Peter Franklin

Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.

@peterfranklin_

Excessive Tory optimism ramps up pressure on Kemi Badenoch Wishful thinking about a majority at the next election risks backfiring

19 Nov 2024

Rachel Reeves’s pension megafunds will backfire The Chancellor's growth scheme neglects infrastructure

15 Nov 2024

Syriza’s collapse is an omen for the European Left Radical movements across the continent are now increasingly fragmented

11 Nov 2024

Keir Starmer’s small boats plan won’t fix UK immigration crisis As long as the demand exists, organised crime will always find a way to supply it

05 Nov 2024

Reform UK’s by-election upset threatens Labour and Tories Britain's two-party system is creaking

02 Nov 2024

Labour’s Budget will avoid uncomfortable economic truths Keir Starmer's promise to fix Britain's foundations is hollow

29 Oct 2024

Third of young French voters think democracy isn’t working New research reveals an authoritarian streak in the Fifth Republic

24 Oct 2024

Millionaire exodus will hurt Labour in the long run If cheap labour can flow between borders, so can the wealthy

21 Oct 2024

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are getting an easy ride Last night's GB News debate format was too friendly

18 Oct 2024

Keir Starmer’s investment summit won’t save the UK economy Tackling bureaucracy is easier said than done

15 Oct 2024

Has the Nobel Prize cancelled physics and chemistry? This year's laureates specialise in AI and computer science

10 Oct 2024

The Conservative Party has misdiagnosed its downfall Disunity was never the main problem

08 Oct 2024

The decline of book-reading is more serious than we think Losing literature would have a civilisational cost

03 Oct 2024

Boris Johnson is not the answer to the Tories’ problems The ex-PM is back in the headlines, but his party has moved on

30 Sep 2024

The European Left is facing extinction Progressive and green parties have been squeezed out of continental politics

25 Sep 2024

Tories are not capitalising on Labour failures Keir Starmer's waning popularity has been a boon to smaller parties

22 Sep 2024

The Pope is not a heretic — but he is incompetent Recent statements have caused widespread consternation among Catholics

15 Sep 2024

Paris should remove Olympic rings from Eiffel Tower Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo's plan for the landmark must be resisted

12 Sep 2024

Michel Barnier pick is an olive branch to Marine Le Pen France's new PM is the preferred candidate of the Right

05 Sep 2024

AfD success breaks anti-populist firewall in Germany Victory in Thuringia puts the party in a strong position nationally

01 Sep 2024

Is Macron mounting a coup against the French constitution? The President's rivals are seeking to impeach him

30 Aug 2024

Kemi Badenoch finally says the quiet part out loud Britons voted against the Tories, not for Labour

27 Aug 2024

Keir Starmer should not join the EU’s trade war with China Brexit should allow the UK to chart its own course on vehicles and manufacturing

21 Aug 2024

Is Germany heading for de-unification? Old regional divides are becoming more pronounced

18 Aug 2024

The unbearable lightness of the Tory leadership contest All candidates have entered into a pact of vapid platitudes

12 Aug 2024

Shutting down X won’t stop misinformation Even if the social media platform is to blame, fake news will still find a way to circulate

08 Aug 2024

Looming political crises await France and Germany Summer has provided much needed respite for Scholz and Macron

03 Aug 2024

Manchester Airport video is a lesson for the BBC New footage has challenged the original narrative of police brutality

29 Jul 2024

Can James Cleverly conquer divided Tories? Presenting himself as the unity candidate could pay off

24 Jul 2024

Liking JRR Tolkien doesn’t make you ‘far-Right’ Rachel Maddow has linked J.D. Vance's passion for the author to extremist politics

19 Jul 2024

Liz Truss: Tories lost because they were too Left-wing The former PM is in denial about why her party was defeated

15 Jul 2024

Macron and von der Leyen can see their power slipping away European centrists and radical Leftists have been forced into an uncomfortable alliance

13 Jul 2024

The threat of Conservative extinction isn’t over A large number of Tory constituencies have slender majorities

