Politics
The Best Parts Of Ageing, According To Men Over 50
Three weeks ago, my wife told me my hair looked ridiculous and I needed a haircut. I agreed. But I still haven’t booked one.
This is not new behaviour. The time between haircuts keeps stretching. Six weeks becomes eight. Eight becomes “when I get around to it”. My wife and sons mention it. But my hair routine is simple. However I wake up is how it looks. I haven’t stopped caring – style has just slid down the priority list.
It’s common once men reach middle age. There comes a point where keeping up just stops feeling worth the effort. The stomach doesn’t get sucked in at the beach, and the grey doesn’t get touched up. Phrases that kids call “such a boomer thing to say” get used without shame.
“Almost as if I was given a magic spell, somewhere just after my 50th birthday, I stopped pretending to care whether my shoes matched my outfit,” said Nathan Rice, 53.
“Pre-50 me would’ve judged Crocs like they were a moral failing.” Now he owns multiple pairs. Fuzzy for winter, breezy for summer. “It’s full-time comfort mode, and honestly, I know it’s not anyone’s idea of cool, and don’t care.”
And it goes well past wardrobe.
For decades, their identity is often tied to performance, providing and fitting into a specific mold of success. When they hit their 50s, there is a profound sense of relief that comes with realizing they don’t have to perform anymore.
– Kym Tolson, social worker
At 57, Elias Friedman no longer feels the need to look busy. “If I am done at work, I am done and I leave for the day,” said Friedman, a financial planner. The “I shouldn’t eat this” routine over dessert? “Just order it and move on. I exercise four-plus days per week. It’s time to enjoy life more.” As for networking events, he’d rather “have one real conversation than 10 forgettable ones.”
It started around 50, he said. “It was realising how much mental bandwidth was going to things that had zero impact on my actual life. It feels like a combination of earned confidence and fatigue. You’ve run the experiment long enough to know what matters and what doesn’t.” His family has noticed, too. “I have less patience for anything inauthentic.”
Sometimes it’s clearer from the outside. Runbo Li saw it in his father, a Chinese immigrant who spent decades running small businesses in Pennsylvania. “He’d rehearse small talk before parent-teacher conferences like he was prepping for a deposition,” Li said. “Pressed shirts to go to Costco. Careful English around neighbours.”
andreswd via Getty Images
Then somewhere around 55, “he started wearing the same three polo shirts in rotation. Not because he couldn’t afford more. Because, and I quote, ‘Nobody is looking at me.’” He once wore house slippers to a restaurant, and when Li’s mom pointed it out, he said, “The food tastes the same.”
At a family barbecue, a neighbour asked what he thought about some political topic. “He just said, ‘I don’t think about it,’” Li said. “My mom looked at me like she’d lost him. I thought he’d finally found himself.”
There’s a reason this tends to hit men around the same age. Licensed clinical social worker Kym Tolson said it’s less about giving up and more about what she calls radical acceptance. “For decades, their identity is often tied to performance, providing and fitting into a specific mould of success. When they hit their 50s, there is a profound sense of relief that comes with realising they don’t have to perform anymore.”
According to Tolson, families usually notice first, because “the man’s behaviour changes before he even consciously realises his mindset has shifted. He’s just living his life, but the family sees the sudden absence of anxiety.”
Licensed mental health counsellor Matt Grammer calls it “social camouflage,” and says it falls away in the early to mid-50s.
One of his clients sat through a 15-minute conversation about cryptocurrency at a barbecue, went home and told his wife, “Next time I’m just going to say, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’” He felt relieved, not resigned. “Men at this age understand that all of the little social acts, looking busy, staying on trend, going the extra mile, do not change the social outcome,” Grammer said.
The thing that took Mark Shrime, 51, longest to let go of was the dance floor. At a wedding late last year, the music started, everyone rushed to the floor, and the pleas kicked in: “Come on, just one dance!” He’d always felt the guilt of being the one person who stayed seated, and he would join in. “This was the first time I ever felt like, you know what? I don’t actually want to … and I don’t have to.” Shrime calls it freeing. “I’ve finally accepted that I’m content sipping my whiskey and being around my friends who are having the time of their lives.”
xavierarnau via Getty Images
The shift isn’t always about what you stop doing. Sometimes it’s about what you stop saying. Keith Holloway used to justify every decision to anyone who raised an eyebrow. “I used to explain myself. Constantly,” he said. “Someone would push back on a decision, and I’d justify it until they agreed. I’ve completely stopped. I know what I know. If you’re curious, ask me. If you disagree, good for you.”
After his separation, he saw that “a staggering amount of my energy had gone toward managing other people’s opinions of me. That’s done now.” He also hasn’t worn pants that button on a Zoom call since 2021. And won’t ever again.
Some men have taken it further than they’d ever admit to their families. Ian Glennon, a 57-year-old writer, hasn’t shared this with his family yet. “The thing that I do now, that I would never have done pre-50, is wear the same pairs of underpants and socks two days in a row,” he said.
“I turn them inside out so there’s at least a cognitive resonance that they’re ‘clean.’” He admits that two days occasionally stretch to three. Public holidays falling on a Monday are, he said, a case in point.
He hasn’t told his 16-year-old daughter. “I’m sure the response would contain the words: ‘gross,’ ‘too much information’ and ‘do NOT post that on social media.’” He plans to send her the link when this article runs.
My wife still tells me I need a haircut, and my sons groan when I play country music. Last week, I described something as “absolute cinema” and my sons looked at me like I’d committed a crime. I’ll book the haircut eventually. But I’m not rushing. And when I wake up tomorrow, however my hair looks is how it’s going to stay.
