Robert Shrimsley

The UK chancellor and PM Keir Starmer need to dispense with the excessive caution of opposition

The party’s recent record shows that Badenoch’s ascent to leadership favourite is no accident

Amid unfunny stereotypes, these portrayals of neurotic families contain some uncomfortable truths

Badenoch’s attack on an overweening state seeks to imitate Thatcher’s case against the overmighty trade unions

Labour ministers find that their newly active government stands on atrophying limbs

It’s definitely, maybe unacceptable to go on about it

Reform UK poses a real threat on the radical right but an improving economy and sense of hope is the best defence

After the Conservatives returned to power in 2010, the new chancellor developed a simple but brutal political strategy. In every speech or interview George Osborne blamed Labour for the financial crisis, the UK’s subsequent economic plight and the austerity he argued it necessitated. You can debate its honesty, but the tactic was highly effective. The Tories remorselessly and successfully prosecuted a case against their predecessors for more than a decade. Barring the most extraordinary shock,…

There is still a choice, but you have to be ruthless. Only total indifference will do

And he that rolleth a stone. As Tories stare into the electoral abyss, facing dissent, doom-laden opinion polls and now the return of Nigel Farage as leader of the nativist Reform UK to further drain their support, the more reflective among them will be forced to acknowledge a simple truth. The Conservative party has become the last casualty of Brexit. Do not misunderstand me. The Conservatives are not in their current hole specifically because of the policy itself. Since the last election, the…