Jill Rutter argues Keir Starmer is right to put EU relations back into the Cabinet Office, but now the government needs to... The post Starmer is right to move EU relations back into the Cabinet Office appeared first on UK in a changing Europe ..read more

Jac Larner unpacks the general election result in Wales, suggesting that there are cracks in Welsh Labour’s foundations despite the party’s surface... The post Welsh Labour and the travails of single-party dominance appeared first on UK in a changing Europe ..read more

Rob Ford pulls back the curtain on the election night process, explaining how we figure out how people have voted, how those votes will translate into Westminster seats, and how the exit poll helps voters, broadcasters and politicians. Every election night begins with a bang. At exactly 10pm, with Big Ben’s chimes ringing in the background, news anchors on the BBC, ITV and Sky simultaneously reveal the results of their joint exit poll. The figures, whatever they show, are the trigger for an outpouring of emotion from exhausted campaigners across the political spectrum – elation and excite ..read more

Joël Reland writes that there are a number of challenges for the UK-EU relationship awaiting the new government – on the Windsor Framework, border controls, Northern Ireland, and more. Having promised to ‘reset’ relations with the EU, the Labour Party could hardly have wished for a better diplomatic schedule for its first fortnight in power. Last week, Keir Starmer was in Washington for the NATO summit, affording him meetings with 30+ European leaders and earning him praise from the US President for being the ‘transatlantic knot’ between the US and Europe. This week, after a quick jaunt to Ber ..read more

With Ursula von der Leyen facing a vote in the European Parliament this week to secure a second term as President of the Commission, Simon Usherwood explores the implications and why it is proving such a difficult balancing act. One of the regular features in the life of the European Union (EU) is the allocation of key leadership roles. Every five years, on the back of European Parliament (EP) elections, prime ministers and presidents from the member states gather to decide who gets what top job in the Commission, the European Council, and the EU’s External Action Service. The people they sele ..read more

David Jeffery analyses the make-up of the post-election parliamentary Conservative Party, suggesting that despite being significantly smaller, the ideological divides remain much the same. Almost two weeks on from the election and the Conservative Party is still in shock from its rout. The decline was stark: from 43.6% of the vote and an 80-seat majority under Boris Johnson in 2019 to just 23.7% of the vote and 290 seats behind Labour under Rishi Sunak. The writing was on the wall for the Conservatives for a long time, and much time has been spent thinking about what the parliamentary Conserva ..read more

Richard Rose highlights that behind the photo opportunities for Starmer at the NATO and European Political Community summits, there are significant European security challenges the new government ought to be facing. With the European Political Community (EPC) meeting at Blenheim Palace this week following hot on the heels of the NATO summit in Washington, we are getting used to the image of new Prime Minister Keir Starmer representing Britain on the world stage. There have been plenty of photos now of Starmer shaking hands with various national leaders. But the security discussions that matter ..read more

Lisa James reflects on the new House of Commons post-election, highlighting that for Labour the primary challenge may be managing its now numerous backbenchers, while the Conservatives face the opposite problem, with the party’s depleted numbers creating difficulties for effective opposition. As the new parliament met for the first time on Tuesday, MPs squeezed into every available space to hear Keir Starmer call for a ‘parliament of service’. But, with the Labour Party ascendant, the Conservatives in disarray, the Liberal Democrats resurgent, and a range of smaller parties and independents al ..read more

Jake Benford explores how Labour’s election victory opens up new space for the UK to improve its relationship with the EU, whose interests have also shifted over the last decade. He argues that the UK will need to move first, but a substantial new partnership also requires flexibility, strategic ability and policy coherence from EU institutions. The British electorate bucked two European trends last week when it delivered a strong progressive majority in the UK general election. Continental politics has seen both centre-right populism on the rise, and increased political stalemate – including ..read more

Owen Parker outlines the issues that marginalised Roma EU citizens continue to encounter in relation to the EU Settlement Scheme and considers the broader lessons for the new government’s policies towards resident migrants in the UK. It is over three years since the formal deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), which grants residence rights to EU and EEA citizens who were resident in the EU before the end of 2020. However, many EU citizens resident in the UK continue to struggle to acquire and use their status without support. Our recent research conducted with the UK ch ..read more