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Spectator
23-07-2025
- Spectator
The nostalgic joy of Frinton-on-Sea
For the recent heatwave, it was my mission to escape our little Wiltshire cottage, where it hit 35°C. It has one of those very poor structural designs unique to Britain that, like plastic conservatories or the Tube, is useless in hot weather. First, we went to stay with friends in Frinton-on-Sea with our English bulldog, who was born in nearby Clacton and is shamelessly happy to be back among his people. Some years ago I lived in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, a living museum of America's pre-revolutionary settler history. Frinton doesn't go quite that far – there are no ersatz yeomen milking doleful cows – but to visit is to enter a time warp back to the mid-1930s. It's the sort of place where Hercule Poirot might solve a crime while en vacances. The town's heyday was the first half of the 20th century, when society notables including Churchill and Edward VII came to enjoy the solemn whimsy of ornate villas (Dutch gables, gothic crenellations and French balconies to the owner's taste), the pristine golf course and the elegant lawn tennis club. Most famous of all are the beach huts, a long, neat row on stilts, which contain so many people's early memories. My grandmother lived near Colchester and every summer my mother courageously carted her six children (and, on two occasions, a cat in a basket) from Wales, across the London Underground and out to Essex for a week. Encounters with childhood nostalgia can be disappointing. The den from primary school has been tarmacked over. A favourite climbing tree has blown down. Caramac bars have been discontinued. Frinton, though, is just as I remember it. The sweet shop, the greensward, the wooden groynes covered in seaweed. The big sky and murky sea. Second homes and holiday lets are rare. Deep consideration is given to what innovations might lower the tone, and most things are rejected. There is now one pub, which opened 25 years ago, and one fish and chip shop that started in 1992. Huts have been painted cheerful pastel colours instead of the original dark brown. Other than that, Frinton is unchanged. Is the town an example of stout local pride or stick-in-the-mud nimbyism? With its mad but lovely housing stock and proximity to London, it might have become England's answer to East Hampton were the local council and residents not so resistant to change. As it is, you can't even sell ice creams on the seafront. I like it. Tucked into Nigel Farage's constituency, Frinton embodies the 'good old days' that so many Reform-minded people want to get back to, because those days simply never left them. Two days later, via London where I record the Telegraph's Daily T podcast with Tim Stanley, we head west to my parents' house in [redacted] Pembrokeshire. The small coastal town is another delight, the secret of which makes locals and lifelong holidaymakers cry when they see it featured in Sunday supplement 'best places to stay' lists in case it attracts the kind of hordes who block up Cornish lanes with their enormous Range Rovers. Costa del Cymru is a balmy 30°C and plays host to an unwelcome shoal of jellyfish who park up in the bay and a raucously fun farm wedding above the golf course. By day we swim, sandcastle, and siesta in front of the cricket and tennis. In the afternoons we loll in the garden and, in lieu of a children's paddling pool, have great results with a washing up bowl and the lovely sensation of sticking your finger up a gushing hosepipe. At night we are treated to lobster – proudly potted by Dad – white wine and the blissful sensation of snuggling down under a duvet against the slight chill. It's a deeper sleep than we've had in weeks. At the end of the stay, Mum and I try on some hats for my sister's impending wedding, then we play a tedious game of suitcase Tetris before travelling home in heavy rain. I drive and my husband works. It makes me think of how robust the constitutions of cabinet ministers must be, seeing as they do most of their box work from the back of a car and aren't sick. We arrive home to a dead lawn and the creepers of wisteria climbing into our bedroom windows like The Day of the Triffids. I check my weather apps – variable and unsettled; ho hum – and get back to work on my latest novel, which is about the shenanigans of randy young farmers in the countryside. That night I lie awake on top of the sheets in the humid darkness, sure I can ever so faintly hear the crash of waves and the cry of gulls. There is no refreshing waft of breeze, neither easterly nor westerly.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on England's local elections: we must build something better than this
