AboutArticles by John Rentoul

Labour’s prison crisis ‘magic fix’ fails to work

10 Oct 2026

Every day in London 100 tagging breaches are reported to the police, said Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, on LBC this morning. Of those brought back to the...

Labour needs more Shabanas, not Angela Rayners

01 Mar 2026

Angela Rayner’s response to the Green victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election was to say that Labour should be “braver”. Shabana Mahmood’s response was to do just that....

Next election could be Reform vs Green parties

01 Feb 2026

It is no wonder Labour rushed the by-election in Gorton and Denton, setting the date on 26 February, in the hope of catching opponents off guard. Keir Starmer knows...

Sadiq Khan must accept that Reform is no longer a bad joke

11 Jan 2026

Unveiled by Nigel Farage as the Reform candidate for London mayor, Laila Cunningham is... an interesting choice. To run a female Muslim candidate against Sadiq Khan makes it harder...

Davey surprise winner of least unpopular PM prize

11 Jan 2026

Of all the possible combinations of parties in a hung parliament, the one the most voters want is Ed Davey as prime minister in a coalition between the Liberal...

If anyone refuses to take Farage seriously, then think again

15 Dec 2025

Many people in politics think Nigel Farage is like the flame on a Christmas pudding: all show and over in a minute. I meet Conservatives who think he will...

Shabana Mahmood’s decisions could reshape British politics

25 Nov 2025

Both Labour and the Tories need Shabana Mahmood to succeed, yet many in both parties refuse to accept that she holds their future in her hands. The home secretary...

Is former deputy PM Rayner planning her comeback?

27 Oct 2025

Keir Starmer will have noted one moment at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool. When Wes Streeting, the health secretary, paid tribute to Angela Rayner and said, “We need her...

Badenoch has a brilliant idea — will Reeves steal it?

10 Oct 2025

It is what they call fox hunting season in Westminster, when parties race to steal their opponents’ best policies. To “shoot the fox” is to spoil the hunters’ fun....

My predictions for Starmer — and rest of political landscape

29 Sep 2025

The Peter Mandelson Memorial Dim Sum Supper Club met in emergency session last night, prompted by our hero’s third fall from grace. We are a group of friends who...

John Rentoul

Chief Political Commentator, The Independent; visiting professor, King's College, London.

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