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Nightmare drinking pals, Fergie’s good fortune and why Ukip has already peaked

By Peter Wilby - 16 May

In the wake of Ukip’s success in the county council elections, I dug out an article I published in early 2005 in my final months as New Statesman editor.

The Tories are putting party before country.

Eurosceptic Tories are damaging the national interest - and their chances of winning the next election

By Edward Davey MP - 15 May

The Conservative Party hasn’t won a general election for over two decades and its latest infighting on Europe suggests that this trick may get repeated.

The stubborn survival of Clegg may prove to be more significant.

Everyone’s talking about Nigel, but it’s Nick who has shaken up Westminster for good

By Rafael Behr - 09 May

There is a stark choice facing British politics, expressed in the rivalry between two leaders. They have very different styles and incompatible creeds.

The Returning Officer: Iron ladies

By Stephen Brasher - 02 May

The Labour leader is meant to be capturing the mood of the country.

Miliband’s turn as a street preacher is hampered by his lack of disciples

By Rafael Behr - 01 May

Politicians face a simple choice when the public disagrees with them: yield or defy. They can bend policy to suit opinion polls or reinforce the unpopular case in the hope of changing minds.

Leader: Follow Macmillan and build, build, build

By New Statesman - 01 May

As well as enduring the slowest economic recovery in more than 100 years, Britain is suffering from a severe housing crisis.

Margaret Thatcher's funeral at St Paul's Cathedral from above. Photograph: Getty

Thatcher may be gone, but remember – her cruel influence lives on in the Labour Party

By John Pilger - 25 April

In the wake of Margaret Thatcher’s departure, I remember her victims. Patrick Warby’s daughter Marie was one of them.

The Returning Officer: This House

By Stephen Brasher - 25 April

James Graham’s play This House (currently at the National Theatre) shows the whittling away of the 1974-79 Labour government’s majority.

David Cameron shares a joke with actor Brian Blessed on Downing Street.

The three straws the Tories grasp when they fantasise about a second term

By Rafael Behr - 24 April

If the Tories had set out in government with the aim of deliberately making themselves unpopular, they might not have proceeded very differently.

Leader: Ed Miliband must lead Labour’s debate about reforming the state

By New Statesman - 24 April

There is a sensible and an absurd aspect to the debate about whether Ed Miliband and Ed Balls should set out in greater detail their plans for managing the public finances.

Beatrice and Sidney Webb, the founders of the New Statesman. Photograph: Getty

Leader: Bending the arc of history towards justice and freedom

By New Statesman - 12 April

12 April 1913

Polly Toynbee (in 1965): Boris's dream woman. Photograph: Getty Images

Staggers envy, being rejected by Martin Amis, and why the left hated Maggie so much

By Boris Johnson - 11 April

I used to be petrified of the Staggers. I mean it.

A Lib Dem conference attendee. Photograph: Getty Images

My advice to young Lib Dems — rise above the tribalism

By Vince Cable - 09 April

One long-standing dividing line in British politics has been the split on the centre left between those who regard themselves as both liberal and social democratic but are divided by party.