Columns
‘It’s just about him’: who can dislodge Boris?
Westminster has always been run more by convention than by rulebook. Prime ministers are seldom forced out: they are persuaded…
Will Hispanic conservatives transform US politics?
If you had to take a guess on which American political party would produce the first Mexican-born Congresswoman, which one…
Beware the sex party bores
You know you’re getting old when your friends start going to sex parties. In our twenties, there were parties, and…
The law of unintended consequences
When I awoke the other morning and switched on my radio, the airwaves were alive with the sound of furious,…
Why tactical voting is so dangerous for the Tories
Boris Johnson has always been a celebrity politician. It is one of the reasons why the normal rules of politics…
The case for hiking interest rates
Check out these hyperventilating headlines from last week: ‘What the Fed’s largest interest rate hike in decades means for you’…
What took you so long, Seb Coe?
There’s a left-wing internet advocacy group called 38 Degrees which suggests to its followers that all they have to do…
Our shifting definition of shame
In this most holy month of Pride I have been making my observances by thinking about shame. After all, shame…
British politics is stuck
One of the favourite phrases of British political commentators is ‘oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them’. As with all…
In defence of Carrie Johnson
One is not usually surprised by opinions volunteered to parliamentary hopefuls by voters on whose doors the candidate has knocked;…
The January 6 hearings are partisan political theatre
Is it possible to hold two ideas in our heads at once? If so, I should like to put forward…
If only Tom Cruise would ditch his cult
I keep reading that Tom Cruise is the Last Great Movie Star, as if he’s some noble but endangered animal.…
The reason Glastonbury is so white
The former comedian Sir Lenny Henry has questioned why there seem to be so few black people at rock festivals…
Boris Johnson’s loss of authority
There is an uneasy truce in the Tory party. The 148 MPs who voted no confidence in Boris Johnson last…
The Tory cadets who want a shot at the top
When Conservative prime ministers face a problem of logistics – from ambulance-driver shortages to border-force failures – there is a…
I’m out to get Boris
‘Steady on, old chap. You’re a bit hard on the boy.’ The arm around my shoulder was that of Boris…
The British Empire’s despicable treatment of mermaids
I may have broken the law this week, without having intended to, so great was my rush to return home.…
A win for the film critics of Bradford
As a general rule, you should never talk about a film you haven’t seen. But The Lady of Heaven is…
Does advertising matter?
‘Stop! Don’t fast-forward. I love this advert!’ How often do you say that? Considering that some commercial breaks run to…
How to win my vote
The repeated injunction that we should all ‘move on’ from worrying our silly heads about partygate is as otiose as…
Not all masculinity is ‘toxic’
Anyone who has passed through an education in thepast decade will have encountered the term ‘toxic masculinity’. It is one…
The closing of the Chinese mind
I was born in Nanjing five years after the Tiananmen Square protests. By then, records of the demonstrations and the…
Boris may be toppled by accident
Every Tory leader fears a plot against them. Their paranoia isn’t helped by the layout of Westminster, which lends itself…
For Boris, the hard bit is just beginning
Boris Johnson has been plunged back into the mire of partygate. The publication of a photograph of Johnson raising a…
Why I was almost thrown out of South Africa
On my 2 p.m. arrival for a week-long work trip to South Africa a fortnight ago, an immigration agent flapped…
