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 …
Little evidence suggests Rishi Sunak will benefit from a football feelgood factor by holding a July election – it may even be an own goal: Excitement is building around the country for the contest ahead. Shutterstock/Jacob Lund Amid the shock of prime minister Rishi Sunak’s unexpected election announcement, it has not gone unnoticed that the …
What the economic data told Rishi Sunak about the best date for a general election: The announcement of July 4 for the UK general election took many by surprise. A key question is why it was called then when it did not have to be? The decision to call an election is always a gamble …
Rishi Sunak fires election starting gun with a damp whimper – but Labour will want to play down talk of a landslide: “It’s the optics that matter” is a modern cliche of political life. It doesn’t matter what you say so much as how you say it – and where you say it. If this …
Should we believe Rishi Sunak’s hint that the election will be in October? What the evidence tells us: So now we know. After weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is “working on the assumption” that a general election will take place in the second half of this year. That’s just a …
Why David Cameron’s past and present relations with China could be Rishi Sunak’s first big political headache of 2024: Almost immediately after being appointed as foreign secretary, David Cameron’s ties with China generated difficult headlines for Rishi Sunak’s government. Cameron’s warmth towards China during his own time as prime minister prompted Luke de Pulford, the …
Rishi Sunak wants more maths at school – but finding the teachers will be hard when university departments are closing: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock Oxford Brookes University recently announced it will no longer be offering mathematics degrees. This follows reported reductions or proposed cuts at other universities. This is a problem for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s vision …
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill: how much trouble is the prime minister really in as MPs threaten a parliamentary rebellion?: The legislative process in Britain consists of a series of discrete stages, each with its own purpose and function. A bill’s second reading is the discussion of, and vote on, the principle of the legislation. As …
Rwanda plan: Rishi Sunak has insisted on pushing ahead – here’s where he could take it next: The UK supreme court has ruled against the government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. But this isn’t the end of the story – a version of the plan is likely to resurface in …
British prime ministers reshuffle more than other leaders – what the latest changes tell us about Rishi Sunak’s government: Suella Braverman’s firing kicked off a major reshuffle of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet – probably his last attempt at a substantial rearrangement before a general election. It’s not an insignificant reshuffle: the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has replaced Braverman. …
Rishi Sunak’s decision to bring back David Cameron has distracted us all for now, but the long-term strategy is flawed: Number 10/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND Former prime minister David Cameron’s return as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s government was surprising, to say the least. Only four former prime ministers have gone on to serve again in …
Rishi Sunak is wrong: we polled the British public and found it largely supports strong climate policies: The UK’s Tory government is rolling back climate legislation and is continuing to fund the expansion of domestic oil and gas reserves. Our new research suggests this might be based on a misreading of public opinion. Since winning …
My mathematical model cautions Rishi Sunak against shifting to the right ahead of the next election: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave the strongest indication yet that he intends to call the next election for around October 2024 when he released a promotional video asking “What can a country achieve in 52 weeks?” to mark his …
Rishi Sunak is introducing the polarised climate politics of the US, Canada and Australia to the UK: In two recent speeches, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak highlighted the costs of everything from heat pumps to electric vehicles as justification for weakening the country’s climate policy. There is a strategy behind this, but it’s one that …
What Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2 – and promising a new ‘Network North’– means for the north of England: UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed he is cancelling phase two of the long-standing high-speed rail network project, High Speed 2 (HS2). This comes two years after the government scrapped the eastern Leeds branch of the …
Rishi Sunak packages U-turns as challenges to consensus politics – an improbable effort to rebrand as the candidate for change: The party conference speech is traditionally an important moment for political leaders. It enables them to set the agenda, rally the core membership and supporters around key themes, and speak to the wider audience of …
Political leaders need a grand narrative – Rishi Sunak’s is a story of decline: During a January 2023 speech on “building a better future” the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, insisted that “we can change our country’s character. We can reverse the creeping acceptance of a narrative of decline.” Months later, this narrative has manifested in …
Rishi Sunak has ripped up decades of cross-party consensus on climate change: The acclaimed 1990 film Awakenings tells the story of a neurologist who discovers a drug which rouses catatonic patients from decades of “sleep”. It’s a true story, based on Oliver Sacks’ 1973 memoir of the same name. Sadly, the awakening doesn’t last. The …