EXCL: Kemi Badenoch tells me: • Reform let Starmer off the hook by announcing defector amid Mandelson scandal • Farage defence of Mandelson's Epstein links was “wrong” • More defections? “I will not even allow myself to start worrying about that” www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Labour left candidate for the deputy leadership, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, tells @siennarodgers.bsky.social she is “not confident at all” about being able to reach the required number of MP nominations to proceed in the contest www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Here’s a characteristically well sourced @siennarodgers.bsky.social feature on the founding of Corbyn’s new party www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Inside the founding of Jeremy Corbyn's new party – how it started, the factions forming, the debates raging Can they unite? What challenges lie ahead? How big a threat is the project to Keir Starmer? @siennarodgers.bsky.social reports

You’ll do well to find a better read on Your Party — its genesis, strategy, and many internal tensions — than this by colleague @siennarodgers.bsky.social So many nuggets to choose from, like this: what’s in a name? A lot, actually www.politicshome.com/news/article...

The BBC has decided not to send its flagship Politics Live programme to party conferences this year, PolHome understands An ex-culture secretary said it was a "further erosion" of the BBC's political coverage, and called for a rethink @adampayne26.bsky.social & @siennarodgers.bsky.social report

NEW: Egg donations – are young women aware of the risks? I reveal • Cross-party MP concerns: ‘Women’s bodies are being commoditised’ • More donors come from most deprived areas • One egg bank offers buyers an ‘AI matching service’ to screen donors 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Our latest cover interview is with Tonia Antoniazzi, who won a landmark vote to decriminalise abortion. She talks about being painted ‘as a monster’, and says the assisted dying bill she co-sponsors may look 'completely different’ after the Lords: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Egg donations – are young women aware of the risks? I reveal • Cross-party MP concerns: ‘Women’s bodies are being commoditised’ • More donors come from most deprived areas • One egg bank offers buyers an ‘AI matching service’ to screen donors 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

“I was told it’s easy to go home on Wednesday evening and it’s not,” says one 2024 intake MP, who describes Parliament as an “open prison” I spoke to MPs about the difficulties of working in Parliament as a parent and why they're demanding change: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

For your lunchtime reading... "...there is no loyalty dividend. They feel unloved, disrespected and taken for granted" How Downing Street sleepwalked into a welfare crisis, by @siennarodgers.bsky.social

“MPs are people who want the power to change the world for the better, but so many have been left feeling powerless," one Labour MP said A brilliant look inside how No 10 sleepwalked into a welfare crisis, by @siennarodgers.bsky.social 👇

-“I blame No 10 & the frontbench” -MPs "feel unloved, disrespected & taken for granted" -But one supportive MP hits back:"He’s got to talk to Donald Trump, not me in the f***ing tearoom!” How No 10 Sleepwalked Into A Welfare Crisis @siennarodgers.bsky.social www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Councils including some run by Labour have failed to implement the government policy to help house all UK armed forces veterans, PolHome has learned Several councils have failed to implement the new policy, watered it down, or not updated guidance online, reports @sophiealichurch.bsky.social

The House's @siennarodgers.bsky.social talks to Looking For Growth co-founder Lawrence Newport, who wants to ban planning delays just like he outlawed the XL Bully “I come to him [Dominic Cummings] a lot. He knows his stuff... We bonded over campaigning and having death threats.”

Bad boys of Brexit, move over: the good guys of growth are here My interview with Looking For Growth co-founder Lawrence Newport on death threats, Dominic Cummings, starting a political party, beautiful housing & lots more www.politicshome.com/news/article...

It has been derided as the Frankenstein’s monster of Whitehall. So, is DCMS really up for the chop? @siennarodgers.bsky.social and @sophiealichurch.bsky.social explore why the department and its head Lisa Nandy are being briefed against, and what is likely to happen next

NEW: @thehousemag.bsky.social cover is Equity boss Paul W Fleming who says: • Labour apprch to AI/creatives would ‘legalise theft’ • Govt progress on creatives access to Europe ‘very, very, very disappointing’ • Took 200 days to get 30-min meet w Lisa Nandy www.politicshome.com/news/article...

“This technology is coming. It cannot and should not be stopped. It should be regulated" Paul W Fleming, general secretary of Equity, says the government's plans for AI in the creative industries are "very, very, very disappointing" They would "legalise theft", he tells @siennarodgers.bsky.social

New PoliticsHome podcast episode on the many groups within the PLP @stephenkb.bsky.social, @morganj0nes.bsky.social and I talk Blue Labour, Labour Growth Group, Socialist Campaign Group, Red Wall caucus, etc etc: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

There's a growing "rebellious mood" among Labour peers — not just on copyright / AI, but with the direction of government Labour peers believe Sue Gray, the PM's former chief of staff, could soon become a worry for the whips, report @adampayne26.bsky.social and @siennarodgers.bsky.social

“The Green Party has not cut through sufficiently when compared to Reform” How Greens could pivot to red-green eco-populism & Corbyn's own plans – which could attract Lab left MPs Story w @sophiealichurch.bsky.social on Greens Organise, party finances, etc 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

As a leadership contest nears, the Greens are at a crossroads: The Corbyn-style, eco-populism of Zack Polanski, or more environmentally focused, socially conservative Adrian Ramsay & Ellie Chowns @siennarodgers.bsky.social & @sophiealichurch.bsky.social go inside the battle for the party's future

The best thing you'll read on the battle for future of the Greens, by colleagues @siennarodgers.bsky.social and @sophiealichurch.bsky.social A disaffected urban Corbynista takeover, or will Countryfile Tories seize the keys?

