Burnham today tweeted that 'The next few days are about more than changing who governs Britain. They’re about changing how Britain is governed'. That's what my new book #BadGovernment (And How to Make it Better) is about, from Thatcher right up to today amazon.co.uk/Bad-Government…

Burnham's promise to overturn Thatcher's legacy took me right back to the passage in my first book, People Like Us, about how she utterly changed the political and economic landscape, and wondering who would have the strength to overturn it. Can he do it? 🧵

Here it is, along with other options from the Commission on Political Power.

My book, published today: amazon.co.uk/Bad-Government…

My book, which charts the defenestration of PMs from Thatcher to today and looks at why governments fail, has arrived just in time for the Makerfield by election and all that may follow.

7/Politicians promise to listen to the people before gaining power, then don't. Burnham is doing this too and tbf has a good track record on Hillsborough and in Manchester. Will he stop the democratic deficit where big money has too much influence, civil society too little?

RIP David Hockney. A star in my life.

4/ What can we do? In my forthcoming book, Bad Government, I reflect on this and other dimensions of government. What is clear is that stoking division and pursuing culture wars as the last govt did makes good headlines but very bad government.

If you want to understand Reform's position on oil and gas and climate change, look how much money they have received from oil and gas and climate change denier donors. #BigMoneySmallDemocracy www.desmog.com/2026/04/30/r...

One loose end in #MandelsonVetting is the No 10 briefing in Feb that Robbins was ruled out as candidate for Cabinet Secretary because of his close association with the Mandelson scandal. FCDO didn't do the vetting, so why blame him, unless there was more? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Thomas-Symonds promises to speed up govt by cutting consultation, despite its recent Covenant with civil society promising to work with it to create better govt. Not talking to others might speed things up but think winter fuel payments, disability benefits. Tortoise, hare.

This is what I wrote when McSweeney was appointed, fearing he'd create 'a tight ship sailing in the wrong direction'. Campaigning is not the same as governing and what No 10 needed then and now is a clear vision and a focus on restoring trust, which has been so badly undermined.

As Thatcher pondered her resignation, she faced two questions: did her colleagues support her and what was best for the country, questions Starmer faces now. He promised to restore trust, can he do so now? And what are the Cabinet telling him in private? www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...

'Advisers advise, Ministers decide' said Thatcher, and stood behind her advisers rather than saving herself, as I write about in today's @Telegraph. May and Johnson sacked advisers and bought time, but not much. Will Starmer? it's a cleft stick: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...

Thatcher’s clothes at a ghostly, empty conference. I think Thatcher in her heyday would be shocked to see her party abandon international and net zero commitments, carelessly sacrificing our international standing at a time when our leadership matters more than ever.

What flying the flag really means to GB News. Paul Marshall, speaking in Washington to a MAGA crowd at the launch of his new media outpost, tells Trump land it needs to come to save Britain by spreading its cultural values and bully tactics here. Reported by Politico.

Starmer has promised 'a reset' and a new partnership with civil society, starting with a new Covenant - a huge potential step toward better government and delivering positive change. 7 civil society leaders @civilsociety.bsky.social reflect on what's needed: www.civilsociety.co.uk/voices/in-de...

I can't get this image out of my mind - the Secretary of State choosing to keep an Ash Wednesday cross on his forehead while speaking on behalf of the US government. Many right wing Christians believe Trump has been sent from God and the state is the work of the devil.

8/she could be empathetic, as long as she didn't feel threatened or blocked. I was with her at the bedside of two dying AIDs patients and saw how kind and compassionate she could be, despite her (abhorrent) ideological dislike of homosexuality.

3/That 1989 Waldon interview was while I was working for her, just after Lawson's resignation, events I've written about in People Like Us. I was out with her the day after, and saw how shaken she was, the cameras flashing in her face, her tight grip on the car's strap later

The company they keep..

I understand why the govt says it can’t afford it, but exaggerating both the cost - the PM said 10s of billions yesterday when it’s £10bn - and the level of awareness of the change amongst WASPI women isn’t helping to build the trust in the govt they promised to restore, either.