4+ hour, 37+ min ago (849+ words) Peter Franklin is an Associate Editor of UnHerd. Last week we lost another two local by-elections (both to Reform). But this was balanced by two pieces of good news. Of course, that's a mixed blessing " because these numbers reflect our diminished status. Yet they also underline the benefit that could come our way from tactical voting. We're much less hated than Reform among Labour, Lib Dem and Green voters and barely hated at all among Reform voters (or, at least, they hate Labour a whole lot more). The other piece of good news from last week's locals was a Conservative gain on Trafford Council. Located in Graham Brady's old constituency,Haleis not the sort of ward we should have lost in the first place " but winning it back with almost half the vote is a cause for hope. What's more,…...

13+ hour, 34+ min ago (335+ words) Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com When I visited Ukraine in September, senior officials told me candidly that Kyiv hoped to reach a peace deal by the end of this year " their estimates pointed to November. While Ukraine slipped from the top of international news agendas, diplomatic manoeuvring continued intensely behind the scenes. That work culminated in the controversial 28-point peace plan presented by the United States- "a document that looked less like an American proposal and more like a list of Russian demands awkwardly translated into English. Marco Rubio emerged from that meeting with Ukrainian counterparts saying the negotiations were "further along than at any point in the last ten months." He reiterated a point Europe has been stressing since Trump entered the Oval…...

2+ hour, 9+ min ago (636+ words) Reeves: Budget critics won't beat me | Starmer and Lammy to avoid "mansion tax' after Treasury softens rules | BBC in disarray over bias claims | Hollinrake's Nazi badge "joke' is incitement, says Farage The post Newslinks for Tuesday 25th November 2025 appeared first on Conservative Home. Budget 1) Reeves: Budget critics won't beat me "Rachel Reeves has insisted she will not be beaten by her critics as she prepares to raise taxes again in her second Budget. Ms Reeves said she would remain Chancellor for years to come, in a defiant message to a meeting of Labour MPs on Monday night. The Chancellor has faced speculation about how long she will last in the role after it became clear she will break her promise not to introduce more tax rises. She insisted she had "wiped the slate clean" after raising taxes by "40bn in last year's…...

4+ hour, 48+ min ago (1086+ words) Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com BBC bias, the licence fee, the two-child benefit cap, do we spend too much or tax too little, and do people feel they're "doing their bit'? We also analyse the differences between 2024 Conservative defectors to Labour, Reform, the Lib Dems and those who stayed at home, and the relative importance of different issues in their likelihood of returning to the Tories at the next election. What have people noticed? And who noticed what? Rachel Reeves, the Budget and the two-child benefit cap Current Labour and SNP voters were the most likely to say the government currently doesn't tax enough for all the things it needs to do (though only half thought this). Overall, more than 6 in 10 of all voters…...

4+ hour, 57+ min ago (402+ words) Cllr David Rogers is the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Cherwell District Council. The debate about local government reform is heating up. "Many local authorities are about to submit their proposals to Steve Reed and MHCLG. We stand, once again, on the brink of significant structural change, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: the timing could hardly be worse. The same is true of the Business Rates Reset. Business rates are a cornerstone of council funding, particularly for authorities with strong local economies. The uncertainty over how much will be retained locally and how much will be redistributed nationally leaves councils unable to plan confidently for the future. Without these numbers, local government reform becomes a leap in the dark. Those elected in 2027 will set the tone, priorities, and structures for the councils that follow. Their decisions will…...

22+ hour, 7+ min ago (805+ words) Dr Stephen Curran is an education expert who advised on the 2014 syllabus. The government's education review " led by Professor Becky Francis CBE " was published earlier this month, and if it were an exam paper I'd've told the student to retake it. The "expert panel' didn't contain a single teacher and despite some encouraging-sounding assertions, the progressive instincts of its author shine through. Between the fashionable buzz words of "diversity' and "inclusivity' she does accept the importance of exams " especially with the emergence of AI making coursework largely pointless " but comes to the wrong conclusions. The review acknowledges that the "socio-economic gap in relation to educational attainment remains stubbornly wide' " but the panel stubbornly ignored the remarkable Michaela Community School. Its inspirational headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh has created an educational environment that is the best in the country (according to its Progress…...

4+ hour, 8+ min ago (430+ words) Another of Conservative Home's shadow cabinet league tables and another where shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick tops the polls at +59.7 (a pattern that has continued since February). Only just, however, with a 2.5pt lead over shadow chancellor Mel Stride in a slight drop from Jenrick's previous rating of +60.2. Stride and Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch swap places with the pair coming second (+57.3) and third (+56.2) respectively. Like Jenrick it marks a slight drop for Badenoch with -3.8, but it keeps her in a podium position. This comes during a big week for Badenoch, who is doing her final prep ahead of tomorrow's Budget response. But she had an unfortunate distraction yesterday as she was forced to respond to her party chairman's tweet linking the Reform UK logo to a Nazi party badge. The post was deleted, only to be put up again, this…...

20+ hour, 7+ min ago (904+ words) Festus Akinbusoye was the Conservative Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2021 to 2024. When I was elected as the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in 2021, I realised I would be fighting two battles. One, against the criminals and the second, against demand pressures often not understood by lawmakers. I gained this insight on the frontline as a special constable dealing with so many competing priorities that I sometimes wished everything would just stop for a second. I saw first-hand what happens when laws are made in Westminster, often with good intentions, but also with little understanding of the real-world consequences these laws will have down the line. Being a PCC taught me that the unintended consequences of poor legislation, especially when implemented without real thought for how it will be enforced.There, the classic politician's fallacy seems to still be…...