32 h. ago Is a Boris Johnson comeback the only way for Tories to survive Reform?

The former Prime Minister and Mayor of London is the only leader under which the Tories poll higher than Nigel Farage’s party, new survey finds

Politics

47 h. ago Is Boris Johnson comeback the only way for Tories to survive Reform?

The former Prime Minister and Mayor of London is the only leader under which the Tories poll higher than Nigel Farage’s party, new survey finds

Politics

52 h. ago Keir Starmer announces trade deal with major country after Boris Johnson's failure

New trade deal will slash Indian tariffs on key products such as whisky, gin, and cosmetics, the government said after it struck a major agreement with Narendra Modi's government

Politics

59 h. ago Untameable darts crowds tell us about the future of sport – and maybe society too | Jonathan Liew

Booing and flashpoints are commonplace in a sport further along on a journey that others are taking to varying degreesLet me tell you the moment I realised Boris Johnson was fucked. It was late 2021 and there had been some talk about parties in Downing Street during Covid, but in these febrile siloed times, when the entirety of human existence has blurred into a single personalised scrolling feed, who even knows what constitutes “the news” any more? Who knows what fragments of reality ever emerge from Westminster’s furiously spinning vortex of unintelligible jargon: prorogue, backstop, Aukus, Slapps? What is a Morgan McSweeney and what time does it start?But then came the magical night, a few days before Christmas, when the darts crowd turned. As Florian Hempel swept to a routine first-round win against Martin Schindler (bit of an upset, to be honest, but you never write off Flo at the Palace), Alexandra Palace rocked to strains of “Boris is a cunt”. Fans held up signs reading “Work...

Politics

9 d. ago Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley review – a delightfully grounded romance

This irresistible love story braids the personal and the political – from Brexit to who gets to use the spare room as an officeThere are not many romantic novels that include Brexit, Boris Johnson’s ICU stay and the “Edstone”. Then again, not many political novels begin with a classic meet-cute. Jessica Stanley’s UK debut, Consider Yourself Kissed, is – to misquote Dorothy L Sayers – either a political story with romantic interludes, or a romance novel with political interludes. It is also the kind of book that, for a certain kind of reader, will immediately become a treasure.That meet-cute, then: Coralie, a young Australian copywriter, and Adam, a single dad, swap homes for a single night. Adam looks like a shorter, younger Colin Firth; Coralie waits in vain for him to tell her that she looks “like Lizzy Bennet, a known fact at school”. Coralie considers Adam’s neat bookcase of political biographies, including – to her joy – those of Australian politicians. Adam cons...

Politics

1 week ago Why these are the most important local elections since Boris Johnson won London in 2008

Polls have put Reform UK ahead for months now but these local elections will be the first test of whether the traditional two-party Labour-Tory grip on British politics is under threat, writes David Maddox

Politics

1 week ago BORIS JOHNSON: It's time for Donald Trump to take the boot off Ukraine's neck and put the squeeze on Putin

When Putin this week launched one of his most vicious attacks so far upon the innocent citizens of Kyiv , it was an act of supreme contempt.

Politics

1 week ago Reform UK on course to win in two mayoral contests – UK politics live

Polling predicts victory for party in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull/East Yorkshire with the Greens possibly taking West of EnglandThere are six mayoral elections next week. Two of them are for single-authority mayors (Doncaster and North Tyneside), but the others are for combined-authority mayors (or regional mayors – like metro mayors, but not just covering city regions). Today YouGov has released polling covering all four of these contests and it suggests Reform UK is on course to win two of them easily. And the Green party is narrowly ahead in a third, the poll suggests.Here are the polling figures.In theory the Tories should be winning in Lincolnshire as they hold most of the parliamentary seats in the area and have dominated local politics forever. But it’s also the most Reform-friendly part of the country. It contains Richard Tice’s constituency and numerous seats in which they came second. Plus their candidate is a former Tory MP – Andrea Jenkyns, famous for her Boris Johnson...

Politics

1 week ago Boris Johnson warns Ukraine ‘gets nothing’ from Trump’s peace proposals

The former UK prime minister, who built the international coalition backing Ukraine, has demolished the US president’s peace proposals

Events

1 week ago Local elections 2025: Guide to every council and mayoral contest

A total of 1,641 council seats are up for grabs across 23 local authorities.

Politics

2 w. ago Nigel Farage thinks net zero is the new Brexit. Starmer can prove him wrong | Rafael Behr

Labour must deliver the green transition voters want, leaving Reform and the Tories on the side of economic decline and dictatorsWhich former British prime minister described the climate emergency as “a clock ticking to the furious rhythm of hundreds of billions of pistons and turbines and furnaces and engines quilting the Earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2”?The florid style gives it away. You’d guess Boris Johnson even if you’d forgotten that the master of Brexit bombast also had a sideline in net zero evangelism. It wasn’t the most memorable part of his repertoire and it didn’t catch on as a Conservative catechism.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Deeply weird bed 'previously owned by Boris Johnson' appears on eBay

An eBay seller claims the vintage bed - “a true piece of history” - was previously owned by the former Prime Minister - though they haven’t revealed how long ago

Politics

2 w. ago BORIS JOHNSON: My embarrassing WhatsApp gaffe that I accidentally sent to every Tory MP

Go on, admit it. You can't do without it. Every morning - before we are even out of bed - we scrabble for the mobile. Our fingers grope for the little green icon, a speech bubble enclosing a phone.

Politics

2 w. ago Boris Johnson’s cycling vision stutters as number of bike journeys fails to rise above pre

Figures released by the Department for Transport show the average number of bicycle journeys per person has remained stable since a peak in 2020

Politics

3 w. ago Calls grow in Japan to scrap time limit on civil suits over childhood sexual abuse

Survivors and lawyers seek legal reform as thousands sign petition against statute of limitations

Events

3 w. ago Classicists take ‘ancient philosophical wisdom’ into English jails

Inmates in several prisons given chance to study ethics and rhetoric ‘to inform contemporary life’ and skillsA classical education, once the preserve of Eton, Oxbridge and the likes of Boris Johnson, is being made available to inmates serving time in prisons.In a break from the kind of curriculum usually on offer inside – lessons in literacy, numeracy, tiling and decorating – a small number of prisoners are being offered the opportunity to learn life skills from the ancient philosophers. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Boris Johnson says jailing of mum for riot tweet damages UK's reputation as a haven for free expression and is 'a propaganda gift to our enemies'

The former prime minister said the 31-month sentence does 'huge damage to this country's global reputation as a haven for free expression'.

Events

3 w. ago Boris Johnson still fuming at 'treacherous' Michael Gove as he's sent to House of Lords

A total of 36 people have been included in Rishi “Biggles” Sunak’s resignation honours list as divisive Gove is slammed as one of most untrustworthy figures in politics

Politics

3 w. ago BORIS JOHNSON: Time for Britain to lead the world out of tariff chaos

With ­trembling fingers I reached into the chilled display. It felt like hours that I had been ­scouring the shelves in the vast Texan supermarket, with aisles as long as Westminster Abbey.

Politics

4 w. ago UK has 'huge opportunity' to be world's first 'space sheriff' for the new 'wild west'

George Freeman the former Tory science minister under Boris Johnson reckons the UK could one day become the police force of the stars and prevent it becoming a wild west

Politics