AboutArticles by John Rentoul

Matt Hancock acts like real deputy prime minister

26 Apr 2020

It has been suggested in some quarters that Matt Hancock is the provisional health secretary; that, because he is not in with the in-crowd of Vote Leavers around the prime...

Johnson’s response to coronavirus shows how different he is from fellow ‘national populist’ Donald Trump

31 Mar 2020

Boris Johnson’s attempt to model himself on Winston Churchill seemed absurd, until now. In America, most presidential candidates write books about themselves; Johnson wrote a book called The Churchill Factor....

New MPs’ speeches tell the future of politics

08 Mar 2020

Many new Conservative MPs are different from the traditional Tory stereotype, while many of the (fewer) new Labour MPs are carbon-copy Corbynites. After every election, I try to listen to...

Landslide victory is a huge responsibility

23 Feb 2020

In the old days, winning an election by a landslide meant trouble ahead. Clement Attlee won a 146-seat majority in 1945. Five years later, it was gone. His majority cut...

Sadiq’s EU citizenship proposal is unworkable

19 Feb 2020

Long ago, I predicted a “Schrodinger’s Brexit”, by which the UK both leaves the EU and stays in it, “with individual citizens allowed to choose which status they prefer”. ...

Starmer may find easier to unite Labour Party

16 Feb 2020

Stuff can happen in election campaigns, and the Labour leadership contest is not yet at the halfway point — but Keir Starmer is in a strong position and party members...

When predictions went wrong in the last two years

09 Feb 2020

We missed two years, but one of the great institutions of the uncodified British constitution is back. The Peter Mandelson Memorial Dim Sum Supper has finally reconvened and issued its...

How did we get here and how could it have played out differently?

02 Feb 2020

Who saw Brexit coming? When David Cameron and Nick Clegg formed a coalition government 10 years ago, the idea of leaving the EU seemed a fringe concern, advocated by no...

Similarity between HS2 and Trump’s wall

26 Jan 2020

What do HS2 and the wall across the US southern border have in common? They are both huge infrastructure projects that have not been built. But now they have a...

Phillips made it clear why Labour is doomed

22 Jan 2020

Jess Phillips more or less announced her campaign for the Labour leadership was over in her article on Sunday, in which she admitted she had performed badly in the hustings...

John Rentoul

Chief Political Commentator, The Independent; visiting professor, King's College, London.

author