The Tories face their biggest problem yet
Up until a few days ago, ministers could see how the government might regain its footing in the polls after…
Why the next election will be harder for the Tories
Ever since Boris Johnson’s disastrous decision to try to stay the standards committee’s guilty verdict against Owen Paterson, things have…
Boris Johnson is preparing to fight the wrong election
The next election won’t be like the 2019 campaign. It will be far tougher for the Tories. Ministers were struck…
Europe’s cauldron: The EU faces a new form of warfare
Europe faces a new form of warfare
Is Boris Johnson’s sleaze nightmare over?
Two weeks into this self-inflicted Tory sleaze scandal, Boris Johnson has set out plans to bar MPs from political consultancy…
Can Boris weather this new storm?
The row over MPs’ outside interests has landed Boris Johnson in one of the most uncomfortable positions a prime minister…
Gove gets into gear
‘This government ends if the red wall reverts back to type and we lose 45 seats then end up in…
Boris Johnson will struggle to contain this sleaze row
A week ago today, Tory MPs were getting increasingly nervous about Downing Street’s plan to stay the guilty verdict against…
Three little words that could cost Boris
Boris Johnson knows the value of three-word slogans. ‘Take back control’ and ‘get Brexit done’ helped propel him to his…
Will the Tories cut taxes before the next election?
The Tory party has reached a fork in the road, I say in the Times today. One path involves sticking…
What this Budget tells us
The Budget and the spending review gave the clearest indication yet of what the post-Covid government might look like. During…
Britain's fish fight with France risks triggering a new low in EU relations
Another day, another troubling development in UK/ EU relations. Earlier this week, a British trawler was seized by France and another fined. Now, France’s…
No. 10 moves to kickstart the booster campaign
In a move that as important as any in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Emily Lawson is returning to run the…
The problem with ‘David’s law’
Two members of parliament have been killed in the past five and a half years. This, one long-serving MP laments,…
Banning anonymity creates more problems than it solves
There are growing calls to end internet anonymity in the wake of Sir David Amess’s death. The Tory MP Mark…
The legacy of Covid: a much bigger state
Covid transformed the role of the state. During the pandemic, the government did things it would never normally even contemplate.…
Why Covid means the big state is back
History suggests that when the state expands in a crisis, it doesn’t go back to its pre-crisis level once the…
Why Anglo-French relations will only get worse
The French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has given a very frank interview to the New York Times. It is…
Boris’s hostage to fortune
Most prime ministers would be worried about supply chain shortages. But as became increasingly clear at the Tory party conference…
The Tories will pay a price for Boris's housing strategy
One of the themes of Conservative conference was that the government has dropped plans for a radical reform of the…
Boris is sprawling across the centre ground
That was the most Boris Johnson speech imaginable. His supporters at party conference will have lapped it up, they certainly…
Boris's tetchy Marr interview showed the risks he is taking
Boris Johnson’s rather testy interview with Andrew Marr this morning revealed the political gamble that he is taking. Johnson is calculating…
Boris Johnson and the Tory identity crisis
The Tory conference in Manchester will be a relatively muted affair. In part, this is because — as I say…
‘Let prisoners work’: an interview with Dominic Raab
Dominic Raab on prisons, patriotism and standing in for Boris
The German elections are good news for Macron
The German election result means that a three party coalition will almost certainly be needed to form a government. Olaf…