We’ve written before about how helpful Spanish squats and reverse lunges can be if you sometimes struggle doing exercise due to knee pain.
And according to orthopaedic surgeon Dr Chris Raynor, you can add “cycling squats” to that list.
In a YouTube short, the expert said he loves to use these kinds of exercises “for rehabilitation after knee injury or knee surgery, because I think that they are a safe way of activating the quadricep muscle and developing quadricep strength”.
Men’s Health, meanwhile, called them the “ultimate quad burn” which can increase your ankle mobility, reduce the strain on your lower back, and, of course, strengthen your legs.
What are cyclist squats?
Also known as “heel elevation squats”, cyclist squats involve – surprise – keeping your heels elevated as you perform the exercise.
This is sometimes done with a sloped squat ramp or “riser”.
You should keep your feet together as you perform the movement, which can be done with or without a kettlebell or dumbbell held in front of you to your chest.
Cyclist or heel elevated squats with a kettlebell are called “goblet cyclist squats”.
How do you complete a cyclist squat?
- Stand on a squat ramp or “riser” with your feet together, torso straight, and arms either straight in front of you or holding a weight to your chest.
- Lower yourself down, hinging at the hips and knees, as if you’re trying to tuck your bottom on top of your heels.
- Rise back up, “pushing” the floor away with your feet.
What are the benefits of cyclist squats?
This type of squat “encourages more work from the quads, and less on the hips, low back and adductors” than a regular squat, Mirafit explained.
They added that for people with weaker knees, cycling squats can help you progressively overload the joint over time, protecting it from future harm.
The heel elevation can help you achieve a deeper squat, too. And if you’re holding a kettlebell while doing the exercise, you’ll work your postural muscles, which help both your upper and lower back.
Dr Raynor added that goblet cyclist squats may help to activate the vastus medialus obliqus (VMO), a teardrop-shaped muscle in our upper legs, as “one of the best ways to make sure that it is engaged is to activate the quad when it is in its most lengthened position”.
That happens during deeper squats, like this one. The VMO is a key muscle in stabilising our knees.
A 2025 paper found that “elevated heel heights… can enhance squat stability by reducing centre of pressure (COP) deviation and trunk lean, both of which are key factors for minimising injury risks in squatting exercise”.
Once you’ve figured out how to give decent oral sex, it’s easy to go on autopilot. You know the basics, your partner’s not complaining, you might even have a little trick you’ve worked on through the years – why mess with success?
But bedroom skills, like anything else, can always use a little levelling up. And when it comes to cunnilingus, there’s one small adjustment that sex experts swear can upgrade the experience for both of you: the Kivin method, aka the sideways method.
Not to be confused with some random guy named Kevin’s go-to move, the Kivin method is an oral sex technique that relies on a perpendicular position: instead of facing the receiver head-on, the giver lies across their body, aligning their lips side-to-side. Usually, the receiver has one or both legs raised atop the giver’s shoulder, to allow more access.
The technique focuses on stimulating the clitoris, vulva and perineum from the side with the tongue, creating broader stimulation that some people find more intense and pleasurable. (The perineum is that diamond-shaped expanse of skin, muscle, and tissue located between the anus and the genitals.)
Usually, the receiver has one or both legs raised to allow the giver more access. For the visual learners, here’s what it looks like:
As for the name, the origins of the technique – who’s Kivin? – are a little hard to pin down, but the method is bandied about often by sex educators online, and it got a mention in 2001 in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tantric Sex.
Sex therapists and sexologists we spoke to said taking a sideways approach to oral sex naturally changes the stimulation. It also might be more comfortable for the giver, especially for their neck, said Sadie Allison, a sexologist and author of Ride ’Em Cowgirl! Sex Position Secrets for Better Bucking. (Bucking is a subject for another day.)
Because you’re not craning your neck at an awkward angle the whole time, you can usually keep going longer, which means more pleasure for the receiver. The position also opens the door to mixing in other kinds of sex play, making the whole experience feel a little less routine and more exciting.
“Your hands are free in a different way, so you can easily touch breasts, stomach, thighs, and hips from a new angle, creating a fuller experience,” Allison told HuffPost. “Internal stimulation can be easier to incorporate. With this new position, it can be easier to provide vaginal, G-spot, or even anal play at the same time.”
And since the giver’s body is now more within reach of the receiver, they’re also free to caress, touch or otherwise be more engaged in the moment.
“This makes for a more intimate and connected experience,” Allison said. “Try rubbing their shoulders, playing with their hair, or tease their nipples.”
Obviously, every clitoris-haver is different, and not everyone is going to love what Kivin brings to the table. But if you want to try it on your partner now that you’ve got the basics down, here are a few additional tips on how to assume the position.
It’s never a bad idea to stretch if you know you’re likely giving oral later.
If you know you’re getting busy later and want to try a new position, it’s a good idea to stretch and limber up first, said Greg Kilpatrick, a psychotherapist and sex therapist in Pasadena, California.
“We stretch at the gym, before and during a run or yoga,” he said. “All of these other activities where we really want our bodies to show up, sex shouldn’t be any different.”
Try it on the sofa with the giver on their knees.
Keeley Rankin, a sex and relationship coach in San Francisco, actually thinks the Kivin method would be great if the receiver was lying on a sofa and the giver was kneeling on their knees, tipping their head to the side. It might be an easier position to get into than both people being flat on the same surface, she said.
