James Ball
17 October 2026
RFK Jr’s anti-vax gamble with African babies’ lives is an experiment in cruelty
A Guinea-Bissau medical aims to investigate side effects that decades of research have failed to find
Read the full article14 October 2026
Kemi Badenoch, queen of delusion
The Tories think they’re doing brilliantly when they’re not. And their leader’s incoherent plan will make it harder for them to win
Read the full article12 October 2026
Burnham is already winning the new Brexit wars
The shrieks of fury from Johnson, Badenoch, Farage and co speak volumes as the prime minister confronts the disaster they wrought
Read the full article09 October 2026
Zack Polanski’s moment is over
After Holborn & St Pancras, everyone now knows the Greens leader’s instincts are lousy and the Zionism vote was a disaster
Read the full article07 October 2026
Hope is back. An election can wait
The prime minister is already laying the foundations of his manifesto – but he knows an early vote is far too risky
Read the full article29 September 2026
Vigour, passion, purpose: Why Andy Burnham’s bold speech will be talked about for many years to come
On social care, PR, Brexit, water, housing and more, the PM signalled seismic change and a willingness to tackle the toughest issues
Read the full article28 September 2026
Memo to Burnham: this is how you beat the populists
Carney, Mamdani and Ossoff are all showing you can take on the raging right and win. But there’s one crucial lesson from them that Andy Burnham must learn
Read the full article24 September 2026
If Shabana Mahmood is tough, why is she so slow to crack down on Danny Tommo and the far right?
Weeks of what looks like blatant lawbreaking have finally resulted in an arrest. But the home secretary seems happy to look elsewhere
Read the full article23 September 2026
The decline of the Daily Mail
Its strident right wing views have dominated British discourse for years – and it seemed set to rule the digital age too. But suddenly, it is struggling to find its place in a new Britain and a changed world
Read the full article23 September 2026
Spending a week inside the mind of the Daily Mail
I read the paper every day for seven days straight. It is a lurid stew of gruesome crime reporting, anti-Labour rants and stories about hot tubs
Read the full article16 September 2026
A new film about Elon Musk reveals him as so awful it’s almost tragic. Almost
Four hours is a long time to spend inside the mind of the world’s richest man – and that’s because his mind turns out to be a twisted, miserable nightmare
Read the full article07 September 2026
Nigel Farage talks big – but he’s a sinking man leading an angry, ridiculous party
Farage doesn’t understand the rules around political donations, but he wants to overhaul the entire British state in 100 days. And the voters aren’t buying it
Read the full article04 September 2026
Farage and the dodgy donations – is this the final straw?
A Channel 4 investigation has revealed the seedy workings of Reform’s moneymen. Farage was in trouble before. Now he might have had it
Read the full article02 September 2026
Keir Starmer’s resignation shows him for what he really is
The former PM promised he’d stay around, but he didn’t. Instead, he spoiled Burnham’s first day in Westminster, and has left him facing a tricky by-election
Read the full article31 August 2026
How luck finally ran out for Milo Yiannopoulos
The early adopter of right wing outrage has been kicked out of America - showing tens of thousands now do his tired schtick better than him
Read the full article28 August 2026
From ‘lanyardians’ to ‘Yookay’, the strange new language of Britain’s right
Reform, Tory and Restore voters believe everyone agrees with them – a sign they are becoming increasingly detached from everyday life
Read the full article20 August 2026
How long before Reform dump Zia Yusuf?
A party rift is deepening over the self-styled ‘shadow home secretary’
Read the full article19 August 2026
Sorry Andy – Manchester and ‘the north’ aren’t the same thing
Just because it worked in the big city, doesn’t mean it’s going to work across the north. If you want to understand the problem, just go to County Durham
Read the full article14 August 2026
Farage’s victory is a defeat – now we can finally get to the truth about his money
Reform's leader thought calling a by-election in Clacton would change the game - but this bitter winner has ended up back where he started
Read the full article12 August 2026
Mark Zuckerberg is back, and still talking bollocks about AI
The Facebook founder has written an essay about artificial intelligence because his fellow tech bros have done the same - it’s a 6,500-word nothingburger
Read the full article11 August 2026
What the hell has happened to John Cleese?
The genius comedian backs Rupert Lowe and shares racist memes – he’s turning into Basil Fawlty
Read the full article10 August 2026
The Thetford mob is coming for Burnham
Racist rioters have exposed the failure of Labour’s appeasement of Britain’s far right. Now the PM must act
Read the full article05 August 2026
Has-bin: This could be the end of Nigel Farage
Reform’s leader expects to win Clacton comfortably – but scandals that could envelop the party are widening
Read the full article29 July 2026
Elon Musk says money won’t matter by 2036. Does that make his companies worthless?
If this wild prediction came true, it would make his own companies virtually worthless
Read the full article27 July 2026
Why Andy Burnham’s winning streak can’t last
The new PM has made a flying start. But financial danger lurks ahead
Read the full article22 July 2026
Farage’s speculation about Widdecombe’s murder could make it harder for justice to be done
Britain’s laws on contempt of court may be a relic of the pre-internet age, but they are still in force. If you break the rules, you can collapse a trial
Read the full article21 July 2026
Andy Burnham’s ruthless reckoning for the Starmerites
The new PM was expected to redeploy a few of his predecessor’s loyalists - but they have been purged from his Cabinet
Read the full article18 July 2026
Deeply odd, deeply scary: My 48 hours with Truss, Farage and the new right
The first CPAC GB conference was chaotic, confused and sparsely attended – but also a harbinger of danger to come
Read the full article15 July 2026
If Burnham doesn’t pick Miliband as chancellor it’ll be his first big mistake
He’s by far the most qualified candidate for the job. If Burnham doesn’t put Ed in No11, he will have weakened himself from the start – just like Starmer
Read the full article10 July 2026
The Democrats have screwed up – big time
They picked Graham Platner as a candidate in Maine because he was a bit like Joe Rogan. But it didn’t work. In fact, it was a complete catastrophe
Read the full article08 July 2026
Nigel Farage has tried to be too clever – and there’s an obvious problem with that
The man who would be PM will now spend the summer fighting for his political life against a man dressed as a bin
Read the full article06 July 2026
The unravelling of Nigel Farage
The Reform leader is on the brink thanks to his own personal flaws – most fatally an unwillingness to turn down a quick buck
Read the full article