Recent articles
September 2, 2026
Andy Burnham faces an impossible job. At least he’s got a secret weapon – Kemi Badenoch
Labour is up against a Tory party with a leader who can’t stop getting lost in her own sense of brilliance. And then there’s Andrew GriffithCall it the gentlest of all reality checks. A quantum rea...
www.theguardian.com
September 1, 2026
One last Starmer U-turn and it’s over to Andy ‘less policy, more vibes’ Burnham | John Crace
What former PM could resist upstaging the new one hours before his first dispatch box appearance in 16 years?UK politics live – latest updatesNo good deed goes unpunished. Or any deed for that matt...
www.theguardian.com
August 27, 2026
Unlike needy Keir, trash-talking Andy speaks a language Trump understands | John Crace
Burnham has nothing to hide as he prepares to meet president he once called poisonous. It may actually win him more respectIt makes a pleasant change. Not so long ago, Keir Starmer was falling over...
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2026
With Nige still sulking, Honest Bob was left to unveil Reform’s latest ‘policies’ | John Crace
The sense of futility hanging over the room was almost overwhelming as Robert Jenrick took the stageIt’s turning out to be one of the longer sulks in Nigel Farage’s already sulk-filled career. Few ...
www.theguardian.com
August 21, 2026
Digested week: So Harry and Meghan are moving back to the UK. Who cares?
And as Diana’s brother announces a new book, what can possibly be left to say about the princess? Plus, the joys of car rental and Reform’s Whitehall farce There are some days you never forget. It ...
www.theguardian.com
August 20, 2026
Reform UK hates ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees – apprenticeships in dodgy crypto, anyone?
Dicky Tice recalls digging trenches with a JCB as a young man, omitting to say the firm he went on to run was founded by his grandfatherYou have to hand it to them. Most political parties would hav...
www.theguardian.com
August 19, 2026
Reform UK are such a joke they deserve a slot on the Edinburgh fringe | John Crace
Nige’s dodgy donations, Dicky’s love of global heating and so much more – what fun it is watching the party implodeYou would need to have a heart of stone not to fall about laughing. There was a ti...
www.theguardian.com
August 18, 2026
Things get even more tricky for Dicky Tice, the Reform deputy with lots of cash but zero self-awareness
Telling the country to enjoy the heat while it burns, you have to wonder if Tice has lost all sense of realityThese are the doggiest of dog days. Times when hours turn into days and almost nothing ...
www.theguardian.com
August 14, 2026
What does Clacton get for its loyalty to stroppy Nige? Next to nothing | John Crace
Why bother to improve people’s lives – or even show up – when getting votes is this easy? In many ways, though, the stunt hasn’t paid offWhat can Clacton possibly have done to deserve this? Is this...
www.theguardian.com
August 7, 2026
It must be tricky for Nige to remember what’s what. It’s so hideously complicated | John Crace
I can’t pass up the moment the Reform leader celebrates his byelection victory against a man with a dustbin on his headYou would have thought that after 35 years of writing for the Guardian I would...
www.theguardian.com
July 30, 2026
Even GB News cringes as Reform turns dementia patients into a political football
Honest Bob was rattled at the idea of joining cross-party talks on social care. Why bother behaving as a serious opposition?When you’ve lost the trust of GB News, when you’re too deranged, too extr...
www.theguardian.com
July 29, 2026
Andy Burnham wants to fix social care. It’s personal for him and for a lot of us too
Finally a grownup is in charge who speaks to voters as fellow adults. If he fixes this, he’ll achieve more than most other PMs UK politics live – latest updatesIt feels like the UK has a prime mini...
www.theguardian.com
July 28, 2026
Captain Chris ‘Hunter-Killer’ Philp takes on French navy single-handed | John Crace
Shots fired in the Channel are all in a day’s work for the intrepid shadow home secretaryC’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre. Captain Chris “Hunter-Killer” Philp had been on patrol since ...
www.theguardian.com
July 24, 2026
Digested week: History shrugs off Keir and makes room for brilliant Kerr
A low-key PM leaves the stage briskly, while a breathtaking athlete misses out on the attention he deserves And so it was over. You normally get a bit more notice when a prime minister is about ...