“I think one of the most important things with anything having to do with sex, especially oral sex, is enthusiasm, and so much of that is needing to be comfortable while doing it,” Rankin said.
“You’re not going to have a ton of enthusiasm if you’re worried how your neck is going to feel tomorrow,” she said. So don’t be afraid to tweak your oral sex position and do what works for you, even if you’re in the middle of performing.
Or, try it with the receiver lying on their side.
You can also try a version where the receiver lies on their side, Allison said.
“Bend the top leg and lift it slightly to open up,” she said. “Then you come in from the side in the ‘T’ position. Same concept, just a different feel.”
You also may want to incorporate a pillow (or a sex pillow) under the hips while the receiver is on their back.
“The giver can lie on their stomach, and it really does feel like everything is perfectly presented – easy access, great angle,” she said.
Let your partner know how it’s feeling.
Oral in general is an interesting topic, Kilpatrick said, because it really illustrates how what we expect to feel great to a partner may not actually feel all that great, or how something we expect to feel “eh” can be total fireworks.
“This is particularly the case in heterosexual sex; there are plenty of erogenous areas that can be totally missed without exploration and conversation,” he said.
For instance, he said, it might not intuitively make sense to a male partner to give his female partner’s labia attention until he learns that his scrotum is made of very similar tissue and he likes his balls played with.
Similarly, openly talk about what you liked or didn’t like about the Kivin method.
“When we slow down and make connections like this, it suddenly can make more sense, and lead to more opportunities for pleasure,” Kilpatrick said.
Make the most of the access you have.
Giving oral sex sideways is a great opportunity to try what Allison likes to call “The Velvet Glide”. We’ll let her explain.
“Create a soft seal with your lips over the entire vulva and keep a gentle, steady suction – nothing too intense,” she said. “Then slowly glide side-to-side along the full length of the vulva. Let it feel smooth and continuous as if you were gliding your puckered lips across corn on the cob.”
The key here is consistency and coverage.
“With the Kivin method, you’re stimulating more areas at once and building anticipation instead of focusing only on the clitoris,” she said. “There are thousands of pleasure enhancing nerve endings all over the inner labia as well, and you’ll be offering more coverage for heightened sensations.”
Everyone’s favourite demoted planet, Pluto, may be shielding a mystery that’s baffled scientists.
An icy body beyond the dwarf planet seems to have an atmosphere that shouldn’t be there, according to a paper published in Nature Astronomy.
The object should be too small to have an atmosphere
At just 500km across, the object, catchily named (612533) 2002 XV ought to be too tiny to have any atmosphere at all.
That’s partly why little planet Pluto was believed to be the only object in our solar system that had an atmosphere beyond Neptune.
But researchers hink they’ve found a “refractive signature, indicating a thin atmosphere” from the even tinier icy mass.
And they do mean “thin”. Some reports suggest the potential atmosphere could be 50-100 times thinner than Pluto’s own, already very weak, atmosphere, and 5-10 million times thinner than ours here on Earth.
Nonetheless, the minor “plutino” planet seemed to affect how a distant star looked while it occulted (temporarily appeared to cover) it.
Rather than cleanly appearing, being hidden, and then reappearing in a kind of “blink” or “wink” illusion, the star appeared to fade slowly as it approached and left the cover of the plutino. That usually only happens when a plant has an atmosphere, as the gases change how the light is filtered.
“This discovery suggests that the traditional idea that global dense atmospheres form only around larger planets must be revised,” the paper reads.
However, planetary scientist Alan Stern told the Associated Press that while “The implications are profound if verified,” the “amazing development… sorely needs independent verification”.
That could involve confirmation by, e.g., NASA’s Webb Space Telescope.
Scientists can’t say for sure why the atmosphere might be there
The researchers put forward two theories, though Space.com pointed out that both may have flaws.
The first suggests that another body, like a comet, might have impacted the plutino. But that’d be a stroke of luck on the researchers’ part: the gases from collisions like these fade over time, meaning we would have had to have caught it relatively soon after the impact.
That’s why, study author Ko Arimatsu told AP, the researchers plan to monitor the site. “If the atmosphere fades over the next several years, that would support an impact origin.”
Another theory? Ice volcanoes, which release sublimated gas through cryovolcanic activity. But the cause of this proposed activity is completely unknown.
“If [the atmosphere] persists, or varies seasonally, that would point more toward ongoing internal gas supply,” Arimatsu said.
It’s no secret that your body eliminates digested food through your stool. Your body uses enzymes and acid to break down the nutrients in the foods you eat, and it’s typically not visible in the toilet bowl.
However, when you eat foods like corn, this isn’t always the case.
“Corn does have this reputation of showing up and making a second appearance after a meal,” said gastroenterologist Dr. Leybelis Padilla. Think about the last time you had Chipotle or corn on the cob – did it come out intact later?
For most people, this is a completely normal occurrence. If you’re interested in why this happens, we spoke with doctors to help us understand:
For starters, the corn kernel’s outer layer is indigestible
What you’re seeing in your stool is often just the outer shell of the corn, which is called the pericarp. This part of the starchy vegetable is made of indigestible plant fibres.
“It is made of a very tough cellulose, a type of fibre that our human body cannot fully break down. The reason is that we lack the enzymes to fully digest this shell,” said Dr. Susan Kais, a board-certified gastroenterologist.
“Even with thorough chewing, that outer layer often stays intact while the inside is digested,” Kais continued. “This is completely normal and should not be a cause for concern. It simply reflects how our human digestive system handles certain plant fibres.”
