Polly Toynbee

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Polly Toynbee

Immigration is a tinderbox. No one listening to voters on doorsteps in recent local elections could deny this. Nothing Labour does will satisfy those few who rate immigration as their top concern, but its new immigration plan is a serious endeavour to stop cheap labour undercutting pay. How will it go down? If Labour HQ celebrates a splash of rightwing front pages whooping up its toughest measures, those same headlines may propel more Labour people into the arms of the Liberal Democrats and Greens.

4 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Polly Toynbee

The thanksgiving service for the Tory grandee Michael Ancram last week resembled the funeral of his party. Amid an array of traditional Conservatives such as John Major and a multitude of that old ilk, one observer tells me there was no sign of the current shadow cabinet: they belong to a different party altogether. After their lowest vote ever last week, is it all over? A sign of life stirs among the embers.

4 weeks ago | theguardian.com | John Harris |with Gaby Hinsliff |Polly Toynbee |Axel Kacoutié

As Reform UK reaches new highs in the polls, it feels more and more likely that Nigel Farage’s triumph at local elections will be remembered as a huge turning point in UK politics. With support for the Tories at historic lows, and Keir Starmer’s government in deep trouble, is there a way back for the mainstream parties? John Harris is joined by the Guardian columnists Gaby Hinsliff and Polly Toynbee to make sense of what could be the biggest political change to hit the UK in living memory

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Polly Toynbee

If you thought these elections were bad, just wait for the locals next May. Expect far worse for Labour, unless they act fast. As they tussle over which way to turn, left or right, stop and consider what’s ahead. They will be challenged by Reform UK in towns such as Barnsley, while their progressive city heartlands will be ravaged by Greens, Liberal Democrats, and pro-Palestine and other independents. Expect shocks in London boroughs that have been forever Labour.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Polly Toynbee

What else would you expect from a byelection? Governments lose and this government is unpopular. To lose by a hair’s breadth – only six votes – is scant comfort in the forever Labour seat of Runcorn and Helsby, while Reform UK’s win of the mayoralty in Tory heartland Greater Lincolnshire is a symbolic blow to Kemi Badenoch. Both parties of the old duopoly have fallen under the wheels of political distrust and discontent.