Political change is sweeping Europe. Nigel is rising in Great Britain. Peter replaced Viktor in Hungary. Macron is on his way out in France. Populism – defined by “people” vs. “elites”, distrust of institutions, and moral absolutism – is the connecting theme. Yet that populism is present in Northern Ireland too, which is odd for two reasons. First, the power-sharing institutions require party-opposites on the constitutional question to cooperate on delivering significant cha

Reform UK’s burgeoning popularity has never stemmed from policy alone. A central pillar of its appeal has long rested in the promise of purification; an anti-establishment, anti-corruption party supposedly untainted by the deceitful Westminster habits that have set Labour and the Conservatives hurtling towards electoral devastation come 2029. If polls are to be believed, this gambit will reap lucrative electoral dividends for Nigel Farage’s latest insurgency project. But the

Reform UK has been bolstered over the past few years by a media sullied by millionaires selling easy answers to the less politically focused populace. This malaise has been growing in the background for many years, however, with reports of Elon Musk considering funding Reform UK, it could be a saga reaching its climax. My gripe is not just with Reform over this campaign, but also with the left-wing parties of Your Party (Jeremy Corbyn’s new home), and The Green Party. Through

As the May Local Elections approach, things look bleak for the political centre. Polling suggests Labour could lose close to 2,000 local councillors, while the Conservatives are predicted to lose around 1,000. The big winners will likely be Reform, who could gain over 2,000 councillors - with the Greens also expected to perform well, potentially gaining close to 500. There is, of course, good reason to be fed up with Keir Starmer and his government, particularly in the light

September of last year marked Zack Polanski’s irruption into the highest echelon of British politics. The Green’s new leader, imbued with the gifts of personality, pitch and popularity, bestowed upon the party an attribute they had yet to enjoy – a brand. Polanski has swiftly turned himself into the Greens’ main asset; sharper than his predecessors, more media-savvy, more combative and far less embarrassed by the prospect of harnessing populism for his party’s good. Polanski,

In the aftermath of the Cold War, scholars such as Francis Fukuyama argued that liberal democracy represented the final stage of ideological evolution, famously framing it as “the end of history.” However, what was celebrated as the final and best form of human government began to buckle under its own contradictions almost as soon as the Berlin Wall fell. “The end” became the starting point for a new political reordering, characterised by the rise of anti-liberal and, eventu

Mexican democracy is the result of a long, complex, and painful historical struggle. It did not emerge overnight, nor was it a generous concession from those in power, but rather the fruit of decades of citizen pressure, political mobilisation, persecution, repression, and, in some cases, bloodshed by those demanding free elections and plural representation. Therefore, the recent attempt at electoral reform promoted by President Claudia Sheinbaum raised alarm bells : it was n

I had the opportunity to attend An Evening With Zarah Sultana at the University of Surrey, graciously hosted by Amelie Abass . As I entered the building, socialist campaigners unaffiliated with the university passed out pamphlets outside, which promised alliances with trade unions, standing up to Reform, and not much more. That seemed to be an appropriate introduction to the night. Zarah Sultana, the MP for Coventry South since 2019, formerly of Labour Party fame, is now kno

Few politicians since the turn of the century have taken the world by storm quite like Zohran Mamadani . He seems to have graduated from the Tony Blair school of charming and underproduced campaign videos, swapping the three-piece suits and out-of-date TikTok trends of his peers for genuine, boots-on-the-ground campaigning. And, if you ignore the added benefit of speaking three different languages, it worked. Mamdani was sworn in as the 112 th Mayor of New York City at the

We live in a world increasingly connected through social media, yet simultaneously increasingly disconnected from reality and political awareness. In various parts of the world, becoming a trend seems more important than developing innovative proposals. Politics has, in many ways, been hijacked by fame, and this hijacking has ultimately eroded debate and critical thinking. Politics understood as the serious exercise of power has been sidelined, giving way to a distorted and s

Across Europe, a striking consensus has taken hold. Quiz a passerby on the streets of Paris, Berlin or London on the state of society and you are likely to hear all too familiar lamentations concerning the declining state of both government performance and social cohesion. The cost of living continues to rise whilst wages stagnate and public services buckle, politics is brittle and the future looks more precarious than the past. This transnational belief , one which has been

In the late hours of the 6 th of February, Donald Trump posted a bizarre, AI generated video that depicted his political opponents as animals on Truth Social. The now-deleted clip had the faces of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez superimposed onto jungle animals, whilst The Lion Sleeps Tonight blared in the background. Amongst them, former President Joe Biden took the form of a mon

With Peter Mandelson once again slinking away from British government with his (apparently forked) tail between his legs, it gives pause for reflection on the dangers inherent in the fact that, at some level, politics comes down to the personal. Just like all news is local news somewhere in the world, the people at the heart of power behind the headlines, campaigns, and scandals of national or global significance, are people, driven by personal agency and motivations. For d

Earlier this month, Robert Jenrick was abruptly sacked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch after screenshots of the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice’s resignation speech were sent to senior figures in Badenoch’s office. Memories of the infighting that characterised the latter years of the previous Conservative government were immediately evoked, a period in which Tory MPs routinely plotted against their leaders, forgetting their duties to the public to instead resemble

It seems that the era of repetitive politics is over in Japan. Since her inauguration as the first female Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi has set a new path for Japan’s foreign policy. Her first order of action? A diplomatic firestorm with China. In her parliamentary declaration of last November, Takaichi underlined that any attempt of a Chinese blockade against Taiwan will signal an existential threat for Japan, precipitating the need for a collective self-defence st

The BBC has increasingly found itself under fire over the last few years, with right-wing media and politicians alike finding every possible opportunity to lambast the public-service broadcaster for perceived left-wing bias. Until his departure in the summer , Gary Lineker often drew much of the media’s ire for his outspoken political views, culminating in his earlier-than-planned exit from the UK’s national public service broadcaster. Now, remarkably, the U.S. President is a

As 2026 commences, how ready is the world of journalism for the next quarter century of the 21 st century? With social media gaining traction in the 2010’s, it’s safe to say the online world has well and truly exploded in the 2020’s. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X are all pillars of communication, information gathering and self-expression; should they have been given the authoritative voice they now have? The current social media-sphere is many worlds away from the World

The Starmer project was supposed to last a decade, it might not make it to the spring. Despite having one of the largest majorities in parliamentary history, the political project Starmer leads is so brittle it could snap at any moment . How on earth did a man with a majority of 172 seats lead this political project towards near certain disaster in just over a year? The answer, or at least one of them, lies at the very heart of the Starmer project and how it was constructed.

Steamrolling towards the 2010 General Election, and needing to recoup votes lost to David Cameron’s Conservatives and ‘ Cleggmania ’, Prime Minister Gordon Brown headed to Rochdale to engage with Joe Public. Unfortunately for him, it all ended up going awry, as Brown ended up committing a political gaffe of the ages following his televised conversation with 66-year-old Gillian Duffy. The exchange touched on pensions, university tuition, and immigration, as well as other topi

The political classes are being held responsible, academically and in actuality, for the rise of populism. Their failure to create the conditions for growth, apparent disdain for popular opinion, and inability to abide by professional standards have undoubtedly increased the public’s appetite for an alternative type of politician. Do we, however, expect too much of our politicians and do they, in fact, need to better explain what exactly it is that they are supposed to do? Be