How you chew your corn can also have an impact
Since everyone’s digestive tract and digestive system can vary, not everyone will have corn come out whole in their stool. Eating multiple pieces of corn at once or not chewing enough can affect how the food comes out in your stool, too.
“It depends on how thoroughly the corn is chewed and individual digestive differences. Some people may see it more often, while others rarely do. Both experiences are normal,” Kais explained.
How quickly food moves through a person’s digestive tract and whether someone’s microbiome or gut bacteria is capable of fermenting the corn could play a role as well.
“Even still, even if someone’s microbiome is more adept at digesting or fermenting these starches, this outer shell is often still there,” Padilla noted.
Grace Cary via Getty Images
You still get the nutritional value of corn, even if it comes out whole in your stool
From a nutritional standpoint, is the vegetable even worth consuming if it runs right through you? The short answer: yes. Since what you’re spotting is the pericarp, rest assured, you’re getting the benefits of corn.
“The digestible parts of the corn, including carbohydrates, vitamins and some antioxidants, are released once the kernel is broken down by thorough chewing and further digestion,” Kais explained.
“The outer shell passing through does not mean the nutrients are lost,” Kais continued. “Think of it as the ‘packaging’ staying intact while the contents are still used.”
This isn’t true if you don’t chew the kernel and just swallow it whole, however. “If you do not chew the kernel, you are unable to open the packaging for your body to absorb its nutrients. So, chew well when eating corn to gain the nutrients,” Kais said.
Corn isn’t the only food showing up whole in your stool, by the way
Other high-fibre foods can behave similarly to corn.
“You might notice things like blueberries, seeds, nuts, popcorn hulls or vegetable skins like tomatoes or peppers in your stool,” Kais said. “These foods again have tough outer layers that are resistant to our human digestion, especially if not fully chewed.”
Don’t worry, this is a normal finding and usually not something to worry about unless it’s accompanied by other symptoms, such as persistent changes in your stool or you have digestive concerns. It’s always a good idea to consult your healthcare professional if you have any concerns about your digestive health.
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Politics
Politics Home Article | Keir Starmer Appoints Gordon Brown And Harriet Harman Into New Roles
Former prime minister Gordon Brown visited Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Saturday morning (Alamy)
3 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed former prime minister Gordon Brown and former deputy Labour leader Baroness Harriet Harman into new roles, after the Labour Party suffered devastating losses in local and devolved elections across the UK.
Starmer has appointed Brown as special envoy on global finance, with the former prime minister having visited Downing Street on Saturday morning.
Harman, who was deputy leader of the Labour Party between 2007 and 2015 and now sits in the House of Lords, has been appointed as Starmer’s adviser on women and girls.
The appointments come as Starmer faces widespread criticism from within his own party, after Labour was dealt heavy losses in local council and devolved parliamentary elections across the UK this week.
Labour has lost more than 1,100 English council seats, including in its heartlands across northern England and the Midlands, has lost power in Wales for the first time since the devolved administration was established, and failed to win power from the SNP in Scotland.
With Reform UK picking up more than 1,400 seats on local councils and the Green Party achieving the second largest national vote share after Reform, many Labour MPs have blamed Starmer and the party leadership for the results. More than 20 backbench Labour MPs have called on Starmer to resign or suggested that he cannot lead the party and government into the next set of elections next year.
Brown will reportedly advise the government on how global finance cooperation can help to boost the UK’s security and resilience, particularly looking at how international finance partnerships can support defence and security-related investment.
This will form part of the Labour government’s push to move closer to Europe.
Harman will work with ministers to bring in measures to tackle violence against women and girls, and increase women’s representation in politics and public life. The part-time role will be unpaid.
Brown has been supportive of Starmer in recent months. In February, he told the BBC in the wake of further revelations about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador that Starmer was “a man of integrity” who “wants to do the right things”.
“Perhaps he’s been too slow to do the right things, but he must do the right things now,” he said.
“And let’s judge what he does on what happens in the next few months, when he tries – and I believe [he] will try – to clean up the system.”
Harman, on the other hand, has been critical of the Prime Minister’s handling of the Mandelson scandal in recent months, warning that it could “finish him off”.
She has, however, said that she believes Starmer should continue as Prime Minister as long as changes are made to how the government is being run.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast on Friday, Harman said: “There needs to be a consensus built and led by Keir Starmer about what the government is going to do differently, because more of the same is not acceptable.
“The country is entitled to a government that actually delivers on its manifesto, but more than that, they’re entitled to a government and a prime minister who gives them a sense of direction of where the country’s going and hope for the future.
“So it’s not just about delivering the nuts and bolts, it’s about a narrative, it’s about telling the story where people can all feel the country’s getting better.”
Within roughly 48 hours, Kemi Badenoch’s video on X had amassed more than 1.8million views.
Badenoch was speaking at a press conference in Billericay, Essex. As she addressed the recent stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green and the UK’s anti-Semitism crisis, she was heckled and interjected by a pro-Palestine protester. The protester said Badenoch was ‘anti-Muslim’, and accused the Conservative Party leader of ‘pandering to the far right’. But Badenoch didn’t soften or pivot. She said what she came to say – that the threat faced by British Jews was unique and extreme – and kept saying it until the heckler ran out of steam.
The video went viral because people recognised something: a politician who meant it.
But I keep thinking about the heckler. Not harshly. What I keep thinking about is the instinct she represented. That urge to change the subject. To say, yes, Jews are being attacked, but what about this instead?
I know where that instinct leads. Because I’ve been there.
