kemi badenoch
Kneecap are basic but thrilling
It was Irish week in London, with one group from the north and one from the south. Guinness was sold…
What Kemi Badenoch can learn from her enemies
Kemi Badenoch, in an act of unusual awareness for an MP, intends to learn from her own party’s mistakes as…
I listened to a solid week of Woman’s Hour…
I was a weird kid, and though I harboured the usual innocent girlish ambitions of being a drug fiend and…
Portrait of the week: Trump’s victory, Kemi’s shadow cabinet and footballer killed by lightning
Home Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of the Conservative party, appointed a shadow cabinet. She made Robert Jenrick, whom she…
Inside Kemi Badenoch’s first shadow cabinet
At her first shadow cabinet as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch walked into the room and declared that there were ‘still…
Badenoch must explain why the Tories deserve power
Kemi Badenoch’s victory was not overwhelming. Her margin of victory was smaller than of any of her Tory predecessors since…
Kemi vs Robert: who would be the best Tory leader?
Ed West on Robert Jenrick It’s a testimony to the sheer unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s government that only three months…
The real problem with the Tory leadership contest
James Cleverly found some unlikely support in parliament on Monday night. Having just been ousted from the Tory leadership contest,…
Why the Tories lost – by the Tory leadership candidates
As the four candidates prepare to make their pitch at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, we quizzed them about…
Who’s on top in the Tory leadership contest?
In recent years, the Conservative party conference has become something of an irrelevance. Often it is little more than a…
Are the Tories brave enough to be conservative?
The Conservative party is out of power – and that’s not easy if you’ve been in power for more than…
Inside the long race for the Tory leadership
Conservative MPs who hoped for a relaxing summer break have had a nasty shock: their phones have been ringing on…
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 Tories are a danger only to each other
On Monday night the Conservatives announced the rules of the party’s leadership contest. The reaction in Labour circles was incredulity…
Who will lead the Tories next?
Rishi Sunak performed a mea culpa when his shadow cabinet convened on Monday, taking full responsibility for the election loss.…
David Tennant’s pride and prejudice
As all non-bigoted readers will know, this is the holy and most ancient month of Pride. The time of year…
We need more Kemi Badenochs
On Tuesday, parliament voted for the first time on legislation to begin the phasing out of smoking (not just cigarettes,…
How has the Conservative party’s ‘Dr No’ escaped everyone’s notice for so long?
This malevolent figure has been at the centre of the party for more than 40 years, says Nadine Dorries. But nothing in The Plot bears much relation to reality
After Sunak, who?
Nothing happens, and nothing happens, and then everything happens, the author Fay Weldon once declared. This observation about life’s tendency…
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…
My life as a political spouse
When I was a teenage Tory activist in the mid-1990s, I hoped one day I’d be part of a leadership…
The latest Tory leadership debate was a grim spectacle
The eyes had it, in last night’s leadership debate. Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak took turns directing to the camera…
The verdict: the second Tory leadership debate
‘If you’re still watching this debate, well done,’ said Mordaunt, bizarrely, in her closing statement. ‘I wish tonight had been…
Where do the Tories go from here?
The hardest thing for any political party to achieve is renewal in government. The Tories have managed it twice since…