Diary
Diary
Foreign trips can offer a sense of perspective. Heading to Saudi Arabia, I prepare for my first stint of diplomacy.…
Diary
‘The mob’s going to want a chicken to kill and they won’t care much who it is,’ wrote John Steinbeck.…
Diary
A princess of Hanover wrote in her diary: ‘My 30th birthday. There must be some mistake.’ Substitute 30th for 80th…
Diary
I only voted in one no-confidence motion. The leader was Iain Duncan Smith, and it was a bit awkward. I…
Diary
After my Unapologetic Diaries were published recently, I was apparently accused of offending several people. At a lavish Christmas lunch…
Diary
On Monday, I had a whinge-walk with Lizzie, my friend of 47 years. We met at breathing classes for our…
Diary
More than 200 non-US residents stood in the queue ahead of me. A grand total of four Homeland Security officers…
Diary
I have not given up on my Build Back Boris campaign, which is the most pressing concern facing the UK.…
Diary
I was born and raised in Sheffield, a proud steel-making city which drew much of its energy from a sense…
Diary
The last time I wrote for The Spectator’s diary slot, over the summer, theatres were tentatively beginning to turn their…
Diary
Amsterdam These are dangerous times in the Netherlands. Anti-lockdown mobs have torched cars, thrown rocks and attacked the police.…
Diary
This week, I’m having puppies! First litter! The Johnsons were not doggy as we always moved around too much (my…
Diary
Two weeks ago, I resigned my post as philosophy professor at Sussex University. For three years, I’ve faced bullying and…
Diary
COP26 is not your typical power summit, because world leaders, NGOs and hacks are all in the same scrum. Outside…
Diary
Rishi Sunak had a pre-game Twix and a Sprite to prepare for this week’s impressive Budget. I used to have…
Diary
The wonderful thing about woke narratives is that you only have to wait a while until they collapse. The core…
Diary
I’m on a book tour which involves 65 speeches in 60 days in Britain, Washington, Philadelphia, Virginia, Mexico, California and…
Diary
The rhythm of the big party conference leader interviews is a strange one. First come days of slow, repetitive, detailed…
Diary
I am just back from my final salmon fishing trip of the year. I have never had a worse season…
Diary
As the cross-Channel ferry noses into Ouistreham, I have a perfect view westward along the D-Day beaches. The excitement of…
Diary
During one of the interminable lockdowns I mentioned that I didn’t care if I never went to another launch party…
Diary
In football, you are always stronger in numbers. With a shared focus, people from different cultures, nationalities, races, sexual orientations,…
Diary
I have no personal investment in America’s Afghanistan war. My own service in Vietnam, now a half-century in the past,…
Diary
I’ve been to two of my favourite book festivals recently, Chalke Valley History Festival and Charleston, and the experience has…
Diary
Kabul I’ve been to the front line in Iraq, Syria and Libya and witnessed all kinds of crazy, unlikely…