It was 4 August 2024. Sparked by the murder of three young girls in Southport at the hands of Axel Rudakubana, rioting had broken out across the country and in Middlesbrough (where I had been mayor until the previous year). In the days beforehand, I’d been on social media taking serious abuse – from people on my own side of politics – warning the public to stay away from the planned ‘march’ against immigration. I was saying plainly what most centre-right figures shrank from: that it wasn’t a march, it was a riot looking for a location. I lost some supporters, but I’d say the same thing again.
On the day of the planned march, I stood outside a mosque with about 80 Muslim men, many of whom I knew from my time as mayor. We were there to defend it if trouble came that way. For a couple of hours, the mood was calm and community-minded. A broadcaster called me for a live interview and I told them what I could see: a quiet, discreet gathering, there to protect rather than confront. Then the mood shifted.
A small group arrived. Dirty looks first, then muttering. Then a man was in my face telling me I wasn’t wanted. Within seconds others joined him, calling me a ‘Zionist’ and ‘baby killer’. The group started shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’. I’m a Catholic who had turned up to protect their mosque.
I left. I think if I’d stayed, violence would have come my way.
That group’s hatred of Israel, of Jews, of anyone they’d decided was a sympathiser, was intense and dangerous. It was loud, physical, and looking for trouble.
That is the element Badenoch was naming at her press conference in Billericay. Not Islam. Not the Muslim community. But an element whose loathing runs so deep that an act of solidarity becomes, in their eyes, an act of aggression. And that element is not as small as we need it to be.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Jewish community is just 270,000 people. Right now, they are under siege. Jewish schools and synagogues require the protection of security guards. Ambulances serving the Jewish community are firebombed and Jewish men are stabbed in Jewish neighbourhoods.
This is not background noise. This is not a policy debate. This is happening now, on our streets, to our neighbours.
Kemi Badenoch got called a racist, and kept going. She didn’t change the subject. She didn’t look away. Neither should we.
Andy Preston was mayor of Middlesbrough from 2019 until 2023.
5 min read
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been put on notice by Labour MPs after a dismal set of local election results.
Speaking on Friday morning, he vowed not to “walk away” from No 10 after watching his party bleed support across the country, in multiple directions. “Tough days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised. They strengthen my resolve,” the PM said.
But by the end of the day, the pressure on his leadership had hit a new high, with Labour MPs who Starmer allies cannot simply dismiss as the usual suspects publicly declaring that he may have to stand down for the good of their party.
Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary who co-chairs the Tribune group of soft left MPs, said Starmer cannot lead the party into the next year’s local elections, never mind the next general election, if he does not deliver an urgent change of course.
She was followed by Sarah Owen, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, who agreed that Starmer will have to be removed from Downing Street unless he “delivers tangible change and truly connects with the public on a human level”.
Once Friday had drawn to a close, the list of Labour MPs who had publicly questioned whether Starmer should fight for the next election, or who had gone further and called on him to announce a departure timetable now, had grown significantly.
The concern for the PM and his allies as they head into the weekend will be that patience is wearing thin across the Parliamentary Labour Party, not just in a single section of it.
As one senior Labour MP put it to PoliticsHome on Friday: “It’s easier when one person has moved… I don’t think it’s factional, it’s a broad feeling.”
“This is not just the left of the party,” warned a different Labour MP.
Meanwhile, a typically loyal Labour minister told PoliticsHome: “It’s time to go. I don’t care who [comes next].”
Labour has lost over 1,400 council seats across England at the time of writing, with the results confirming party strategists’ worst fears that it is haemorrhaging support both to the Greens on its left and Reform UK on its right. In Wales, where Labour has been in power since the turn of the century, and has deep historical links, it has plummeted to a distant third place.
“We can’t do another election like this,” said the senior Labour MP quoted above. “It’s not fair to the people we represent. It’s not fair to the councillors and the handful of activists we have left.”
PoliticsHome understands that one proposal that is being pushed by Labour MPs who want a resignation timetable is for Starmer to resign by the end of the year.
This, in theory, would allow for what is being described as an orderly transition, while also giving Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham enough time to find a vacant House of Commons seat and return to Parliament.
One publicly loyal minister said the local election results had made them “more pro-Burnham” than they were before. “How can you not be, frankly?”
Mainstream, the soft group with links to Burnham, is due to hold a call on Monday to discuss next steps, PoliticsHome understands, while the Red Wall caucus of Labour MPs representing seats in northern England and the Midlands will hold its own meeting on Wednesday.
Writing in The House on Friday, Ipsos’ Ben Roff said the polling company’s latest data shows that Labour cannot afford to ignore Burnham, arguing that he is best placed to help the party to win back progressive voters from the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.
The Times reported on Thursday that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband suggested to Starmer that he should consider setting out a timetable for his departure in a private conversation earlier this month. A spokesperson for Miliband said they did not accept this account of the conversation, but did tell the newspaper how it differed.
Starmer’s cabinet has publicly come to his defence as the Prime Minister looks to shore up his position in the coming days. “Keir has won before, he can win again. We need to deliver change, not chaos,” posted Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. One of Labour’s worst results of the night came in Phillipson’s Sunderland, where Labour lost 49 councillors, and Reform won 58, giving Nigel Farage’s party control of the council.
Labour MPs most loyal to Starmer are trying to play down the 7 May results.
“It’s a bad set of results – but not as bad as was predicted”, one told PoliticsHome.
Another added: “I don’t believe the country will suddenly improve just by changing prime minister. Whoever carried the burden of leading Britain at this time would face the same set of challenges that Labour inherited two years ago.”
