One of the most important things to understand about British politics and how it’s conceived and covered is that the churn on the political side is much faster than in journalism. Look at any of the people either on the political stage or who assist in the wings; with very few exceptions you’ll find the cast has changed several times over as electoral cycles come and go. Their audience, or rather the critics in the media, tend to be more unchanging: in newspapers and broadcasting, careers are longer. This is one of the reasons the framing of politics is often repetitive, even when events are not. Though history can be a guide, it does not provide an exhaustive list of how ...

Update: Steve Scalise, the Republican party's nominee for house speaker, announced on 12 October that he was withdrawing from the race after failing to secure enough support, leaving the lower chamber of congress leaderless and the Republican party in disarray. WASHINGTON – There is no good time for the US House of Representatives to be without a Speaker. No legislation can be passed, no spending bills approved, and one of the main branches of government is effectively paralysed. But with Israel – a major US ally – now at war, another war still raging in Europe, and less than 40 days to fund the US government, the absence of a functioning Congress is particularly glaring. Joe Biden has been unequivocal in his ...

No one expected it. Between 6am and 7am on Saturday 7 October, as the Jewish High Holy Day period was nearly drawing to a close, rocket alert sirens sounded in south and central Israel. Armed militants from the Gaza Strip had entered Israel by land, sea and air. Under a barrage of thousands of rockets, hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants attacked army outposts, towns and small communities. They entered homes, murdered civilians and took dozens of others hostage, young and old. Footage of atrocities recorded by the militants started to circulate on social media. In a state grimly accustomed to periodic fighting between the Israeli army, Hamas (Gaza’s Islamist militant rulers) and other militant factions, the scale and ...

In the UK, the Conservative Party normally wins elections. This fundamental truth is the key to understanding Labour’s enduring caution. The Tories have had nearly as many prime ministers in the last 13 years (five) as their rival has had in its entire history (six). After Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Keir Starmer was always destined to appear a more conservative figure. He has unashamedly junked many of the policies that defined his failed predecessor: renationalisation of the public utilities, abolition of university tuition fees, higher income tax for top earners. “Corbynism in a suit” was merely a ruthlessly effective strategy to win the 2020 leadership election. But this breach has often masked areas of continuity. For fear of alienating voters and business leaders, ...

It’s been an odd conference season. As a cheerful public affairs staffer, who has attended both party conferences for many years, put it to me last night in a crammed cocktail bar in Liverpool: “Manchester felt like the conference of a party in opposition – this feels like the conference of a party in government.” The vibe at this year’s annual Labour gathering has been that it is only a matter of time. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve heard in queues for events (and the queues have been sizeable) giddily referring to members of Keir Starmer’s top team by their presumed future titles: the health secretary, the education secretary, the first female chancellor. No one has accidentally ...

There was little pressure on Keir Starmer to perform in his speech today. The past three days at the Labour conference have been controversy-free. Message discipline has been tight. Most voters are focused on the conflict in Israel. The chaos at the Conservative conference in Manchester last week set the bar low. But this is Starmer’s Labour Party and people wanted to hear him speak. Queues ran down both sides of the exhibition hall and out the room beforehand. Stewards herded the pliant crowd as if we were hurriedly boarding a cruise – or a lifeboat. Phone signal crashed. As we waited, Keir’s university friend told us he was a “regular” guy on the rectangular screen overhead. A photo album followed: ...

I have a theory that the secret to a brilliant speech is to speak through the applause. Waiting for the clapping to die out deflates the room; driving on builds momentum. That is what Barack Obama did to great effect during his speech at the 2004 Democratic Party conference. That speech made many in his party start to believe he could be the next Democratic presidential nominee. Rachel Reeves used the same trick yesterday. Her performance increased the likelihood that she succeeds Keir Starmer as Labour leader. This was the best speech of her career so far (assuming her presentations at the Bank of England and HBOS bank lacked panache). She spoke with a seriousness and conviction incomparable to any single ...

It seems nothing can puncture the aura of message discipline at the Labour Party conference this year – not even a recent demotion. Last month Keir Starmer reshuffled his team and handed his deputy leader, Angela Rayner, the role of shadow levelling up secretary, moving the incumbent Lisa Nandy into the role of shadow cabinet minister for international development – even though the department hasn't existed since its 2020 merger with the Foreign Office. For Nandy, who was accused of having briefed against Starmer, it was a clear snub (only two years ago she was shadow foreign secretary). But if Nandy resents being sidelined, she isn’t showing it. Tasked today with filling in at a Labour Together event after the scheduled speaker, David ...