The Mirror Crack'd

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America, has just become its 47th. In order to win the election Trump had to gain 270 votes from the Electoral College, he got 279. More than this, the Republican Party now has a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives looks set to go the same way. This represents a hat trick for Trump (or perhaps that's a red MAGA baseball cap) and when he finally takes office in January he will hold all the levers of power. He has regained control not by a narrow and contested margin but emphatically. Many people will find this deeply disturbing, both within the US and internationally, but I don't feel as panicked as I thought I would. While I find Trump an utterly loathsome man and deprecate his return to the White House, the American electors have made their democratic decision and I'm obliged to defer to that. It's their choice to make but this is not merely an internal matter, the rest of the world has to liv

The Spanish royal family may be Bourbons but their reception on a visit to Paiporta today certainly took the biscuit. Four days after the catastrophic DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) flooding in Valencia, Southern Spain, King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, received a less than warm welcome when they arrived to inspect the clean-up operation and console residents - in fact they were pelted with mud by angry crowds and cries of "murderer" were directed at the king. At one point the queen was reduced to tears, while elsewhere in town Sánchez was bundled into his car which was kicked and hit by protesters as it sped off. The crowd's animosity had been provoked by the regional government's failure to warn of the impending deluge, or swing into action with a rescue operation when it hit. Support from the state had also been slow to arrive and was inadequate when it did, leaving an army of volunteers to start the clean-up operation. There

After an agonisingly protracted leadership campaign the Conservative Party at last finds itself with a new leader - or should I say another new leader. Yes, after months of campaigning amongst Tory MPs to whittle six candidates down to two the party membership has made the final selection, with the 130,000-odd card-carrying faithful choosing Kemi Badenoch. The outcome, though by a narrow margin, will have surprised few but here's the thing, only one third of Tory MPs (around forty in their post-election slimline ranks in the Commons) supported her candidacy. Unsurprisingly, she was at pains in her acceptance speech this morning to promise a prominent role for her defeated rival, Robert Jenrick. Whether this will be enough to secure her position is anyone's guess - this is the Tories we're talking about after all - and judging by Jenrick's wife's facial reactions it could be a bumpy ride. Jenrick was all smiles but behind him Michal Berkner's eye-rolling and tok