Rachel Sylvester

Labour can’t afford to insult Green voters | The Observer Labour’s strategy assumes the real battle is with Reform on the right. But by turning his fire on the ‘extreme’ Greens, Keir Starmer is alienating voters he needs

Labour can’t afford to just insult Green voters - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Lucy Powell: Andy Burnham would ‘probably’ have won in Go... In Manchester the morning after Labour’s bad night before, its deputy leader shows Rachel Sylvester where she went clubbing on school nights, explains why she cried when she got into Oxford – and say...

Enjoyed taking @rachelsylvester.bsky.social on a walk around some of Manchester’s political and social landmarks-talking about the result in Gorton and Denton, school nights at the Hacienda, and women in politics amongst other things. Even after only 2 hours sleep…

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Lucy Powell: Andy Burnham would ‘probably’ have won in Go... In Manchester the morning after Labour’s bad night before, its deputy leader shows Rachel Sylvester where she went clubbing on school nights, explains why she cried when she got into Oxford – and say...

“We’re not going to be successful as a political party by trying to out-Reform Reform. We have to be the leaders of the so-called progressive alliance that is against the politics of the right.” I spoke to Lucy Powell for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Meltdown in Gorton puts wind in the sails of Labour’s imm... Feeling vindicated by the Greens’ byelection win, MPs hope to force the home secretary to rethink her plans

Exc: As many as 80 Labour MPs are braced to oppose the home secretary's immigration policies

Dozens of backbenchers and ministers are understood to be hostile to Shabana Mahmood's reforms. After the Gorton by-election they're pushing for a "recalibration"

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Tom Fletcher: ‘I’ve become tougher to protect the idealis... On a stroll through Paris, the UN humanitarian chief talks about bearing witness to the world’s atrocities, finding humanity in the most unlikely places and his own methods for coping with the trauma ...

“I’ve become tougher to protect the idealist inside. But I cry on the plane” - my interview with the brave and inspiring @tomfletcherun.bsky.social as part of @theobserveruk.bsky.social series of walks observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

The women tasked with turning ‘tepid bath’ of civil servi... Antonia Romeo, the new cabinet secretary, promises a fresh start in Whitehall. That may be easier said than done

“Both sides of the relationship have been disappointed in the other” says former Cabinet Secretary Simon Case of ministers and their officials. My piece on the future of the civil service as its first female head Antonia Romeo takes over observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Labour bill doesn’t go far enough to stop foreign interfe... The government’s new bill is intended to shut down foreign fronts, yet the Electoral Commission says the party's so-called zero-tolerance approach to overseas oligarchs is rubbish

Legislation designed to strengthen the electoral system against foreign interference contains exploitable loopholes, the Electoral Commission has warned

Vijay Rangarajan tells @theobserveruk.bsky.social that the bill as drafted lacks “protection against oligarchs"

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

The No 10 boys’ club has collapsed. Now Labour needs to g... The McSweeney era is over. Many hope that Starmer’s set of female advisers will leave his ‘dark arts’ behind too

The “boys’ club” has been replaced by “girl power” but what matters is a focus on policy and getting stuff done - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the shake up in No 10 observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Keir Starmer’s leadership hangs between survival and coll... The prime minister is safe for now. But with rivals circling and dire opinion polls, his tenure is still far from assured

Keir Starmer’s leadership hangs between survival and collapse bit.ly/46RMUNr

A graduate tax could fix Britain's broken student loan sy... Tuition fees were meant to ease the burden on taxpayers and buoy universties. They have failed. A fairer alternative has been staring us in the face for two decades

A graduate tax could fix Britain’s broken student loan system

Tuition fees were meant to ease the burden on taxpayers and buoy universties. They have failed. A fairer alternative has been staring us in the face for two decades, writes Peter Hain
https://bit.ly/4kCF00n

How student loans became a political minefield New graduates start their careers with an average debt of £53,000, among them the angry young MPs now pushing for a broken system to be rethought. Can Labour find the path to a solution?

‘This is a generation of students who are already struggling to pay the bills, let alone taking out a mortgage or starting a family’

Rachel Sylvester on how student loans became a political minefield
https://bit.ly/4aRAWpx

The No 10 boys’ club has collapsed. Now Labour needs to g... The McSweeney era is over. Many hope that Starmer’s set of female advisers will leave his ‘dark arts’ behind too

The No 10 boys’ club has collapsed. Now Labour needs to get stuff done

The McSweeney era is over. Many hope that Starmer’s set of female advisers will leave his ‘dark arts’ behind too, writes Rachel Sylvester
https://bit.ly/3Ohr7se

A nicely balanced piece from @rachelsylvester.bsky.social about the extent to which 'girl power' may be relevant in government circles - or is it just these are people who are prepared to take a long-term view of the changes needed?

