The result was a vote of no confidence in a centrist government led by the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen. Her administration was, in the Danish context, an unusual political construction.
F or my party-the Conservative Party of Canada-2025 was an annus horribilis. We suffered a string of strategic missteps, failed to break through to voters on the issues that dominated the national conversation, and paid the price in both public confidence and political momentum. I won't revisit every episode here, but we must acknowledge the reality of a very difficult year and learn from it.
Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which swept to a landslide victory in last week's parliamentary elections, has been sworn in as the country's first elected prime minister since deadly protests in 2024, which resulted in the ouster of the previous government and its prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. The political alliance led by Rahman's party won 212 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, Bangladesh's parliament, in Thursday's elections, leaving its main competitor, the alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, with 77.
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The Conservatives are calling for a proposed renovation of the Houses of Parliament to be paused and "refocused" over concerns about costs potentially running into the tens of billions. MPs have been presented with proposals to refurbish the ailing Palace of Westminster, including a plan that could cost almost 40bn and take 61 years to complete. The project team has warned delaying the restoration of the historic building, which costs 1.5m a week to maintain, would lead to "an expensive managed decline of the Palace".
What he had to say that day was rather overshadowed by the swirling storm around his then Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who 24 hours later was out of a job. What those around him were describing as "phase 2" of his government was already off to a bumpy start, but digital ID was seen as a defining idea of the parliament that the prime minister could own and then lean into the arguments it provokes with his opponents, within his party and beyond it.
A world on the brink. Regime change in Venezuela. Greenland under threat from Donald Trump. Shadow fleet tanker seized by the US and the Brits in the North Atlantic. The Europeans battling to keep America onside in any Ukraine peace deal. A woman gunned down by ICE agents in Minneapolis. So thank God that some things never change. Be grateful we still have Liz Truss. The UK's lone fixed point.
The resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff and the man credited with orchestrating his path to Downing Street, has left the prime minister isolated, rudderless and at the mercy of events he is in no position to control. Mr McSweeney fell on his sword after taking responsibility for backing the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, despite what was known about the peer's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Morgan McSweeney has dramatically quit as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, after mounting scrutiny over his role in Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US. The PM's adviser had been coming under pressure after pushing for the former minister to be given the job, despite the peer's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein being publicly known about at the time.
The reason for that is simple: the British state is big and getting bigger but as an agent of change it is not up to the job. This is true at both central and local levels. Over the years, the capacity of government to intervene has been pared back and professional expertise has been lost as council services have been outsourced.
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