‘Grown up’ Sue Gray is looking like a political ingenue September 23, 2024 Sue Gray awarding herself a more generous salary than the Prime Minister’s betrays a high-handed and naive approach to politics, says Eliot Wilson When the BBC revealed last week that Sue Gray, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, earned more than her boss, the story developed in a number of different ways. Some felt that [...]
S4 Capital: Revenue down and debt up at Sir Martin Sorrell’s ad giant September 19, 2024 Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital’s post-pandemic struggles have carried through into its latest results, which revealed a sharp decline in revenue and ballooning debt. The London-listed media holding group, which ad guru Sorrell founded after a sudden exit from WPP in 2018, saw its net revenue reduce by 15.6 per cent from £445.5m to £375.1m [...]
CFA: Chartered financial analyst chief steps down after nearly two decades September 17, 2024 The chief executive of the organisation representing chartered financial analysts, CFA UK, is set to step down from his role after nearly two decades in the position. Will Goodhart, who took over CFA’s leadership in 2006, said today that he will be stepping down in early 2025, and the group’s board has begun searching for [...]
Keir Starmer: Policies that inhibit growth will be in the ‘no column’ September 17, 2024 “If it promotes economic growth, it’s in the Yes column — if it is inhibiting growth, it’s in the No column,” he reportedly said.
Sanctimonious Starmer falls short of his own standards September 17, 2024 As Keir Starmer faces questions over a £5,000 donation towards his wife’s wardrobe, the Prime Minister is finding out that decency in public life isn’t an automatic function of not being a Tory, writes Alys Denby When Victoria Starmer entered Downing Street for the first time wearing a Me+Em dress in Labour rose red, the [...]
Who’d be ambassador to President Trump? September 9, 2024 Peter Mandelson and David Miliband are rumoured to be in the frame for British ambassador to Washington, but only if Kamala Harris wins. That’s a mistake. A Trump victory would demand a diplomatic heavyweight, says Eliot Wilson By the beginning of next year, Dame Karen Pierce will have served as British ambassador to the United [...]
Keir Starmer doubles down on ‘unpopular’ decision to restrict winter fuel payments September 8, 2024 "Every Labour MP was elected in on the same mandate as I was, which was to deliver the change that we need for the country," Starmer said.
The Notebook: How I (almost) managed to get the 1p coin scrapped September 2, 2024 Former Treasury comms chief James Chapman reminisces on the time he (almost) managed to scrap the penny - and why we should persist now.
Starmer’s illiberal smoking restrictions are just the start August 29, 2024 Freedom cannot be entirely indexed to smoking, but an administration’s approach to tackling it says a lot about how they plan to govern, says Joseph Dinnage Imagine you and your colleagues have just finished a day of graft on the trading floor and you’re all looking to relax. What to do? You all rightly decide [...]
Starmer can’t keep blaming everything on the Tories August 29, 2024 Starmer will soon find out that he can’t keep piously contrasting himself with the previous government while snatching benefits from pensioners, promoting party donors and paying off his pals in the trade unions, says William Atkinson The most important number for Keir Starmer’s government isn’t 411 seats he won, the £22bn black hole that Rachel [...]