Madeline Grant

Deputy PMQs made Starmer vs Badenoch look like Gladstone vs Disraeli

29 January 2026 3:03 am

David Lammy’s last appearance at PMQs resembled a multi clown-car pile-up: both tragic and hilarious. Indeed, it was such a disaster…

There’s no great mystery to the Andy Burnham affair

27 January 2026 12:52 am

A doe-eyed Andy Burnham has appeared looking sad across media outlets, hurt that he has been politically outmanoeuvred by Sir…

The House of Lords’ Valkyries fighting for assisted suicide

24 January 2026 9:00 am

It seems counter-intuitive to say that the House of Lords is more representative than the House of Commons. Yet in…

Keir Starmer’s PMQs performance was his most shameless yet

22 January 2026 4:15 am

One of the least successful operas in history received a revival at Westminster this week. ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’ –…

Starmer’s supine ministers can’t defend approving China’s embassy

21 January 2026 4:33 am

This government has many faults, but one really cannot fault them on their comic timing. On the very day when…

The tragedy of Keir Starmer

17 January 2026 9:00 am

For someone who likes to present the general public with the idea that he doesn’t have a personality, Sir Keir…

Jenrick is Reform’s most coveted debutante

16 January 2026 6:11 am

Westminster has its faults, but if you’re looking for a good old-fashioned day of mistakes, backbiting, and last-minute drama, there…

What does Jenrick’s defection mean for the right?

16 January 2026 5:00 am

Robert Jenrick arrived late to his own defection. ‘It’s time for the truth’, he said, before launching into a speech…

Starmer’s ‘jokes’ make him sound like a creepy uncle

15 January 2026 3:03 am

Another week, another U-turn! This time the PM had chosen to make Prime Minister’s Questions even more torturous for himself…

Starmer brings the spirit of Dry January to PMQs

8 January 2026 3:03 am

‘New year, new you’. One can imagine the Prime Minister repeating this most hollow of secular mantras in front of…

The Maccabi mess has exposed Britain’s babbling bobbies

7 January 2026 6:59 am

You may recall the cancellation of the Maccabi Tel Aviv-Aston Villa game back in November. What has happened since is…

The fall of Venice carries a warning for Starmer’s Chagos deal

6 January 2026 1:44 am

I’ve just come back from a short holiday in Venice. The city is an unsurpassable monument to the glories of…

An unhappy Christmas PMQs for Keir Starmer

18 December 2025 3:32 am

Thank God! Today was the last Prime Minister’s Questions before Christmas and so Sir Keir and Mrs Badenoch began their…

There are bin liners with more empathy than Keir Starmer

16 December 2025 3:53 am

The liaison committee is always a laugh. It’s sort of like a year in review for the government’s litany of…

Do we really need a ‘new spin’ on Jane Austen?

13 December 2025 9:00 am

If you like your period dramas butchered, then you are in for a real treat. The 250th anniversary of Jane…

Keir Starmer is not waving but drowning at PMQs

11 December 2025 3:41 am

Benjamin Disraeli once observed that the difference between a misfortune and a calamity was that if Mr Gladstone fell in…

Keir Starmer goes walkies to McLaren

9 December 2025 3:33 am

‘Nurse! Nurse! He’s out again!’ That’s right, Sir Keir had escaped his handlers and was mingling with the public once…

There is one impressive thing about Keir Starmer’s government

5 December 2025 4:26 am

I am going to shock Spectator readers and say something in praise of the government. There is one area where…

It’s a bit rich for Starmer to say the Tories should be ashamed

4 December 2025 3:49 am

You always know it’s going to be a good PMQs when things start with Ian Lavery. After a winding and…

David Lammy’s jury reforms aren’t bold – they’re brazen

3 December 2025 5:27 am

King John placing his seal on Magna Carta 810 years ago is widely held to be a low point for…

Keir Starmer’s Budget defence has surely doomed Rachel Reeves

2 December 2025 1:43 am

You can always tell someone is in trouble when the Prime Minister calls an emergency press conference. A combined force…

Marriage is the real rebellion

29 November 2025 9:00 am

Jonathan Swift had a suitably unromantic attitude to holy matrimony. Once, when sheltering under a tree during a storm near…

David Lammy wouldn’t even show up to defend abolishing juries

28 November 2025 6:38 am

Wantage may seem an unlikely birthplace for England’s greatest gift to the world. Yet as well as being the site…

Rachel Reeves is a true disaster artist

27 November 2025 3:54 am

It is genuinely astonishing that Rachel Reeves isn’t accompanied by the Benny Hill theme at all times. Her ability to…

The monumental self-delusion of Rachel Reeves

21 November 2025 11:04 pm

Rachel Reeves has been speaking to the newspapers trying to sell her Budget, which given her communication abilities is a…