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It all ends as expected. Another chapter in the Brexit saga ends with the mutiny in the Conservative Partyl, the resignation of Ms. Leadsom, the party's leader in the House of Commons. WIth most Conservative Party members abandoning the approach of Theresa May of putting unpopular Brexit deals to votes in parliament, the latest planned for June 7. Conservative Party members have already shown their support for Mr. Boris Johnson, who leads by a wide margin in a leadership contest. Johnson supports a no-deal Brexit and once said that would only mean a shortage of Mars chocolate bars. This faction in the Conservative Party including Jacob Rees-Moog believes that Brexit without a deal with the European Union will work. It opposes a customs union arrangement following Brexit. The only problem is that earlier votes have not shown a majority of members of parliament support no-deal Brexit because of fears about the British economy. The fall in the British pound exchange rate shows this is expected. This could mean fresh elections, yet both Conservatives and Labour Party face voter skepticism about their handling of Brexit and loss of support to Liberals in the case of labour and to the Brexit Party in the case of the Conservatives, leaving more uncertainty. Conservatives polled about 11% in advance of European Union elections in Britain, unheard of in modern British politics. ...

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After the turnover of administrations and prime ministers in the last decade, a new wave is taking place. By 2010 with prime minister David Cameron mediocre leaders are running Britain, and after Boris Johnson, Truss, Sunak and Brexit politics, a new wave of Labor party unraveling is taking place following the Conservatives unraveling and falling apart. This is reflected in the Mandelson affair and the lack of firm direction on immigration policy with boatloads of migrants entering the country and filling up hotels in rural areas of the country. The ECHR (European Commisssion of Human Rights) written for different situations by Europeans who had little grasp or respect for the British public's attachment to their own history, culture and traditions, were being applied by British Labor leaders such as Keir Starmer to migrants who had no connections to Britain. Migrant crime and protests about migrants has weakened a Labor government, weakening the British state and its economy. Within hardly 1 year after winning  elections for a majority government British prime minister Keir Starmer faces the prospect of stepping down. ...

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About half of Conservative voters voted for Reform UK in 2024 election says this Ipsos report in 2024 showing how Britain voted by ethnic, gender and education. This brought Reform UK to 17-19% of voters over the age of 45. More recently reports show three in ten voters saying there are too many asylum seekers in their neighborhood and this makes up 70% of Reform UK supporters as reported by Ipsos. This has brought the UK Reform vote from about 17-19% to double to 34% in 2025 polls. Labour is only at 25% and Liberals at 11% and Conservatives doing poorly.

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Andy Burnham, Labour's Mayor of Greater Manchester on what the Labour party needs right now in May 2026 with the faltering leadership of Keir Starmer. Brexit will not be revisited. His program is to give the public relief from cost of living pressures in daily life, and do this faster than Starmer.  Reports in The Times of London show Burnham with strong support to win leadership of the Labour Party. Polls from You.Gov show Starmer has favorability rating from British public of just 23%. The Mandelson affair and appointment of Mandelson as Ambassador to the US after concerns were raised about his record further eroded public confidence. Starmer relied too much on the work and influence of his chief of staff, a young person who resigned and whose influence of removing key Labour working class representatives split the Labour party from its roots in working class neighborhoods. Previous leaders of Labour were ostracized and the party won the general election in 2024, but was much weaker than appeared. He is seen as lacking the vision of his own for Britain for the next decade to 2040. Andy Burnham is popular in the North of England, and has called for more power to go to local government across Britain from the London centric view of the last 4 decades. His redesign of the bus and transport system, the Bee network in the Manchester area is popular, after the sometimes failed  performance of privatization of water, transport and other infrastructure by the Conservative party governments. He has experience in running a large Metropolitan Area for three terms, as MP in a Parliament, and Cabinet experience as Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Health Secretary under Gordon Brown. He is one of the rare persons in British politics who has experience in all areas of government, including Shadow Home Secretary, that would make him a rare leader that Britain can use to build a better future for the people of Britain. With the experience in Greater Manchester giving him a headstart in the work of reviving Britain, something similar to the experience Narendra Modi gained in Gujarat state of India for three terms to lead India in 2014.  ...

