Jon Tonge: Calls for voting at age of 16, but would reform end teen apathy?
By Jon Tonge Less than a week to go before the verdicts of more than 800,000 voters - assuming turnout holds up - decide the fate of Northern Ireland's politicians.
Jon Tonge
Jon Tonge: NI parties should turn attention to Stormont as Westminster influence looks set...
By Jon Tonge It is the election that continues to astound. This week saw Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn win the 'Most Money Ever Found on an Interview Chair' award as he unearthed a cool £58bn during his...
Jon Tonge: It seems the only thing consistent about the parties is their inconsistency
By Jon Tonge Great to see the election bringing everyone together then as we enter the season of goodwill. A grim set of posters isn't really cutting it as Belfast's alternative advent calendar.
Jon Tonge: Mary Lou McDonald galvanises faithful for looming battle at the polls
By Jon Tonge With Sinn Fein under immense pressure to retain the constituency in which the party's ard fheis was located, the gathering of the faithful was imbued with extra significance.
Jon Tonge: Here are my predicted General Election winners... just don't blame me if...
Jon Tonge Earlier this week the Political Studies Association provided a General Election briefing to journalists in London. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were all covered (the lattermost by your...
Jon Tonge: Whisper it, but Sinn Fein could be happy with victory for Boris Johnson
By Jon Tonge Sinn Fein's ard fheis this weekend will be a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Jon Tonge: It's shaping up to be a cliffhanger poll even before the parties set out their...
By Jon Tonge All this election excitement and we've not even moved from pacts to policies yet. It has been an extraordinary week in what is shaping up to be a dramatic contest.
Jon Tonge: Pact or not, Northern Ireland seats will be among most fiercely-contested
By Jon Tonge All I want for Christmas is ... a Belfast constituency where all the parties stand. Some chance. The city's hollowed-out contests have become even more fascinating - but 'action-pact' in different...
Jon Tonge: Reality bites for UUP leader-in-waiting as Union trumps any poll showdown...
By Jon Tonge Steve Aiken might be wondering whether to give Doug Beattie a call to see if he fancies the UUP job after all.
Jon Tonge: Aiken right not to play patsy to the DUP but it could damage unionism
By Jon Tonge So that went well. The 'no pacts' UUP policy appears in trouble even before the new leader has taken the helm to implement what he announced this time last week.
Jon Tonge: Expect no festive cheer as Northern Ireland parties prepare to do battle once...
By Jon Tonge Just when you were looking forward to Christmas as well. Political parties, not Christmas ones. While there was a certain inevitability about yesterday’s election calling, it made few hearts race with...
Jon Tonge: UUP chief's dramatic election rallying cry could have serious consequences
By Jon Tonge No-one could accuse Steve Aiken of holding back as incoming leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.
Jon Tonge: Foster's speech may have been punchy but rhetoric was toned down as...
By Jon Tonge Flying back over the prospective regulatory and customs borders in the Irish Sea on Saturday evening, there was much to ponder from the DUP conference.
Jon Tonge: DUP conference will feature a mix of defiance, worry and election rally as party...
By Jon Tonge This weekend’s DUP conference is perhaps the trickiest for the party since the one that followed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA).
Jon Tonge: Brexit game still on for DUP after it helps spook Boris Johnson's Halloween plan
By Jon Tonge Prime Minister 1 v DUP 2. A midweek success for the DUP, building on Saturday's triumph, in thwarting a Boris Brexit they loathe so much.
Jon Tonge: First blood to DUP, but it's up against ruthless Boris Johnson and odds...
By Jon Tonge So, it was a case of Get Boris Done not Get Brexit Done at the weekend. The passing of the Letwin amendment in the Commons bought a little time for the DUP and the visceral satisfaction of...
Jon Tonge: Deal or no deal, unionist Brexiteers will be stuck in an undesirable position
By Jon Tonge Today is potentially one of the most momentous days in unionist political history. A vote in favour of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will fundamentally reshape Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, in...
