James Heale

After 14 years in opposition, you might have expected Labour to come into government bursting with plans for Britain. Yet the first four months of the Starmer supremacy have seen ministers commission a glut of various reviews, consultations and task forces about what they should actually do in office. Helpfully, Sky News has compiled a

Keir Starmer has today resolved one of his longstanding headaches: who to appoint to lead the civil service.

Andrew RT Davies has quit this lunchtime as the leader of the Conservative group in the Welsh parliament. James Heale explains why.

Nigel Farage is not generally seen as one of nature’s diplomats. Yet the Reform leader is proving to be a formidable force in the international arena. This is most obvious in matters of transatlantic interest, with Donald Trump’s return offering Farage the chance to try and derail Labour’s Chagos Islands deal. But last week showed

There has been much focus in recent weeks on Reform’s potential impact on British politics. But a rival quintet of insurgents has been quietly making their own plans too. In July, four independents were elected to parliament on a staunchly pro-Palestine ticket: Shockat Adam in Leicester South, Ayoub Khan who took Birmingham Perry Barr, Adnan

This afternoon Angela Rayner will unveil potentially the biggest shake-up of local government since the 1970s. The Housing Secretary will speak at 1:50 p.m. on her plans for a devolution ‘revolution'. All areas covered by two tiers of local government — generally district and county councils — will have to submit proposals to merge into single, unitary authorities. A white paper will be published after Rayner's speech.

Close your eyes in today's Liaison Committee hearing and you might have thought Rishi Sunak was still prime minister. Keir Starmer clearly shares his predecessor's enthusiasm for this end-of-term parliamentary ritual. His smile was broad and his hands flurried as he relished the chance to show off his knowledge in front of two dozen select committee chairs.

Peter Mandelson is expected to shortly be named the next UK ambassador to Washington. The announcement – broken by the Times – comes ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump on 20 January.

Peter Mandelson Peter Mandelson is expected to shortly be named the next UK ambassador to Washington.

Close your eyes in today's Liaison Committee hearing and you might have thought Rishi Sunak was still prime minister.