"Shitshow" says one unhappy Labour MP "I wouldn’t feel safe or comfortable taking my problems to them" another says of the backbench reps who are supposed to communicate their feelings to PM/chief whip etc Row over PLP rule changes flares up again: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

The Sultan of Spin - a denizen of the back room brought blinking into the light

NEW: My @thehousemag.bsky.social feature on the UK's trade envoys. Come for the analysis of their cost and effectiveness. Stay for the lesson from Mark Garnier MP on how to drink tequila the right way. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

It’ll get less traction than Glasman saying something mad (again) but this @siennarodgers.bsky.social piece on Jonathan Rutherford is a better guide to where& how Blue Labour is influencing govt www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Interview with Jonathan Rutherford, the lesser-known Blue Labour co-founder with the ear of No 10 • 'Destroy' Treasury, put it in No 10 • Labour's culture is 'dead, incurious' • his 'Future of the Left' project & its link to Munira Mirza • & lots more 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

NEW: Interview with Jonathan Rutherford, the lesser-known Blue Labour co-founder with the ear of No 10 • 'Destroy' Treasury, put it in No 10 • Labour's culture is 'dead, incurious' • his 'Future of the Left' project & its link to Munira Mirza • & lots more 👇 www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Excellent piece by @siennarodgers.bsky.social on Labour's not-quite-payroll vote (mission champions, trade envoys, etc. etc.)

Ever wondered what a mission champion actually does and what it means? Maybe not, but read on to find out anyway. My new @thehousemag.bsky.social feature on Labour's job creation scheme for back benchers: www.politicshome.com/news/article...

How do you keep a massive parliamentary party in line? From mission champions to political leads to trade envoys, @siennarodgers.bsky.social looks at Keir Starmer's back bench job creation scheme

In her latest dive into the inner workings of Labour, colleague @siennarodgers.bsky.social looks at how Keir Starmer is using a job creation to keep his enormous — and increasingly tetchy — parliamentary party in line PPSs, mission champions, political leads — the lot!

Great to see my Total Politics colleague @siennarodgers.bsky.social, Deputy Editor of @thehousemag.bsky.social, shortlisted for Writer of the Year at the PPA Awards www.ppaawards.co.uk/2025/en/page...

'The problem with the government’s open ear to HSBC, BlackRock and Phoenix on housing policy is that private finance will always prioritise profits over meeting housing needs' Planning deregulation = 'serious political risks', writes Labour MP Chris Hinchliff: www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Victoria Atkins suggests her party should focus more on the Lib Dem threat “I’m very conscious of how good the leader of Reform is at his own self-publicity... if you look at the maths, the Lib Dems are v much a party that we should have in our focus as well..." she tells @siennarodgers.bsky.social

@siennarodgers.bsky.social talks to shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins who aims her fire at ‘City Steve’, ‘showman’ Nigel Farage and the government’s ‘Marxist’ policy on compulsory purchase

The staff members of MPs in favour of legalising assisted dying started a canvassing operation in Parliament before recess, reports @siennarodgers.bsky.social MPs' staffers knocked on the office of each MP twice, in an effort to gather information on how they intend to vote, PolHome understands

"Our Osbornian overlord has spoken, and we must comply. That was the clear impression from the tweaks we saw at the Spring Statement." The opening of Labour MP Jonathan Hinder's opinion piece for @thehousemag.bsky.social: www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Yesterday, was a watershed moment for stopping the rise of megafarms across the UK I am not a rural NIMBY I support Labour's growth agenda, but megafarms are not the future of British farming they are industrialisation Read my @politicshome.bsky.social article www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

A source close to Wes Streeting told me that major structural reform of NHS England had not always been Labour’s plan when they got into govt But over the last few weeks it had become “increasingly clear” that abolishing NHSE would be “inevitable” My dive behind the govt’s latest big gamble 👇

Diary of a secret social worker eg 'a patient told me she would return with a weapon to smash my face in because I couldn’t give her a shopping voucher' 'My job was created to tackle the mental health crisis without having to recruit expensive psychiatrists': www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...

Stephen Kinnock talks to @siennarodgers.bsky.social about charging reforms, professionalising the workforce and his family’s experiences with care

There remains nervousness among Labour MPs about planned welfare cuts despite intensive outreach by No 10 Downing Street on Wednesday held meetings of 40 Labour MPs at a time where they were invited to ask about the looming reforms @tomscotson.bsky.social & @siennarodgers.bsky.social report

EXCL: Interview w care minister Stephen Kinnock • building on Dilnot recs for reform • professionalising workforce & crackdown on visa 'exploitation' • private provision of assisted dying & whether it'll save the govt money • his family's experiences with care www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...

NEW: “I feel that I have a really personal understanding of what a lot of people are going through” Care minister Stephen Kinnock talks to @siennarodgers.bsky.social about charging reforms, professionalising the workforce and his family’s experiences with care

💻 Will the government clamp down on legal but harmful online pornography? @siennarodgers.bsky.social talks to Conservative peer Baroness Bertin about her new review, which comes with a warning for ministers

In private, there is uneasiness among Labour MPs about the prospect of welfare cuts It was raised in a No10 meeting on Thursday While work & pensions committee chair Debbie Abrahams has spoken to numerous MPs about how they'll respond @tomscotson.bsky.social & @siennarodgers.bsky.social report

New: “It is not your right to see abusive, harmful, degrading, misogynistic porn, much like it's not your right to go and punch someone in the face in the street” My interview with Baroness Bertin on her newly published porn review: www.politicshome.com/thehouse/art...