James Ball
08 May 2026
What we learned about the 2026 local elections
A disaster for Starmer and a triumph for Farage - but not quite as clear-cut as predicted
Read the full article05 May 2026
We need to talk about Zack Polanski
The charismatic Green leader is close to a breakthrough - yet must answer legitimate questions about his past and his social media likes
Read the full article30 April 2026
13 questions Farage must answer over his £5m ‘gift’ from a crypto billionaire
The Reform leader’s claims about money received from Thai-based Christopher Harborne have raised eyebrows - and even more queries
Read the full article29 April 2026
Britain isn’t the country you think it is
Paul Johnson, the former head of Britain’s most important economic think tank, spent years scrutinising the UK. In his new book, he reveals one of the biggest misconceptions people have about the country and how it works
Read the full article26 April 2026
The Trump shooting conspiracy theories show America has gone mad
Paranoia and cynicism are no longer just for MAGA - and that might be the president’s lasting legacy
Read the full article22 April 2026
The Sun lost £53m last year – and this is what will happen to it when Murdoch is gone
It was Britain's most influential paper. Now it's barely in the national conversation
Read the full article21 April 2026
Robbins demolished a PM’s excuses – just like Starmer used to
The prime minister is in even deeper trouble after the civil servant he sacked took apart No 10’s latest tangled explanation of the indefensible
Read the full article17 April 2026
The next sacking is going to be Starmer
If he knew Mandelson had failed vetting, he should resign. If he didn't, he looks fatally incompetent
Read the full article15 April 2026
Starmer and Badenoch are about to lose big — so why are they still safe?
With no apparent challengers, the unloved leaders look set to survive a May 7 meltdown
Read the full article14 April 2026
Former Nato chief goes headfirst into the political swamp
George Robertson meant well, and his comments on defence spending are worthy of attention. It’s what came next that’s the problem
Read the full article07 April 2026
The BBC needs a last-chance strategy – and here’s what Matt Brittin should deliver
The new DG’s task is daunting but simple: Replace the license fee, fix news output and double down on YouTube
Read the full article06 April 2026
Exclusive: New Ofcom chair appointed – but will he fix Musk and GB News?
Former Channel 4 boss Sir Ian Cheshire beats Margaret Hodge to role as clamour grows to properly regulate right wing channel
Read the full article03 April 2026
I worked at BuzzFeed. Here’s the truth about why it’s on its last legs
The once-mighty website’s ‘failure’ exposes a fatal flaw in what’s expected of millennial media
Read the full article01 April 2026
This crisis is the perfect moment to reverse Brexit. Will Starmer finally seize it?
The PM made a tepid speech on fall-out from Iran. But now has an opportunity to save Britain and himself
Read the full article31 March 2026
Matt Goodwin’s road to derision
How a terrifying night in Detroit shaped the controversial right wing author’s thinking
Read the full article25 March 2026
The evidence is growing: Trump’s team are using his chaos to get richer on the stock market
The president is probably not directly part of insider trading - but those close to him could well be
Read the full article25 March 2026
James O’Brien says the press have gone mad – and it’s worse than you think
The LBC host on how Brexit logic is making papers defend Trump on Iran – because ‘they’d rather look ridiculous than admit they’re wrong’
Read the full article18 March 2026
The New World’s GB News investigation raised at PMQs
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey pushed Keir Starmer to say what he’d do about the TV station that has broken all the rules
Read the full article17 March 2026
Keir Starmer’s fate – to become Boris Johnson
Superficially they are different, but look closer and the similarities begin to reveal themselves, to an extent that should worry No 10
Read the full article13 March 2026
Palantir boasts its AI will harm Labour voters. Why doesn’t Starmer kick it out?
CEO Alex Karp said the quiet part out loud in an interview. Yet his company is still embedded in our NHS and defence
Read the full article11 March 2026
Shameless Mandelson could still finish Starmer
New revelations about the disgraced peer’s chutzpah - and his payoff demands - again call into question the prime minister’s judgement
Read the full article05 March 2026
Whisper it, but Starmer might be getting it right on Iran
It's legalistic, complicated and barely comprehensible but the PM's position on this war has ended up in tune with public sentiment
Read the full article03 March 2026
Spring Statement: a speech out of date before it was delivered
The economic projections in the chancellor’s statement today have been made obsolete by war in Iran. Rachel Reeves would have won sympathy if she had acknowledged this. She didn’t
Read the full article27 February 2026
Labour tried to become the nasty party. Big mistake
The Labour strategy in Gorton and Denton backfired disastrously, and drove its core voters towards the Greens. If it doesn’t change course, the same thing could happen at the general election
Read the full article25 February 2026
The awful truth: why America hates white women
They’re the single largest demographic group in America and arguably the most politically influential – yet they seem to attract the ire and contempt of political figures from all sides
Read the full article20 February 2026
Bari Weiss is crying all the way to the bank
Weiss made a career by playing the media outsider. But now she’s running CBS – and despite declining audience and newsroom turmoil, there’s no way she can lose
Read the full article19 February 2026
Sorry America, but China makes better electric cars than you
For a while it looked as if Elon Musk would dominate the world of electric cars – but then he turned out to be a basket-case. Now there’s a new global leader in town
Read the full article16 February 2026
Tony Blair’s never-ending legacy tour
A new documentary reminds us of what a consummate politician he was - and how much his achievements are tarnished by Iraq
Read the full article14 February 2026
Matt Goodwin, Zack Polanski and Lucifer: the fight for Gorton and Denton
The Green candidate – a local plumber – is convinced she can win. But does a Labour-Green fight risk splitting the vote on the left, and handing the seat to Reform?
Read the full article09 February 2026
Keir Starmer fights to the bitter end
A permacrisis premiership is finished. A Labour defeat in the Gorton & Denton by-election would signal even deeper problems for his successor
Read the full article08 February 2026
McSweeney’s exit leaves the PM hanging by a thread
Keir Starmer’s path has always been a lonely one. Now, he is out of friends and nearly out of a job
Read the full article06 February 2026
Starmer: a politically-dead man walking
Labour MPs have had enough. They want to see the back of Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s closest adviser, followed by the PM himself
Read the full article