On Monday, Starmer is expected to give a speech designed to boost Labour MPs’ faith that he is still the best person to turn it around.
Labour MPs are urging the Prime Minister to be genuinely “bold” and “radical”, with one telling PoliticsHome that he should announce a policy to rejoin the European Union.
“Which number reset are we on now?” joked one of his backbenchers.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Starmer would have his support when he delivers his speech, adding: I’ll continue putting my shoulder to the wheel as the Health and Social Care Secretary, who’s getting the NHS back on its feet and making sure it’s fit for the future.”
The third leading leadership contender, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, had not yet broken her silence as of early Saturday morning.
Additional reporting by Sienna Rodgers, Tom Scotson and Zoë Crowther
Well, we told you so. We told you in March that the 2026 Holyrood election was a giant waste of time and money that would deliver exactly the same Parliament we already had, and so it proved.
The SNP ended up giving half-a-dozen seats to the Greens, Labour donated a handful to the Lib Dems, the Tories split into two parties with 29 seats instead of a single party with 31 and that was about it. A pro-indy tally of 72 became a pro-indy tally of 73 and almost every SNP list vote elected Unionists instead, just as we told you for almost a year it would do.
We also told you that the only place there was even a chance of an SNP list seat was in the Highland region, where they did indeed sneak one at the very death, only because they’d pulled off the incredible feat of losing Kate Forbes’ old seat of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch despite starting with a 15,000 majority in a seat where only 39,000 people voted.
So there we are.
Anas Sarwar, meanwhile, managed something almost as bleakly impressive as losing Skye – he managed to continue Scottish Labour’s unbroken record of getting fewer seats and a lower vote share at every successive Scottish Parliament election since the first one in 1999.
Even though the SNP recorded its lowest vote, vote share and seat tally since 2007, the result was a dream come true for John Swinney – not only did he manage to avoid winning a majority and therefore having to awkwardly face up to his impossible promise that it would lead to a second indyref, he now finds himself in a position where his minority government can pass any bill with the support of ANY other single party in the chamber – the SNP’s 58 seats plus the 10 of the last-placed Lib Dems is enough to pass the majority threshold of 65.
While we can’t rule out him being stupid enough to repeat Nicola Sturgeon’s mistake of entering a formal alliance, making him a hostage to the minority partner, it would be SUCH an idiotic move that we can’t see it happening. It’s hard to imagine any law the new government would want to pass that it couldn’t get support from ONE of the other parties on.
So while the Greens will crow about their increased vote share and seat tally, it doesn’t actually count for much. They have the ability to give the SNP a majority just as they did before, but so does everyone else. They’ll have to compete for the government’s favours rather than being the tail that wags the dog.
So we really may as well not have bothered. Everything will be business as usual for the next five years just as it was for the last 10, except that the UK government will feel even more empowered to reject demands for a new referendum when it’s backed by just 41% of the votes cast in the election, compared to 49% five years ago.
(That 41% is the SNP and Green votes combined, even though Swinney said only SNP votes counted. If you count SNP votes only it’s 33%.)
The SNP lost over 910,000 votes in this election compared to 2021 (roughly 1.5m vs 2.4m). The result is the most disproportionate and unfair in Holyrood’s history. The Unionist parties will have a fair point when they say they got almost 60% of votes cast and mock the idea that the outcome represents any sort of mandate.
Yes still leads in most opinion polls, but the election did some serious damage to the credibility of polling, with figures and predictions all over the place, and the election was a hard count. The SNP are now a firewall for the UK government against having to allow another referendum.
“Look”, they’ll say, “Swinney said this vote was all about independence and you had to vote for him to get it, but only 33% of you did.”
By making an unpopular party the proxy for the concept of independence itself, the SNP have dragged the cause down with them. As Wings has told you for years, they are the corpse blocking our path.
The next five years will be a degraded replay of the last five, in every sense. Holyrood now has the most wretched, embarrassing collection of MSPs it has ever assembled. A brutal financial reckoning is on the way and the government’s already threadbare popularity will take a hammering as a result – especially as hopelessly inexperienced and clueless new MSPs take control of the levers of state – and even a divided opposition won’t be enough to save it next time in the way Reform did yesterday. Nigel Farage’s party have their sizeable beach-head in the Parliament now and five years of easy shots to take. Things will change.
Make no mistake, as resounding as it looks on the surface, this victory is the SNP’s equivalent of John Major’s triumph in 1992: the last gasp of a lame duck staggering towards its doom. SNP supporters should gloat while they can – Swinney’s victory comes from an even lower vote share than Keir Starmer’s 33.7% landslide at Westminster less than two years ago, and look at the state of Starmer and Labour now.
It took the Tories almost 20 years to get back to power after Major’s term. For most readers of this site, this will be the last SNP government of our lifetimes. And since it has no hope whatsoever of achieving independence, you can finish the grim logic for yourselves.
DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 38
VOTING RIGHTS DILEMMA: With Democrats’ national redistricting calculus now in disarray over today’s court order blocking new Virginia maps, party leaders are looking to New York as a prime opportunity to keep pace with Republicans.
But as top Democrats in the Empire State move ahead with their attempt to redraw lines in 2028, they’re also far more likely to pull their punches in the ongoing gerrymandering wars.
The Supreme Court’s decision last week to end a key provision of the Voting Rights Act allows states to break up districts previously drawn to accommodate minority voters. Republicans in states like Alabama and Tennessee are rushing to take advantage by dissolving majority Black districts. In New York — the state where Democrats have the most to gain by drawing new lines — there’s virtually no appetite to respond in kind, underscoring a looming barrier for blue states in the redistricting fight.