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This leader in The Economist magazine says a hard Brexit of the sort announced by Theresa May at a Conservative Party conference is clearly bad for Britain. It also point out that half of British people voted to remain. It is not clear that voters have voted for a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, or voter alienation with elites and effects of years of austerity since the financial crisis have helped tilt the vote to Brexit. It points out that the rhetoric may be damaging Britain's chance of negotiating a Brexit that limits damage to GDP, which the Treasury estimates to be nearly twice the loss in GDP if a member of a single market as compared to leaving it. British government leaders may be overestimating the willingness of leaders of France, Germany and other countries to make concessions. By talking up to their party base politicians such as May may be putting German and French leaders to also toughen their positions on free movement as an integral principle of the European Union, and consequently of membership in a single market. ...

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Britain heads into a general election July 4 with a deeply dissatisfied electorate. Labour is expected to get a majority after 15 years of failed rule by the conservative party with austerity policies, failure to invest in Britain and failure to improve the lives of working people. Astonishing as it may sound 58% of the British public now want to see Britain rejoin the European Union. Much of the support in blue collar working class communities in England for the Conservatives has faded and these voters have returned to support Labor. There is also a change in the mood in Scotland favoring Labor over Scottish Nationalist party. Unlike the US Britain under Tories has failed to invest in Britain's future in renewable energy, in climate change action and in infrastructure. Standard of living and support for the health system is declining.

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Politics in Britain as Britain prepares for a general election. The UKIP party polls 13 percent and Conservatives 32 percent and only an alliance could beat the Liberals and Labour, Greens combined. So why is Boris Johnson not embracing UKIP and Farage. Boris Johnson top adviser Cummings is said to have kept Farage to a minimum in display during the EU elections, causing resentment. Farage has doubts about the Conservatives and has rejected an alliance. Conservatives see him as playing populist politics and having little interest in the Conservative Party's ideas, somewhat like a Salvini in Italy or Orban in Hungary. Conservatives see Farage as preventing them appealing to moderates.  Boris Johnson hopes to work out new spending to support working class voters in an effort to win broader support for the Conservatives. He also hopes he can go back to voters saying only he could deliver Brexit if given a solid mandate, in dealing with the EU and in dealing with parliament.   ...

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Immigration, welfare and membership in the E.U. emerge as issues in Britain's 2015 election, making it harder for the Conservative party under Cameron to get a majority. Polls show Labor running neck and neck with the Conservative party at 36%, and UKIP at 12%, the Greens at 5%. The Conservatives introduced proposals to make it difficult for E.U. citizens to get welfare payments, but this is seen as not enough action. E.U. rules allow free movement making it harder to curb immigration. Prime minister Cameron has higher personal popularity than Ed Milliband, and is campaigning on the theme of having set Britain on the right path to economic recovery after spending by Labor had increased the national debt.

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Theresa May becomes the only candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party after Ms Leadsom withdraws from the race. No leadership vote will no take place with Conservative Party members and no early general election is planned. May is expected to become prime minister of Britain by July 12, replacing David Cameron. Her theme is for "one Britain" and to do away with the rising inequality and gap between London and the rest of the country, which was part of the anxiety of voters who voted 52% for Brexit on issues of immigration burden on social and health services, national sovereignty, and a sense of ordinary people being neglected by elites in both parties. May will invoke Article 50 to leave the European Union and begin a 2 year period of negotiations only after she has developed a clear negotiating strategy. Kenneth Clarke, a Conservative Party cabinet minister called May a "bloody difficult woman," but this did not affect May, who said Mr Juncker of the EU was the one who would find this out in negotiations.  What is significant for Britain is May's moderate position coupled with a clear goal for removing some of the causes of the inequity in British society, which is needed for Britain to remain united. She called on companies like Amazon, Google and others to pay their fair share of taxes, and made clear her intent to strengthen the mechanisms for controlling executive pay. Also part of this strategy will be a more effective immigration control policy, which she did not implement vigorously as Home Secretary in the Cameron government, partly because of constraints set by EU membership. May made clear her agenda going forward by saying: "There is a growing divide between a more prosperous older generation and a struggling younger generation. And there is a gaping chasm between wealthy London and the rest of the country."  Changes May is supporting are to make executive pay rules to become binding not just advisory, and for employees and consumers to gain seats on company boards.  ...

