- Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Monash University
The ‘king of the North’ faces multiple challenges in a fragmented UK when he becomes the next prime minister.
Offering hope and locality, the former mayor of Greater Manchester is odd-on to challenge the deeply unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the top job.
Another British prime minister is in deep trouble – but simply replacing him won’t fix what is ailing the United Kingdom.
The scandal is not only putting pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, it’s undermining trust in British government and institutions more broadly.
The Australian prime minister will meet with his British counterpart – and may off some advice on fending off an electoral challenge from the right.
After the bust-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Keir Starmer emerged as a possible peacemaker. But he’ll have his work cut out.
With exit polls predicting a landslide win, new PM Keir Stamer’s dull but steady approach seems to have paid off, and the disastrous Conservative rule comes to an end.
The polls predict the UK is headed for a change of government. If Labour wins, would much change for Australia?
It might sound like difficult terrain, but ideas of nationhood can be progressive as well as regressive, and could help bind Australians ahead of the Voice referendum.
This semi-final is an Australia-England fixture with fewer of the national slights and burdens of history, hierarchy and gender.
Not since the infamous ‘Bodyline’ series of the 1930s has cricket been the source of so much tension between Australia and Britain.
Sunak is the first person of colour to take the top post. But he faces a host of problems at home, as well as a Conservative Party tearing itself apart.
It is time for the Conservative Party to have a cup of tea, a Bex and good lie down.
The Conservative Party is hopelessly stuck in the 1980s, and it may yet be the undoing of Liz Truss as prime minister.
Liz Truss has defeated Rishi Sunak to become the next prime minister – but her victory makes the Conservatives much more likely to lose the next election.
Boris Johnson is about to leave 10 Downing Street to be replaced by one of two colleagues. His history in the top job is a chequered one.
Succession has long been the weak link in the system of hereditary monarchy. Perhaps it may be time for Australia to reconsider the place of the monarchy in our own political system.
Scandals and a misguided war on woke have cost Australia’s conservatives their voter base, opening the path for Labor.
For all the public anger over the ‘Partygate’ scandal, Johnson’s weakened position owes much to the aftershocks of Brexit.
After a some coronavirus respite over the summer, Britain is contemplating a second national lockdown. This comes as Australia and the UK need each other more than they have for decades.
As Boris Johnson’s tactics cause deep rifts within the Conservative Party, the UK faces a Brexit of radical conservatism - and plenty of risks.
In keeping with the permanent state of political misery induced by Brexit, any outcome of the leadership contest and the subsequent UK-EU politics will make almost everyone unhappy.
If Boris Johnson becomes PM, the most likely outcome is a no-deal Brexit leavened with the rhetoric of past and future glories of the UK. There are better candidates for the job.
As England agonises over Brexit, divisions have emerged in other parts of the UK, especially in Northern Ireland and independent-minded Scotland.
Terrorism, Brexit, Scottish independence: there is a lot going on in the UK election, and the landslide once predicted for the Conservatives is no longer a safe bet.
Contact Ben for
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Website
- X (formerly Twitter): @wellings_ben
- Article Feed
- ORCID
- Joined
























