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Robert Shrimsley

July 2024

Nigel Farage’s ambition will only have been fortified by his modest parliamentary breakthrough and the 98 seats where Reform is currently in second place, almost all of them to Labour.

The fight for the UK right has begun

Surrendering to the Faragist path rather than taking it on and defeating it would herald the end of the centre right and a capitulation to unserious politics.

Keir Starmer chose not to make Brexit an election issue. But once victory is secured he must hammer the point home.

Why Starmer should now play prosecutor on Brexit

Labour and the Tories have avoided the topic, but a full audit of the impact of leaving the EU would deliver political and economic benefits to incoming ministers.

June 2024

Keir Starmer projected landslide will have been built around a strategy of making Labour as small a target as possible.

Starmer will be centrism’s last chance

Voters need to see normal politics working for them again. Keir Starmer not only carries the dreams of a country demanding change but the hope of all who fear what follows if he fails.

November 2023

Rishi Sunak arriving for the annual Lord Mayor’s banquet in London on Monday night. It remains to be seen how committed he is to defying his right flank on policy issues like net zero, immigration and culture wars.

Reshuffle shows Tories are running on empty

Rishi Sunak has broken with hardliners and culture warriors who are alienating moderate Tory voters. But reaching into the past shows desperation.

February 2023

Nicola Sturgeon’s tenure might end up being regarded as the high-water mark of Scottish separatism.

Nicola Sturgeon had run out of ideas on Scottish independence

The departure of a supreme communicator with a claim to being the UK’s most effective political leader signifies an independence movement that cannot see the next step forward.

January 2023

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

British politics is still suffering from ‘long populism’

Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer both see the perils of avoiding hard choices. But in a time of fiscal squeeze, they will default towards campaigns on values and low-cost policies.

  • Updated
Up to a quarter of Tory MPs regret both Rishi Sunak’s success and Boris Johnson’s departure.

Boris Johnson is the itch Tories must stop scratching

The former leader’s return is unlikely, but it is a sign of the Conservatives’ malaise that so many still dream of it.

October 2022

Conservative Party leader and incoming prime minister Rishi Sunak.

Sunak can restore sanity, but stability will be a harder slog

Rishi Sunak’s victory is a step back to normality but no one should be in any doubt about the scale of the political and economic challenges ahead.

Bookmakers are already making Sunak a favourite.

Who can unite Britain’s Tories now?

The Conservatives have learned painfully that ideology does not work in a vacuum. But will the vindicated Rishi Sunak make it to the top?

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/robert-shrimsley-p536ij