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1714 headlines found — Page 39 of 143

The Guardian Politics27 Jun 2026

The war for Burnham’s ear: politicians and wonks fight for influence over a PM

There is high emotion, a deluge of policy papers and an ‘excruciating’ jostle for jobs as Labour’s probable next leader settles back into Westminster life As well as being the most popular politician in the country – for now – Andy Burnham is also the most popular man at Westminster. Labour MPs, the unions, Whitehall civil servants, political advisers and thinktanks are all among those battling for the ear of the next prime minister. “There are so many different demands all at once. But the supp

PoliticsDefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics27 Jun 2026

David Hencke, Guardian journalist who exposed ‘cash for questions’ scandal, dies aged 79

Former Westminster correspondent earned a reputation for uncovering political wrongdoing in the 1990s The acclaimed journalist David Hencke, whose career at the Guardian spanned more than three decades, has died from liver cancer aged 79. Hencke, the Guardian’s former Westminster correspondent, was instrumental in exposing the “cash for questions” scandal that forced the resignations of two Conservative ministers, as well as the scoop that led to Peter Mandelson’s first resignation from governme

Politics
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Andy Burnham says he will give 15% of his MP’s pay to local causes

New member for Makerfield and expected next prime minister joins other MPs who donate some or all of their pay Andy Burnham has said he will be donating 15% of his MP’s salary to local causes in his constituency of Makerfield. An MP’s salary currently stands at £98,599 and a number of MPs currently donate all of their salary or a part of it to charities and causes in the areas they represent. Continue reading...

PoliticsHousing
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Senior Trump official’s claims about UK free speech arrests rejected by No 10

Sarah B Rogers speech at conference in London included far-right memes and conspiracy theories about ‘Da Yookay’ Claims by a senior official in the Trump administration that British police were making thousands of “freedom of speech” arrests have been rejected by the UK government. Sarah B Rogers, who has become the public face of the US state department’s hostility to European liberal democracies, was accused by MPs of echoing far-right memes and conspiracy theories during a speech at an inter

PoliticsCrime
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Andy Burnham’s long coup: the chaotic year-long project to return him to Westminster

Efforts of campaign groups, supporters and party figures coalesced after May elections as MPs’ views began to change The third coming of Andy Burnham began in earnest on the dancefloor of the Ministry of Sound. It was the annual conference of the centre-left pressure group Compass on an unusually hot spring weekend in May 2025. Keir Starmer, a year into his premiership, was deep in the trenches of the welfare battle, and the event’s keynote speakers were Burnham and Louise Haigh. Under the hot

Politics
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

UK government urged to act on ‘devastating’ impact of heatwaves

MPs hear current plans fall ‘far short of what is needed’ with many deaths expected and children baking in classrooms The UK government is facing increasingly urgent calls for action to protect people against the intensifying effects of the climate crisis. With the country in the grip of the worst heatwave ever recorded in western Europe – a direct result of global heating – the chair of parliament’s environmental audit committee warned ministers of the urgent threat and that it was falling “far

PoliticsDefenceEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Remove home secretary Mahmood and rip up her asylum plans, says Alf Dubs

Veteran Labour peer who fled Nazis as a child attacks ‘performative cruelty’ of Shabana Mahmood’s policies Shabana Mahmood should be moved out of the Home Office and her asylum policies of “performative cruelty” ripped up by Andy Burnham’s administration, Alf Dubs has said. The veteran Labour peer who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia said the home secretary’s talents “would be better used elsewhere in the cabinet”. Continue reading.

PoliticsImmigration
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Digested week: Another PM bites the dust and it’s surprisingly moving | John Crace

Plus, World Cup fever, EU referendum 10th anniversary, feeling the heat in Westminster and cancer Hard to believe, but in my 12 and a half years as the Guardian’s political sketch writer, I am about to embark on my seventh prime minister. There was a time when we Britons took the piss out of the Italians for their rapid turnover of prime ministers. Now the laugh is on us. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Minister says he ‘won’t be intimidated’ by home secretary as public row escalates

Shabana Mahmood has demanded Mike Tapp be sacked over call for care worker exemption to migration rules UK politics live – latest updates An extraordinary public row between the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and one of her junior ministers has escalated after he said he “won’t be intimidated” in response to calls by her for him to be sacked. Mahmood demanded on Thursday that the migration minister, Mike Tapp, should be fired for writing an unauthorised article in the Times calling for overs

PoliticsImmigration
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Ignore the miserabilists: Andy Burnham as PM is a moment when things really can get better | Polly Toynbee

He’s the only person who can keep Nigel Farage out of Downing Street, so let’s embrace his unique blend of optimism and realism As Keir Starmer bid a brief and emotional farewell at that pillory of a lectern, there was a moment for some to ask: what have we done, and why? He’s not a bad man, not a Boris Johnson or Liz Truss rogue prime minister. How decadent, if lack of charisma has become a sacking offence. But the reason why isn’t written in Westminster. It’s there in councils up and down the

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Charities criticise ‘costly’ Home Office plan to use more military bases to house asylum seekers - UK politics live

Government seeking planning permission at sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. We are leading today’s blog on the news that the Home Office is attempting to use three more military sites to house thousands of asylum seekers. Planning permission is being sought at Ministry of Defence sites in Bicester in Oxfordshire, Barnham in Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, to acc

PoliticsImmigrationDefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics26 Jun 2026

Wanted: a new PM, a new James Bond, a new Doctor – and a UK that can agree on its leading characters | Nadia Khomami

Britain has found itself looking for all three protagonists at once. Who gets to stand at the centre of the national story? It’s been the refrain of the week. Why can’t the country hold on to a prime minister – and how can it be that Larry, the Downing Street cat, has managed to outlast six of them? Have we become ungovernable? Is it because one government after another has failed to halt the slide in living standards – or have online attention spans eroded our patience for change? But Westminst

Politics