“People were walking across bridges and being mauled, and have lost their lives for these rights,” New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said of the VRA. “These laws are there because there has been a real effort to disenfranchise certain people, certainly Black people, from being able to vote. So we want to protect that.”
In the coming weeks, New York lawmakers are expected to begin the lengthy process of approving a constitutional amendment that would let them redraw congressional lines in 2028. If successful, the measure stands to turn a state with 19 Democrats and seven Republicans into one with a 22-4 or 23-3 edge.
Such an outcome is akin to what Republicans pushed through in Texas last summer — but not as extreme as the 9-0 Republican map Tennessee lawmakers drew Thursday by eliminating a Black majority district in Memphis.
In New York, a 26-0 map isn’t plausible. But in a deep blue state where Democrats routinely receive around 60 percent of the vote in statewide races, maps that feature tendrils extending from the Bronx and Brooklyn into the furthest regions of upstate and Long Island are possible. And such a reconfiguration would give Democrats an even greater advantage compared with maps they’ve floated in the not so distant past.
Doing that would require eliminating districts that were protected by the VRA until last week. Those districts include the Brooklyn seat held by House Minority Hakeem Jeffries.
“I don’t think we want to roll back protections for minority communities in New York,” said Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris who’s led his conference’s redistricting efforts since 2012.
The fact that keeping these districts intact is a core personal political belief for leaders like Stewart-Cousins — and a political third rail for everyone in the state’s Democratic Party — will likely limit how aggressively Democrats will approach redistricting.
On Long Island, for example, Democrats might be able to draw lines in 2018 that increase the delegation from a tenuous 2-2 to a safer 3-1. But taking a swing at a 4-0 set of maps isn’t possible without destroying districts in Brooklyn and Queens.
Read more from Bill Mahoney in POLITICO Pro here.
From the Capitol
CASE CLOSED: State investigators closed two probes into undisclosed conflicts of interest by SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s former CEO, David Berger, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.
The New York State Office of the Inspector General and the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government each opened investigations into Berger upon a referral from SUNY.
Investigators confirmed Berger had professional relationships with multiple companies that had contracts with SUNY Downstate, which he did not initially report. But investigators also discovered Berger — and potentially hundreds of other SUNY Downstate employees — hadn’t been placed on the institution’s list of people required to file financial disclosures.
Richard Friedman, an attorney representing Berger, said his client promptly filed the necessary forms once notified of his obligations. Berger does not believe his affiliation with the companies created any conflicts of interest, Friedman added.
Berger, who was hired in 2020, reported serving as an adviser to digital health startups Plannery, Opmed.ai, Mishe and Copient Health while he was CEO of the Brooklyn teaching hospital, according to copies of 2022 and 2023 financial disclosures. Berger also reported a consulting agreement with Murata Vios, which sells technology for remotely monitoring patients.
“At SUNY, we expect the highest ethical conduct from senior officials, and we will always uphold that value,” SUNY spokesperson Holly Liapis said in a statement. — Maya Kaufman
HOCHUL VERSUS TEACHERS UNIONS: The state and city’s powerful teachers unions pressed Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a GOP-backed federal tax credit program after she signaled support for the initiative.
States can voluntarily opt into the program, which lets taxpayers write off contributions to charitable organizations that offer scholarships for private school tuition and other expenses. Hochul’s office confirmed her support today, but insisted she wants to review the details “for poison pills that could harm New York’s education system.”
The teachers unions contend the program will funnel billions of tax dollars away from public schools and into private schools with no oversight.
“Vouchers — by any name — take money away from neighborhood schools and hand it to private institutions that don’t answer to the public,” New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said in a statement. “New Yorkers have rejected this approach before, and we sincerely hope that once the full details of President Trump’s voucher scheme emerge, it will be clear state leadership should reject it again.”
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said his union is “vehemently opposed to this optional federal voucher program.”
Support for the program could also set up a showdown between the governor and the Democrat-led state Legislature, which is closely aligned with the teachers unions.
State Sen. John Liu, who chairs the Senate’s New York City Education Committee, said the tax credit may appear “enticing” but warned of long-term damage to states’ ability to provide public education.
“Many governors and legislatures around the country have recognized this tax credit for the Faustian bargain it is and have already opted out, and I sincerely hope that New York will opt out as well,” Liu said in a statement. — Madina Touré
CARL CLARIFIES: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is dialing back his Hochul criticism today after his peevish press gaggle denying there was a state budget deal.
“The governor and I had a really good conversation,” the Bronx Democrat told NY1. “My issue was never with her. I feel like I have an amazing relationship with the governor. My concern was more of the process. I do think we’re very close on the budget and expect we’ll get it done in short order.”
For weeks Heastie has decried the amount of non-fiscal policy matters in the budget negotiations. Hochul on Thursday announced a “general agreement” on the spending plan without many details filled in, including specifics for pension changes, education spending and health care. — Nick Reisman
FROM CITY HALL
BOYLAN BACKS OUT: Lindsey Boylan, an activist who became the first woman to accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct in 2020, is pulling the plug on her campaign for a Manhattan-based City Council seat.
Boylan already lost last month’s special election for the vacant seat to Council staffer Carl Wilson. But after her defeat, she didn’t immediately say whether she would remain on the ballot for this summer’s Democratic primary for the 3rd Council District, which spans a section of Manhattan’s West Side.
This morning, Boylan announced she will bow out from the June primary, putting Wilson on a glidepath to winning a full term.
