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The Guardian Politics12 Jul 2026

UK must cap political donations to stop the rich buying influence | Heather Stewart

If Starmer won’t act then his successor should – by restricting the power of a small group of mega-donors Just as Nigel Farage kicks off a summer of “arguing with a bin”, as Rachel Reeves called it, Labour’s bill to clean up politics returns to the House of Commons this week. As more questions emerge about the financing of Reform and Farage’s mega-donor chums – through the brilliant reporting of Guardian colleagues – MPs should seize the opportunity to toughen it up. Continue reading...

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics12 Jul 2026

Nigel Farage is just one strand in the tangle of rightwing politicians and crypto investors | John Harris

These financiers want to remodel the UK into a form that suits them – one that could threaten to erode the barriers between crime and business This coming Tuesday, the government’s representation of the people bill comes back to the House of Commons for its third reading. It bundles up a multitude of measures, including an extension of the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds and welcome changes to voter registration. But thanks to the continuing furore around Nigel Farage and his extremely wealthy

PoliticsReformCrime
The Guardian Politics12 Jul 2026

Tommy Robinson’s Musk-funded Russia trip spurs call to defend UK democracy

Ed Davey voices concern about the Musk family foundation taking the far-right activist on a visit to Moscow The UK must do more to defend its democracy after it emerged that Elon Musk’s family foundation had taken the far-right activist Tommy Robinson to Russia, Ed Davey has said. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was brought to Russia by the Musks, the billionaire tech mogul’s father told the Guardian. Continue reading...

The Guardian Politics12 Jul 2026

Reeves tells Burnham to expect ‘shocks and challenges’ from get-go in No 10

Chancellor says PM-in-waiting needs ‘worked through plan’, in what could be one of her final interviews in No 11 Rachel Reeves has urged Andy Burnham to arrive in Downing Street with a “worked through plan”, saying the incoming prime minister will be tested quickly by a range of incoming “shocks and challenges”. In what could be one of the first female chancellor’s final major interviews while in No 11, Reeves said Burnham should remain focused on the priorities that first brought him into polit

Politics
The Guardian Politics11 Jul 2026

‘It’s Wizard of Oz stuff’: Clacton voters divided over Farage byelection

Voters’ views range from adulation to scepticism to outright cynicism over contest triggered by sitting MP As Nigel Farage inflicts an August byelection on the Clacton constituency in Essex, local voters are divided over whether they need, or want, to give the Reform UK leader a fresh mandate. In this self-styled battle between the “establishment and the people” views range from adulatory to sceptical to outright cynical over a contest that all mainstream parties are boycotting, leaving Count Bi

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics11 Jul 2026

Labour MPs call for Andy Burnham to restore aid spending target set by Brown

Thinktank urges prospective prime minister to reclaim UK’s role as an international leader on development Influential backbenchers are calling on Andy Burnham to reclaim Labour’s leadership on international development and chart a course back to spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. In a collection of essays to be published soon by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) thinktank, MPs lay out proposals for a Burnham-led government to rethink foreign policy. Continue reading...

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics11 Jul 2026

‘He goes a bit funny if you use his real name’: the unstoppable rise of Count Binface

Nigel Farage foresaw a summer stroll to glory when he forced a byelection – but now risks his career being trashed The votes were being counted and the media had gathered for the moment that Andy Burnham, his sights on Downing Street, would be elected as the MP for Makerfield in greater Manchester. But Nick the Flying Brick, a candidate on numerous occasions for the Monster Raving Loony party, could not help but be distracted. How could it be that the candidate across the Edge Conference Centre

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics10 Jul 2026

Ann Widdecombe: uncompromising politician who embraced TV fame

Former Conservative minister, who later joined Reform UK and became an unlikely celebrity, was found dead at her Devon home on Thursday On Wednesday, shortly after Nigel Farage announced he would stand down from his parliamentary seat in Clacton to trigger a byelection, Ann Widdecombe appeared by video link on Talk TV to praise his decision. “This is a very decisive man,” Widdecombe told the interviewer, speaking with the same forthright conviction that had defined her controversial political ca

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics10 Jul 2026

George and Fiona Cottrell understood to have been interviewed under caution by Met police

Interviews of Farage aide and his mother believed to be part of investigation into donations to Reform UK before 2024 election Nigel Farage’s aide George Cottrell and his mother Fiona Cottrell have been interviewed under criminal caution by Scotland Yard detectives, the Guardian understands. The interviews are understood to form part of an ongoing investigation into donations to Reform UK before the general election in July 2024. Continue reading...

PoliticsReformCrime
The Guardian Politics10 Jul 2026

The Guardian view on disability benefits: Pip must not become another route for cuts | Editorial

Stronger European welfare states expose a Tory myth. Benefits can enable independence, work and growth Sir Stephen Timms, Labour’s minister for social security and disability, is widely acknowledged to be a parliamentary expert on welfare. He has seen the system from almost every angle: as a pensions and Treasury minister under New Labour, a shadow welfare spokesperson, a select committee chair, and now as a government minister. After Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s ham-fisted attempt to b

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics10 Jul 2026

How do political donations work… and why are there growing calls for a cap?

Mega-donors are coming under scrutiny after a crypto billionaire based in Thailand gave a £5m gift to Nigel Farage The question of who funds politicians and political parties – and why they want to give money to get people elected – is an extremely heated one. In principle, UK voters can support their chosen politicians through donations or benefits, as long as those candidates and their parties keep within spending limits during an election period, which is designed to stop powerful interests f

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics10 Jul 2026

Burnham will have to master something Starmer couldn’t: the art of dealing with Donald Trump | Gaby Hinsliff

The new PM will need a superb foreign secretary and the ability to get like-minded countries on board. Early signs suggest he may have the right skills It’s all starting to feel very real now. Or so Andy Burnham said on the day he in effect became Britain’s official prime minister-in-waiting; a moment both heady and sobering. The papers are signed, the die cast. Keir Starmer has yet to leave the building, but his party is already talking about him as if he somehow couldn’t hear. On Friday, Burnh