Toby Young

Toby Young is the co-author of What Every Parent Needs to Know and the co-founder of several free schools. In addition to being an associate editor of The Spectator, he is an associate editor of Quillette. Follow him on Twitter @toadmeister

The case for an independent Kent

9 August 2025 9:00 am

I’m just back from Vancouver, where I was speaking at a fundraiser for the Free Speech Union of Canada. At…

Make Trump Britain’s prime minister

2 August 2025 9:00 am

When I was a young man, the claim that Britain was in danger of becoming the 51st state was a…

The lanyard class is imploding – and it can’t blame Musk

26 July 2025 9:00 am

I was surprised to read a report by Sunder Katwala’s thinktank British Future saying the UK is a ‘powder keg’…

Let straight white men write novels!

19 July 2025 9:00 am

About 15 years ago, I tried to interest my literary agent in a state-of-the-nation novel set in 21st-century London. My…

My sober assessment of the fat jabs

12 July 2025 9:00 am

It was my friend Alex who tipped me the wink. I bumped into him at a party earlier this year…

Ofcom still isn’t sure what a woman is

5 July 2025 9:00 am

Earlier this week, GB News again found itself at odds with Ofcom. The channel had written to the broadcast regulator…

Kneecap and Bob Vylan shouldn’t be prosecuted

2 July 2025 9:18 pm

So here’s the question I’ve been wrestling with since Bob Vylan chanted ‘Death, death to the IDF’ at Glastonbury at…

The secret to ‘womankeeping’

28 June 2025 9:00 am

God, men are pathetic. At least, that’s the view of Angelica Puzio Ferrara, a researcher at Stanford, who has come…

Has Trump been taking inspiration from the royals?

21 June 2025 9:00 am

One of the objections to the military parade in Washington, DC last Saturday – supposedly to mark the 250th birthday…

Pride continues to crumble

14 June 2025 9:00 am

In the canteen of the House of Lords last week, a friendly server asked me if I’d like some ‘Pride…

It’s no surprise that Prevent has gone to the dogs

12 June 2025 3:30 am

Conquest’s Second Law states that the behaviour of an organisation can best be predicted by assuming it’s controlled by a…

Should we be above cancelling the cancellers?

7 June 2025 9:00 am

I’ve been mulling over Marco Rubio’s latest salvo in the Trump administration’s assault on the Censorship-Industrial Complex. The US Secretary…

My sitcom-worthy walking holiday

31 May 2025 9:00 am

I’ve just returned from a walking holiday in Northumberland with Caroline and my mother-in-law. I say ‘walking’ but that makes…

How do I feed my children now my wife has gone on strike?

24 May 2025 9:00 am

Caroline has gone on strike. At least, as far as cooking is concerned. Her case for downing spatulas is that…

My son took drugs – and they were mine

17 May 2025 9:00 am

The weekend before last, I came home from walking the dog at about noon to find Caroline asleep in bed.…

Are you a ‘tidsoptimist’?

10 May 2025 9:00 am

Last week Caroline sent me an Instagram reel that featured a Norwegian word and its English translation. A ‘tidsoptimist’, I…

Bridget Phillipson’s perfect storm for schools

3 May 2025 9:00 am

In its manifesto, Labour pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers and the Education Secretary reiterated this a few days after…

Is the end of ‘non-crime hate incidents’ in sight?

26 April 2025 9:00 am

Could the end of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) be in sight? As the head of the Free Speech Union, I’ve…

Can Trump keep me on side?

19 April 2025 9:00 am

I’m in danger of falling out of love with Donald Trump. I was ecstatic when he beat Kamala Harris, delighted…

Leave our Lords alone

12 April 2025 9:00 am

Within a few months, the constitution that has served this country so well for hundreds of years will yet again…

Is it time to clean up my act?

5 April 2025 9:00 am

I was having a drink in the Bishops’ Bar in the House of Lords last month when I was introduced…

How to be a Lord

29 March 2025 9:00 am

At the end of my first day at the House of Lords, I staggered out with so many books and…

Why, at 75, does Graydon Carter still feel the need to impress?

29 March 2025 9:00 am

The humblebrag and name-dropping read more like a Craig Brown pastiche than the reminiscences of one of America’s most celebrated magazine editors

Adolescence demonises white working-class boys

25 March 2025 6:04 am

This is an extract from today’s episode of Spectator TV, with Toby Young and James Walton, which you can find…

The curse of Disney’s Snow White

22 March 2025 9:00 am

One of the early decisions David Zaslav made after becoming the CEO of Warner Bros Discovery in 2022 was to…