudgements has damaged his standing - 24th October 2008
 * profligacy of Labour is a Tory myth'' - There's a version of events that ignores entirely the dire quality of life up to 2001 - 21st October 2008
 * hard lesson for the Tories to learn'' - Cameron has struggled to come up with a clear line over this crisis - 17th october 2008
 * warned us that markets fail'' - Virtually alone, Brown was never uncritically in awe of the marketplace - 14th October 2008
 * took his time – but he has ushered a new age'' - An era has ended. The orthodoxy originating in the 1980s is broken - 9th October 2008
 * proves to be no pushover'' - He has no choice other than to wriggle, but he wriggles with aplomb - 7th October 2008
 * talks tough. But can he turn his words into action?'' - 2nd October 2008
 * the Tories want power, they'll have to get their sums right'' - 30th September 2008
 * toxic air around Number 10'' - Even those who are loyal to Mr Brown are critical of the Downing Street operation - 26th September 2008
 * of Brown's best, but history was not made'' - 24th September 2008
 * dream or to despair? Labour just can't decide'' - A whiff of excitement punctuates the otherwise depressed mood of conference - 23rd September 2008
 * Clegg has mastered the tactics, but not the detail'' - The Liberal Democrat leader looks comfortable, much more so than any of his immediate predecessors - 18th September 2008
 * without a real cause (except a change of leader)'' - Even if Brown gets a rapturous reception in the hall after his conference speech, he is not safe - 16th September 2008
 * are all 'progressive' these days'' - Voters should stand back from this wily imprecision. The looseness of the term disguises vital differences - 12th September 2008
 * rules have changed. But have our politicians noticed?'' - The changed assumptions that lie behind government intervention are challenging the orthodoxy that has shaped economic and social policy here and in the United States for nearly three decades - 9th September 2008
 * plotters still offer no plausible vision of life after Brown'' - Charles Clarke has done the easy bit. His article in the New Statesman is a cogent analysis of the hole that Labour is in. But Mr Clarke is not a political columnist making an assessment of the current gloomy prospects for Labour. He is a player seeking the removal of Gordon Brown.- - 5th September 2008
 * reckless and a shadow of his former self'' - As a chancellor, Gordon Brown was ferociously disciplined and nimble-footed in his preparation and presentation of policies. In his Prime Ministerial role he has become clumsy and reckless, as if he has metamorphosed from a gymnast going for gold to one of the more desperate contestants on Strictly Come Dancing - 4th September 2008
 * not treachery, drives Brown's ministers'' - 2nd September 2008
 * Lessons from the focus group on the ocean waves'' - I spent part of my August holiday with more than a thousand floating voters - 26th August 2008
 * Tories are learning from Blair'' - 21st August 2008
 * The lesson of the Olympics: public spending is a winner'' - 19th August 2008
 * Miliband may well have sealed Brown's fate - The Foreign Secretary has proved he has a ruthless streak, one that can change the political landscape - Thursday 31st July 2008
 * Gordon Brown is down (but not out) - The Labour Party is divided over its leader – but a contest could play into the hands of the Tories - Tuesday, 29th July 2008
 * A change of leader won't save Labour - It has to reinvent itself as a vibrant party when its self-confidence is non-existent - Saturday, 26th July 2008
 * Here are a few items for Gordon Brown to put on his holiday 'to do' list... - Thursday, 24th July 2008
 * A big step forward on the path to welfare reform, but there is difficult terrain ahead - Welfare ministers move on as quickly in this government as transport ministers - Tuesday, 22nd July 2008
 * The polls are poor, the news is bad. Is there any way back for Gordon Brown? - He knows that the 10p tax fiasco has blown his reputation for economic competence - Tuesday, 15th July 2008
 * Whatever happens in Glasgow East, it's not going to be the end of Gordon Brown - Thursday, 10th July 2008
 * It is so easy to criticise politicians. But look what happens when amateurs take over - Tuesday, 8th July 2008
 * Our public services won't improve until there's a proper debate about taxation - Thursday, 3rd July 2008
 * The abiding lesson of the NHS is that people still look to the state in their hour of need - Gordon Brown, unlike Tony Blair, has the courage to put the case for governmentintervention - Tuesday, 1st July 2008
 * Gordon Brown is like a conjuror whose tricks don't seem to work any more - Since taking office, the PM has ended up on the wrong side of almost every chosen argument - Tuesday, 24th June 2008
 * The Tories want to deliver improved public services. But does their approach add up? - Thursday, 19th June 2008
 * Don't be fooled – these 'heroic campaigns' only make our democracy even more fragile - Our leaders at Westminster are so in touch with voters that they are fearful of their own convictions - Tuesday, 17th June 2008
 * The first piece of good fortune for Gordon Brown - Friday, 13th June 2008
 * He had one chance to take risks. But Brown has wasted it with this macho posturing - Thursday, 12th June 2008
 * Politicians may be deeply flawed, but look what happens when they hand over power - Mervyn King is likely to be in his post longer than Brown or Darling. This gives him more freedom - Tuesday, 10th June 2008
 * If only we could see such audacity of hope - Thursday, 5th June 2008
 * Advice is useless – Brown is condemned to swerve and scheme like Harold Wilson - The PM should be under no illusion about the degree of hostility he has provoked on his own side - Tuesday, 3rd June 2008
 * New life and new voices must be brought into politics. And that means electoral reform - Thursday, 29th May 2008
