James Ball
08 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 article05 June 2024
The cost of Sunak’s dodgy tax claim
The PM claimed Labour would put up taxes by £2,000 per family – and now he looks like a liar
Read the full article
05 June 2024
Power to the people
The new government could use advisory panels made up of ordinary Britons to break the political deadlock on big issues
Read the full article04 June 2024
Farage: a disaster for the Tory party
The consequences of Farage's return will be even worse for Britain
Read the full article03 June 2024
The worst of the election is yet to come
When the deadline for candidate selection has finally passed, the mud-slinging will really begin
Read the full article31 May 2024
Trump guilty: a very European verdict
It might be new in the US, but European courts have been convicting their leaders for years
Read the full article29 May 2024
Sunak’s desperate measure of Dud’s army
Nothing sums up the chaotic idiocy of the Tory campaign more than their latest plan to reintroduce national service
Read the full article28 May 2024
Sunak’s great Reform blunder
New Tory policies are designed to stop their voters from backing Richard Tice. Instead they should be focused on potential switchers to Labour
Read the full article25 May 2024
The bizarre planning stand-off on Starmer’s doorstep
A battle between Ocado and local residents shows that Labour has a Nimby problem
Read the full article24 May 2024
The parliamentary drop-outs
Why are so many MPs standing down at the election?
Read the full article