Zoë Grünewald

London

Journalist and Broadcaster at Freelance

very serious freelance political journalist & broadcaster | Westminster editor @theleaduk | Presenter @fubarradio | Chatting @OhGodWhatNowPod @bunker_pod

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Articles

Starmer’s Brexit reset marks a welcome return to political honesty

2 weeks ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

Let’s be clear: Monday’s deal between the UK and the EU is no revolution. It doesn’t end border friction, return us to the single market, nor undo the decade of political, economic, and diplomatic damage caused to this country by Brexit.
Labour's immigration clampdown is a generational betrayal

3 weeks ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

Labour’s new immigration white paper, unveiled on 12 May, has set hares running. Keir Starmer’s rhetoric around migration is now unmistakably hardline. Calling the UK’s historic immigration policy a “failed experiment” and warning that we risk becoming “an island of strangers” isn’t just dog-whistle politics, it marks a clear lurch to the right; a deep betrayal of the progressive values many hoped a Labour government would stand for. Labour MPs are rattled. Core voters are angrier still.
The Lead in conversation: how austerity jails the mentally ill

3 weeks ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

When Scout Tzofiya-Bolton was arrested in the midst of a psychotic episode, she was convinced she was acting in a movie. The toy gun in her hand felt like a prop. The robbery, a scene. It wasn’t until she was alone in a police cell that the delusion began to crack. Scout’s story is extraordinary, but not unusual. In 2023, she spent six months in prison a…Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to The Lead to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
They fought for a fairer Britain. Now we must tax for one

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

Today, Victory in Europe Day, commemorates the moment of collective triumph over the darkest forces of the 20th century. Usually a day of reflection and memorialisation, this year VE Day arrives with an uneasy echo of the past. Across the West, far-right ideologies are once again on the march, shrouded not in uniforms but in the language of grievance and nationalism. In the UK, Reform UK’s ascent is clear evidence.
Labour have been given a reminder of what the left is actually for

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

The results are in, and they tell the story we all expected: Reform UK has strong support across the country, while Labour - the incumbent government - has taken a hit. For the prime minister, this must be more than just a moment of discomfort. It’s time take stock of what has been revealed, objectively, for the first time: the country is definitively rejecting Labour’s cautious managerialism, vague promises, and cultural triangulation. It’s time for a change in approach.
Labour’s election hammering isn’t a cue to drift right - it’s a reminder of what the left is for

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

The results are starting to come in, and they tell the story we all expected: Reform UK has strong support across the country, while Labour - the incumbent government - has taken a hit. For the prime minister, this must be more than just a moment of discomfort. It’s time take stock of what has been revealed, objectively, for the first time: the country is definitively rejecting Labour’s cautious managerialism, vague promises, and cultural triangulation. It’s time for a change in approach.
Transphobia is not feminism, it’s a dangerous distraction

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

This week’s Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “sex” under the Equality Act has been heralded as a victory by those who claim to be protecting women’s rights. But let’s be honest about what’s really going on here: The sudden surge of political and media interest in trans people has never been about making women safer. It’s a distraction, and a dangerous one at that. The ruling, that “sex” means biological sex in the Equality Act, was immediately seized upon by the right-wing press.
Unions are the frontline for Labour’s battle against Reform

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

Unions are alive to the threat of the populist right. They know what’s coming: a string of local elections which will see Reform UK make inroads into the red wall heartlands, stirring up old resentments and offering quick, populist fixes. And here’s the challenge: Labour’s hold on union members may be slipping. For years, it’s been easy to assume that unionised workers – factory workers, engineers, care workers, drivers – are Labour's base. But that base is fragmenting.
I’d like to ask the flighty millionaires: where is your sense of civic duty?

1 month ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

Oh no, the millionaires are fleeing London! Why? Not war, wildfires, water shortages or near-permanent delays on the District line, but because they might finally be asked to pay tax like the rest of us. The long-overdue closure of the non-dom tax loophole has sent right-wing commentators into panic. Britain, they warn, is about to lose its best and brightest. What they mean, of course, is its richest.
It's time to cut Donald Trump loose - before he takes the UK down with him

2 months ago | national.thelead.uk | Zoë Grünewald

We all have those friends. Unreliable, flaky, perhaps a little two-faced. They’ll smile at you one moment and stab you in the back the next. Such relationships can be testing, but sometimes their redeeming traits – loyalty in the toughest times, a knack for making you smile – make them worth keeping around. Sadly for Keir Starmer, his friend across the pond does not possess such qualities.