From north-east Scotland to Romford, London, what do those who spoke to the Guardian during the referendum campaign make of how it all panned out?

The Guardian has revisited five bellwether constituencies we reported on during the 2016 EU referendum campaign, and asked those we spoke to at the time how they now feel about Brexit a decade on from the vote.

From frontline reporting to a trailblazing comic novel and a prophetic dystopia, which of Eric Blair’s books is the best?

Imagination was not George Orwell’s forte. In each novel the protagonist is to some extent an Orwell surrogate doing things that Orwell did in places where Orwell had been. Here, somewhat unconvincingly, the author’s representative is a repressed young woman, Dorothy Hare, who loses her memory, identity and faith. Orwell considered it “tripe” except for the dream-like, polyphonic chapter where Dorothy sleeps rough in Trafalgar Square – a fascinating legacy of his youthful infatuation with James Joyce.

The story of the therapy ferret used to kill rats at Wetherby young offenders institution raises question after question. Not least: is this any place for humans, whatever they have done?

‘Concerns over therapy ferrets used to kill rats at UK’s largest children’s prison” was how the Guardian’s own headline reported recent events at Wetherby young offenders institution in West Yorkshire. “Concerns” felt pretty mild, and I’d have preferred to hear it was a panic or at least a flat spin.

I hoped that it had happened out of sight, since it is no small thing to watch one animal kill another, but that hope was immediately dashed by the detail that not only did the ferret attack the rat in front of its young inmate handler, according to a complaint from the Prison Officers’ Association, but it didn’t even finish the job. The grim scene ended with a prison officer stomping on the injured rat, prompting the National Ferret Welfare Society to side with both rat and ferret, in the statement: “We cannot condone the stamping to death of any animal in any situation.”

As a kid, I did my best to avoid exercise. As an adult, I endured it for the sake of my health. Then I set myself a clear goal – and motivation was no longer an issue

It’s fair to say I don’t come from a long line of athletes. When I was growing up in the 1990s, sport was something other people did; we were not a family who cycled, much less jogged. In PE I was the wheezing child hiding behind the bins, pretending I’d twisted an ankle. When I contemplated working out – not often – I had the vague idea it was supposed to turn my body into something other people might find attractive.

I evolved from an unsporty child into an unsporty adult. Occasionally, mostly in an attempt to lose weight without having to stop eating croissants, I would attempt something like Couch to 5K, which I’d either abandon after a couple of sessions or see through to the bitter end out of the perverse determination to prove I’d been right all along: exercise was a mug’s game and endorphins an invention of Big Wellness.

From gritty criminals to teens coming to terms with their identity, pride month sees Guardian writers on their most beloved queer characters

Forget about dimly lit period dramas where miserable women with no access to electricity gently sob in their heaving corsets and accidentally-on-purpose brush hands in the trembling candlelight; overblown, bombastic heist-capers and brooding, butch anti-heroes are far more up my street when it comes to lesbian cinema. What, after all, could be more intensely gay than immediately committing to a life of crime with someone you’ve only just set eyes on? My favourite of the entire bunch has to be the swaggering ex-con turned plumber Corky, who helps to save Violet from the clutches of her mob boss husband in 1996’s cult classic Bound. Though we first meet Corky trussed up in a literal closet, the metaphor doesn’t play out how you might expect: unapologetic and visible in a time when few films explored queerness full stop, she flexes a labrys tattoo, spends her down time swigging beer in grotty dive bars, and eventually drives off into the sunset, her new partner-in-crime in tow, in a beaten-up Chevy pick-up. The sheer simplicity of Corky as a queer heartthrob was, somehow, ridiculously ahead of its time, and her magnetic influence has played out everywhere from Bottoms to Love Lies Bleeding. El Hunt

An emotional Keir Starmer announced his resignation as prime minister and Labour leader on Monday morning, less than two years after he won a huge majority at the general election. The question now is who will replace him: will Andy Burnham sweep into No 10 uncontested? And can he make a difference where Starmer failed?

The prime minister said a new leader will be in place before parliament returns in September

• Full report: Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister two years after historic election victory

• Wes Streeting backs Andy Burnham to become Labour leader and PM

• Keir Starmer’s time as prime minister – in pictures

This is from Tom Baldwin, Keir Starmer’s biographer, and head of communications for Ed Miliband when he was Labour leader.

We seem to be in a strange place where Keir Starmer is being told he must quit to prevent more uncertainty and chaos (by those who have caused much of it) but then stay on for a couple of months because the guy who has been desperate to take his job is not yet ready to do so…

Keir Starmer has a mandate from Labour members.

He stood on a manifesto and won a mandate from the British people

Modern politics:

Consumerisation

PM’s demise after landslide victory two years ago points to an increasingly volatile and impatient electorate

Historians will puzzle over this one. Of the six prime ministers that have led Britain over the last decade, with a seventh now on the way, it will be the fall of Keir Starmer that will most perplex the political analysts of the future.

They will ponder a man who won a landslide victory in July 2024 only to be pushed out less than two years later, having started no illegal wars, having triggered no grave economic crises, having been accused of no scandalous act of corruption.

Britain will soon have its fifth prime minister in four years. How did we get here and what challenges await Starmer’s successor?

• UK politics live – latest updates

Britain is to get its fifth prime minister in four years after the current incumbent of Downing Street, Keir Starmer, announced on Monday that he would resign.

It was widely expected and comes after months of mounting pressure on Starmer, who led the Labour party to a landslide victory in the 2024 UK general election but who has faced months of pressure to go from members of parliament (MPs) for the centre-left party.

PM said Labour had turned economy around – but his record on growth and unemployment appears mixed

Keir Starmer used his leaving speech to lay out a long list of Labour’s achievements in office – but his economic legacy appears mixed, with sluggish UK growth and higher employment costs.

The prime minister said his government had turned around an ailing economy, after 14 years of austerity. He said plans by the previous Tory administration to cut investment had been reversed and economic growth was the highest in the G7.