Gursimran Hans


In March 2021, I began contributing for Wolves of Westminster. 

Wolves of Westminster •

Boris Johnson's reshuffle of the Whips' and Cabinet Office: summary

The fallout from PartyGate and the subsequent meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the 1922 Committee resulted in reports of a planned reshuffle earlier this week, which would have been the third since Mr Johnson arrived at Number 10. Some changes did take place on Tuesday, though they were generally limited to the Whips’ Office and Cabinet Office, with some moves to fill vacated roles from those changes. Here, Wolves of Westminster looks at the full changes in this mini-reshuffle.
Wolves of Westminster •

The creeping trend of increasing press restriction

Recent events might suggest that we are in an environment in which state control over media and the press is growing increasingly normalised. The Mail on Sunday‘s leader last weekend was notable. Boris Johnson was blasting the BBC for its coverage of PartyGate and not, in his view, promoting the need for booster jabs, which he described as their primary duty. However, it is not within the prerogative of the Prime Minister or anyone within the executive to determine what the BBC’s duty is. The c
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Johnson’s latest challenge is different from any he has faced before

This year’s festive period is looking to become Boris Johnson’s toughest since he took up the reins as Prime Minister in the summer of 2019. This time round, it is not the kind of challenge he has been accustomed to in the past. The background: a recent Survation poll puts the Conservatives six points behind Labour (40-34), following the reintroduction of certain Covid measures and the recent Downing Street Christmas party scandal. Inputting those numbers into the calculator on Electoral Calcul
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NATO forces have failed in their responsibility to the people of Afghanistan - Gursimran Hans

The NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan has proved to be a complete disaster. Within days, the Afghan Government has collapsed, President Ashraf Ghani has fled and the Taliban have overrun the country. A lot has been said about the merits of being in Afghanistan in the first place, but these arguments should not matter. They did in 2001, but not now that NATO troops have been there for 20 years. A couple of months ago, I wrote a university essay exploring Just War Theory from a libertarian perspec
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A closer look at Jeff Bezos, Amazon and Blue Origin

Throughout 2020, social media criticism of Jeff Bezos was not unusual. This was partly after reports he was on track to become the first trillionaire as well as general anti-billionaire rhetoric, which also critiqued Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and others. However, it’s worth pointing out just why Mr Bezos has managed the pandemic so well. Amazon, which he recently left, has become the go-to provider for a variety of essential services. Critics have questioned some of the employment practices a
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Could it be time to move away from the left-right spectrum? - Gursimran Hans

A lot of people think of politics as being left-right. In Britain, this is Labour vs the Tories. In the US, this is usually the Democrats vs the Republicans. In Germany, this is the Social Democrats vs the Christian Democratic Union. This list goes on. But is this really the best way to conceive of politics? A distinction is usually made by the parties’ appetite for change. Conservative with both a big and a small ‘C’. However, what constitutes change also changes. For example, take the issues
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How football might provide a perfect test for the free market - Gursimran Hans

I was lucky enough to get a ticket for Euro 2020 on the first ballot, the game that became Italy v Austria. I lost the ticket on the second ballot following COVID attendance restrictions. Then, I got an update saying that due to losing out, I had priority access. Unfortunately, this email went to my promotions folder, so I did not notice in time for the original game. Being an England fan, I was constantly trying to get in to get a ticket for the Germany game, though the portal just gave me an e
Wolves of Westminster •

HS2 has caused a stir, but why is it so controversial?

The recent Liberal Democrat by-election victory in Chesham and Amersham sparked headlines. The election was called following the passing of former Wales Secretary Dame Cheryl Gillan who, despite being a Brexiteer in a pro-Remain seat, had retained the seat with more than 50% of the vote share in 2017 and 2019. Analysts have suggested that the Tory defeat may have been due to a crumbling of the so-called ‘Blue Wall’ in Southern England, with some suggesting local issues such as HS2 have played a
Wolves of Westminster •

Super Thursday Summary: The Big Winners and Losers

Last Thursday saw a plethora of elections take place across the United Kingdom. These included Police and Crime Commissioner races, London Mayoral and Assembly votes plus local elections that had been delayed for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak, elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd, a by-election in Hartlepool, plus the originally scheduled local and combined authority races. Wolves of Westminster provides a summary here of all the big results. • The Conservatives gained th
Wolves of Westminster •

The upcoming DUP leadership elections – runners and riders

On May 14, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) will see its MPs and MLAs vote for their new leader as well as a new deputy leader. It will be the first formal leadership election in the party’s history, as the outgoing Arlene Foster and her predecessor Peter Robinson ran unopposed, while Mr Robinson’s predecessor Ian Paisley founded the party. Here, Wolves of Westminster takes a look at the five potential candidates and what the election could mean for the party and Northern Ireland’s place in
Wolves of Westminster •

London Mayoral Elections 2021: The runners and riders

Much of the attention in the London Mayoral race has gone towards the incumbent, Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party, and his challenger, Tory Assembly Member Shaun Bailey. There are, however, several other candidates, both from minor parties and from a plethora of independents. In this article, Wolves of Westminster gives you the low-down on who these candidates are and what they are standing for. The election takes place on 6 May. You can register to vote here, with the deadline being 11:59 on 19
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Hartlepool polling data: Optimism for Tories, Pessimism for Reform UK

A new MRP Poll released by The Times yesterday morning will be positive reading for the Conservatives, but poor from Reform UK’s perspective. The poll is for the seat of Hartlepool, which will see a by-election following the resignation of Labour MP Mike Hill. In the 2019 General Election, Mr Hill dropped 14.8 percentage points, with his majority being more than halved. The Tories had increased by 13.3 points in 2017, but dropped a further 5.3 points two-and-a-half years on. Richard Tice stood
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Fact-checking the claims made by anti-Starmer far-left activists

Wolves of Westminster yesterday reported on a meeting of the so-called ‘Labour In Exile Network’ (LIEN), featuring several individuals who had been suspended by the Labour Party and were critical of the direction the party is heading in under Sir Keir Starmer. Some of these individuals described themselves as “Marxists”, with one going as far as to say “we consider ourselves revolutionary socialists” when calling for their agenda to involve a greater amount of change in the status quo.
Wolves of Westminster •

EXCLUSIVE: Expelled far-left activists vow to set up own CLP, print own membership cards in defiance: “We’re not going anywhere!”

A group stylising themselves as the “Labour In Exile Network” (LIEN), made up of far-left activists many of whom have been suspended or expelled by the Labour Party, held a founding conference on 27 February to discuss their ‘Plan for Change‘ and terms of reference. Among their plans were to issue their own Labour Party membership cards for expelled former members.
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Violence is never, ever a choice that a man should make

I don’t want to comment specifically about the Sarah Everard case as I don’t know the facts of it, but this case has made me think more generally about gender-based violence and attitudes towards women. During my time as an undergrad at university, I went out socially with a girl one night. It was just as friends; nothing significant happened. But I mention it because earlier that day, I rang a classmate to see if he could explain some course readings to me. This individual knew I was going out

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