Patience Wheatcroft
14 October 2026
Narrow, nasty, only helping the rich: Kemi Badenoch’s deeply flawed Tory strategy
The leader is unlikely to break through while she remains openly eager to help the wealthy and contemptuous of middle-of-the-road Conservatives
Read the full article07 October 2026
Britain needs the BBC – but not in this current form
As today’s media explodes with opinion, propaganda and misinformation, honest reporting has never been more important
Read the full article30 September 2026
The UK government has got a serious problem with its numbers
Sure – statistics can be pretty boring. But the government bases all its decisions on them, so when the numbers are wrong, that’s a serious problem.
Read the full article23 September 2026
The assisted dying bill has been an embarrassment for parliament
Anyone watching the progress of this new legislation and its eventual failure will have been overcome by a sense that the political system just isn’t working
Read the full article16 September 2026
Burnham has promised to rewire the state – but it’s not working out that way
The PM says he wants to extend democracy around the country. However, the government’s policies are having a very different effect
Read the full article09 September 2026
Can Burnham avoid an economic catastrophe?
We must hope so – but so far he hasn’t said how he intends to pay for all his plans. And that’s a big worry
Read the full article02 September 2026
Will the sensible Tories please stand up and start a new party?
Kemi Badenoch has abandoned one-nation voters by courting the far right. A breakaway now looks like the only answer
Read the full article19 August 2026
Andy Burnham’s high street fantasies make me worried about the PM
His nebulous prettification plans ignore reality – and he should be focused on bigger things
Read the full article12 August 2026
The Mail and the right will hate it – but this is the way Burnham can end our prisons crisis
Sending far fewer women to jail and treating addicts and the mentally ill with dignity is the kind of fresh thinking the new PM has promised
Read the full article05 August 2026
Don’t forget Andy – you need to put some stick about
Sure, the new PM wants to be a nice guy, and that’s understandable. But when it comes to doing business in parliament, sometimes he’ll have to get heavy
Read the full article29 July 2026
While Putin probes and plots, Britain is sleepwalking into disaster
Wes Streeting must learn quickly that we are dangerously unprepared for what comes next
Read the full article22 July 2026
Hey Andy Burnham – we don’t need any new laws!
Keir Starmer said his government would not intrude on voters’ lives, but ended up producing a downpour of new laws. The new PM must not make the same mistake
Read the full article15 July 2026
With Burnham, Britain’s age of the disposable prime minister has to end
Keir Starmer deserved to go - but the machinery of government can’t withstand another implosion in No 10
Read the full article08 July 2026
Andy Burnham’s devolution delusion is about to meet economic reality
The PM-in-waiting is riding a wave of hope – but his key policy has no chance of bringing equality to a divided nation
Read the full article01 July 2026
Sorry, but you can’t write Farage off yet
The Reform leader is under pressure for the first time. But he has one political superpower
Read the full article10 June 2026
Why are politicians such financial disasters?
A sorry list of leaders have failed to grasp even the most basic economic lessons, with disastrous results
Read the full article03 June 2026
Getting rid of Starmer might be good for Labour, but is it good for the country?
The PM has made some dreadful mistakes, has governed with a tin ear for current affairs and his explanations about why he’s struggled don’t add up. But Britain needs stability – getting rid of him would provide the opposite
Read the full article27 May 2026
We regret to announce that your train has been delayed by 10 years
HS2 has been a decades-long, multi-party disaster that encapsulates everything that’s wrong about UK government decision-making.
Read the full article20 May 2026
Economic growth? So what?
In the first part of this year the UK economy grew and no one felt a thing. That’s very bad news for government – and for everyone
Read the full article13 May 2026
Why one-nation Tories can’t vote for compassionless Kemi Badenoch
She comes across as nasty and rejects compromise – that’s no recipe for a leader
Read the full article06 May 2026
British politics will only get worse
Defence, welfare, policing – all of these require money that the UK doesn’t have. And when inflation starts to bite, the problems will only intensify, especially for the most disadvantaged
Read the full article24 April 2026
Keir Starmer: his fatal character flaws
The reason Starmer has been such a terrible prime minister is that he’s the wrong type of person for the role. To be PM, there are two character traits that you need – and he doesn’t have either of them
Read the full article22 April 2026
It’s time for Parliament to become a museum
It’s a dreadful building and no amount of money will fix that. Britain needs to wake up, modernise, get rid of all the ridiculous pomp and spend the money on defence instead
Read the full article10 April 2026
Dear progressives, stop being wimpish on Trump
Feeling you are right and assuming the public agree is not enough. If you feel strongly, shout very loudly
Read the full article01 April 2026
The nurse who runs the Church of England
There is a new archbishop of Canterbury, who now heads a huge international church. But here, in the UK, can she achieve what successive governments have failed to do?
Read the full article25 March 2026
Neither Farage or Polanski are the prime minister Britain needs
The leaders of Reform and the Greens both want to turn Britain into a huge political experiment. That’s the last thing we need
Read the full article18 March 2026
Replacing Churchill with a badger – who cares?
The argument over the design of Britain’s banknotes is absurd, and misses a much more important financial decision taken in Westminster that most politicians seem to have missed or ignored
Read the full article11 March 2026
Badenoch, Harrogate and the Ayatollahs
The Tory party gathered for its spring conference this weekend – the party is now so extreme that it is on the verge of becoming sinister
Read the full article04 March 2026
I fell in the street – then this happened
The government doesn’t need to legislate for every possible crime. Why? Because most people know the difference between right and wrong – as I discovered
Read the full article25 February 2026
Starmer risks falling to a new Lowe
The PM’s constant u-turns and lack of any apparent plan are a gift for the extremists, who feed off the sense of chaos and drift
Read the full article11 February 2026
Generations of politicians have ignored the young. Big mistake
While older Britons have their final salary pensions and the triple lock, young people today can’t even afford to start a family. That could be pushing the country towards political disaster
Read the full article04 February 2026
A visit to the Tory wet room
A new group of centrist Conservative politicians launched their fightback against Badenoch in a cellar near Charing Cross station. They don’t stand a chance
Read the full article