 * It's the crisis of identity that needs to be addressed – not a change of leadership - Since Brown's self-confidence collapsed, he has clung to the comfort zone of populist Blairism - Tuesday, 27th May 2008
 * It was not wrong to attack Tory 'toffs'. But Labour was so clumsy, they have blown it - Thursday, 22nd May 2008
 * David Cameron has some lofty aspirations, but there is one big problem with them - Magic is not enough. Public services cannot be improved without sustained investment - Tuesday, 20th May 2008
 * Gordon Brown has found problems will only erupt by remaining silent about tax policies - There is no longer the scope to raise money to pay for what voters fear is a big black hole - Tuesday, 13th May 2008
 * The last thing Gordon Brown needs now is a referendum on Scottish independence - Thursday, 8th May 2008
 * There is still time for Gordon Brown to save the day – if he can learn to trust his instincts - He should state more clearly what drives him, and implement the policies he cares about - Tuesday, 6th May 2008
 * A tidal wave is sweeping over Labour - The party is desperate. Voters fume. And a bad situation can only get worse - Saturday, 3rd May 2008
 * The spectre of national politics looms large, but this is not a vote for Cameron or Brown - Thursday, 1st May 2008
 * Gordon Brown cannot stand alone in the storm – he needs his cabinet stars to shine - If Labour were to lose an election, there is no one capable of becoming an effective leader - Tuesday, 29th April 2008
 * The clash between Gordon Brown and his MPs was never quite what it seemed - Thursday, 24th April 2008
 * Boris or Ken? There is no doubt who would be better for London and the rest of Britain - Thursday, 10th April 2008
 * If you want to understand politics, just examine the explosive education debate - Mr Balls is accused of being a Stalinist for enforcing a law supported by the Conservatives - Tuesday, 8th April 2008
 * Whatever his financial arrangements, Ahern's real legacy is the peace process - Thursday, 3rd April 2008
 * Another journey along the third way threatens to end in a terrible crash - Like Blair, Brown uses legislation because of its symbolic value, as if parliament were a newsroom - Tuesday, 1st April 2008
 * Overwhelming and still underestimated factors propelled Blair into war in Iraq - Thursday, 27th March 2008
 * Electoral reform could be just what Brown needs. But if he is to act, he must do it soon - If Labour is to retain power, it will have to turn round its fortunes without help from the economy - Tuesday, 25th March 2008
 * Public scrutiny of the intelligence services can only improve the quality of their work - Thursday, 20th March 2008
 * Labour needs to find a new narrative. And the Conservatives must stick to their story - Cameron has the protective shield of high poll ratings to resist another tax-cutting trap - Tuesday, 18th March 2008
 * A dull Budget but one that sets out the political battle lines of the next election - Thursday, 13th March 2008
 * Clegg could be an engaging and effective leader. But how much does that matter? - Leaders of the Lib Dems come and go. The dilemma remains the same - Tuesday, 11th March 2008
 * The retreat from road pricing is a classic case of a necessary policy killed by cowardice - Thursday, 6th March 2008
 * Referendums are crude, cynical devices that have nothing to do with the will of the people - The offer of a referendum at a later date is made in order to postpone an awkward debate - Tuesday, 4th March 2008
 * The shadow of Mrs Thatcher still hangs heavy over the party of David Cameron - Thursday, 28th February 2008
 * Don't let a row over the Speaker obscure the value of what takes place in the Commons - The House is still the scene of electric moments – when politics changes in front of our eyes - Tuesday, 26th February 2008
 * British politics will never be the same again - Tuesday, 19th February 2008
 * Chancellor has lost control, but it is the Tories who are isolated - Monday, 18th Febuary 2008
 * If the Tories are serious about power, they must resist these siren calls for tax cuts - Thursday, 14th February 2008
 * Brown has mapped out his recovery plan – but will the voters be ready to listen? - While the PM is not opposed to the private sector, he dares to put the case for government - Tuesday, 12th February 2008
 * Our security services lack all scrutiny - Thursday, 7th February 2008
 * Why Alan Johnson's letter could deliver the next election to Labour – or to the Tories - The inaccessibility of well-rewarded GPs has become a potentially fatal symbol for the government - Tuesday, 5th February 2008
 * This latest scandal should provoke a debate about the role – and financing – of politicians - Thursday, 31st January 2008
 * The Tories are asking the right questions, even if they are uncertain of the answers - In policy terms, they plan to give more power to local government, although the extent is unclear - Tuesday, 29th January 2008
 * He injected life into politics and was a force for good. But Hain should have gone weeks ago - Friday, 25th January 2008
 * Ken Livingstone has been a great mayor of London. If only he had some more power - Thursday, 24th January 2008
 * Europe still has the power to shape British politics, even if the public has lost interest - Tuesday, 22nd January 2008
 * If Brown is dithering over Northern Rock, it is because of his fear of 'nationalisation' - Thursday, 17th January 2008
 * Every party wants local decision-making, but none of them is clear how to do it - The attempt to find answers caused more rows between Blair and Brown than any other issue - Tuesday, 15th January 2008
 * Hain's passion for the job may be his downfall - Saturday, 12th January 2008
 * Unless Brown breaks free from the shackles of his past, he will never engage with voters - Every public word was carefully rehearsed, every phrase analysed intensively before delivery - Tuesday, 8th January 2008



