Labour’s lost future

The Conservative Party used to care about cities – and in Birmingham Andy Street is reminding them why

For the mayor of the West Midlands, it’s vital that the Tories target “young and diverse” metropolitan voters.

The SPD’s surge reveals the essence of the German election: the search for Merkel 2.0

Olaf Scholz, the SPD candidate, is by far the most popular of Merkel’s potential successors – and the one…

Yalda Hakim’s Kabul notebook: Two faces of the Taliban, a violent new chapter, and why the Afghan War is not over

With Isis putting the lie to assertions that the terrorist threat has been dealt with, the West may soon…

The Liberal Democrats cower in Labour’s shadow, as support for their party diminishes further

One advantage to being a small voice in Westminster is that it is a licence to be bold; but…

Christie Watson’s Diary: Paralympian role models, the crisis in nursing and the farce of political hindsight

The government’s paltry 3 per cent pay rise for NHS nurses is an insult to a profession who remind…

The Covid-19 lab leak hypothesis proves it matters what – and who – defines a conspiracy theory

A year ago, even raising the possibility of a lab leak seemed unacceptable. But public sentiment in the West…

Why Joe Biden got everything wrong in Afghanistan

The Biden administration’s view of the world as a diplomatic conversation was disconnected from reality.

Commons Confidential: Rishi Sunak’s pen pals

Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

“Class has dropped out of the feminist picture”: Amia Srinivasan on The Right to Sex

The Oxford philosopher on porn, Plato, and how feminism turned away from the plight of the worst-off women.

First Thoughts: The British pet obsession, solving the lorry driver crisis, and yet another statue scandal

The nation’s concern for Pen Farthing’s animals might have more to do with Victorian attitudes of those who are…

Labour’s lost future: the inside story of a 20-year collapse

In 2001 a resurgent Labour Party held 412 seats. Today it has 199. Why?

Why culture wars are an elite device

Plutocratic populists reduce economic conflicts to questions of belonging.

How work makes us human

Collective benefit is what gives labour meaning, but the pandemic has exposed deep inequalities in the ways we make a…

The summer that remade Britain

Snapshots from 1962 – a year of irrevocable change.

Reviewed in short: New books from Carole Hooven, Kristian Shaw, Lucia Osborne-Crowley and Jay Parini

Testosterone: The Story of the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us by Hooven, Brexlit: British Literature and the European…

How cities change at night

Matthew Beaumont’s The Walker asks how the nocturnal metropolis differs from the city in daylight.

Charlie Watts was the quietest, and coolest, of the Rolling Stones

The late drummer almost never lost his temper; his humour was spare and dry; and he always dressed like…

The myths of Michael Ayrton

For the mid-century “image-maker”, there was no dividing line between the deep past and the present. 

The dour sexism of Annette

This Sparks musical becomes not merely the story of a misogynist but one that reproduces his misogyny on every…

BBC drama Vigil is brutal, bonkers and chilling

Cleaning your teeth before bed, this submarine-set police drama seems preposterous. But while it’s on, it’s incredibly exciting and…

Can Sue Perkins fill Nicholas Parsons’ shoes on Just a Minute?

In her first episode as chair, she proves herself a deeply reassuring choice. 

Unlike most of its kind, the short-eared owl comes to us in the daytime – but remains otherworldly

As I was held in its eerie gaze, I saw an alien intelligence, a mind that was totally other. 

Which of my troubles is worse – the lost bank card, the sold-out wine, or A&E with a dodgy heart?

As I am ordered to the hospital, my next worry is the cost of a taxi there and back – well, let’s hope…

I’m grateful to my first crush – he’s the reason I learned to ride a bike

My first bike venture was one of the least silly things I’ve done for men. Now, cycling makes me feel…

This England: Weapon of choice

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…

Email [email protected] if you would like to be the New Statesman‘s Subscriber of the Week

Tanni Grey-Thompson Q&A: “My life in sport led me to politics“

The former Paralympic athlete on Line of Duty, meeting Michelle Obama, and the importance of step-free access.