UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email“On the doorsteps I’ve noticed a real shift,” Johnny Mercer tells his assembled troops on the grass verge at a post-war council housing estate on the northwestern fringe of Plymouth.Poring over a road map, the 42-year-old former Commando, wearing a polo shirt, combat trousers and rough-terrain shoes, says people are not liking Sir Keir Starmer, but that many are “pi**ed off” and don’t want to vote.“I get that,” he says, before pushing the message to the small group that a local vote for Reform UK means Labour dominance across the city, with a second constituency likely already in their hands and a party-run city council.“We can do this is. Don’t be downhearted – it has been difficult here,” he rounds off before thanking the mostly volunteer “heroes” for their support.It’s more Duke of Edinburgh than a tour in Afghanistan but for Mr Mercer, this is a tough election assignment.Mr Mercer told The Independent he will serve just one more term if he is re-elected due to the scale of abuse aimed at himself and his family.Yet the campaign is one he appears to be relishing, marching down the street with his wife and “greatest asset”, Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, to knock on doors as passing motorists wave and sound their horns.The day kicks off with Mr Mercer directing his team on door knocking duties More

‘The Whitby Woman’ is a key target voter that pollsters and political strategists think is essential for the Conservatives or Labour to win over if they’re to win the general election. With an average age of around 61, she is a homeowner who lives in a suburb or a small town like Whitby, who voted in favour of Brexit and is less likely to have gone to university.Maya Oppenheim visits Whitby, England to see if the sterotype holds and what the women of Whitby thought of the persona being targeted by the political parties. More

Nigel Farage clashed with Question Time host Fiona Bruce during a heated leader’s election debate.The presenter and journalist read off a series of offensive remarks made by Reform candidates to the leader during Friday’s programme (28 June).Mr Farage replied: “I don’t know any of them.”The host asked: “Why are you still standing them?”Mr Farage said: “Every party has problems in a snap election.. We paid a vetting company £144,000 to vet our candidates, they didn’t do it”.Ms Bruce replied: “That’s not the question I’m asking. These comments by your candidates have been widely reported. You don’t need a vetting company. Why are they still standing?” More

Nigel Farage claimed he has done more “than anybody else alive” to combat the far right in Britain during the BBC’s Question Time Leaders’ Special on Friday, 28 June.The Reform UK leader faced questions from the audience on footage captured by Channel 4 of racist and homophobic comments made by party canvassers.Mr Farage said: “I’ve done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anybody else alive.“I took on the BNP just over a decade ago. I said to their voters, if this is a protest vote but you don’t support their racist agenda, don’t vote for them, vote for me, destroyed them.”Mr Farage has sought to distance himself from the comments, saying he was “dismayed” by the “appalling sentiments” expressed. More

Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent’s Race Correspondent Nadine WhiteSign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race ReportThe Tories appeared to be on the brink of catastrophe in the general election as a new poll gave Nigel Farage’s Reform UK a three-point lead.The Whitestone poll for Reach plc newspapers put Reform on 21 per cent, the Tories on just 18 per cent while Labour maintained a clear lead on 38 per cent.The devastating result for Mr Sunak means that the position of leader of the opposition, which Mr Farage covets, appears to be wide open.However, according to Electoral Calculus in a general election this would leave the Conservatives on a mere 50 seats, give Reform 29 but the Lib Dems would be the official opposition with 74 seats.Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has sought to distance himself from his campaigners’ comments (Paul Marriott/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMost expensive thing boughtThese days it’s probably my Arsenal season ticket – but well worth it. After 18 years in the same seats it’s not something I’m going to give up.Memory of a fightIn 1980, my friend Graham being punched and kicked by some local kids for being gay. I jumped in alongside our friend Mark so all three of us ended up getting beaten up.Do you pray?I don’t pray, but I think faith is valuable. It’s a place where people can invest a lot of themselves and find comfort, hope and a sense of security. I value that a lot.Biggest regretNot taking the opportunity to tell my dad I loved him in his final moments. That’s a regret that will stay with me.My only major fears are around my kids – I think most parents will relate. I worry about their privacy, we do everything we can to give them the best chance of an independent life uninterrupted by my work.The big hope for all of us in the Labour Party is that our message for change has resonated with the British people, and we get the chance to change our country in government.Funniest momentDefinitely my mum and dad bringing our dog to Buckingham Palace when I was being knighted. The image of this massive Great Dane sticking its head out of the car window to a bemused security guard will always bring a smile to my face.How do you feel about your parents not seeing you become PM?It’s not easy. My mum passed away a few weeks before I became an MP. I know she’d be beaming now.Book that inspiresJo Cox’s book, More In Common. As she so eloquently puts it, we have more in common than that which divides us. We have to get past the politics of division, this book is my north star for that.Favourite poemAt the D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth a couple of weeks ago, the poet Tomos Roberts recited a poem ‘The People Who Gave Us Today’ which was an incredibly powerful moment.Favourite musicWhen I started at Leeds University it was an explosion of culture, discovering artists like Orange Juice and Edwyn Collins. But I do need to mention Stormzy’s most recent album which is a brilliant piece of work.What can you play on the flute most easily?My favourite was playing quartets – particularly Mozart, although I wouldn’t fancy my chances these days.Music that makes you cry Beethoven, Piano Concerto No.5, 2nd movement – when the piano comes in. It’s the music me and Vic walked into at our wedding, and will always remind me of that special day.Sports heroThierry Henry, always.I try not to define myself by people in the past but it’s hard to look past Nelson Mandela. Anyone aspiring to lead a country can learn from the way he conducted himself as a leader.I hate losing.I hate losing. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir Starmer has laid out his political philosophy and goals which echo the last Labour leader to end a long period in the political wilderness: Tony Blair.As he prepares for what now seems to be an inevitable landslide victory, Sir Keir said: “I want people to feel ‘Thank God… our country is now better, and I feel better off.’”His words were not far from the D:Ream song which propelled Blair to victory: “Things can only get better.”In the second part of his exclusive interview with The Independent, Sir Keir made clear that he has sought Blair’s advice on transitioning from opposition to government but not necessarily on policy. Drawing the veil from his political philosophy he spoke about:How he would do a deal with TrumpWhy he believes the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) is wrong but refuses to rule out tax risesWhere he and Tony Blair disagreeWhy he thinks redistribution is a good thingWhy he really stuck around in Corbyn’s shadow cabinetRead part one of Sir Keir’s interview with The Independent here, where he reveals his innermost thoughts about his family, regrets with his father and homophobic attacks on his boyhood friend.As he prepares for next week’s election, Sir Keir said: “I want people to feel ‘Thank God… our country is now better, and I feel better off’” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Anti-immigration British politician Nigel Farage on Friday condemned a worker for his Reform U.K. party who suggested migrants crossing the English Channel in boats should be used for “target practice.”Party activist Andrew Parker was heard suggesting army recruits with guns should be posted to “just shoot” migrants landing on beaches, in recordings made by an undercover reporter from Channel 4. He also used a racial slur about Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent. Another campaign worker called the LGBT pride flag “degenerate.”Reform U.K. said it had cut ties with the two men. Farage said he was “dismayed” by the comments and called some of the language “reprehensible.”“The appalling sentiments expressed by some in these exchanges bear no relation to my own views, those of the vast majority of our supporters or Reform U.K.,” he said in a statement.Sunak said the slur used by Parker “hurts and it makes me angry,” especially since his two daughters had to hear it. He said Farage “has some questions to answer.”“As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behavior,” Sunak said Friday on the campaign trail in northeast England.Reform is running candidates in hundreds of seats for Britain’s July 4 election, aiming to siphon off voters from the dominant Conservative and Labour parties. It has disowned several candidates after media reported on their far-right ties or offensive comments.Speaking at a campaign event on Thursday, Farage said that “one or two people let us down and we let them go.” But he said in other cases of criticized comments, “in most cases they’re just speaking like ordinary folk.”Farage, a right-wing populist and ally of Donald Trump, shook up the election campaign when he announced in early June that he was running.He has sought to focus the election debate on immigration, particularly the tens of thousands of people each year who try to reach the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel.The migrants – mostly asylum-seekers fleeing poverty and conflict – account for a small portion of overall immigration to Britain. But the struggle to stop the hazardous crossings has become an emotive political issue.Opponents have long accused Farage of fanning racist attitudes toward migrants and condemned what they call his scapegoat rhetoric.Farage, 60, is making his eighth attempt to be elected to Parliament after seven failed bids. Polls suggest he has a comfortable lead in the race to represent the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea.While Reform is likely to win only a handful of seats, at most, in the 650-seat House of Commons, Farage says his goal is to get a foothold and lead the “real” opposition to a Labour Party government if the Conservatives lose power after 14 years in office.He is modelling his strategy on Canada’s Reform Party, which helped push that country’s Conservatives to the verge of wipeout in a 1993 election before reshaping Canadian conservative politics. More