MPs and peers complained to whips over Starmer plans to m... The veteran Labour strategist has been accused by several former staffers of abusive behaviour

Exclusive: Labour politicians raised concerns about Keir Starmer’s plans to give Matthew Doyle a peerage in the weeks before it was confirmed, citing intimidating behaviour, particularly towards women.

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

The No 10 boys’ club has collapsed. Now Labour needs to g... The McSweeney era is over. Many hope that Starmer’s set of female advisers will leave his ‘dark arts’ behind too

The women running the Government have a WhatsApp group called “the boys club”. How “girl power” took over in Number 10 observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Up to half of school exams ‘will be on screen within a de... Advocates say digital assessments will make the system fairer, but critics fear students will lose writing skills

Up to half of school exams ‘will be on screen within a decade’, says board chief.

Advocates say digital assessments will make the system fairer, but critics fear students will lose writing skills.

✍️ @rachelsylvester.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/4rWqjHT

Up to half of school exams ‘will be on screen within a de... Advocates say digital assessments will make the system fairer, but critics fear students will lose writing skills

Children could be taking half their GCSEs and A-levels on screen within a decade, the head of the UK’s biggest exam board has said.

Read more as @rachelsylvester.bsky.social reports.
https://bit.ly/4rWqjHT

‘A pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’: the Starmer-McSwe... Starmer's former aide Morgan McSweeney saw the prime minister as his creation. Now that McSweeney is gone, so too has the imbalanced relationship between chief of staff and PM

“The pescatarian forced to eat dog meat” - why Morgan McSweeney’s real fault was to force Keir Starmer to be something he is not - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

McSweeney ‘asked if Mandelson US embassy role could be pa... PM’s chief of staff sought advice on behalf of disgraced former Labour peer, senior government sources claim

PM's focus on vetting follow multiple reports about the failures in Mandelson's case, including our own stories:

McSweeney asked if ambo role could be part-time observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Developed vetting interviews failed to ask about Epstein observer.co.uk/news/politic...

‘I don't think he's got three days’: Starmer’s future in ... As No 10 holds crisis talks over the chief of staff’s resignation, speculation is rife among backbenchers that Starmer may soon follow

Brace for a seismic week:

🚨 PM will update the country about standards & vetting changes

🚨 Reshuffle rumours suggest a possible cull of "Morgan’s shiny stars"

🚨 PM to address PLP tmr night

🚨 But can he last 3 months to locals? MPs question if he can last 3 days

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

‘A pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’: the Starmer-McSwe... Starmer's former aide Morgan McSweeney saw the prime minister as his creation. Now that McSweeney is gone, so too has the imbalanced relationship between chief of staff and PM

“The pescatarian forced to eat dog meat” - why Morgan McSweeney’s real fault was to force Keir Starmer to be something he is not - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Get a grip, Labour donors warn Starmer | The Observer PM under pressure to replace Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff who paved his way to Downing Street

Labour donors warn Keir Starmer to get a grip - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social as the endgame nears for the PM observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Starmer hoping to get closer to the EU on defence Ahead of meetings in London this week, the prime minister is working with France and Germany to strengthen Europe’s security and is keen to sign up to the Safe fund

Keir Starmer has a WhatsApp group with Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz - the mood music has changed on defence and security in Europe as UK tries again to join €150 bn rearmament fund observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It’s not a choice between Trump and Xi. We can walk the d... The thaw with China is no kneejerk response to transatlantic ructions, the prime minister tells Rachel Sylvester on his flight out of China. It’s about keeping our eye on the national interest

The ice age “is thawing” the PM told me in China - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on a fascinating week observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It’s not a choice between Trump and Xi. We can walk the d... The thaw with China is no kneejerk response to transatlantic ructions, the prime minister tells Rachel Sylvester on his flight out of China. It’s about keeping our eye on the national interest

The ice age “is thawing” the PM told me in China - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on a fascinating week observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Prime minister urged to forge new links with EU Senior figures in No 10 are urging Starmer to keep the customs union on the table

Prime minister urged to forge new links with EU.

Senior figures in No 10 are urging Starmer to keep the customs union on the table.

✍️ @rachelsylvester.bsky.social
https://bit.ly/3O2IhJS

Martha Lane Fox: ‘Musk is too powerful. It’s gross how te... The entrepreneur and UK government technology adviser revisits the green spaces in central London where she recovered after a life-changing car crash, talking about pain, the internet, online misogyny...

“Its gross how this tech broligopoly has captured the presidency” - I spoke to Martha Lane Fox for The Observer Walk @theobserveruk.bsky.social in the place she learned to walk aged 1 and again at 31 observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

I hope that changes

I was sexually assaulted by an extremely well known and published gynaecologist. This shit is everywhere.

I’m very sorry to hear that