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This article on the main protagonists in the Conservative Party during the EU referendum in Britain shows how the narrow interests of a few Oxford educated politicians and their infighting has shaped the vote on Brexit. Gove, the Justice Secretary and Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, have no idea what to do if they won in the Brexit vote. Both pull out of the leadership race after prime minister Cameron announces his planned resignation following a leadership vote in the party. Cameron and Osborne, the other two Oxford educated politicians, are caught up in the infighting in the Conservative Party which leads to Britain voting to leave the European Union. The article looks at the lives of the four male politicians who form an old boys club at one time and now are deeply divided with Cameron's wife Samantha and Gove's wife Sarah Vine once close friends, now along with their husbands no longer talking to each other. Also evident here is that Sarah Vine writing in the Daily Mail discloses more grief about all this messing up her social life than the way the vote to leave the EU will eventually affect the country's standing, its credit rating, and the economy, and how it affects the lives of ordinary British people. ...

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Mark Landler of the NYT says about the return of Boris Johnson as PM of Britain after 45 days of Truss- it is at once both incredible and inevitable. It would give a sense of incredulity and become a rallying point for a demoralized Conservative party say some Conservatives, much as he has done throughout his political career.   Boris Johnson already has the support of 52 MP's and needs 100 in parliament to be nominated for PM again. If of 367 members of parliament one of the three candidates Mordaunt, Sunak or Johnson withdraws the election would then be decided by 160,000 members of the Conservative party with whom Boris Johnson is very popular. Others believe that it was Johnson who won the election by a landslide and it is Johnson who got the mandate. 

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A split in the Conservative party in Britain after the partygate report in parliament on Boris Johnson. Not only do the Tories fail to deliver for Britain, the infighting in the Conservative party is likely to lead to more years added to the lost decade for Britain. 

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Map showing most deprived neighborhoods bordering least deprived neighborhoods in the UK in 2025.  In 2019 there were 65 such neighborhoods with posh-poor side by side, in 2025 this has jumped to 119 such neighborhoods. Shown on this map are the familiar areas around New Castle on Tyne and Leeds/ Nottingham in the North and in the Midlands. With fewer such neighborhoods in the south near London. Years of austerity policies of the Cameron/Osborne conservatives and Conservative administrations since have led to a growing divide in the UK. This is also more reason for the Labour Party to get its work together to take strong action similar to the socialist party in Denmark to cut illegal migrants, so that it can focus its efforts to deliver and build a better stronger economy for all people in Britain

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The Times of London provides this view of Brexit and the no-confidence vote against Theresa May from her own party, the Conservatives which she survived. Views are from Paris, Berlin and Rome. French commentators agreed that the paralysis on Brexit and the situation of Theresa May are a result of a mendacious referendum campaign, and a understanding that Britain is only going to lose by leaving the European Union.  Le Figaro, conservative newspaper says the British were sold an impossible vision by pro-Brexit politicians egged on b ancestral arrogance, that they would somehow have upper hand in negotiations. Le Monde the centre left newspaper pointed out that the Britain's economic losers were hoodwinked by a branch of the conservative elite. It said enormous lies were used in the campaign - Boris Johnson saying that we are leaving the EU but we will keep all the advantages.It added an insight that "Brexit is not straightforward because the EU today is a British creation: single market, free trade, enlargement, serving British interests."   ...

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Even with Brexit out of the way the Labour party has to worry that over 60% of people over the age of 65 years voted Conservative. The high percentage of older voters voting Conservative in ever larger numbers cannot make up for the young vote that Labour attracts with stands on climate change and other issues such as wages.