This week's local elections in England find the two great parties of the 20th century locked in slow‑motion collapse, as a surging populist right, resurgent liberals and a fragmented progressive left scramble for survival. Labour may have won last year's general election, but it is haemorrhaging enthusiasm. The Conservatives are debating whether their best chance lies in negotiating with Nigel Farage, who is feeding on their weakness. English politics isn't shaking so much as crumbling, too busy fighting itself to notice. The polls could yet be wrong, but that looks unlikely. The narrative may be set by a crucial byelection in Runcorn and Helsby, where Reform UK is riding voter anger and is the favourite to overturn Labour's 14,700 majority. Even a close result would be small comfort for the governing party. The gamble of Labour's election guru, Morgan McSweeney, was to chase a thin sliver of the party's Reform-minded voters. But this risks alienating the party's progressive base, while failing to win over those already lost. Labour's woes, though, will be overshadowed by those of the Conservatives. They look set to lose hundreds of councillors on Thursday – squeezed by Reform from the right and the Lib Dems from the left – with consequences for their control of the 16 contested county and unitary councils they currently run. The last time these seats were contested, the Conservatives were riding high in the polls – not much consolation now. Panic is setting into Tory ranks, as MPs confront not just heavy defeat but existential collapse in a party paralysed by public arguments over its future. A new political settlement may emerge before the next general election in 2029. The Conservatives could by then find themselves negotiating a second 'coupon election', recalling the 1918 pact where candidates from different parties fought under a shared banner simply to prevent mutual annihilation. The comparison feels apt. The polling expert Sir John Curtice warns that British politics faces its biggest challenge in a century. The logical response would be a shift toward proportional representation – and to recognise that no single party can now easily claim majority support. Yet the opposite is happening: the move to first-past-the-post in mayoral elections, pushed through by Boris Johnson's government and meekly accepted by Labour, will now magnify the distortions of an already broken system. Progressives, who might have thrived under the old supplementary vote system for mayors, will instead pay a heavy price. In newly contested mayoralties like Lincolnshire and Hull and East Yorkshire, where Reform's vote last July often topped 20%, first-past-the-post all but clears the path to victory for Mr Farage's party. Persuasion UK, a polling outfit, is correct in cautioning that Labour risks focusing too much on the populist right. Only 11% of Labour's 2024 voters are open to backing Reform, but many more Labour voters would support the Greens (29%) or the Lib Dems (41%). If the party loses the West of England mayoralty to the Greens – or wins by a whisker – it bears out that warning. Labour gains most when voters see it as the only alternative to Mr Farage's brand of Trumpian politics. Labour ought to back electoral reform. But it should also moderate its language on asylum and immigration, spend big on public services, dodge culture wars – and make every fight a choice between it and Reform.
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Labour MPs set up group to focus on Reform UK threat
Dozens of Labour MPs have set up an internal group to focus on the threat posed by Reform UK, it has emerged after Nigel Farage's party topped another national poll. The informal caucus, which is understood to have been meeting on a regular basis in Parliament, includes members from seats where Reform came second in 2024's general election. One red-wall MP who is a member of the group told the PA news agency that a key area of concern was that Chancellor Rachel Reeves' push for economic growth has been focused too heavily on wealthier areas in the south. Labour MPs are rightly concerned about Nigel Farage's plans to make people pay to access NHS services and will carry on taking the fight to them and other opposition parties in parliament and at the ballot box Labour source Pointing to her announcement of funding for transport links between Oxford and Cambridge as well as backing for the expansion of Heathrow Airport, they said: 'That has no effect whatsoever on the red wall. 'It's not going to create growth in the forgotten areas where Reform are more likely to be second.' They are calling for more investment in transport and infrastructure in the North of England, where Reform outperformed the Tories in dozens of seats. It is understood the aim of the group is to identify ways to better promote Labour's work on areas like migration and crime amid concerns in some quarters that the Government's political messaging is not cutting through. Reform returned just five MPs at the election last year but came second place in 98 constituencies, including 89 Labour seats. Concerns within Labour ranks about the rise of the right-wing party have mounted after it edged ahead in national polls for the first time, with 26% of the vote in a Find Out Now survey in January. Reform also topped a YouGov poll this week at 25%, with Labour on 24% and the Conservatives at 21%, though its one-point lead is well within the margin of error. Downing Street is also carrying out targeted work to counter the threat, with the Guardian reporting that data and strategy experts have been enlisted to advise MPs on the kinds of messages resonating with Reform-minded voters. A Labour source said: 'Groups of MPs meet all the time about lots of different issues. Labour MPs are rightly concerned about Nigel Farage's plans to make people pay to access NHS services and will carry on taking the fight to them and other opposition parties in parliament and at the ballot box.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labour MPs set up group to focus on Reform UK threat
