Esther Webber

1 week ago | politico.eu | Tim Ross |Esther Webber

LONDON — British politics is cracking up. And Nigel Farage is here to help. The Reform UK party’s firebrand leader is celebrating one of his most famous victories after ousting Labour in a stronghold seat that Keir Starmer’s center-left government should never have lost. For much of his two decades in politics, Farage has been seen as a bigger threat to the Conservatives than the left.

1 week ago | politico.eu | Esther Webber

LONDON — Donald Trump’s tougher tone with Vladimir Putin has opened a crack of optimism for the future of Ukraine peace talks — but Britain and France don’t have long to celebrate. Two events in the last week saw the U.S. president adopt a harder line with the Russian leader, marking a vibe shift for which Ukraine’s European allies are claiming partial credit.

2 weeks ago | politico.eu | Esther Webber

LONDON — The gathering of the great and good for Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome may have opened a crack of optimism for the future of Ukraine peace talks, but it only gets tougher from here. Donald Trump’s meeting with Volodomyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the funeral — the first since their disastrous encounter in the Oval Office — seemed to mark a vibe shift, for which Ukraine’s European allies are claiming partial credit.

3 weeks ago | politico.eu | Stefan Boscia |Esther Webber

LONDON — The Western world’s most successful political party is steeling itself for a second electoral wipeout in 10 months. Pollsters are widely predicting Britain’s Conservative Party will lose hundreds of councillors in next week’s local elections as millions of Brits go to the polls. This would mean that, despite an unpopular Labour government polling at historically low numbers, the Tories are likely to become the biggest loser on May 1 thanks to Britain’s local council electoral cycle.

3 weeks ago | politico.eu | Dan Bloom |Esther Webber

LONDON — Some of Britain’s hereditary peers are already planning a comeback to the House of Lords despite the ruling Labour Party’s plans to boot them out. Peers from multiple parties have discussed the prospect of at least 10 of the 92 lawmakers — eligible to stand for the U.K. parliament’s second chamber due to their aristocratic birth — being nominated for life peerages after the government axes their existing rights to sit and vote later this year, four peers told POLITICO.