Diary
What’s gone wrong at the National Theatre?
Now we have a Labour government, it would be nice to feel repertory will return to the National Theatre. It…
Do I have too many friends?
Can one have too many friends? I asked myself this question as we prepared yet another dinner party for ten…
Trump misses Biden
Chicago Everyone in the Democrats’ Convention centre – a bleakly corporate sports stadium on the edge of Chicago – is…
Does it matter if Trump is weird?
Would-be veep Tim Walz has opened Pandora’s box with his use of the W-word to characterise Donald Trump and his…
The rise of the competitive book list
I’m a hopeless technophobe. I dislike the stylish laptop I’m using and its subdued pad pad pad. I still long…
Things can always get worse for the Tories
Before migrating to Wiltshire where I will be for August, I had a friendly dinner with a clutch of Conservative…
The mystery of Melania Trump
While everybody at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee was preoccupied with Donald Trump’s triumphal story after the assassination attempt…
The curious life of a foreign minister’s wife
The Polish constitution delineates no role for the foreign minister’s wife. In fact, the foreign minister’s wife is not mentioned…
My future as a reality TV star
Magpies have long been thought to be birds of omen. I am not superstitious. Yet during the election campaign I…
Brexit has helped the EU
There was hardly an election poster to be seen on the roadside during a two-hour drive from London to the…
I lost to Harry Kane at darts
Gareth Southgate has always been a man interested in life outside the football circus. When he played for England, I…
Voters still don’t know what Keir Starmer stands for
Keir Starmer is frustrated. He wants to talk about the future but interviewers like me will insist on asking him…
How the Tories lost their way
Do you pack up the flat or not? That’s the question that everyone who lives in Downing Street faces as…
Who is allowed to play Richard III?
On Tuesday night I was body double/understudy for the brave, brainy, beautiful Rachel Riley, at a packed ‘support Israel’ evening.…
Why won’t Rishi honour our £1,000 bet?
When I interviewed Rishi Sunak in February, I told him I thought his Rwanda plan for ‘stopping the boats’ was…
Who has the worst voice in parliament?
For the first time in more than two decades we are dog-less, and the house feels horribly empty. Our Patterdale…
The day Keir Starmer cried on me about his childhood
I have had a good idea. It may even be an important idea. See what you think. The other day…
My Britney Spears Theory of Action
Every week I check the weather in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Svalbard. It’s about as close as you can…
Tennis is sexy again
For 50 years, I’ve avoided wearing anything resembling formal tennis kit but in a rather lame way, I’ve been seduced…
Wayne Rooney, the war buff
I blame Thierry Henry and I never blame Thierry for anything. He’s funny, charming and was a majestic footballer. But…
I always judge a hotel by its club sandwich
As a child I was fascinated by the exotic names of certain cities: Havana, Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles…
In defence of the EU
Eastern Europe is the graveyard of empires. Rome failed on the Danube, Napoleon on the Dnieper. The epic struggle between…
How on earth does Rishi Sunak keep going?
It’s my birthday this week and the end of my seventh decade (mathematicians will note that this does not make…
Why the fuss over The Spectator’s sale?
This diary is late. Two months late. The columnists who missed my Evening Standard deadlines often had elaborate excuses. Mine…
