AboutArticles by John Rentoul

Tory warnings of a ‘coalition of chaos’ must be real

04 Jul 2022

The last time a minority Labour government was formed after an election was in February 1974. There was no “coalition of chaos” then. There wasn’t even a coalition of stability....

Oliver Dowden aims to make Rishi Sunak prime minister

26 Jun 2022

John Rentoul, The Independent One of Jeremy Hunt’s supporters claimed that Oliver Dowden had resigned from the cabinet to run Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign, after the Conservative chair quit early...

Johnson may still be PM this time next year

05 Jun 2022

The excitement about the imminent downfall of the prime minister reached such a pitch before the nation paused to celebrate a round number that when Boris Johnson was lightly booed...

Michael Gove could still become prime minister

25 Apr 2022

One Conservative leadership campaign is active in Portcullis House, the annexe to parliament where MPs and journalists mingle, sharing tea, coffee and (in my case) Danish pastries. Jeremy Hunt’s...

Here’s how Nick Brown’s Law saved Boris Johnson

18 Apr 2022

When Gordon Brown was about to take over as Labour leader and prime minister, I bumped into Nick Brown, who was about to become chief whip, and we had a...

Johnson is a lawbreaker and he is staying put

13 Apr 2022

On his own narrow terms, Johnson was smart to use the Sue Gray report and the Metropolitan Police investigations to buy time. Not that he had much option. Something might...

Johnson is beneficiary of Sunak’s self-inflicted woes

11 Apr 2022

Rishi Sunak has not taken adversity well. He has shown a petulance, and a tendency to blame others for bad news for which only he is responsible. He should...

Leadership battle between Truss and Sunak in full swing

27 Mar 2022

The gleeful response from some of Boris Johnson’s supporters to Rishi Sunak’s drubbing after his spring statement was as unwise as it was premature. One anonymous cabinet minister, described as...

War in Ukraine has influenced course of British politics

27 Feb 2022

John Rentoul, The Independent The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had unexpected effects on British politics already. It has ended all talk, for the moment, about the Conservative Party changing...

Tory MPs see Rishi Sunak as their new prime minister

06 Feb 2022

We are at the last-moment doubts stage of the defenestration of Boris Johnson. Conservative MPs have decided that the prime minister must go. What is holding them back is not...

John Rentoul

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

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