“After much consideration, I have decided not to run in the June 23 Democratic Primary,” Boylan said in a statement. “While I will not be running in the primary, I could not be prouder of what we built together.”
Boylan’s loss was a blow to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who endorsed her shortly before the April 28 special election. It was also a feather in the cap for Council Speaker Julie Menin, who endorsed Wilson along with other more moderate forces in the Democratic Party. — Chris Sommerfeldt
MAKING THE PITCH: Airbnb, a company whose primary business in New York City is all but banned, is trying to get back in the game during the World Cup.
The company held an event today at a Bronx public school to celebrate mini soccer pitches it’s bankrolling at several schools across the region — projects meant to leave what the company called a “meaningful and lasting impact on local communities in New York and New Jersey.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and the city Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels attended the groundbreaking.
A week ago, the company was at the Jamaica YMCA announcing it would provide kids with 1,000 tickets to the World Cup.
The goodwill events come as the company’s allies are looking to reopen doors through a revived City Council bill that would make way for short-term rentals in one- and two-family homes. The company made a similar push under former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who tried but ultimately failed to get a previous version of the bill passed last year.
“We’re committed to helping ensure the legacy of the World Cup lasts far beyond this summer and actually benefits everyday New Yorkers, like our hosts and communities they call home in the outer boroughs — not just Midtown Manhattan hotels,” Nathan Rothman, a company spokesperson, said in a statement.
Airbnb’s appearances haven’t gone unnoticed by the company’s chief foe, the politically powerful Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, which this week launched the “GOALS Coalition” aimed at, among other things, ensuring that the anti-Airbnb restrictions are enforced during the World Cup.
Whitney Hu, a spokesperson for the coalition, said “people are tired of seeing mega-corporations use every major event as an excuse to weaken protections, exploit loopholes, and revive policies that primarily benefit corporate investors at the expense of the communities that actually live here.” — Ry Rivard
SECOND SUIT: A prominent NYPD union is suing the city’s police oversight board for the second time in two weeks.
The Police Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit Friday in state Supreme Court alleging the Civilian Complaint Review Board — which investigates cases of alleged police misconduct and recommends punishments to the NYPD commissioner — is mishandling officers’ records.
Specifically, the union alleges that the CCRB is failing to follow a state law requiring notification to any member of the force whose disciplinary records are sought via a Freedom of Information Law request.
“CCRB is so thoroughly infected with anti-police bias that it refuses to comply with even the most basic requirements of fairness and due process under the law,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said in a statement.
The city’s Law Department declined to comment and referred Playbook to the CCRB. A representative for the board countered the PBA’s assertions.
“The CCRB’s investigations are complete, thorough and impartial,” spokesperson Dakota Gardner said in a statement. “The Agency continually reviews all applicable laws and regulations regarding the public release of its records, including disciplinary histories of members of service, to ensure it is fully compliant.”
The legal volley is part of a broader effort to push back against the CCRB through the courts, according to the PBA, which has often clashed with the oversight body.
Two weeks ago, the union filed a federal lawsuit alleging the CCRB released unsubstantiated complaints against officers without redacting sensitive information. — Joe Anuta
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
LOYALTY: Antonio Reynoso has some thoughts on Mamdani.
The Brooklyn borough president is one of three Democrats running in a contentious primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who has endorsed him. Mamdani, meanwhile, is backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, a fellow member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Editorial Board — after Reynoso relayed that the mayor suggested he shouldn’t run for Congress — he was asked what that meant to him. Reynoso, who endorsed Mamdani in the mayoral primary, replied that Mamdani doesn’t “know” him or his “history.”
“I think I was good enough to be in citywide Spanish media for him,” Reynoso said. “I was good enough to do a commercial in all of Brooklyn for him, supporting his candidacy. I think that we were aligned because I’m a [Working Families Party] pup, I’m a kid that’s always been with the WFP. He’s seen a lot of the progressive work that I’ve done, and he knows me as Antonio, maybe that way as a politician, but he doesn’t know my history.”
He’s not bothered, though.
When asked if he thinks Mamdani is “disloyal,” he responded: “I think he is disloyal,” referring to the tension between Mamdani and Velázquez. “And I want to say this, not to me so much. He’s DSA, he’s loyal to the DSA. I respect that. I’m not going to be mad at that.”
“I think it’s what he did to Nydia more so than me,” Reynoso continued. “I think he’s doing what he’s got to do for his people, and he doesn’t need to be with me, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. Even if I endorsed him, I get it. I think Nydia was asking him to sit down and come to an agreement and saying, ‘Hey, it doesn’t need to be Antonio.’”
A Mamdani spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mamdani had a commanding performance in the district last year, and his endorsement is seen as a huge asset to Valdez’s candidacy. So the harsh words might not land particularly well with the Mamdani fans in the primary electorate.
City Council member Julie Won, the other Democrat vying for the seat, has also come out against Mamdani on at least one issue: Sunnyside Yard, the housing redevelopment project that Mamdani met with Trump about earlier this year. — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
— SLICE OF TROUBLE: New York officials are struggling to finalize Hochul’s proposed pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes as legal hurdles and budget infighting stall the plan. (Bloomberg)
— KNOCK KNOCK: New York’s top utility regulator has launched a probe into debt-collection practices at major utilities, including PSEG Long Island and Con Edison, after reports of controversial remarks at a Florida conference. (Newsday)
— OFF THE RAILS: Five unions representing 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers say contract talks with the MTA have stalled, accusing the agency of “surface bargaining” as a potential May 16 strike looms. (New York Daily News)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
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