Journals:

 * No regular column



Articles: 2017

 * The hidden threat of a liberal centre-ground moderniser - These terms are ubiquitous and, given that David Cameron, Tony Blair and George Osborne sign up to the description, now dangerously misleading too - 17th April
 * Is Theresa May up to the job of prime minister? Here’s how to tell - Like others who have gone before her, even if the prime minister is on most counts doing well, the seeds of her downfall may lie in her rise to power - 14th February
 * Labour’s Brexit chaos is now so exposed it threatens to tear the party apart - Splits over Europe go back decades but past leaders had the skills to paper over the cracks - 26th January
 * Another referendum? Yes, but this time on the NHS - Fraught and costly, health and social care must be isolated from the hysteria of general elections - 3rd January



Articles: 2016

 * Take back control – the slogan the left should make its own - The right seized power with that ingenious mantra, but the true beneficiaries aren’t ordinary people. The real winner is the state - 20th December
 * Don’t despair – devolution offers Labour a chance - If the party is to take back power, it’ll happen by opposing government locally, not from Westminster - 22nd August
 * Brexit, Trump: the trouble with claiming we’re in a post-truth era - It’s not just political outsiders who tell lies. Mainstream parties aren’t always able to be honest with voters either - 11th August
 * It’s the new big thing in politics - the old-style public meeting - Labour’s battleground is live events, where crowds are demanding and MPs can’t hide behind a tweet - 3rd August
 * Labour’s rebels, unable to get their act together, are part of the problem - Their uncoordinated attempts to oust Jeremy Corbyn have led to an ongoing feud and, in Owen Smith, a candidate few have heard of - 23rd July
 * Why did Tony Blair go to war in Iraq? That’s not even the right question - Critics call him a liar; fans say he was a crusader – but both theories imply an implausible character shift - 5th July
 * Jeremy Corbyn must be true to his party on the EU, if not to himself - The Labour leader can attract doubters to the case for remain, but he must look like he believes it himself - 10th June
 * Labour’s antisemitism row may be drama, but it’s no crisis - Never-ending headlines about Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone are damaging, but this is hysteria based on flimsy evidence - 2nd May
 * The Tories’ divide over Europe could yet destroy the cabinet - David Cameron’s judgment is under attack from his closest colleagues. He has lit a fire that will rage well beyond the referendum - 4th March
 * The party leaders can’t even pretend they are in charge - Neither Jeremy Corbyn nor David Cameron can overcome the schisms that are now tearing their parties apart - 5th January

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Articles: 2015

 * Yes or no? In or out? It’s not just the phrasing of the EU vote that’s a mess - The fact that David Cameron hadn’t thought the wording of the question through should worry those who want to stay in the European Union - 6th September
 * Labour’s next leader should look to David Cameron, not Tony Blair - For lessons on how to lead a doomed party to power while sticking to your guns, Labour’s hopefuls should study the Tories in 2005 rather than Labour in 1994 - 1st June
 * Election 2015: Finally, the gloves are off - It’s taken a while, but now Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories are socking it to each other. Voters can no longer say they’re all the same
 * What happens if nobody wins the UK election? 1974 is a warning - The parallels are striking. And so are the lessons from the year when voters had to go to the polls twice - 6th February

