Why the Conservative MPs standing down at this election are a huge electoral threat to Rishi Sunak: Flickr/UK Parliament/Maria Unger , CC BY-NC-ND At the last count, 118 MPs have announced they will not contest July’s general election. The vast majority – more than 75 – are Conservatives (or former Conservatives who have been suspended …
Three-day week, 50 years on: lessons from a previous Conservative government struggling with a cost of living crisis: Midwinter. War in the Middle East. Energy crisis. Rising prices borne disproportionately by low-wage workers, particularly in a public sector squeezed by a “Tories in turmoil” UK government. Not December 2023, in fact, but December 1973, as …
As another lobbying scandal erupts in the Conservative party, are tougher rules finally on the horizon?: Conservative MP Scott Benton has become the latest British politician to face suspension for breaking lobbying rules in what is becoming a regular cycle of scandals. Parliament’s committee on standards has recommended a 35-day suspension for Benton after he …
Women used to be more likely to vote Conservative than men but that all changed in 2017 – we wanted to find out why: Shutterstock/AJP In many nations in the immediate post-war period, women were more often supporters of rightwing parties than men. This “traditional” gender gap was supposedly underpinned by women’s greater religiosity and …
The UK’s top financial influencers skew Conservative – which helps explain why Keir Starmer’s Labour is so anxious about uncosted spending pledges: It has become a common complaint among some Labour supporters that Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are being too cautious about their spending commitments in preparing for a future Labour government. …
The parallel economy: the rightwing movement creating a safe haven for deplatformed conservative influencers: Jirapong Manustrong/Shutterstock The last few years have seen the west swept by political polarisation, much of which has played out online. Debates around race, gender and freedom of speech have splintered democracies, spread conspiracy theories and sparked a series of culture …
Voter ID: Conservative MPs gave weak justification for law that could stop people voting: The UK government has changed the law so that people in England will have to show ID when they go to vote. This controversial new rule was brought in on the insistence that the “integrity of elections” needs to be protected. …
IPCC’s conservative nature masks true scale of action needed to avert catastrophic climate change: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) synthesis report recently landed with an authoritative thump, giving voice to hundreds of scientists endeavouring to understand the unfolding calamity of global heating. What’s changed since the last one in 2014? Well, we’ve dumped …
How consecutive Conservative governments destroyed union rights – a timeline of the UK’s anti-strike laws since the 1970s: Rishi Sunak’s government is attempting to introduce tough new laws that would further limit the right to take industrial action amid continuing strikes in the UK. This is just the latest in a long line of legislation …
A Swiss-style Brexit deal is unlikely unless things change dramatically within the Conservative Party: Jirsak / Shutterstock Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denied reports that the UK is reconsidering its relationship with the EU. The “Swiss-style deal” rumoured to be favoured by some in the government would result in a softer form of Brexit, six …
Onshore wind rebellion reveals fractious climate politics within the Conservative party: Dave Head / shutterstock Campaigners have sought to overturn planning restrictions banning onshore windfarms ever since then UK prime minister David Cameron introduced them in 2015. This year, however, there have been signs of movement. Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson reportedly wanted to …
LGBTIQ learners at risk in South Africa as conservative Christian groups fight plans for safer schools: Viacheslav Chernobrovin/Getty Images, CC BY-SA Advocacy groups in South Africa are intensifying their efforts to prevent the country’s education department from creating safer environments for children of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Some of the advocacy groups have …
Britain’s energy price cap left many people confused – especially Conservative voters: Andrey_Popov / shutterstock If you’re in the UK, how do you understand the government’s plan to deal with energy prices? Has it: Capped energy bills for all households at £2,500 for the next two years; Capped the price of energy so a typical …
Liz Truss: what her Conservative party conference speech revealed: The stakes could not have been higher as Liz Truss delivered her first party conference speech as prime minister. Against a backdrop of economic chaos, open party warfare and polling that shows she’s on course for a spectacular election loss, Truss insisted she was “determined to …
Truss’s mini-budget chaos is unsettling an already-fractured Conservative Party – but is removing her worth the risk?: Prime Minister Liz Truss entered office with the less-than-ideal backdrop of a cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine. The economic turmoil her government has waged is already creating more problems for her. Truss and Chancellor Kwasi …
Why fracking holds such symbolic power for the Conservative right: The UK government has lifted a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) in England. In his statement, new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg argued that it was in the national interest for local communities to tolerate “a higher degree of risk and disturbance” given the current …
Without a fresh new vision, the next Conservative prime minister risks leading their party to election loss: The Conservative party has got a problem. The problem can best be described as the coming together of a series of problems that will make re-election harder. In the run-up to the next election, voters will have the …
Conservative leadership election: how the hopefuls stack up against former prime ministers in terms of experience: It is generally assumed that the best candidates for the job of prime minister are people who have considerable experience of top-level politics. Ideally, this experience would involve having served in the cabinet and in particular, having occupied one …