Written by

Rachel Fenwick came to political writing after working in environmental planning and public consultation. She studied Geography and Environmental Policy at the University of Exeter, then spent several years preparing consultation summaries, local planning notes, and public information material on transport, housing growth, flood risk, and carbon reduction. Her interest is not only in climate targets, but in the administrative detail behind them: who pays, which bodies deliver, how communities are consulted, and what happens when national commitments meet local pressure. That background gives her writing a practical tone, especially on green policy, regulation, land use, and public accountability. For London Politics, Rachel is useful on stories that sit between environmental policy, Westminster decision-making, public services, and the everyday politics of place.

16 Articles
Planning Reform Puts Local Decision Making Under Strain
Society

Why Planning Reform Keeps Clashing With Local Control

Planning reform repeatedly returns to the same political problem: Britain needs more homes and infrastructure, but development decisions are made in places where...

Reading Media Bias: A Guide for British News Audiences
Voices

How to Read Political News More Critically

Political news is rarely difficult because every report is biased or unreliable. It is difficult because facts, interpretation, selection and emphasis are often...

Who Gets Appointed to Britain's Public Bodies
Westminster

How Britain Appoints People to Public Bodies

Britain’s public bodies are led by people who are often appointed rather than elected. Regulators, advisory boards, tribunals and arm’s-length organisations therefore depend...

Energy Security: The Political Risk Behind Britain's Power Supply
Green Policy

Energy Security: The Political Risk Behind Britain’s Power Supply

Energy Security UK remains a fundamental pillar of domestic public policy, shaping how Westminster balances industrial stability, consumer costs, and infrastructure resilience. When...

G7 Summit Politics and British Foreign Policy
Global Affairs

What Britain Actually Gets from the G7

The G7 matters to British foreign policy because it brings a small group of major advanced economies together for rapid political coordination. It...

Civil Service Neutrality and Public Administration
Westminster

Why Civil Service Neutrality Matters

Britain’s permanent civil service is expected to serve the elected government of the day regardless of party. That sounds simple, but it creates...

Air Quality Policy and Urban Public Health
Green Policy

Air Quality Policy and Urban Public Health

Air quality policy is a central public-health responsibility for national and local government. Poor air quality remains one of the largest environmental risks...

Green Belt Policy and Planning Pressure
Green Policy

Why Green Belt Policy Keeps Colliding With Housing Pressure

Green Belt policy exists primarily to limit urban sprawl by keeping designated land open. The political difficulty is that the same areas where...

Environmental Regulation UK and Public Accountability
Green Policy

Who Regulates Britain’s Environment — and How?

Environmental regulation in Britain is spread across several institutions rather than controlled by a single regulator. National agencies, government departments and local authorities...

Mayoral Powers London and City Governance
Westminster

What the Mayor of London Can Actually Control

The Mayor of London is one of the most powerful directly elected figures in British local government, but the office does not control...

Editor's Pick

Green Policy

Why Paved Front Gardens Matter for Urban Heat

Front gardens may look like a small part of Britain’s climate debate, but collectively they occupy a large area of urban land. As...

Society

Why Planning Reform Keeps Clashing With Local Control

Planning reform repeatedly returns to the same political problem: Britain needs more homes and infrastructure, but development decisions are made in places where...

Global Affairs

Afghanistan’s Hunger Crisis Deepens as Aid Funding Shrinks

Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most severe food-security emergencies. The World Food Programme says millions of people require urgent food assistance, while...

Voices

How to Read Political News More Critically

Political news is rarely difficult because every report is biased or unreliable. It is difficult because facts, interpretation, selection and emphasis are often...

Economic Affairs

Where Britain’s Green Jobs Are Actually Emerging

Britain’s low-carbon transition is creating new work, but not evenly. Offshore wind, grid upgrades, retrofitting, electric transport and industrial decarbonisation all require workers,...

Society

How Britain Measures Poverty

Arguments about poverty in Britain often sound contradictory because different statistics are answering different questions. A headline may refer to relative low income,...