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Jon Bennett
Articles by this author
- Swivelgate: how green shoots hope was quashed by grassroots wrath Amid the pomp and ceremony of the Queen’s Speech, TV cameras caught a glimpse of Ed Miliband and David Cameron sharing a joke in the corridors of Westminster. The mood was convivial, and people who don't recognise...
- Would an EU referendum be a sign of weak leadership? Politics is about value judgements. Good politicians balance technical advice with particular moral or ethical perspectives. They ponder the political implications of their own position to see how it fits with the prevailing mood. But in the end, having weighed...
- Why every politician should be making plans for Nigel Disaffected Tory voters on the cusp of taking out a full-page advert in the Times must have viewed last week’s UKIP surge with great relief. While £16,000 doesn’t buy much space in the national press, it will buy plenty of...
- Party leaders eclipse councillors in local elections debate Every councillor in the 27 English Counties faces the electorate tomorrow – but the local elections have hardly caught the public imagination. One problem is the lack of practical change that will result from Thursday’s voting. The Counties are such...
- Winners tough to pick in government Spending Review There’s no process better designed to ride roughshod across notions of collegiate Government than the Spending Review. Erstwhile political allies smile sweetly across the Cabinet table while briefing the press on the outrageous waste of their colleagues’ departments...
- Would the Thatcher approach to leadership work today? Today, and for the last time, Margaret Thatcher dominated the national media. For a Prime Minister who supposedly never read the newspapers, her grasp of communication and ability to connect with voters set the benchmark for the politicians...
- Rush to point the finger of blame in the welfare debate Here’s an interesting experiment to try today: ask people how much a standard benefit claimant receives in the UK. Don’t ask anyone who receives benefits or administrates some part of the system – ie, anyone who actually knows something about...
- How Participatory Budgeting is engaging people with fiscal management For all the build-up, wrangling, minute-by-minute media coverage and reams of commentary and analysis, who actually follows the Chancellor’s Budget? I’m not pretending that it isn’t important. Given the UK’s myriad global economic connections...
- A dangerous time for a leadership challenge? Westminster is buzzing with talk of a leadership challenge to the PM. It follows the five tests set for David Cameron, unofficially, by his disaffected backbenchers. The bad news is that three of those look to have been flunked already:...
- Who decides What Works in public sector leadership? Oliver Letwin and Danny Alexander have announced a cunning policy wheeze. It’s called the What Works network (PDF), and it’s a step towards more evidence-based policy making. Presumably the idea was dreamt up on the back...
- How sex scandals and stereotypes keep women out of politics Here’s one for the pub quiz – which country in the world has the greatest representation of women in its Parliament? Answer, according to the Interparliamentary Union: Rwanda, where they hold more than 56% of the seats....
- How Eastleigh by-election will test party leaders The career of a Secretary of State lies in ruins – more grist to the mill for the cynics who’ve lost all faith in politics. And with one carcass picked clean – at least until sentencing – the media flock...
- What does the Adam Afriyie story mean for Tory leadership? Plenty of head scratching ensued this week, as Adam Afriyie was splashed across the Sunday papers in connection with the Tory leadership. ...
- Cameron gambles on Europe referendum As a piece of domestic politics, David Cameron’s Europe speech has much to recommend it. ...
- Playing the blame game in the Westminster machine When Steve Hilton headed to California after just two years at Downing Street, he said he was demoralised by the “red tape and bureaucracy” of the Civil Service machine. ...
- Coalition leaders make it through divorce day, but their families are still squabbling Lawyers have dubbed the first working day of the New Year “divorce day”, as couples rush for advice on separations in the wake of Christmas rows. ...
- Wedding reception gets ugly for Tory backbenchers Culture secretary Maria Miller had a tough time this week as she set out the government’s legislative plans for gay marriage. The Parliamentary vitriol must have been somewhat galling, given her efforts to appease strong feelings on both sides....
- Autumn Statement: We are all squeezed together Nick Clegg’s statement on the Leveson Inquiry, independent of David Cameron’s official response, was reported in two ways. ...
- Embracing Ukip would be a mistake Get out the core vote or make a play for the middle ground? It’s a fundamental choice that Labour and Conservative leaders have had to make in recent times....
- Will curbs on Judicial Reviews make for judicious politics? Successful politicians understand the balance between attentive listening and dogmatic leadership. ...
- I’m a celebrity MP – give me something to do For sheer chutzpah, Nadine Dorries’ trip to the jungle is hard to beat. But there are contenders. Louise Mensch, who deserted the people of Corby after just two years to spend more time with her rock-promoter husband in the States,...
- Reading the ripples of Obama’s victory from across the pond So, $2 billion spent and the Presidential Election has finally been called for Obama. I’m sure this American isn’t the only one who was thoroughly fed up with the whole affair… …but as our US cousins settle down to a...
- Real life intrudes on US political point scoring Hurricane Sandy has claimed more than 100 lives. It left eight million people without power and the world’s foremost western economy without a stock exchange. But the story doesn’t end there. As the storm continues its path across the United...
- Big Idea drought in government can be catching I’m hardly breaking any Magic Circle confidences if I say that political comment pieces tend to follow one of two formats. Scenario one: our time-poor scribbler, faced with an empty page, examines recent events and finds a common thread to...
- Cameron: We’re all in it together – against those who aren’t David Cameron set out a sober warning to his party conference today that it’s “sink or swim” time; ...
- Miliband’s speech only works as Part One of a trilogy On the morning of his conference speech, a Com Res poll for the Independent made tough reading for Ed Miliband. ...
- Sexy beasts: the politics of prettiness The University of Exeter and the University of Iowa have come together to prove a long-received wisdom – attractive people do better in politics. ...
- For richer, for poorer: Labour’s union-leader partners hand initiative to Tories No-one is more able to undermine the credibility and electability of the Labour party than the very people who provide its funding....
- Reshuffle lights few fires but takes political heat out of government programme Westminster Villagers are searching for meaning and new direction in David Cameron’s first reshuffle....
- Holiday stress for Coalition couple While the holidays bring some couples together others find that vacation stress exposes the cracks in their relationship. Just now, it seems that Cameron and Clegg are in the latter camp, and commentators are asking questions about the future of...
- Who’s meeting who? With less news and fewer views to report during the parliamentary recess, journalists round on issues such as who’s meeting who, who’s jet setting where, and what they wore for drinks. On the whole, sitting prime ministers have an advantage...
- Better to win the Olympic bid than deliver the games On 6 July 2005, Team GB won the 2012 Olympic Games. Some 70% of UK people backed the bid and Prime Minister Tony Blair was feted for his part in the successful pitch....
- One little word is hard to say for George Osborne Politicians say sorry like small children: through gritted teeth after a lengthy stalemate or quick, bright and breezy to avoid a telling off. So why should their political opponents chase apologies so fervently when neither approach communicates any real regret?...
- Inquiries could damage Cameron’s ability to shape events To what extent does any government define itself? Is history written by radical ideas and political ideology – or are the reputations of political leaders at the mercy of events?...
- Inconsistent Cameron still has an edge over the Mili-brand “We took heat on hot pies. People have Laughed Out Loud during Leveson. And we mislaid the moral compass on tax evasion. Let’s win back those hard-working families with a principled attack on benefits culture… avoid any actual policies, or...
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