Political conversation needs the voice of reason
In the raging debate about the “crisis” gripping Western democracies, one set of voices has been noticeably silent. What might be best termed as the “moderate right” – a political category in…
Politics
Scotophobia: Ukip’s road to electoral oblivion
Paul Nuttall, the new leader of Ukip, knows how to outperform Nigel Farage in at least one respect. Where Farage made himself famously unpopular in Scotland, Nuttall is on course to make…
Hammond bets on a productive future
In 51 minutes and with 15 references to “productivity” the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond threw more light on what a post-Brexit Britain could look like than all the uncountable hours of hints…
Fillon takes centre stage from the right
The politician they called “Mister Nobody” now looks more like “The Man with No Name”. In this year of political surprises, few can claim as stunning an upset as François Fillon. On…
Merkel fights on as history awaits
What a journey she has been on! When it was first touted that Angela Merkel would become the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate for the German Chancellorship after her election as party…
Path to Scotland’s independence in Europe
If you think Brexit complicated British politics, try living in Scotland. Those Scots who favour independence – 45 per cent of us, including me in 2014 – thought our time had come when David…
The science of Brexit behaviour
It became clear last week that not only was the political world turned upside down, but so also was the way it was analysed and reported. In particular, polling predictions were yet…
The psychology of government
As political parties around the world try to work out why opinion pollsters are struggling to get accurate readings of what is on voters’ minds, governments are beginning to tap into pioneering…
Political regret you just have to live with
So why did so many political professionals fail to predict both Brexit and the US election result? Both are political earthquake events. Both seemed to result in counter-intuitive outcomes. In both cases,…
Trump means Trump
The result was due in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the UK. It took longer to become definitive. At 7:40am Hillary Clinton conceded defeat and Donald Trump exceeded expectations, except…