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☆ U.K. Conservatives Hold Their Breath: How Bad Will Local Elections Be?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Mark Landler | More About Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When voters in England and Wales go to the polls on Thursday to elect mayors and local council members, the outcome will inevitably be seen as a barometer for Britain’s coming general election. Given the sour public mood and the Conservative Party’s dire poll ratings, the storm clouds are already forming. The big question is not whether the governing Conservatives will lose seats — that is a foregone conclusion among pollsters — but whether the losses will exceed or fall short of expectations after 18 months in which the Tories have consistently trailed the opposition Labour Party by yawning margins. “If a party has been 20 points behind the opposition for 18 months, how much worse can it get?” said Tony Travers, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. “The losses would have to be very, very bad for it to be viewed as a negative result for the Conservatives, and they are unlikely to be good enough for Labour for it to be viewed as a success.”

Persons: pollsters, ”, Tony Travers Organizations: Wales, Conservative, Conservatives, Tories, Labour Party, London School of Economics, Labour Locations: England

Today, the roughly 230 open-air booksellers, stationed along the Seine for about two miles, make up the largest open-air book market in Europe. About 170 of the stalls will be required to close for at least two weeks during the Paris Games, according to a copy of a document that city officials showed bouquinistes at a meeting last month. After the empty arenas of the Olympics in Tokyo, postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and in Beijing in 2022, organizers in Paris are aiming to bring back grandeur to the Games, which begin July 26. In Paris, with its perfectly preserved mid-19th-century facades, there is more concern about preserving traditions and elements of the city during the Olympic Games than in other cities. The city allows bouquinistes to sell rent-free, but some have had to resort to selling cheap souvenirs rather than books to earn a living.

Persons: Tony Travers Organizations: Paris Games, Eiffel, Olympic, International Olympic Committee, Paris police, Olympic Games, London School of Economics Locations: Europe, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Versailles, London, East London, bouquinistes

[1/2] The HSBC headquarters is seen in the Canary Wharf financial district in east London February 15, 2015. The ripple effects of so many companies slashing office space has significantly impacted wider markets. 'GENIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE'HSBC for its part has one of the most aggressive targets to cut office space among major employers, with a commitment to axe around 40% globally. Canary Wharf Group, the Docklands commercial landlord, declined to comment. One of the Canary Wharf estate's newer developments, the YY building - a recently completed redevelopment of Thomson Reuters' former headquarters opposite Canary Wharf station - remains vacant, Bloomberg has reported.

Persons: Peter Nicholls, Tony Travers, Travers, Knight Frank, Weil, Gerardine Davies, HSBC's, Moody's, YY, Andrew Mawson, Iain Withers, Chiara Elisei, Sinead Cruise, Paul Sandle, Mark Potter Organizations: HSBC, REUTERS, Companies, London School of Economics, of, Perenna Capital Management, BT, UBS, City of London Corporation, Canary, Canary Wharf Group, Docklands, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Workplace Associates, Employees, Thomson Locations: Canary, London, St Paul's Cathedral, of London, Real, Sweden, Aldgate, City, Swiss, Docklands, Canary Wharf

☆ The UK needs a pragmatic relationship with China despite the U.S.' hawkish stance, professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe UK needs a pragmatic relationship with China despite the U.S.' hawkish stance, professor saysTony Travers, visiting professor at the London School of Economics, says he expects the alignment between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Biden administration will be "a very close one" when it comes to the Ukraine war.

Persons: Tony Travers, Rishi Sunak, Biden Organizations: U.S ., London School of Economics, British Locations: China, Ukraine

☆ Charles' coronation seized on by republicans as chance to ditch monarchy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

They believe Charles' accession to the throne presents their best chance of ending the monarchy, which traces its history back more than 1,000 years. Anti-monarchy protests are relatively small, and polls show the majority of Britons still want a royal family. Charles wants a slimmed-down monarchy which would be less expensive to run and his mother said the royal family only existed with the support of the people. Demonstrations against the monarchy are also planned in the capitals of Scotland and Wales on the day of the coronation. "Younger people are moving away from the royal family in their droves," he said.

Credit Suisse staff had already been seeking to jump ship in recent weeks, sources told Reuters. "Many Credit Suisse bankers had already been talking to a lot of people for a while [about leaving the Swiss bank]. An executive at a rival London-based wealth manager said they had seen a steady flow of CVs coming in from Credit Suisse bankers. UBS told Credit Suisse wealth bankers on Monday that it was weighing financial sweeteners for them to stay, as it seeks to reassure key staff. Some experts have said Britain's financial services industry could ultimately benefit from recent bouts of turmoil in the United States and Switzerland.

☆ Brexit deal could resurface Britain's 'healthy fundamentals' if EU relations strengthen, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking at a news conference, Sunak described the new agreement — known as the Windsor Framework — as "the beginning of a new chapter" for the relationship between the U.K. and the EU. Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — The new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU may help bring Britain's "healthy fundamentals" back to the fore, providing relations with Brussels continue to improve, analysts suggest. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday announced the agreement of the Windsor Framework, which aims to fix the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol. The Protocol had been a long-standing bugbear for unionist pro-Brexit parties in Northern Ireland, and had brought the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly to a standstill over the past year, after the Democratic Unionist Party resigned in protest. "If this comes to an end, we expect the U.K.'s healthy fundamentals — well capitalised banks, cash flush households and firms, and well-regulated markets — to re-assert themselves."

☆ Initial Brexit deal reaction from Belfast 'grounds for optimism,' LSE professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailInitial Brexit deal reaction from Belfast 'grounds for optimism,' LSE professor saysTony Travers, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), discusses the new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU, and early responses from Northern Ireland.

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