Brexit: What the text of the Protocol says about Northern Ireland... and what it really means
By Jon Tonge Jon Tonge analyses some key parts of revised Brexit deal agreed by UK and EU
Jon Tonge: Boris Johnson's EU deal completes an equally remarkable DUP transformation
By Jon Tonge Boris Johnson’s deal with the EU is a U-turn extraordinary even by his considerable chameleonic standards.
Jon Tonge: DUP’s best Brexit hope is that Westminster backs Benn Act
By Jon Tonge It's hardly surprising that DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds has indicated that a dual UK-EU customs plan cannot work. The DUP has always opposed joint authority in any context.
Jon Tonge: Biggest bypassing of parties in Northern Ireland since 1985 accord is now...
By Jon Tonge The positive tone from Thursday's meeting between Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar was a welcome antidote to the weeks of megaphone diplomacy which preceded the Wirral mini-summit.
Jon Tonge: Unionism’s Brexit civil war to be followed by bitter election
By Jon Tonge So the European Union rejects the idea of a non-existent Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly determining the contours of the EU single market, covering 500 million people? Just fancy that.
Jon Tonge: The reasons to be sceptical of the blueprint are clear, but it is still unlikely to...
By Jon Tonge So the DUP supports an all-Ireland economy within the EU single market and backs checks on goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland? Who would have thought it?
Jon Tonge: Changing leader regularly is not a panacea for any party... but we should not...
By Jon Tonge The imminent departure of Robin Swann as leader represents another blow to the long-ailing Ulster Unionist Party.
Jon Tonge: Toxic environment and no-deal fears threatening to tear the Union asunder
By Jon Tonge Another unedifying week in politics. Such was the poisonous rancour of Wednesday evening's Westminster 'debate' after Parliament reconvened that another prorogation might actually have been...
Jon Tonge: Parliament restored with a less cavalier government might just benefit DUP
By Jon Tonge Where does the Government go from here? It ought to be hard for the Prime Minister, effectively labelled an 'Enemy of the Parliament' by a Supreme Court as incredulous as it was unanimous, to...
Jon Tonge: Another divisive week in Brexitland...and there’s no sign of fog...
By Jon Tonge What are the odds on a 6-5 split verdict from the Supreme Court judges next week?
Jon Tonge: It is fantasy to claim Parliament suspension will make a difference
By Jon Tonge It has been the least edifying week in politics since, well, the previous one. As a parliament prorogued was adjudicated by the Scottish Courts to be the action of rogues not pros, the battle...
Jon Tonge: DUP's limited tactical switch doesn't mean that Johnson is able to trumpet a done...
By Jon Tonge "DUP opens door to new Brexit deal for Johnson" trumpeted yesterday's Times newspaper.
Jon Tonge: Loss of party's role as Tory kingmaker begs question of where the DUP...
By Jon Tonge Are the DUP's best days gone? It's a question many will pose amid the loss of the party's kingmaker role at Westminster.
Jon Tonge: DUP and SF will be quietly confident of holding seats if Boris's debacle concludes...
By Jon Tonge So apart from no Brexit, no majority and no election, not a bad week for Boris Johnson then.
Jon Tonge: Declining an election makes Labour look a scared Opposition
By Jon Tonge So having demanded a general election for two years, it appears that Jeremy Corbyn's party may have got cold feet on the idea.
Jon Tonge: Why an election looks inevitable despite Boris' rallying cry to his troops
By Jon Tonge It might have been easier to have taken the Crown off the lectern and leave it outside 10 Downing Street, ready for Boris Johnson's election declaration tomorrow night. For all the Prime Minister's...
Jon Tonge: Meaningless Brexit deadlines and unresolved critical issues ... may as well...
By Jon Tonge So it's not just Northern Ireland with expertise in the prolonged proroguing of parliament. Boris Johnson's five-week suspension of the Commons is possibly the most thinly-veiled Westminster plot in...
Jon Tonge: Snap election gamble could work... but May's folly in 2017 shows it's also huge...
