24 July 2014
The Commonwealth Games meet a host city in flux, says David Hayes
17 July 2014
The centenary of the 1914–18 war reveals Britain to be a country of permanent involution, says David Hayes
12 June 2014
The identity of Britain’s largest nation is a live question during every World Cup, says David Hayes
30 May 2014
The electoral victory of UKIP, an anti-immigrant and anti-Europe party, redraws Britain’s political map, says David Hayes
15 May 2014
The debate over Scotland’s future is being shaped by the pro-independence side, says David Hayes
8 April 2014
The Labour politician turned radical in mid-career and ended up a revered figure. His remarkable story can also reveal Britain to itself, says David Hayes
18 February 2014
After more than three years in the job, where is Britain’s Labour leader taking his party, asks David Hayes
16 December 2013
The polls say no, the mood yes. Scotland’s independence debate is a puzzle, says David Hayes
3 September 2013
Syria’s war is opening new dividing lines in British politics, says David Hayes. Once the consequences play out, Ed Miliband might have lost more than has David Cameron
International
28 August 2013
Britain’s media coverage of Australia’s election is lively but limited, finds David Hayes
25 July 2013
The scale of Britain’s problems leaves its party and electoral systems struggling to catch up, says David Hayes
17 June 2013
Although it’s widely disdained, the very vagueness of David Cameron’s ambitious idea gives it resilience, says David Hayes
28 April 2013
The renowned director’s new film, which uses the socialist mood of 1945 to assail the world Margaret Thatcher created, is bad history and worse politics, says David Hayes
12 April 2013
The grim conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have dulled the instinct for armed intervention. But it still runs deep in British political culture, writes David Hayes
25 February 2013
The roots of ambivalence in Britain’s relationship with the European Union go deep, says David Hayes
3 December 2012
An endless recession has changed politics and livelihoods. But in a many-sided national argument there is no consensus about its lessons, says David Hayes
4 October 2012
The halfway point of Britain’s five-year parliament finds all of the parties under pressure to adapt to a changing environment, says David Hayes
3 August 2012
A thrilling opening ceremony turned London’s mood from cynical to euphoric. But after artistic seduction comes political reduction, says David Hayes in London
18 June 2012
Britain’s season of high spectacle offers only a temporary respite from economic and political troubles, writes David Hayes
From the archive
19 April 2012
The celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s sixty years on the throne coincided with the best of recent times for the British monarchy
22 February 2012
A high-stakes constitutional tussle over the future of the United Kingdom is under way. The political transformation of Scotland since the 1950s will help to shape the outcome,…
International
12 January 2012
A sympathetic film portrayal of Britain’s most divisive modern prime minister fits a broader mood of reappraisal of her years in power, says David Hayes
International
7 December 2011
London’s mayoral election might be overshadowed in 2012 by royal and Olympic pageants, but it’s more revealing of the city’s heartbeat
1 November 2011
An encampment around St Paul’s Cathedral in London casts a new light on this icon of British wartime defiance. But the epic days of the 1940s may have something to teach the…
18 September 2011
The tendency to press reality into a heritage mould traps England in political aspic, says David Hayes
16 August 2011
Four days and nights of riotous disorder are a potent argument for social repair. But lack of agreement on fundamentals could soon prove fatal to the chances, says David Hayes
27 May 2010
Britain’s voters have forced a two-party system to begin to operate by a three-party logic. And it’s about to get even more interesting, writes David Hayes
4 May 2010
Although it’s been dominated by three middle-aged white men in suits, the election has been thrilling in many ways, writes David Hayes