Conservative party
John Major has learned nothing over Brexit
Rishi Sunak’s government is sometimes compared to that of John Major, the man who succeeded Margaret Thatcher in 1990, went…
Boris Johnson’s peculiar conservative conversion
In his most recent column for the Mail, Boris Johnson fires a shot at, among other things, ‘the leftie twittersphere’.…
‘We’ve got to hold our nerve’: Rishi Sunak’s BBC interview
As mortgage rates surge and a new Opinium poll finds Labour’s lead has jumped to 18 points, Rishi Sunak appeared…
The battle with the Blob
Most prime ministers fall out with the civil service at some point. David Cameron attacked the ‘enemies of enterprise’; Tony…
Sunak can’t afford to lose Braverman
Back in the early days of the Blair governments, Alastair Campbell was reputed to have a rule for resignations: once…
Did Suella Braverman break the ministerial code?
Fresh from claiming the scalp of Dominic Raab, is the civil service now after Suella Braverman? The Sunday Times reports…
The Tories would be lost in opposition
It is widely observed that many Conservatives are preparing to lose power at the next general election. The Conservative Democratic…
Tories’ thoughts are turning to defeat
Ever since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, his aides have worried that May would be the month of mutiny. His…
Meet Millennial Millie, the new swing voter
An election looms and political parties are already talking ‘voter demographics’. Every few years, the wonks of Westminster pick a…
What I learned from Nigel Lawson
His practical radicalism brought permanent change
The Tories should think again on targeting Netflix
If you want to understand the curious attitude of our government towards media freedom, look at two provisions in the…
Rishi Sunak is right to get tough on begging
When Rishi Sunak presented the latest attempt by a prime minister to get tough on anti-social behaviour, it wasn’t the…
Is it time to ban second jobs for MPs?
There are some genres of newspaper story that never die. Among them are sightings of Lord Lucan, public moralists discovered…
Why Boris Johnson might escape a partygate punishment
After several months of anticipation, two contentious legal submissions from Lord Pannick KC and a bumper 52-page witness statement, Boris…
Rishi risks another asylum outcry
With the likelihood of a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol fading this week, a new issue has emerged to…
It’s time for ‘reality-based’ politicians to start addressing Brexit
Praise be. A day or two ago, something potentially quite exciting took place in Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire. It was a two-day…
Rishi Sunak is no John Major
As the skies darken over Rishi Sunak’s embattled government, with ministers being fired or placed under investigation, opinion polls dire…
Why won’t the Conservatives stand up for conservatism any more?
Is it supposed to be enough for those of us of a culturally and socially conservative persuasion to know that some Tory…
Five ways the Liz Truss saga could end
How does this end? That’s the question being asked by Tory MPs as Liz Truss’s government finds itself in turmoil…
Removing PMs hardly ever ends well
As Tory MPs appear to descend into a panic of buyers’ remorse over the election of Liz Truss, they would…
Things can always get worse
As I was saying, way back in July, it is hard to love the Conservative party. Every time it tries…
What does Michael Gove want?
Tory conference has long been more stage-managed than other party meetings, but this year the official speeches from ministers have…
Thatcherism is a cult the Tories should not follow
Friedrich Nietzsche may not be the most fashionable member of the conservative canon, but doubtless he wouldn’t care much. He…
Is Liz Truss sowing the seeds of her own downfall?
Liz Truss looks to be winning a decisive victory for cold-eyed conservatism. A victory for I went to the school…
Letters: How Rishi Sunak could beat the odds
Injured party Sir: Prue Leith’s short interlude as a Conservative party member and subsequent resignation underlines a feature of the…
