They are not MPs but they are in Labour's new cabinet

Key unelected figures bring expertise back into government

- JABED AHMED

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed the key figures in his new cabinet following the Labour Party’s landslide victory on Friday.

He has appointed 22 Labour MPs and peers to key cabinet positions – including a record 11 women. This includes senior centre-left, Emmanuel Macron’s Le Marche (now rebranded as Renaissance) replaced the socialists. There is no indication that the French want their old parties back.

The Republicans got Trump-ed

The other big election this year is in the US, where Donald Trump has a real chance of a second term in the White House. He may still be the Republican nominee, but this is not the party of the Bush dynasty or Ronald Reagan.

His takeover of the GOP has shown that an old party can die and be replaced from within. In this case, it was Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement that has been the cuckoo in the nest. Many traditional Republicans are now supporting Joe Biden instead.

An international phenomenon

In fact, around the world, traditional parties of the centre-right in particular have been overshadowed by a populist or extreme alternative.