10 Jul 2024

Defeated Tories shouldn’t move to the Right An alliance with Reform wouldn't solve the party's problems

05 Jul 2024

The region that will decide the Tories’ fate Losing the East of England could consign the Conservatives to long-term exile

01 Jul 2024

Covid is the forgotten issue of the UK election Both Sunak and Starmer deserve to have their pandemic records questioned

28 Jun 2024

Rishi Sunak has lost the Turquoise Tories Pro-environment Conservatives are switching over to the Greens

21 Jun 2024

Nigel Farage launches Liz-Truss-inspired manifesto The main plank of the Reform leader's 'contract' is tax cuts

17 Jun 2024

Are Marine Le Pen’s supporters really far-Right? The RN's heartlands still remember what true fascism is

13 Jun 2024

Macron is trying to stop Le Pen before it’s too late The power of the French Right is growing by the month

10 Jun 2024

What is Keir Starmer’s nightmare scenario? Failing to secure more than 40% of the vote could have major repercussions

07 Jun 2024

Is Giorgia Meloni now the most influential figure in Europe? EU leaders of all stripes are petitioning the Italian PM for her support

02 Jun 2024

Does Emmanuel Macron want to take over the EU? There is an ulterior motive to his support for Mario Draghi

28 May 2024

Marine Le Pen ditches the AfD The RN-AfD split leaves the European Right at a crossroads

22 May 2024

Geert Wilders could wreck Europe’s liberal consensus The Right-wing leader is set to cause a major shift in the EU's balance of power

20 May 2024

Populism is not to blame for Tory failures Commentators only see bogeymen on the party's Right

15 May 2024

Dominic Cummings could destroy the Tory Party Reports suggest that the Vote Leave architect is on manoeuvres

10 May 2024

Why Rishi Sunak will survive — for now Rivals cannot drum up the necessary support for a coup

06 May 2024

Should the Tories form an alliance with Nigel Farage? Such a move may help the party survive the next election

02 May 2024

Will Keir Starmer be the G7’s last liberal standing? Right-wing leaders could dominate the West by 2027

29 Apr 2024

Sahra Wagenknecht could reshape the European Left The German populist does not fit neatly into existing EU alliances

27 Apr 2024

Don’t turn Britain’s countryside into a culture war We cannot afford to break the national consensus on nature conservation

24 Apr 2024

Rishi Sunak may have less than two weeks left The upcoming local elections could be the final nail in the coffin

20 Apr 2024

A multipolar world might backfire for America’s enemies Anti-Western sentiment is no guarantee of a strong alliance

16 Apr 2024

Boris Johnson is out of step with the public on smoking bans Brits are much more authoritarian than the former PM realises

13 Apr 2024

Is Labour finally taking on the NHS? Wes Streeting has criticised the Left's sacred cow in a new op-ed

09 Apr 2024

Tory leaders are to blame for the collapse of the Red Wall The party has squandered the rare opportunity provided by 2019

04 Apr 2024

Has Dune: Part Two started a sci-fi resurgence? Successful new films signal a broader shift in Western culture

01 Apr 2024

Europe’s populists are growing more powerful As elections loom, the Euro-establishment is falling out favour

30 Mar 2024

Britain’s economic inactivity is a lockdown legacy Worklessness was made much worse by 2020

25 Mar 2024

Nigel Farage could kill the Conservative Party Reform UK is riding high — but the party needs a proper leader to make a difference

22 Mar 2024

Don’t trust France to lead on European security Emmanuel Macron's successor will be far less predictable

18 Mar 2024

Are the Tories ready for Rishi’s resignation? There is no obvious contender to replace the beleaguered PM

14 Mar 2024

Portugal has accelerated Europe’s Right-wing shift This week's election consolidated the rise of the insurgent Chega party

11 Mar 2024

Oregon’s radical drug experiment is a warning to Europe The state recriminalised hard drugs after a surge in fatalities

04 Mar 2024

Denmark: a model for Keir Starmer’s Britain? Spurned by Rochdale, the Labour leader needs new inspiration

