Tuesday 11 August 2026 5:01 am  |  Updated:  Monday 10 August 2026 5:36 pm

Going on holiday as Prime Minister comes at a cost

By: Michael Martins

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Prime Ministers too deserve a holiday, just maybe not while your party’s still fighting for survival, writes Michael Martins in today’s Notebook

Burnham shouldn’t have gone on holiday if he’s worried about Reform

As Burnham cut his holiday short this week, I was very surprised that he was on holiday in the first place. Not because Prime Ministers should never take leave (they definitely should!), but because it ignored the lessons he and his team should have learned from last summer. 

Last July and August, many Labour special advisors changed their Whatsapp statuses to “Out of Office”, but their Reform counterparts did not. The Starmer government’s prioritisation of work-life balance happened during and shortly after 2025’s peak of small boat crossings in July (reaching 5,454 according to the House of Commons research service). Starmer effectively abandoned the immigration debate in favour of a beach chair, allowing Reform to win the 2025 summer media contest. Reform’s media and polling momentum carried into party conferences in September and........

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