Britain's new ruling class

Author

Perspective Media
July 07, 2024

(If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here)

With the election finally behind us, this week Rowan Pelling wonders whether the new prime minister should acknowledge that he’s middle class, while Peter Phelps dissects the absurdities of our voting system, plus our book of the week and must-reads from our latest edition.

A century of Labour
BY ROWAN PELLING

Ramsay MacDonald by Solomon Joseph Solomon, 1911

Sir Keir Starmer becomes Prime Minister exactly 100 years after Ramsay MacDonald, the first Labour PM. Then, as now, the incumbents over-promised and under-delivered, and were dealt a crushing blow by a disillusioned electorate. How far will the parallels go?

❝

MacDonald would go on to be viewed as a “traitor” by many Labour supporters

READ THE FULL STORY

Is Sir Keir Starmer a working class hero?
BY ROWAN PELLING

The new PM stood on the steps of Number 10 and referenced his working-class roots. But perhaps Labour’s commitment to honesty should include their MPs ’fessing up to having made it into the ranks of the middle class.

❝

How far up the ladder do you have to be before you cease to be working class?

The go-between

Rebecca Smith on growing up in a tied cottage on a landed estate

www.perspectivemedia.com/the-go-between

Snob value

Looking down your nose at “common” behaviour can create a constructive social dynamic, says Philip Hensher

www.perspectivemedia.com/snob-value

Labour’s lost loves
BY PETER PHELPS, PUBLISHER

Things did not end well for Shakespeare’s King of Navarre in Love’s Labour’s Lost, when he passed on putting in the real work and focused instead on crafting flowery prose. Prime Minister Keir Starmer would do well to heed that lesson as he settles into Number 10

❝

Any system that delivers a 170-or-so seat majority on the back of just one-third of the potential vote, is unfit for purpose

READ THE FULL STORY

Commons decency
BY Peter Phelps

Can Prime Minister Keir Starmer restore our trust in public life?

❝

Sunak’s ignominious departure is a direct result of Johnson's bonfire of vulgarities

READ THE FULL STORY

More from our latest edition

Correcting our Grammar mistake by Simon Heffer

During the Blair years, when recalcitrant Conservatives longed for a pledge to open new grammar schools, no class warrior threw himself into the battle against selective education with such ferocity as John Prescott…

www.perspectivemedia.com/correcting-our-grammar-mistake

Apocalypse now and then

Cities laid to waste. Journalists shot on sight. A head of state ordering air strikes on his own citizens. Crackpots in combat gear pointing assault rifles ... Anne Billson on end-of-days cinema

www.perspectivemedia.com/apocalypse-now-and-then

Q&A with Lynn Barber

What did you think of your Fleet St nickname: Demon Barber?
I found it quite surprising because I never thought of myself as a hatchet woman or demon. But it served me well.

Book of the week
REVIEWED BY BELINDA BAMBER

The break-up of an exciting threesome in NYC leaves a young woman back home in small-town America, trying to work out her future

Support us

Perspective’s mission is to drag everyone back to the centre for a conversation. If like us, you’re tired of polarisation and feel that the solutions to the problems we face need a more sensible discourse, join us and discover a wealth of unique content not found elsewhere, from thought leaders, award-winning journalists and experts. By taking advantage of the offer below, you not only get access to thousands of articles, latest news and our print editions, but you also help us remain independent, so we can continue to provide you with unbiased, quality journalism.

Explore our back issues