Keir Starmer had a front row seat for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s shenanigans. At the time, Starmer showed a forensic ability to expose the then PM’s lies and misdemeanours. 
Yet now he is in power, those investigative talents seem to have deserted him. 

58% of young people primarily use social media to access political news.

A shadow hangs over democracy; the shadow of corruption. Power is being leveraged – sometimes brazenly, sometimes discreetly – for money, influence, and future enrichment.

Power can be both formal and informal. Think of the first as the appointments and vetting process, the institutional element that permitted Mandelson to become Ambassador to the US. Think of the second as the network-effect of people-who-know-people.

There’s no doubt that the Representation of the People Bill is a step in the right direction and thank goodness for that.

We live in a country where politics has been dominated by a two-party system for a hundred years. And the only thing that changed a hundred years ago was one party replaced another party in that two party system. 

Whether Starmer survives or goes, one thing is clear - we can’t go on like this. Ethics and standards matter.

For the second year in a row, millions will see their local elections cancelled by the government. 

In some areas, residents will go SEVEN years without having any say on who their local councillor is, how their local council is run and how billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is spent.

That’s a hammer blow to plans to deliver growth and to get power out of Whitehall and back into local communities. 

Tasked with regulating political finance and overseeing elections, the Electoral Commission was designed to operate at arm’s length from ministers, beyond the reach of party politics. For good reason: it would plainly have been unacceptable if the police officers assessing allegations that Reform UK and Nigel Farage breached election spending rules had been required to follow a set of priorities written by a Labour minister - or a Reform minister for that matter. Even if the outcome was entirely lawful, it would not be trusted.

For a second year in a row, the Government has announced that important local elections will be cancelled in parts of England. 

Last year, it was Council elections being called off in areas with nearly 6 million voters. This year, it is Mayoral elections in four areas covering 7.5 million voters - these elections will now be held in 2028. 

Yet again the Government has come under fire from across the political spectrum and from independent organisations. Not only does the cancellation of elections raise huge questions about our democracy, it also shows that the Government’s flagship devolution plans are running years behind schedule.

The UK is waking up to the reality that the UK is also vulnerable to the equivalent of the US’s Project 2025

Across Europe, political trust is in decline, and Britain is no exception. Confidence in the government, political institutions and politicians is at a record low and the position of two major political parties, Labour and Conservatives, is being redefined.

Now is the time for decisive action to improve political education. 

Why are young men giving up on democracy? Young men are angry, and disaffected men are gravitating towards radical figures who wage war on democratic institutions.

While deliverism is no guarantee of brighter electoral prospects for Labour, failure to oversee improved levels of trust in politics is a near-certain recipe for defeat.

Such a radical rethink in how the State handles our personal data raises some significant concerns which have yet to be addressed.

If you want to see what happens when politics gets stuck in the past, look no further than France.

President Trump kickstarted a gerrymandering war by instructing Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional districts and Democrat Gavin Newsom responding with retaliatory redistricting in California.

It’s official - the Government has decided that it will introduce a Mandatory Digital ID scheme in the UK.