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Stephen Bush

Columnist and Associate Editor

Stephen Bush is an associate editor and columnist at the Financial Times. He writes a daily newsletter, Inside Politics, charting the course of politics and policy in the United Kingdom, and a wide-ranging weekly column. You can subscribe to Inside Politics here.

Email Stephen Bush @stephenkb  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)
  • Friday, 21 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Election-betting scandal further ties the Tories up in knots

    Sunak’s futile handling of the incident highlights the deceit at the centre of his campaign

    2 hours ago
    Rishi Sunak opens his hands during the debate as he makes a point
  • Thursday, 20 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Why we can’t be sure of the size of the Labour swing

    Tactical voting, negative polarisation and local campaigns could all temper the result

    Keir Starmer stands at a lectern with the Labour tagline ‘Change’ in the background
  • Wednesday, 19 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Potential routes forward for the Tories post-election

    The party can only rebound if its leadership hopefuls learn the right lessons

    Rishi Sunak chats to a voter in a barn in Clovelly
  • Tuesday, 18 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Could the Lib Dems become the official opposition?

    A Conservative meltdown plus favourable opinion polling could help Ed Davey’s party chart a path to second place

    Ed Davey high fives someone while pushing a yellow wheelbarrow
  • Tuesday, 18 June, 2024
    UK immigration
    Neither politicians nor the public think straight on immigration

    The problem is that voters aren’t willing to pay for a policy they say really matters to them

    Ewan White illustration of bricklayers building a wall in a desert.
  • Monday, 17 June, 2024
    Inside PoliticsUK general election 2024
    Labour’s tax-and-spend commitments will hamper ‘change’ plans

    Myriad challenges — from drinking water to prisons — will require increased spending to solve

    A person holding the Labour party general election manifesto
  • Friday, 14 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Reform’s second-place standing in polls underscores potential scale of Tory defeat

    Plus, some thoughts on Labour’s no-surprises manifesto

    Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner at the manifesto launch event in Manchester
  • Thursday, 13 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Despondence grows as election campaign reaches halfway point

    Conservative party staffers — and the people most likely to vote for them — despair at their languishing pitch

    People view the Conservative party’s manifesto at its launch event in Northamptonshire
  • Wednesday, 12 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    The Conservative party manifesto is an exercise in wishful thinking

    Patchy delivery record makes pledges hard to believe

    Rishi Sunak launches his manifesto
  • Tuesday, 11 June, 2024
    Political Fix podcast33 min listen
    Campaign catch-up: the Tories’ ‘kitchen sink’ manifesto

    Plus, the Lib Dems mix pledges and photo-ops

  • Tuesday, 11 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    The Lib Dem strategy to restore their third party status

    Holding the line on taxes and zany photo opportunities are bolstering the party’s campaign

    Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and party members on a ride at Thorpe Park
  • Monday, 10 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    What to expect from party manifestos this week

    The Conservatives will talk up their boldness, while Labour will exhibit caution

    Rishi Sunak at a campaign event, with people holding Conservative party placards in the background
  • Friday, 7 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Rishi Sunak’s D-Day gaffe is a gift to Reform

    Nigel Farage’s eighth bid to become an MP could reconfigure British party politics as we know it

    Nigel Farage stood on a beach
  • Thursday, 6 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Why the £2,000 tax claim aimed at ensnaring Labour proves costlier for the Tories

    Rishi Sunak takes a page out of Vote Leave’s playbook, to no avail

    Two women sit in a pub while the UK election debate plays out on a TV behind them
  • Wednesday, 5 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    TV debates can give parties an edge, but this one is unlikely to shift any ground

    Scrappy head-to-head reminds us of the Tories’ best attack line — tax

    Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer participate in a televised debate
  • Tuesday, 4 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Why Farage’s comeback matters as Tories stare into heavy defeat

    Former Ukip leader seizes on opportunity to return to frontline politics as Reform rises in polls and PM’s campaign struggles

    Nigel Farage
  • Tuesday, 4 June, 2024
    UK general election 2024
    UK politics must stop fixating on the grey vote

    Singling out those who are past retirement age leads to campaigns that are largely about spending public money

    Ewan White illustration of two couples voting behind closed curtains on each side of a black door with number 10 on it.
  • Monday, 3 June, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Labour’s pledge to cut immigration tightens party’s fiscal straitjacket

    Ultra-cautious policy approach carries risks of its own if Starmer makes it into No 10

  • Sunday, 2 June, 2024
    UK general election 2024
    How British politics lost touch with reality

    The leaders of the country’s main political parties appear to see no jeopardy in making promises they can’t keep

    Man in white shirt and tie holding q&a session surrounded by a circle of people seated and standing in high-viz jackets
  • Friday, 31 May, 2024
    Political Fix podcast36 min listen
    Labour’s messy campaign week

    UK election: can the Green party split the leftwing vote?

  • Friday, 31 May, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Why I think Labour will let Diane Abbott run

    Rush to fill selections always involves infighting over party processes. Due to her national acclaim, this time it’s different

    A placard in support of Diane Abbott
  • Thursday, 30 May, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Diane Abbott row spotlights Labour’s grubby pre-election tradition

    Party yet to confirm who will stand in MP’s constituency, but backlash has ripple effects for its direction and leadership

    Diane Abbott with supporters in London
  • Wednesday, 29 May, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Sunak and Starmer trust the opinion polls are right

    PM’s latest proposals target people who voted Tory in 2019, but are now saying they will vote Reform or not at all

    Rishi Sunak meets members of the Market Bosworth Bowls Club during a general election campaign event
  • Tuesday, 28 May, 2024
    Inside Politics
    ‘The lady or the tiger’: how candidate selections work

    Pre-election period grants more powers to central committees, with Labour’s rule book allowing it to impose contestants on constituencies

    Jade Botterill, the Labour candidate for Ossett and Denby Dale, and Rachel Reeves at a campaign event in West Yorkshire
  • Monday, 27 May, 2024
    Inside Politics
    Sunak’s national service policy swamped by cynicism and incompetence

    Move recalls Corbyn’s previous bet that popular policies would improve his standing, except for PM few voters care enough about the issue

    Rishi Sunak laying a brick in a workshop
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