


South-west England has become a three-way political battleground
The Tories will struggle to regain control of the West Country in Britain’s general election
When you are a beleaguered leader struggling through a long campaign, an unfortunate metaphor lurks around every corner. So it proved for Rishi Sunak on a recent visit to a farm near Barnstaple, a town in the constituency of North Devon. Mr Sunak gamely entered a sheep pen; the sheep all turned and fled. “Come on,” the prime minister pleaded, pointing to a bucket of feed. “They don’t want to play ball,” observed the farmer.
Mr Sunak’s presence in Barnstaple was telling. Selaine Saxby, the incumbent MP, is sitting on a majority of almost 15,000. What was once seen as a comfortable cushion is now cause for fretful visits from Conservative bigwigs. The story is similar in many seats across the south-west, a group of six largely rural counties stretching from Cornwall in the west to Wiltshire in the east. The Liberal Democrats and—less expectedly—Labour are shearing off disgruntled voters.
Explore more

How Rachel Reeves, Britain’s probable next chancellor, wants to change the country
Her memories, including of beating private schoolboys at chess, offer clues

Britain’s Conservative Party faces up to its own mortality
Dulce et decorum est pro parte mori

On shame, Liz Truss and the turnip Taliban
A local group is trying to eject the former prime minister from her seat

How Rachel Reeves, Britain’s probable next chancellor, wants to change the country
Her memories, including of beating private schoolboys at chess, offer clues

Britain’s Conservative Party faces up to its own mortality
Dulce et decorum est pro parte mori

On shame, Liz Truss and the turnip Taliban
A local group is trying to eject the former prime minister from her seat
The British election is not close. But the race in Bicester is
A potential Tory leader-in-waiting is in a three-way fight
Why the next Westminster scandal is already here
In British politics scandals are not exposed. They are simply noticed
Britons vote according to feelings of economic security
The latest edition of our Blighty newsletter