Field View 2026

On Tuesday we hosted our annual Field View breakfast to discuss about what we can expect to see in politics in 2026. We brought together a top panel of journalists as LBC Political Editor Natasha Clark, GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope and London Centric founder Jim Waterson took on the challenge of predicting what might happen next - just a couple of hours after we all woke up to news Donald Trump had accused Keir Starmer of “great stupidity” over Chagos.

Beyond uncertainty in the global order with potential government instability at home, growth still stubbornly low, and a raft of May elections that could redraw the map, there was no shortage of topics to talk through with a packed audience of leading business figures.

Everyone on the panel predicted the Starmer government would last the year - but there was significantly greater scepticism about the fate of Chancellor Rachel Reeves. With Reeves’ reputation visibly on thin ice based on questions from business guests in the room, Darren Jones was the pick of both Hope and Clark for who might take over at the Treasury.

The impact of five party politics also cut through. Waterson and Clark reckoned Reform would pick up lots of councillors in London’s outer boroughs, and even a handful in central London as contests split three, four or even five ways. While Labour look set to hold onto the most seats overall, it looks inevitable many boroughs will fall to no overall control, ending after less than two years a deep red ladder of control from Whitehall, through City Hall and into most London boroughs.

Beyond politics, there was a vital discussion on how the communications landscape is evolving. Waterson urged businesses to seriously think about moving off X - previously Twitter - as Elon Musk’s ownership continues to cause controversy, most recently over its Grok AI engine. Hope and Clark warned there was still lots of political discussion there as most journalists and most politicians remain in the same online bubble which sprang up around 2010.

But everyone can smell change in the air: whether it’s a continued march of business and politics to LinkedIn or a public shift to something new such as Blue Sky.

Click here to watch our short video for some thoughts and predictions from the panel on what’s to come this year and if you want to be invited to our next event get in touch with the Field team on info@fieldconsulting.co.uk