Boris Johnson
The Boris Island of ancient Athens
During his lecture on Athens at the Legatum Institute (see p. 22), Boris Johnson placed great emphasis on Athens’ development…
Rona Fairhead will be good for the BBC – but who was so keen to nobble her rival?
Hats off to Rona Fairhead, the former Financial Times executive who will succeed Lord Patten as chairman of the BBC…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said that Britons who went to Syria or Iraq to fight could be stripped…
Radek Sikorski's diary: Show Putin what you think of him – eat a Polish apple
I made a welcome escape from sweltering Warsaw to the cloudy cool of Bodø, halfway up the coast of Norway,…
Demosthenes’ lessons in ambition for Boris Johnson
The ancient Greek word for ‘ambition’ was philotimia: ‘love of high esteem in others’ eyes’. Both Boris and Alex Salmond…
Is Boris Johnson standing for Parliament — or running for it?
‘Boris Johnson broke cover yesterday to declare that he will run for parliament,’ the Times reported last week. The Mirror…
Here comes Boris! The next Tory leadership fight has just begun
The next Tory leadership battle has just begun
For Boris, choosing the right seat will only be half the battle
Choosing the right seat is only half the battle for Boris
Spectator letters: VAT and sugar, Boris Johnson and cricket, whisky and bagpipes
Sugar added tax Sir: Julia Pickles (Letters, 14 June) suggests a sugar tax to combat the obesity epidemic and discourage…
Ed Miliband’s problem isn’t his image. It’s us
That bacon bap earlier this month was not the cause of Ed Miliband’s unpopularity. Ed Miliband’s unpopularity was the cause…
The Spectator's notes: Diana's bed, Boris's dirty trick and Prince Philip's mystery tie
On Friday night, I went to Althorp, childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales, to speak at its literary festival.…
Spectator letters: The trouble with religion, alternatives to HS2, and whisky-drinking dogs
Old cabby’s tale Stephen Rommei’s London cabby story (Diary, 7 June) reminded me of catching a cab one cold night…
Fight Thomas Piketty or face a mansion tax
The postman at the door is stooped by his burden like an allegorical statue of Labour Oppressed by Capital. His…
Paul Johnson’s diary: Boris would make a great PM – but he must strike now
I feel an intense antipathy for Vladimir Putin. No one on the international scene has aroused in me such dislike…
Governments have failed — mayors are the future
The power to effect real change may lie with dynamic city halls rather than ossified national governments
Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and the return of Tory wars
From the moment he took his job, Michael Gove knew that he would make energetic and determined enemies. The teachers’…
Why Boris is wrong to say that the children of jihadis should be taken into care
Do your children have a bleak and nihilistic view of the world? It’s hard to tell, really, when they spend…
Conrad Black’s diary: Why I won’t join the campaign against Rob Ford
When visiting Britain and Australia last November, I discovered that the mayor of Toronto, Robert Ford, is now the world’s…
Why I'm on board for the homophobic bus
London has long since lost its allure for me — altogether too many cars, foreigners, cyclists, middle-class liberals and people…
Charles Moore: What would we call what's left of the country if Scotland leaves? Obviously Former UK (FUK) won't do...
Boris Johnson’s Margaret Thatcher Lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies attracted attention for its remarks about IQ, but the…
Jeremy Clarke: Why has Ed Miliband hidden his comic genius from the world?
Theresa May must have been a little disappointed. Her government limousine rolled silently to a halt at the rear entrance…
Toby Young: Please, Boris, don't allow a Waitrose in my neighbourhood
Five years ago I joined forces with some local worthies to object to the opening of a strip joint on…
Don't hug me! (Even though sometimes it's rather nice)
Have we gained from abandoning the handshake?
With one cunningly placed number, Boris may have killed HS2
‘Does anyone seriously doubt that this amazing scheme is actually going to go ahead?’ boomed Boris Johnson last week. ‘No…
Is my rod big enough? Boris Johnson’s fishing notebook
You remember the climax of Jaws — the primeval moment when Quint the crazed Ahab-like fisherman goes mano a mano…