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Articles: 2014

 * The politicians seeking power in the 2015 election have never been so powerless - The great Scottish giveaway is just the latest surrendering of power. No wonder the prime minister feels impotent - 19th December
 * Awkward no more: how Gordon Brown found his voice - The former PM’s authentic passion for the union could well be a game-changer in the Scottish referendum vote - 18th September
 * John Bercow is right to fight for a more modern House of Commons - The choice of an external candidate for the role of chief clerk is the speaker's latest battle to rejuvenate parliament - 20th August
 * The reason voters feel powerless: because it's the truth - With no accountability in the NHS, schools or transport, people can only fume impotently. Britain needs to be put together again - 18th June
 * Liberal Democrat discipline is gone, and the convulsions will deepen - Nick Clegg may have dodged Oakeshott's bullet but the party is still trapped and heading for slaughter - 29th May
 * The Jo Shuter saga shows that even heroes need scrutiny - The swindling super-head has demonstrated the folly of giving local leaders freedom over their budgets - 15th May
 * David Cameron and Ed Miliband don't matter as much as they think - Both leaders are hiring Barack Obama aides for the 2015 election, but Britain will be voting for a party, not a president or a personality - 23rd April
 * Ed Miliband will shift power from London – but there's a catch - The Labour leader is offering more responsibilities to councils but only if they pass his tough tests - 9th April
 * It's no wonder David Cameron has alienated the church - Though Cameron used a centrist strategy to win power, his policies have never been anything other than Thatcherite - 21st February
 * On one thing about the NHS, Jeremy Hunt is right - The health secretary isn't meddling. He must be accountable to the taxpayers who fund the NHS - 3rd January

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Articles: 2013

 * Ed Miliband is at his strongest when he defies convention - The Labour's leader oscillating fortunes this year show us that when he was distinctive he almost ruled the country - 29th December
 * Autumn Statement analysis: The Tories could fight an election tomorrow. Not so, Labour... - The Labour leadership needs to add detail to its alternative journey - 6th December
 * Politics is too valuable to be paid for by union barons, fat cats or Methodist ministers. It should be state funded - The spotlight is now on Labour's money from the Co-op, but the whole system needs to be reviewed - 25th November
 * Is election 2015 worth the wait? You'd better believe it - Fixed-term parliaments have changed the political rhythms in crazy and dangerous ways, but it's a reform that will last - 2nd November
 * Blairites don't really exist - The term is applied to politicians across the spectrum, but suits none of them – not even Tony Blair - 9th October
 * Ed Miliband's tormentors ignore the constraints of leadership - His critics show a wilful misunderstanding of what it means to lead the opposition and the responsibilities it brings - 7th September
 * For a fragile leader like Cameron, the past can be a treacherous guide - Cameron's contortion over Syria reminds us of his inexperience. But he is further constrained by a fundamental change in attitudes to conflict - 31st August
 * Scotland is going it alone – regardless of the referendum - There may be no divorce, but devolution combined with a rightwing Westminster government is moving our nations in separate directions - 24th August
 * Labour’s problem is its lack of artistry - Successful opposition requires substance, principle, guile and timing - Financial Times - 13th August
 * Referendum-talk is cheap. Campaigning's the hard part - Direct democracy is alien to our system. Which is why, as with AV, and now in Scotland, we can't seem to get it off the ground - 5th August
 * To emulate Blair, Ed Miliband will have to stop imitating him - Labour's leader is brave and principled – but falls down as a future prime minister in the public projection of personality - 25th July
 * Both Labour and the Tories think they're going to lose the next election. Maybe they're both right - The parties are in the grip of pessimism about their election hopes – such negativity can be self-fulfilling - 15th June
 * Cameron had the chance to defy the 'swivel-eyed loons' and remake his party. He failed - This week he's been exposed. There was little thinking on what modern Conservatism might be like. Now he can only busk it - 20th May
 * David Cameron should beware the referendum trap - History shows that referendums tend to ruin rather than unify political parties – and have little to do with genuine people power - 14th May
 * Tories are hurting from a rush into coalition - Cameron should have formed a minority administration in 2010 and fought a second election that autumn - The Times - 10th May
 * Reheating Thatcherism won’t save Cameron - Conservatives should look to Heseltine for a sensible — and vote-winning — attitude to the role of government - The Times - 25th April

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News & updates:

 * From Westminster to the West End: Steve Richards' mission to put politics centre stage at Edinburgh Festival. The political journalist takes his one-man show Rock N Roll Politics to the Fringe, The Independent, 3rd August 2013
 * Rock and Roll Politics. Like Question Time without the annoying tub-thumping, Steve Richard's stand-up debut. The Independent, 10th August 2012

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References:
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Links:

 * New Statesman: articles (archive)
 * Wikipedia bio