Back from recess and straight into the action in SW1.
Who's starting the year on top and who's already been boxed up and put away in the shed?
Read all about it in this week's Who's Top Who's Not
Top of the pops – Yvette Cooper
For those who wanted to ease into 2026, you were obviously on Father Christmas’s naughty list. The first day of parliament in 2026 began with a smorgasbord of UQs and ministerial statements, including on Venezuela. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stepped up to the dispatch box to update the House on Trump’s extraordinary capture of President Maduro.
WTWN was somewhat confused when Cooper was put into FCDO at the last reshuffle; clearly room had to be made to accommodate Shabana Mahmood and her more proactive approach to tackling immigration, but Cooper had spent decades immersed in home affairs policy and had little previous foreign policy experience.
Yet temperamentally, FCDO could end up being a good fit for a politician like Cooper who considers the long-term approach, plays a straight bat and doesn’t rush to rash decisions. This temperament will be vital to balance the anti-imperialist left of her party with the government’s strategy of sticking closely to President Trump, in order to make progress on Ukraine. But at some point, political pressures will take over governing priorities on foreign policy, and then Cooper will need to be agile as well as stoic.
Middle – Heidi Alexander - Chugging along
The Transport Secretary had a busy start to the year, announcing a new Road Safety Strategy that will include a minimum learning period for learner drivers, eye tests for older drivers and a lower alcohol limit. The Tories have attempted to turn this into an attack on rural pubs, forcing the government onto the backfoot with its public safety argument.
What got less attention was the freeze on rail fares. This is a tangible government policy that will improve the cost of living for working people, yet the government doesn’t seem to be benefiting. It’s a classic example of the political problem facing the government: it struggles to tell a story to the public of how they are actively tackling the cost of living via their policies (the freeze is only possible due to rail nationalization). But the public are unlikely to thank the government for a freeze in prices when what they really want are reductions.
Commuters haven’t traditionally been a large part of Labour’s electoral coalition but the 2024 election means that there are now dozens of MPs representing the commuter belt. The government will clearly be hoping that those braving the 7:23 to Waterloo will notice that the government has their back, but WTWN is not so sure. This year the government needs to be better at delivering real change that will help people with their household finances, and then tell the public why these policy changes are going to combat the cost of living.
Bottom: Legal eagles – losing the argument
There has been quite the legal bust-up amongst our learned friends in Parliament this week, with it all kicking off at the bar.
Political pressure on the government’s policy of clearing the courts backlog by scrapping the right to a jury trial for some cases is coming to the boil. The opposition is naturally opposed to the policy, but there are plenty in the legal profession – both outside of Parliament and in – who are also against. Surprisingly, Karl Turner, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull East, led the charge and seems to be on the warpath. First, he took aim at his Chief Whip in a Times Radio interview (interesting approach), and then he publicly criticized Justice Secretary David Lammy and Justice Minister Sarah Sackman.
As a former barrister, Turner feels strongly about the ethical and practical implications about further limiting British citizens’ rights to jury trials. But as a former shadow justice minister and shadow attorney general now loitering on the backbenches, there is also a political element to his opposition. Nonethless, it is quite the step to break the whip and vote with the Tories – if he’s hoping to get noticed, he’s certainly succeeded.
Meanwhile, there was a right ding-dong between the current attorney general and shadow attorney general (well, an exchange of letters) over the Conservative’s Lord Wolfson KC providing legal advice to Roman Abramovich. In a lesser-spotted Labour attack, the government scented blood and went on the offensive to force Wolfson to recuse himself from providing Badenoch with legal advice on Ukraine and Russia. But his Lordship responded with a detailed letter to the PM in which he came close to accusing the former DPP of lying in Parliament. This lot might have to slug it out in the courts.