AboutArticles by John Rentoul

Is Starmer’s election honeymoon over already?

22 Jul 2024

The doom-mongers and end-of-honeymooners are all around the new prime minister. It won’t last, they say. You can see the cracks opening up already. I have done a bit of...

Starmer’s ‘monumental sandcastle’ could soon be swept away

15 Jun 2024

If Labour wins with a majority bigger than Tony Blair’s, Keir Starmer will be hailed as a colossus. He will deserve to be. It doesn’t matter how lucky he has...

Accusing political opponents of lying is terrible election tactic

19 May 2024

For a split second, Jeremy Hunt did the right thing on Friday. Invited by a journalist to describe Labour’s attack on his ambition to scrap national insurance a “lie”, he...

Could Starmer and Reeves get lucky with the economy?

12 May 2024

Rachel Reeves must be psychic. On Tuesday, she delivered a speech that attracted attention for a single word: she accused Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt of “gaslighting” the British public....

No, the local elections don’t point to a hung parliament

07 May 2024

Professor Michael Thrasher, the Sky News boffin, caused consternation on Friday by publishing a projection from the local elections that suggested the results would produce a hung parliament if repeated...

Conservatives are heading for a long spell in wilderness

21 Jan 2024

Politics can be a simple business. Isaac Levido, who brutally summarised the Conservative message at the last election — “Get Brexit Done” — is now trying to do the same...

Labour Party’s policies won’t impact climate change

08 Jan 2024

Chris Skidmore had already announced that he was standing down as a Conservative MP at the next general election, because his Kingswood constituency is being abolished. Half of his...

There are ways Sunak can put up an election fight

01 Jan 2024

To add to the cacophony of predictions for the year 2024, I offer the following: Jeremy Hunt will not cut inheritance tax in the Budget on 6 March. He will...

The green problem that Labour still needs to tackle

24 Dec 2023

Take your time, Keir and Rachel. The election is still nearly a year away, so there is no need to hurry. After all, you have known that there is a...

Under attack from three directions, Tories could face meltdown

03 Dec 2023

The slow but inexorable pace of social change sometimes leaves political parties stranded. One hundred years ago on Wednesday, Labour won more seats than the Liberals in the general election,...

John Rentoul

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

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