Older voters even in towns in the north of England, including pensioners are much better off and not that much different than traditional Conservative voters in their cultural attitudes. This will remain an obstacle for the Labour party in Britain after losses in three elections. After the NHS funding and infrastructure spending issues were neutralized by the Conservatives under Johnson, issues around cultural attitudes and patriotic sentiment play a big part particularly for older voters.

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The Indian federal elections started on April 19 and will take place in phases for 960 million voters the largest of any country in the world in mountains in Ladakh to desert around Jaisalmer to the seas around Vizag and Kotchikode. It will take about 6 weeks to complete by June 1 and final results to be announced June 4. The voting is done using portable electronic boxes. It is still one of the great wonders of the world that its crazy no one talks about it and is a demonstration that India has taken the best of its own democratic traditions dating back to the time of the Buddha 563-483 BC. "It may come as a surprise to many to know that in the assemblies of Buddhists in India two thousand and more years ago are to be found the rudiments of our own parliamentary practice of today." This is Rab Butler, who was born in Attock, India and the leading parliamentarian of Britain who set up the post war education system of the United Kingdom, the longest serving minister in Britain from 1941, Home Secretary under Churchill to Foreign Secretary during Suez Crisiz in 1956, under Macmillan as Home Secretary in 1964, the best parliamentarian Britain had to offer in the 20th century. Butler served under Viceroy of India in 1910, and worked hard as India Secretary to pass the India Act of 1935 that gave India its first parliamentary style assemblies and elections. His idea even in the 1920's was for India to gain Dominion dominion status similar to Canada and Australia with a democracy, and was opposed by Churchill. Churchill knew his own weakness and supported Rab Butler as the younger Conservative who would revive the Conservative Party- his 1977 book The Conservatives. Cooperation with Hugh Hugh Gaitskill of Labour Party right into the 1970's made Britain a stronger country, which is how the Education Act 1944 was passed to make free education to all children to age 16.  Much of it broken since 1980 in 50 years of failed Conservative policy leading to the chaos of the Conservatives today, and an effort to spread that chaos to the US. ...

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This editorial in The Economist magazine points out that the doggedness of prime minister Theresa May now looks like pig-headedness. The crisis is of poor leadership. It also exposes two deeper problems in the Leave campaigns distorted message that it is possible for Britain to leave the EU, "to take back control" without making it harder to for British business and the economy to trade with its partners in Europe. It also exposes concerns of democracy that see the referendum as the only message from the people- the general election of 2017 brought Conservatives to power without a majority in parliament changing the picture about the referendum's message. Particularly since the referendum Leave campaign presented a distorted  message leaving out what the cost would be for Britain.  Ejection from the single market, decline of industy from finance to carmaking, destablisation of Northen Ireland peace agreement, exit bill of 50 bill euros was not advertised in the Leave campaign. Buses with posters of immigrants streaming across borders in Europe presented an emotional message recklessly sold to voters. Representing the will of the people can be claimed now by all sides, says the Economist. Leaving Europe on March 29 deadline with no deal would be bad for Europe and economic upheaval for Britain. Discerning the will of the people should not be the work of squabbling MP's or backbenchers in parliament. The only practical and sensible way out of this mother of all messes is to go back to the people and get a new opinion with broad daylight thrown on the realities facing Britain.   ...

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48% of British voters see immigration as the most important issue says Ipsos. And 31% say their local area is housing more than its fair share of asylum seekers growing to 61% of Reform UK voters. Reform UK is now leading party with 34% of the vote to Labour's 25% and Liberals 11%. The report in the WSJ on Augu 28 shows how the Labour government did not live up to it's talk on immigration. It also shows how the Conservatives and Boris Johnson failed by opening up non EU immigration from Asia on the grounds that it would bring in the brightest and yet dropped the basic colege degree requirement paradoxically. Lobbying from health care home care increased migration for this field under Conservatives and is only now being reversed by Labour. Labour has been too slow and the culture of Britain and Labour has not changed enough to grasp the problem. Their are vested interests in Britain such as universities and home care health care that have influenced the conduct of policy so that migration on non-eu has replaced eu migration after Brexit but not attracted the most qualified immigrants. The 4% of the British population that entered Britain after Brexit as immigrants, millions arrived and now when Labour is trying to bring this down faces a large number of dependent applications.University students are now bringing in their dependents at rates that have skyrocketed. ...

