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Russia’s put the genie back in the bottle — or has it?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.Nothing to see here — now move along, please.A little over a week after the 36-hour insurrection of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group mercenaries, this seems to be the line adopted by the Kremlin, its propagandists and supporters.The politicians and functionaries who remained ominously silent and kept their heads down as the shock rebellion unfolded are now all rallying, flocking to President Vladimir Putin and praising his sagacity, while seeking to trivialize Wagner’s military contribution in the war on Ukraine.“If there had been people like Putin at the helm of the state in 1917 and 1991, there would have been no revolution and no collapse of the USSR,” declared Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma. Putin has emerged even stronger, he opined on Telegram.Meanwhile, Andrey Kartapolov, chair of the Duma’s defense committee, was quoted by the state-run TASS news agency as saying ther...

Paul Ovenden

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

A former Sunday newspaper journalist with an eye for a story, Ovenden runs a team of Labour researchers and mischief-makers who place attack stories in national outlets. As the party’s director of attack and rebuttal, he is responsible for its punchy digital ads, which have generated significant attention and controversy. His role over the next year in taking the fight to the Tories ahead of the election will be critical.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

William Hague

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

One of the Conservative Party’s most respected older heads, former Conservative leader Hague has operated as Rishi Sunak’s de facto mentor since the latter’s arrival on the political scene in 2015, helping Sunak secure his old parliamentary seat in North Yorkshire when he retired from the House of Commons. The two men remain extremely close and Hague — now a Tory peer — has been known to roll the pitch for policy ideas in his must-read weekly column in the Times.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Feargal Sharkey

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

The former lead singer of The Undertones has gone from punk frontman to standard bearer for the campaign to prevent water companies pumping sewage into U.K. waters. Leveraging his star power, Sharkey has helped keep the issue on the political agenda, making frequent appearances on television and in newspaper columns to take the water companies and government to task. It also doesn’t hurt that he is willing to pick very public fights with Conservative MPs on Twitter, to the delight of his near 200,000 social media followers.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Miriam Cates

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Despite only being elected to parliament in 2019, Cates is seen as a rising star on the Conservative right as a result of her willingness to push back against her own party. As one of the leading rebels on the Online Safety Bill, the Penistone and Stocksbridge MP has impressed supporters by strong-arming the government into making several big concessions and has shown she is more than willing to use the press to criticize the direction of her party. Controversially, the former teacher has also criticized the move to extend free childcare at the expense of more traditional family policy.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Deborah Mattinson

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Labour’s driving electoral mission under Keir Starmer has been to win back the so-called Red Wall seats swept up by Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. A pollster who literally wrote the book on why the opposition party lost those voters in 2019, Mattinson — a veteran of the election-winning New Labour years — was recruited as Starmer’s director of strategy in 2021. In his office, she’s been influential in putting green policies at the front and center of Labour’s vision for Britain.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Siobhan Baillie

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

A member of the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs, Baillie made her mark this year through a successful backbench campaign to improve the government’s childcare provision. The MP for Stroud delightedly dubbed herself “chief pest” of the Treasury when, after coordinating months of public and private pressure, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced 30 hours of free childcare a week for under-fours in England at March’s Budget. Baillie said the measures, framed as a way to support women back into the labor market, went even further than she had expected — always a sign that the government may have alighted on a politically useful idea.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Beeban Tania Kidron

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Kidron, a film-maker-turned-peer, was warning of the digital dangers facing young people before most elected politicians. She has used her seat in the House of Lords to great effect, chalking up big wins pushing (and securing) regulation to prevent the exploitation of children’s data being exploited in ways that undermine their safety and wellbeing. She has been a successful thorn in the side of the many ministers who have been in charge of the Online Safety Bill, constantly pressing them to go further in toughening up the legislation.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Lucy Noakes

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Noakes is officially Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden’s media special adviser, but when it comes to the inner workings of government she “sees everything, hears everything and knows everything,” according to one ex-official. Now based in the Cabinet Office like her boss, she worked on the Sunak leadership campaign and so remains close to key figures in No.10. Has been a loyal lieutenant for Dowden, who is Sunak’s bestie.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Miles Celic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:07:46 GMT

Celic is one of the most recognizable financial services lobbyists in the U.K. and a regular fixture at Westminster events. The chief of industry body TheCityUK is an esteemed figure inside the Treasury and gets regular access to the highest levels of government. His group also hosts an annual party for the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers at Conservative Party conference.Check out the full Power 40 — London class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.