Conservative party
Why we must make an example of Shamima Begum
The three most popular justifications for punishment under the law all (as it happens) begin with R. They are retribution,…
Letters: What Adam Smith would say about Trump’s tariffs
What would Smith say? Sir: Adam Smith’s writings were so definitive that it is said one can find the kernel…
This should be Theresa May’s last conference as Tory leader
The worst of Britain’s post-war mistakes, ideas we thought long dead, are once more in the air. Yet again there…
The minister for spinning plates: David Lidington interview
David Lidington is the most powerful minister you’ve never heard of. He is Theresa May’s de facto deputy, tasked with…
Ukip should return – our politics depends on it
‘The return of Ukip’ declared the headline on our cover story last week. The polling boffin Matthew Goodwin to whose…
A home truth for the Tories: fix the housing crisis or lose power for ever
Much rot is spoken about how the young have it so bad. In fact, this generation is healthier, richer and…
The wrong Brexit: what happened to ‘Global Britain’?
A few months ago, Britain’s most senior ambassadors gathered in the Foreign Office to compare notes on Brexit. There was…
Revealed: the Tory health tax bombshell
The single most important domestic policy decision that the Conservatives must take is what to do about public spending. After…
Theresa May must lead or go
The Brexit ‘inner cabinet’ met on Monday. It was meant to be an important meeting, one which made some real…
The Tory drift goes on – but replacing May is impossible
‘We take the view that while things are bloody awful, we don’t want to risk making things worse.’ That is…
The Cabinet reshuffle highlighted Theresa May’s three great weaknesses
‘They are not as strong as they thought they were,’ one Whitehall source remarked to me on Monday night as…
If Damian Green lied about looking at porn, I don’t blame him one bit
I first viewed pornography at the age of 12, when a school friend showed me a magazine called, I think,…
The Tories urgently need a boost from Philip Hammond’s Budget
The Budget this Wednesday represents this government’s best, and perhaps its last, chance to regain the political initiative. Ever since…
Does Theresa May’s zombie government even want to survive?
Dealing with a hung parliament was never going to be easy, but no one quite foresaw the decay which now…
Sexual misconduct claims leave government in crisis
Home An air of crisis hung over the government. Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, was told to fly back…
Gordon Brown’s memoirs show he is good at blowing his own trumpet – but nothing else
Gordon Brown has pitched his memoirs as the honest confessions of a decent man. He failed to win the one…
The plots thicken
‘Worst week ever’ is one of those phrases that journalists are, perhaps, too quick to use. Alastair Campbell once quipped…
May’s exit strategy
Nearly all Tory MPs now agree Theresa May should stay on as Prime Minister. She must get the party through…
May’s opponents are the mad and the bad
I first met Theresa May, or met her properly, way back in the last century. I’d been invited to speak…
The phoney Tory leadership war
When a new MP is offered a job as a parliamentary private secretary for a cabinet member, it’s often a…
No true Tory can support this gender idiocy
I’ve had it with the Conservatives. For me, and I know I’m not the only one, the final straw was…
Let May govern
It used to be said that loyalty was the Conservatives’ secret weapon. While other parties might descend into internecine warfare,…
The Tories need a ‘what’ as much as a ‘who’
Theresa May has made it to the summer. In the aftermath of the election, Downing Street’s immediate aim was to…
Corbyn can be beaten – here’s how
The Tory party is suffering from an intellectual crisis of confidence. Before 8 June, its collective view was that Jeremy…
The EU referendum has shown us the real David Cameron
Westminster has a tendency to get ahead of itself. MPs want to discuss the aftermath of an event long before…
