James Ball
19 July 2024
The Biden botch shows the Democrats are falling apart
After this, they absolutely deserve to lose the election - it’s just that the world can’t afford them to do so
Read the full article19 July 2024
The bullying training for new MPs is not enough
Westminster’s reputation is in the gutter and the onus is on Labour to repair it
Read the full article17 July 2024
The King’s Speech needed more volume
Keir Starmer could have been bolder when laying out his government’s agenda - and he may come to regret it
Read the full article17 July 2024
Things can only get bitter
Nigel Farage says Reform will replace the crumbling Tories. But the faultlines within his party – and in his own character – suggest it will crack first
Read the full article16 July 2024
J. D. Vance, American nihilist
The would-be VP is a cynical extremist who will do nothing to moderate Donald Trump’s worst excesses
Read the full article14 July 2024
The bullets and the blame
The attempt on Donald Trump's life was appalling. But his presumptive running mate is wrong to point his finger at Democrats
Read the full article12 July 2024
Starmer’s case for electoral reform
A Commons elected by supplementary vote and a Lords by PR would help restore trust
Read the full article10 July 2024
Davey’s big swing
The Liberal Democrats’ 72-seat success is not just the product of cheesy stunts and a brilliant tactical voting operation – Ed Davey’s own story helped too
Read the full article09 July 2024
The Democrats have made a bad Biden situation worse
The party’s high command has been revealed as incompetent and out of touch
Read the full article09 July 2024
Strange noises from the Tory rump
The Popular Conservatives’ post-election conference was an exercise in delusion
Read the full article08 July 2024
The rights and wrongs of my election predictions
Truss, turnout and Labour’s landslide were my hits - but Corbyn’s win was a huge shock
Read the full article05 July 2024
Sunak, the failure
The former prime minister’s lack of political talent doomed his efforts to establish a legacy from the start
Read the full article05 July 2024
The landslide deniers
Some people on the far left don’t think Starmer 'really' won the election and are trying to explain away his victory
Read the full article05 July 2024
The reality of Starmer’s victory sinks in
It’s a crushing landslide – but the Tories will have enough MPs to form a functioning opposition
Read the full article04 July 2024
Your viewing guide to election night
What time is the exit poll? When will the key seats declare? How long will you have to stay up to see Sunak concede?
Read the full article03 July 2024
Labour are taking a leap into the unknown
There is a huge gulf between the shadow cabinet and the real thing. How will Starmer’s untested team cope with the brutal realities of power?
Read the full article03 July 2024
Eleven bold election predictions
The Tories under 100 seats, Truss and Corbyn to lose, up to 55 Lib Dem gains and more
Read the full article01 July 2024
Farage nears the tipping point on race
There is no real point to his Reform Party – so its leader dances ever closer to the extreme right
Read the full article28 June 2024
It’s too late for the Democrats to replace Biden
Despite his disastrous debate performance, the president and his party are welded together
Read the full article26 June 2024
Bin fire of the vanities
They are adrift in the polls, financially hard-up and morally bankrupt.. and now the Conservatives may not even finish second
Read the full article25 June 2024
The real reason the press fear a Labour supermajority
If Starmer wins a majority of 218 or bigger, it will give him one very significant new power
Read the full article25 June 2024
Assange: A costly battle with no winners
A plea deal has saved the Wikileaks founder from facing more years in prison on charges that were fundamentally unjust
Read the full article24 June 2024
Farage and the curse of Americabrain
Politics is very different on each side of the Atlantic - but the populist right is determined to bring US-style polarisation to Britain
Read the full article23 June 2024
Betting is the rotten Tories’ final scandal
Their period in power is ending not with a bang, but a flutter
Read the full article21 June 2024
Talking up the Labour landslide
The right wing press is predicting a Tory wipe-out – anything less, and they’ll say Starmer has failed
Read the full article19 June 2024
Are the Tories broke?
They’ve been losing big donors – has the party election machine run out of money?
Read the full article19 June 2024
Playing the manifesto game
What are these pamphlets of political promises actually for – and why do parties with no hope of winning bother writing them?
Read the full article18 June 2024
Labour’s campaign screws up
If they’re 20 points ahead in the polls and making mistakes, what will they be like under real pressure?
Read the full article17 June 2024
A Tory-Reform deal?
It would be the end of British conservatism as we know it
Read the full article13 June 2024
Labour’s manifesto – a clever sales pitch
Starmer is offering more reform than at first meets the eye
Read the full article12 June 2024
Fifteen ideas for a better Britain
These suggestions for the next government would be quick and easy to implement, and would not cost a fortune
Read the full article10 June 2024
Macron’s high-stakes gamble puts Europe at risk
Macron is playing a dangerous game by calling an election – and if Le Pen wins, we all lose
Read the full article