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2026
How to Launder Money But Not Like Me, by George Cottrell (as imagined by John Crace)
The Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer imagines Nigel Farage’s right-hand man’s thinking behind his book, How to Launder MoneyAnti-money-laundering laws are supposed to stop the illicit flow of...
www.theguardian.com
July 21, 2026
Big, brave Nige shows face in public again with aimless speech to a few mega-fans | John Crace
Reform leader’s recycled moanathon included digs at Kemi, the media, immigrants and new PM. But no questions, of courseIs it safe? Is it safe? For the past couple of months, Nigel Farage has been l...
www.theguardian.com
July 20, 2026
No tears from Keir as Burnham strolls into No 10 with the clock already ticking | John Crace
Rapid turnover of prime ministers continues as UK gets another promise that, this time, things will be differentUK politics live – latest updatesNot another one. It would be no surprise to find out...
www.theguardian.com
July 17, 2026
All hail the king! Good vibes and Greggs as Burnham addresses the Andyites
Keir had achieved greatness, his legacy would be eternal … until the new Labour leader got up to speak The king is dead. Long live the king. Not so much Labour electing a new leader, more a coronat...
www.theguardian.com
July 16, 2026
Liz Truss wheels out a series of C-list ghouls for drab London CPAC event | John Crace
Former 49-day PM helms a Conservative Political Action Conference that’s a far cry from the glitzy US versionLiz Truss has given us all so much in recent years. A mini-budget. A laugh a minute 49 d...
www.theguardian.com
July 15, 2026
At his final PMQs, Starmer soaked up the love from all sides – and even some tenderness from Kemi
It wasn’t his performances on Wednesday lunchtimes that did for the ultimate mid-table PM – it was all the other stuffWho would have thought it? Most of us would have put money on Kemi Badenoch fai...
www.theguardian.com
July 14, 2026
Kemi Badenoch zeros in on Tory MPs who believe in climate crisis – and those who don’t
Despite the party polling at 19%, Conservative leader only wants ideologically sound on board – or rather, those who think the same as herYou have to hand it to Kemi Badenoch. She doesn’t take any ...
www.theguardian.com
July 13, 2026
Tice finally gauges the mood on the death of Ann Widdecombe | John Crace
After a wild attack on the media, Reform’s deputy leader joins other MPs in the Commons offering tributes rather than speculationThis is the third murder of either a sitting or former MP that I’ve ...
www.theguardian.com
July 9, 2026
What a week for Daddy Nige and his dysfunctional Reform family
From Posh George Cottrell to Honest Bob Jenrick and disciple-in-chief Dicky Tice, Farage really does know how to pick ’emWe need to talk about Nigel. Again. Not so much about the £5m gift from a Th...
www.theguardian.com
July 8, 2026
Bin tactics. At times like these, only a Zia perma-rage defence of Nige will do | John Crace
Reform keeps Tice on the bench, sending in attack specialist Yusuf in effort to take back control as byelection stunt unravelsYou can often tell when Reform is running scared and losing control of ...
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2026
Nige throws the world’s biggest temper tantrum before grand byelection reveal
The Reform leader was determined to fight for the right to receive gifts from Thai crypto billionaires and convicted fraudstersIt’s the heavyweight contest of the year. The Establishment v the Esta...
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2026
Angela Rayner goes full beige in her push for an Andy Burnham promotion
Angie did her best to not say anything controversial in a presenting gig on LBC. Let’s hope it was a one-offIt’s been quiet. Too quiet. There was a time, not so long ago, when Angela Rayner was bei...
www.theguardian.com
July 5, 2026
It must be bad for Nige and his finances if it’s Honest Bob Jenrick to the rescue | John Crace
‘Nothing to see here,’ says the man who once overruled council planners in favour of Richard ‘Dirty’ DesmondHow unlucky can one man get? You have to feel for Nigel Farage. Why does it keep happenin...
www.theguardian.com
July 2, 2026
Keir Starmer’s on the pitch, he thinks it’s all over … Well, it will be soon | John Crace
Just before being kicked out of No 10, the PM is dreaming of lifting the World Cup for a nation – and political immortalityThe dream lives on. With 15 minutes left against the Democratic Republic o...
www.theguardian.com
July 1, 2026
Starmer gives Burnham a £4.7bn hole in defence spending as a goodwill token | John Crace
The PM bats away criticism from Kemi Badenoch over military funding but leaves behind a headache for his likely successorThe search for the perfect present to welcome Andy Burnham to No 10 has been...
www.theguardian.com
June 30, 2026
Starmer and Reeves launch delayed defence plan with a sense of resigned relief
New defence secretary goes along with £1.5bn addition to spending plan that led to his predecessor’s resignation and Starmer’s in turnStarmer warns Burnham not to borrow to fund defence as he revea...
www.theguardian.com