2025 in politics: Reform’s rise, Labour’s woes and Trump
Whatever has happened at home, 2025 has also been another year of hefty international political moves.Trump moved back into the White House and really seems to have meant all of the things he told the world he believed in while campaigning.Sir Keir, while regularly under attack at home, seems to have impressed the American president and some of his home audience. His moment in the Oval Office, proffering the invite from the King for a historic second state visit, "the most heart in mouth" moment of the whole year for some of his allies.Brokering the most sensitive and the most important diplomatic relationship you have, live on global TV, can't have been the most tempting prospect for a non-showy politician like Sir Keir, who nonetheless, made a success of that moment.Many insiders suggest the most dramatic and the most important factor of 2025 has been the behaviour of Trump 2.0.Trump's increasingly insistent demands that Europe pays much more to cover its own defence rather than rely on America have shaped politics everywhere.His moves to create a ceasefire after the conflict between Gaza and Israel changed the course of the Middle East.And that's before we even start to consider his flirtation with the notion of creating an all-out global trade war, which hasn't quite come to pass.2025 saw the UK political establishment get used to feeling constantly nervous about what Trump might do next, the perpetual guessing game of whether he really meant what he said, and what the consequences might be.As we prepare to say goodbye to 2025, Reform's rise, Labour's woes and Trump's presence have changed our politics. So what will the next twelve months bring?
