For trust in democracy to be retained, elections need to be not just free of intervention -- ruling out Pakistan and Russia -- but also demonstrate the capability to both deliver ruling mandates and hold the potential for large swings in favour of the opposition, points out Mihir S Sharma.And, after an election is done, they need to see a mandate in order to go back to their lives and let their representatives get on with the business of government, points out Mihir S Sharma.
British Indian think tank 1928 Institute organised a special roundtable entitled 'India and the Indo-Pacific' bringing together the High Commissioners of India, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada, Nepal, among others, ahead of the reception in the River Room of the House of Lords on Monday evening.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has raised India's long-standing concerns about pro-Khalistan extremism in the United Kingdom during his meetings with the country's leaders, stressing that they should be on guard against the misuse of freedom of expression and speech.
Akshata Murty delivers a four-minute speech introducing her husband Rishi Sunak to the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Opposition Leader Keir Starmer clashed in the House of Commons over a controversial by-election leaflet, which had been branded "divisive" and "anti-India" by Indian diaspora groups in Britain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a triple blow following crushing defeats for his Conservative Party in two important by-elections that also prompted the resignation of the party's chairman and one of his close allies, raising another major challenge to the embattled premier's leadership.
Johnson's longstanding policy chief Munira Mirza, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds, and communications director Jack Doyle all left their posts within hours of each other on Thursday, days after a damning investigation revealed that multiple parties took place at Downing Street while the rest of the United Kingdom was living under strict COVID-19 lockdown rules.
Nottinghamshire police said the 31-year-old suspect, who remains in custody, then went on to stab a man in his 50s to death and also attempted to run over three people - still in hospital - with a van stolen from that man.
Johnson now expressed his willingness to enter the PM race, saying he is "up for it."
Britain's BBC faced a mounting crisis as a row over football presenter Gary Lineker's criticism of government migration policy led to a presenter mutiny.
The 47-year-old senior cabinet minister was widely expected to become the third female British Prime Minister after 170,000 online and postal votes cast by Tory members, ending Sunak's historic run as the first member of Parliament of Indian heritage to compete for the top job at 10 Downing Street.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK government remains committed to working "as quickly as possible" towards a successful conclusion to the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks with India, as the majority of the substantive negotiation conversations were completed at the end of last month. At a House of Commons session on the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Thursday, the British Indian leader updated Parliament that he reviewed progress on the FTA during his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking charge at 10 Downing Street. He was questioned by Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer and his own Conservative Party MPs on the timeline for the completion of the agreement with India.
The 96-year-old monarch has been suffering from age-related mobility issues and has cut down her travels, including appointing new Prime Minister Liz Truss in Scotland earlier this week.
Sunak said he accepted Williamson's resignation "with great sadness" and thanked him for his "personal support and loyalty".
Rishi Sunak tightened his grip on the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British prime minister as he bagged 101 votes to again emerge as the winner of the latest voting round on Thursday.
The Pakistani-origin former Labour member of Parliament was the first Muslim mayor of a European capital city when he was first elected in 2016. The mayoral poll was due last year but was postponed by a year at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported that Swiss business tycoon Hansjoerg Wyss is considering buying football club Chelsea from Abramovich, Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick as British lawmakers continued to push for sanctions against the billionaire.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday came under fresh pressure on the reappointment of Indian-origin Suella Braverman as home secretary after two Conservative MPs questioned his decision, days after she quit over data breaches.
Rishi Sunak on Wednesday clinched his place for the final leg of the race to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of Britain's Conservative party and prime minister, and will go head-to-head with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
In an accompanying vision statement, the former finance minister highlighted his track record of serving in the Cabinet, helping to steer the economy through the toughest of times with the COVID pandemic.
The survey also shows a majority in favour of ousted leader Boris Johnson, with 55 per cent saying that Tory MPs were wrong to effectively force him to resign and 40 per cent saying they were right.
Members of the public began filing past at 5pm local time and will have until 6.30am on the day of the funeral, by which time several thousands are expected to have queued for hours to pay their respects to the Queen.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak convincingly won over an audience of Conservative Party members in a head-to-head television debate with rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the leadership contest to elect a new Tory party leader and British prime minister.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has extended a commanding 28 point lead over former British chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak in the race to be the next leader of the Conservative party and the United Kingdom's prime minister, according to the latest YouGov survey.
"I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected," she said speaking outside Downing Street.
The UK cabinet is on Monday holding talks to consider options for tougher lockdown restrictions as the country recorded another daily high of Omicron cases at 12,133.
"God save the King" were the words with which those gathered reaffirmed the proclamation made by the clerk of the council.
'He has assured me that he is committed to correcting the issue with the food hampers and that a full review of the supply chain is taking place.'
On the couple's reference to unnamed royals raising concerns over their son Archie's mixed-race heritage, the palace said the concerning issues of race would be addressed privately as a family matter.
Downing Street confirmed that the two senior-most United Kingdom government officials had received notification from the Metropolitan Police that they would be given "fixed penalty notices".
In a big blow to embattled British Prime Minister Johnson, two of his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, resigned on Tuesday, as they expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership amidst a spate of scandals.
The UK is likely to be for another three weeks, is inevitable.
From the middle of next week, shops, personal care, gyms and churches can reopen as part of a bolstered three-tiered system. As part of the restrictions, people will be expected to continue to work from home if they live in a Tier 1 region; in Tier 2, alcohol can only be served with a meal; and in Tier 3, all forms of hospitality except takeaways will have to close.
The 80-page bill, which follows a last-minute deal agreed with the EU last week, just days before the December 31 deadline of the end of the Brexit transition period, was debated by MPs in the House of Commons followed by the House of Lords.
The United Kingdom is considering prosecuting 11 people including four journalists in connection with the phone-hacking scandal and other alleged misconduct by British newspapers, the country's chief prosecutor said on Wednesday.
The new variant is said to be 70 per cent more transmissible, though health experts say there is no evidence that it is more deadly or would react differently to vaccines.
The UK prime minister stressed that a complete lockdown was the only answer to prevent the overrunning of the country's state-funded National Health Service, which would be a "medical and moral disaster" beyond the raw loss of life.
The UK's lockdown, which involves strict stay at home measures with movement allowed for limited urgent purposes only if "absolutely necessary" and for one form of daily exercise, came into force on March 23 after a televised address by Boris Johnson.
Boris Johnson on Tuesday announced July 4 as the date for a significant lifting of lockdown restrictions in the country, with cinemas, museums, bars, pubs and restaurants being allowed to open their doors to the public once again.
Johnson's hospitalisation was described as a "precautionary step" taken on the advice of his doctor