01 Mar 2024

Liz Truss’s mysterious turn against globalism The CPAC audience was unconvinced by the ex-PM's apocalyptic message

23 Feb 2024

Revealed: the Labour voters who’ll decide the next election New research examines a chunk of Britons currently propelling the party to victory

21 Feb 2024

The EU will turn to Britain for nuclear protection If the US pulls out of Nato, the bloc has another ally it can depend on

15 Feb 2024

Geert Wilders popularity grows as political crisis deepens The Right-winger is benefitting from stalling Dutch coalition talks

13 Feb 2024

Rory Stewart should not be leading Oxford University The ex-politician has been tipped for the chancellorship

09 Feb 2024

Will a new conservative party replace the Tories? A British challenger should look to Europe as a model for success

06 Feb 2024

Is Europe facing another fall of Constantinople? This isn't the first time the continent has faced a geopolitical crisis and survived

04 Feb 2024

PopCons: a new Tory group destined to fail A renewed focus on tax cuts is not the solution to the Party's woes

25 Jan 2024

Is David Cameron still naive about China? The Foreign Secretary's mooted trip to Beijing risks upsetting Sinosceptic MPs

23 Jan 2024

Canada is buckling under record immigration Rising migration levels are putting public services under strain

19 Jan 2024

The Tory meltdown could be even worse than predicted A new YouGov poll points to a thumping for Rishi Sunak

15 Jan 2024

The Tories are heading for their worst ever result The next election could supersede the cataclysm of 1997

11 Jan 2024

Will Quality Street lead to a communist revolution? A much-derided online rant hints at a broader truth

08 Jan 2024

Banning the AfD will backfire Germany's troubling 'lawfare' efforts should be a warning to the rest of the world

04 Jan 2024

Five ‘grey swan’ possibilities for 2024 These low-probability events could have major global implications

01 Jan 2024

Why is the American Right obsessed with UFOs? Everyone from Tucker Carlson to Tyler Cowen is talking about extraterrestrial life

28 Dec 2023

All I want for Christmas is a rise in birth rates The Church should emphasise the joys of parenthood this year

24 Dec 2023

The EU is heading for a fiscal showdown Strict German rules are about to meet with reality

18 Dec 2023

How an Elon Musk university could disrupt academia The billionaire is pumping $100 million into a new higher education scheme

15 Dec 2023

It’s too soon to topple Rishi Sunak Budding assassins on the Tory Right should hold fire if they want to reach power

11 Dec 2023

The EU is falling behind China Ursula von der Leyen's summit with Xi Jinping will yield few results

07 Dec 2023

Can Geert Wilders defeat the Dutch establishment? A Brexit-style logjam is holding up party negotiations

05 Dec 2023

How to avoid South Korea’s demographic disaster Economic and cultural burdens are putting off potential parents

01 Dec 2023

China’s debt crisis is getting worse Xi Jinping is overseeing a major economic slide

27 Nov 2023

The EU has voted for a superstate Full-blown federalism was far from a Brexiteer conspiracy

23 Nov 2023

Are the Dutch set for a sharp turn to the Right? Geert Wilders's anti-immigration PVV is polling well

21 Nov 2023

Meet the five factions of the Tory Right Rival blocs are jostling for control over the direction of the party

17 Nov 2023

Without Braverman, which way will Sunak go on the ECHR? A Supreme Court ruling this week could provide a fresh crisis for the Tories

13 Nov 2023

Beware the European Digital Identity A proposed electronic wallet will store ID cards and medical information

10 Nov 2023

Nadine Dorries is half-right about the secret Tory cabal Backroom figures do wield power, but they're not very good at using it

06 Nov 2023

What Elon Musk can teach Rishi Sunak The billionaire is a legitimate authority on AI safety

01 Nov 2023

Rishi Sunak should delay the election for as long as possible It makes sense to give Keir Starmer more time to make a serious error

26 Oct 2023

Do Irish people have white privilege? The country's education system is encouraging pupils to reflect on their status

24 Oct 2023