THE POLITICAL SCENE HAS CHANGED The Political Earthquake on December 12th has reshaped the Westminster landscape for at least a decade. Yet so many political commentators are struggling to understand the new rules of the game. Why did Labour suffer a historic defeat? Why did the smaller parties fail to capitalise on the Remain vote to […]
(Barndoor Strategy CEO Havard Hughes with Boris Johnson) The polls have now closed in the Conservative leadership contest and it is all but inevitable that next Tuesday, Boris Johnson will be named as the new party leader and therefore the new Prime Minister. There has been much mainstream media criticism of the fact that […]
No matter where you sit on the Brexit spectrum, the chances are you don’t think the process of Brexit is going well. One of the few things that the most ardent ‘Brexiteers’ and the staunchest ‘Remainiacs’ can agree on is that we have made a gargantuan hash of Brexit from the moment the referendum result […]
Barndoor Strategy, the public affairs and strategy consultancy fronted by former MRM Director and Financial Conduct Authority Senior Associate Havard Hughes and ex-Deputy Mayor of London Roger Evans have announced that David Spencer, a former aide to David Davis and experienced public affairs consultant, is joining the business as their new Managing Director. Spencer, who […]
Jeremy Corbyn will face some of his toughest internal challenges yet at this year’s Labour conference; despite his currently unassailable position as Party Leader. While Corbyn has weathered votes of no confidence, a leadership challenge and constant backroom briefing from his detractors since taking the helm three years ago, the challenges he faces this year […]
The controversial Chequers Agreement put forward by the British Government has its detractors. That, perhaps, is putting it mildly given the number of resignations it triggered, But if Eurosceptics hate it that much, why is the EU talking about rejecting Mrs May’s big compromise? Afterall, much to the chagrin of Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Government has […]
This week was the Liberal Democrat’s annual conference, when Members, MPs, Lords and Lobbyists all got together to talk policy. Or in the case of the Lib Dems, to talk Brexit; specifically, how to stop it and how to do so through a ‘People’s Vote’. The notion of a second referendum is one I have […]
There have been a great number of words, some may say too many, written about Donald J. Trump over the last three years. Well, here are some more. From his shock entry in the Republican Primary race, through his stunning victory in November 2016, to pulling out of multiple international agreements that sought to reduce […]
Monday 3rd September was a pretty important day in Brussels. No, it wasn’t not the start of the sprout harvest, nor international waffle day, nor even a day of solidarity in support of a generic and predictably beige campaign. Monday was the day Emily O’Reilly, the EU Ombudsman, published her report into the promotion of […]
They say a week is a long time in politics. The last year has been a political lifetime for the EU. Moreover, it has been a cataclysm for the Social Democratic left that has been so instrumental in delivering stability and some predictability at the heart of Brussels. Just under eighteen months ago the former […]