Dozens of Labour MPs have set up an internal group to focus on the threat posed by Reform UK, it has emerged after Nigel Farage's party topped another national poll. The informal caucus, which is understood to have been meeting on a regular basis in Parliament, includes members from seats where Reform came second in 2024's general election. One red-wall MP who is a member of the group told the PA news agency that a key area of concern was the Chancellor's push for economic growth has been focused too heavily on the south. Pointing to her announcement of funding for transport links between Oxford and Cambridge as well as backing the expansion of Heathrow Airport, they said: 'That has no effect whatsoever on the red wall. 'It's not going to create growth in the forgotten areas where Reform are more likely to be second.' They are calling for more investment in transport and infrastructure in the North of England, where Reform's vote share was particularly high. It is understood the aim of the group is to identify ways to better promote Labour's work on areas like migration and crime amid concerns in some quarters that the Government's political messaging is not cutting through. Reform returned just five MPs at the election last year but came second place in 98 constituencies at the election last year, including 89 Labour seats. Concerns within Labour ranks about the rise of the right-wing party have mounted after it edged ahead in national polls for the first time, with 26% in a Find Out Now survey in January. Reform also topped a YouGov poll this week at 25%, with Labour on 24% and the Conservatives at 21%, though its one-point lead is well within the margin of error. Downing Street is also carrying out targeted work to counter the threat, with the Guardian reporting that data and strategy experts have been enlisted to advise MPs on the kinds of messages resonating with Reform-minded voters. A Labour source said: 'Groups of MPs meet all the time about lots of different issues. Labour MPs are rightly concerned about Nigel Farage's plans to make people pay to access NHS services and will carry on taking the fight to them and other opposition parties in parliament and at the ballot box.'
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour MPs set up new group to focus on threat of Reform UK
Labour MPs have set up a new pressure group to focus on the threat of Reform UK's rising popularity. The informal cohort is drawn from the 89 constituencies where party came second to Labour at the July General Election. Politics latest: One of the MP's involved told Sky News it is an "important signal of where things are headed" and the members will shout about the need to do more on migration and for tangible local delivery. "We're a fearless bunch," the MP said, adding the group were not afraid to "call a spade a spade". Some Labour MPs are worried about the government's communication strategy and fear positive things ministers are doing - like nationalising the railways and the new deal for working people - are not cutting through. The group is expected to focus on working together to get on top of Reform's threat rather than express active unhappiness with Sir Keir Starmer. According to The Guardian, Downing Street has dispatched data and strategy experts to advise MPs on the sort of messages that are resonating with Reform-minded voters. A Labour Party source said: "Groups of MPs meet all the time about lots of different issues. "Labour MPs are rightly concerned about Nigel Farage's plans to make people pay to access NHS services and will carry on taking the fight to them and other opposition parties in parliament and at the ballot box." Mr Farage said recently that he is "open to anything" when it comes to the NHS and he is interested in the model of the French healthcare system "where you pay in to effectively an insurance scheme". Many Labour MPs, including health secretary, have seized on the comments to draw dividing lines between Labour and Reform. While Reform's rise hit the Tories the most at the last general election, multiple polls suggest there is now a real threat to Sir Keir Starmer, despite his landslide victory just six months ago. Read More: A YouGov poll for Sky News on Monday showed Reform UK on 25%, with pushed into second on 24% and the Tories on 21%. Pollsters stressed Reform's lead was "within the margin of error". However it comes after multiple other polls suggested Mr Farage's favourability rating is on the rise while Many experts see change as the result of a collapse in the belief that the mainstream political parties can improve the lives of ordinary people. The first major test for Reform will come at the local elections in May, while the party is also hoping to make gains at the
