John Harris

His crude messages need to be fought with urgency and passion – precisely what the remain parties lack
Last Sunday, I went to a Brexit party rally in Frimley, Surrey. The venue was the Lakeside Hotel and Country Club complex, well known as the setting for international darts contests. Inside, 1,200 or so people had gathered to hear Nigel Farage and most of the party’s other would-be MEPs for the south-east region. The…

In my home town, I’ve seen how middle-class angst over Brexit is creating an existential threat to the party which could once count on their votes
In a seemingly endless season of Tory nightmares, this week looks set to mark the most dreadful phase so far. The Conservatives are about to endure a set of elections that they never thought they would face. Only four years ago, the party won a general election; now, there…

Social media such as WhatsApp may enable voters, but encrypted messaging polarises them and blocks public scrutiny
In 10 days’ time, two political dramas will reach their denouement, thanks to the votes of a combined total of about 1.3 billion people. At the heart of both will be a mess of questions about democracy in the online age, and how – or even if – we can act to preserve it.
Elections to the European…

A novelist bears the scars of her turbulent upbringing and indicts a nation that leaves so many in poverty
When Kerry Hudson was seven and living in the Scottish town of Airdrie, her mother took her and her baby sister to a neighbour’s flat, where the adults all got drunk. The three of them then returned home, and began playfully throwing broken biscuits at each other – a laugh at first, until her mother suddenly…

Councillors are paid a pittance and face hostility. But from tackling obesity to saving high streets, good ideas are growing
Last Friday morning, my head spun. Having voted in two local elections – for our town and district councils – and then spent the first few hours of the next day following the results, my partner and I got our polling cards for yet another contest. This caused a brief fit of amusement about Brexit…