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Gavin Esler

Gavin Esler

Columnist
Gavin Esler is a writer, award-winning broadcaster and podcaster. He was the BBC’s chief correspondent in North America for eight years and a long-time anchor of Newsnight, Dateline London and other BBC programmes. He is the author of five novels and four works of non-fiction, including most recently ‘How Britain Ends'. His awards include a Sony Gold and a Royal Television Society award. His new book ‘Britain Is Better Than This’ will be published in September 2023.
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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces the date for the general election at Downing Street in London on Wednesday. Getty Images
Rishi Sunak's election call may spell the end of the Tory reign of error

The UK Prime Minister's suit was soaked in the rain as he announced the date, but it is his legacy that is dampened

CommentMay 23, 2024
Gavin Esler
Activists from Avaaz wearing masks of far-right politicians and urging Europeans to unite to defeat the extreme right in upcoming EU elections, in Madrid on Sunday. AP
Do European voters really care about right, left or centre?

At the end of the day, people focus less on political labels than they do about governance

CommentMay 22, 2024
Gavin Esler
Getty Images
Banning smartphones from cultural spaces: justified or just snobbery?

There is a backlash in the UK from actors and musicians against what some see as the selfish use of mobile phones during stage performances

CommentMay 15, 2024
Gavin Esler
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Teesside celebrating with Ben Houchen following his re-election as Tees Valley Mayor, on May 3. PA Wire
Public mood in the UK doesn't bode well for Sunak

The Conservatives are on borrowed time even as there are probably months before the UK general election

CommentMay 08, 2024
Gavin Esler
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to the DHL Gateway port facility east of London on Monday. AFP
A snap election in the UK? Such a rumour would suit Sunak

It's the best way for the Prime Minister to fend off his rivals within the Conservative party – at least for now

CommentApril 30, 2024
Gavin Esler
A striking junior doctor takes part in a rally in Parliament Square, central London, during a 72-hour stoppage in a row with the government over pay. PA
Why the 'sick note culture' is so common among the British workforce

People in the UK often find paying bills increasingly difficult no matter how hard they work. The UK government needs to pay a fair and decent living wage for a hard day’s work

CommentApril 24, 2024
Gavin Esler
The FCDO building in Westminster was designed to evoke 'a drawing room for the nation'. PA
Britain's Foreign Office is a relic that should be remade for the 21st century

The British diplomatic corps is as elitist as it is ineffectual, but that doesn't mean it's too late for change

CommentApril 17, 2024
Gavin Esler
High levels of E-coli were found in the River Thames this year. EPA
How Britain's water quality went down the tubes

The state of the country's water supply has moved on from merely a matter of public disgust to a threat to the environment

CommentApril 10, 2024
Gavin Esler
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made a number of policy missteps. PA
Sunak is in office but not really in power

The British Prime Minister has trouble at his doorstep with pollsters predicting a 99 per cent chance of victory for Labour in this year's general election

CommentApril 02, 2024
Gavin Esler
A TV reporter shows front the page of a British newspaper during a piece to camera outside Kensington Palace earlier this week. EPA
The British royals deserve a little empathy

We love gossip about people in power and their frailties, but they bleed and laugh, too

CommentMarch 26, 2024
Gavin Esler
Pro-Palestine activists march through London last week. The UK government has expressed concern over some of these protests. AFP
Will anything offensive be too 'extreme' for this UK government?

An attempt to define what is essentially a subjective concept in British law is nothing but a distraction from the country’s real problems

CommentMarch 19, 2024
Gavin Esler
Northern Irish officials walk among the rubble in a street in Omagh in August 1998, shortly after a car bomb explosion that killed 28 and injured hundreds. AFP
A report on Britain’s ‘dirty war' in Northern Ireland is welcome

Re-evaluating history gets a bad rap these days, but it is the key to avoid repeating the sins of the past

CommentMarch 12, 2024
Gavin Esler
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will present the UK budget on Wednesday. Getty Images
Sunak’s budget is his last big chance

There's speculation about tax cuts in the budget, but even that may not save the Prime Minister – or the Tories

CommentMarch 05, 2024
Gavin Esler
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves from 10 Downing Street in central London on February 21, 2024 to take part in the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Sunak has to go but who from the Tories will tell him that?

After 14 years in government, the Conservative party can't escape responsibility for the problems in British public life

CommentFebruary 27, 2024
Gavin Esler
Labour leader Keir Starmer (centre )and Labour MP Gen Kitchen (left) in Dale's Bar in Rushden, Northamptonshire, UK, on February 13. PA Photo.
A landslide win for Labour is on the cards but Starmer's not taking it for granted

Sunak may well be out but Starmer has reminded his troops that the only poll which matters has not happened yet

CommentFebruary 21, 2024
Gavin Esler
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