By Jon Tonge As plans go, Boris Johnson's idea of an October 17 general election has far more credibility than the one to suspend Parliament to get Brexit over the line.
Jon Tonge: A friend of the DUP but tricky tasks lie ahead...
By Jon Tonge Amid the furore over Boris Johnson's Cabinet appointments, Julian Smith's posting as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland appears one of the new Prime Minister's shrewder moves. Smith has spent the...
Jon Tonge: Still much political tennis to be played over abortion and same-sex marriage...
By Jon Tonge Arlene Foster chose a good day to be sat in the royal box at Wimbledon. Watching Serena Williams (twice) and Andy Murray must have been infinitely preferable to witnessing the demolition of...
Jon Tonge: Should Boris Johnson blink at 'no-deal' Brexit, the backlash could be as big as the...
By Jon Tonge Prime Minister-elect Boris Johnson - that's assuming the Conservative members don't take a dim view of late-night domestics - was unusually reticent during the rounds of voting among...
Jon Tonge: Theresa May's legacy overshadowed by shambles of Brexit ... at least she didn't...
By Jon Tonge This newspaper doesn't always make it easy for columnists. "A thousand words on Theresa May's achievements as Prime Minister please". I've not struggled with the upper word limit.
Jon Tonge: Alliance's success brings into question existing structures
By Jon Tonge Two breakthroughs in one month. These are heady days for Naomi Long's Alliance Party.
Jon Tonge: Tory hardliner Gove is DUP's ideal choice for PM
Jon Tonge Eight Conservative Party leadership candidates declared and lots more to come. But, if a Conservative Secretary of State struggled to understand the differences between unionists and nationalists,...
Jon Tonge: DUP remains party many on social media love to hate, but it keeps winning...
By Jon Tonge As election candidates, pundits and counters catch up on sleep this Bank Holiday Monday, how is the 2019 local election best analysed in terms of all the main parties?
Jon Tonge: Outcome looks grim for UUP, but DUP's vote share rose... and the centre...
By Jon Tonge So the centre ground really does exist. Just when we were thinking that the non-unionist, non-nationalist elector was a creature found only in our university studies of public opinion, out come Alliance...
Jon Tonge: Why devolution is the only show in town
By Jon Tonge The opening day of May seems early to decide the political moment of the year. Yet the sight of sheepish politicians rising uncertainly to their feet amid heartfelt admonishment from Father Martin Magill...
Jon Tonge: Close alignment with customs union and single market could solve DUP's Brexit...
By Jon Tonge Parliament's predictable eight-fold rejection of every Brexit option highlights how all exits from our political crisis are currently blocked.
Jon Tonge: You cling to hope May has Machiavellian genius, but time is running out...
By Jon Tonge Another day, another humiliation for the Prime Minister. There's little fun in interminable ritual. When even your Attorney General says, in boomingly polite but forlorn language, that you haven't...
Jon Tonge: DUP must be clear whether it wants backstop rewritten, time-limited or flat-out...
By Jon Tonge Will the real DUP Brexit policy please stand up? You can have whatever DUP Brexit you like at present.
Jon Tonge: May deluded if she thinks this changes anything in Brussels
By Jon Tonge Another day. Another 7pm News Special. Another near-farce. Two long hours of divisions to produce the parliamentary equivalent of a scoreless penalty shoot-out. Still, at least the Commons will be...
Jon Tonge: DUP has got its wish but now is time for party to tell us all exactly what it wants
By Jon Tonge Not bad night's work for the DUP then, in an odd sort of way. An unwanted deal defeated, a Prime Minister humiliated and a Conservative Party clinging to office today on its 10 votes.
Jon Tonge: Tory no confidence vote solved nothing - just a spectator sport for the DUP
By Jon Tonge So on we go, with a Prime Minister with the backing of 63% of her party. Weaker than John Major, the last Conservative PM to undergo a vote of confidence. He carried on and took his party out of...
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