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Polls on Deutchland opinion trends show Merkel has gained support with her careful handling of Brexit, and the AfD has lost support. Only a month ago media reports covering the immigration issues had put AfD in the light of gaining using this issue. The infighting in the Conservative Party and the lack of any plans of ministers in the British government favoring Brexit for leaving the EU have Germans questioning this kind of politics compared to Merkel's promise of a "calm and composed manner" in dealing with issues of people's lives and the future of Europe. The extensive coverage in Germany of the vote for Brexit, the EU referendum in Britain, increased awareness in Germany of the benefits of the European Union. Merkel and other leaders offered their assessment of how the European Union has brought peace to Europe and improved the lives of the people during the pre Brexit media coverage. Now Infratest Dimap polls show the popularity of Merkel has increased to 59%. Compared to a June poll before Brexit things look better for Merkel-  the AfD Alternative for Germany has lost 3 percent of support dropping to 12 percent, the Christian Democrat party of Merkel is up by 2 percentage points to 34 percent in popular support, the Social Democrats also increasing support by 1 percent to 22 percent.The vast majority of people said the European Union provides security (74 percent) and prosperity (79 percent). Germans are skeptical about the value of referendums on such major decisions as EU membership because of swings in popular opinion such as that on immigration that swayed British voters- 49 percent saying parliament does better in these situations than a referendum, 42% saying referendums are better. For voters who said Germany was hindered by membership only 11% supported that proposition and 52% said the EU is beneficial for Germany. Over 75% actually favor more cooperation on refugees, data policies and energy, setting the prospect for a stronger European Union. Also proving the importance of responsible politics, and honest, flexible leadership, responding to people's concerns yet not pandering to swings in opinion for temporary advantage. A separate piece in the Guardian by Yonge points out that Cameron actually won only 23 percent of the eligible voters for Conservatives in the 2015 elections in Britain, reflecting a two decade slide. Brexit only made this failure widely visible, and did not escape the attention of the German people.   ...

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This Economist essay looks into the splits in the Conservative Party that leaves it much weaker under Theresa May. Differences within the Conservatives on Brexit have led to a broken party with leadership challenges further weakening the party. This leaves Britain with a fragile economy, higher uncertainty and Labour with a strong economic agenda to meet the challenge.

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Britain's general election results show Conservatives losing their majority in parliament. Conservatives gained 318 seats, but only because voters in Scotland voted tactically for Conservatives to avoid Scottish independence, leading to 19 fewer seats for the Scottish National Party. Labor gained seats in England and Wales. The Liberals added 3 seats. The final tally was Conservatives 318 seats, Labor 260 seats, Scottish National Party 35 seat, Liberals 12 seats Democratic Unionist Party 10 seats, others 13 seats, UKIP 0 seats. Conservatives can form a government only by joining with the Unionist Party based in Northern Ireland to have the 226 seats for forming a government. This election creates questions about the whole idea of Brexit, as a majority of the voters supported Labor, SNP and Liberal Democrats, with a total of 50.4% of the vote, according to BBC, for parties that did not see Brexit as the priority for Britain. Labor 40.0%, SNP 3.0% and LD 7.4%. By contrast UKIP, Conservatives and DU, pro-Brexit together had total of 46.1% of the vote. Any Conservative government is likely to be weak, and according to this report in WSJ may lead to new elections by the end of the year. The high turnout of 69% shows voters wanted to send a message about their doubts on Brexit. A Labor government cannot be ruled out. ...

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For democracy to be effective people have to have a participatory role and have their voice heard. Mark Easton, Home Editor of the BBC, says this has not happened in the June parliamentary election. How is it that the result leaves Britain without an effective government, as Conservatives have only a 3 seat majority after joining with the DUP party in Ireland. The result a very fragile government. He asks how the election could be seen as providing people with a voice even though turnout had increased, when even after Labor increased its vote by 9.5% and Conservatives by 6% the Conservatives had to woo constantly the DUP party with a tiny fraction of 0.6% to form a government.

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Rishi Sunak's approval rating drops by 5 percentage points in just one week, and this after the Conservative Conference in Manchester where he announced plans on relaxing net zero plans and other policy. Sunak's approval rating drops to 20%. A poll taken after Starmer's speech at the Labor conference in Liverpool shows the Conservatives dropping to 24% and Liberal Democrats dropping to 9%. Labor has the support of just under half of voters in Britain today at 47%. 32% now feel Starmer would be the best prime minister compared to 20% for Sunak. After the Liverpool Labor Conference the percentage of people who thought Labor had a clear plan for the country increased by 6 percentage points.

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Internal Bank of England data showing Britain inside European Union 6-8% higher GDP and 75 billion pounds of higher exports of goods in 2025. This is the only objective assessment one can accept in judging what would be best for British workers and their families.  Also lost on the 2014 -2016 period that led to referendum on Brexit in 2016 just three years later is that it came after the 2009-2011 period for recovery from the financial crisis, the first entry of Conservatives and sharp austerity cuts in public spending by 2012, and the period of Covid that followed just 3 years after 2016 in 2019. The process of improving productivity and increasing competitiveness that could have happened, is a cost Britain suffered from Brexit becoming topic No.1, skewing priorities from reindustrializing to debate on a non priority item Brexit- with a lost decade as a result in addition to the 8% of GDP and 75 billion pounds that could add to these numbers. In this way UK lost about 10% of its GDP and 100 billion pounds of exports that without the that  additional public investment  did not happen from 2009 financial crisis, from Brexit divisiveness, followed by Covid. The result is 1.5% growth in GDP in UK compared to closer to 3% in the US. The lower growth alone can mean additional losses in exports in 2025 than are seen in numbers, and additional losses in GDP. This is the economic weakness  that hangs over Britain as it tries out a new leader in 2026. Only a bold action plan under a bold leader can reverse this decline. As shown elsewhere on these pages in Lyrarc, this is why a new leader needs to articulate a bold and well thought out plan to execute with the support of the British people. Andy Burnham has the potential to make this happen starting in 2026 over the next 5-7 years. He has to build on the work he did in the Greater Manchester region, and like Modi in India applying the lessons learned in his home state of Gujarat, step by step, year by year, build the industrial and economic capacity of Britain by 2035. It is not a feat for the timid, struggles will abound, yet it can be done with one step following the previous step in a continuous stride. In fact Burnham can now work with India to add about 1% of GDP because of the close trading relationship and centuries long synergies with India to get closer to 3% growth in GDP per year. At that point public spending and investment would rise to propel further growth. It is in the interest of every sector in Britain to pull together, the same in India, to lift these two main countries of the Commonwealth by the bootstraps. ...

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After 13 years of Labor government, the new Liberal-Conservative coalition is seen as good for both the parties and good for Britain A good deal of optimism about the prospects for this government. The optimism rests on the pragmatic sensible nature of Cameron and Clegg, on the fact that the 2 parties combined have 59% of the vote in the elections for making some tough decisions- on spending cuts, a sensible fiscal program to generate $9 billion in savings through spending cuts in 2010, and generally agreement between the two parties on the significant issues of state finances. The Tories holding to their position on immigration but giving in on the idea of proportional representation. The election changes would have Parliament members in office for 5 years and the manner of election changed to remove a growing distortion of the popular vote. Labor and Conservatives share of the vote has dropped from 81% in 1979 to 65% in 2010, and still Tory and Labor MP's have 565 of the 650 seats in Parliament or 87%....