Labour
The Tories are paying the price for underestimating Ukip
In a corner of the Ukip campaign office in Rochester, a light-up orb is spinning, with the words ‘Vote Mark…
Left in the lurch
Thanks to globalisation, ‘progressive’ politicians have nowhere to turn
What’s happened to my party?
Labour voters feel hope and despair; hope, because the Tories are doing no better than we, and despair, for that…
Ukip is a party for people who hate London. That’s why Labour should be scared
It is interesting that neither Scotland nor Wales have been much bitten by the Ukip bug. The supposedly sensible view…
Mondeo Man votes Ukip now
An opinion poll to be published next week will reveal that Labour leader Ed Miliband is slightly less popular with…
Unintelligent design
Now that the conference season is over, we can compare not just the party policies, but their logos too. Last…
Think again, Mrs May
If the Labour party conference in Manchester felt like a funeral, the Conservatives’ gathering in Birmingham had the air of…
Barometer
Commons inheritance Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony and niece of Hilary, has won the right to stand for Labour in…
Diary
My trips to meet Russians in Russia these days are a little less controversial than my encounter with them in…
Labour has proved that it speaks for London – and nowhere else
So, now almost all the votes have been counted — except for those in the Islamic Republic of Tower Hamlets, where…
The radical centre
In almost a decade as Conservative leader, David Cameron has tended to avoid talking about his political philosophy. He has…
The occasional ex-fascist is the least of the BBC’s problems
Duncan Weldon’s past – as a Labour adviser and elsewhere – doesn’t affect his ability to do the job
The dawn of four-party politics
Two things will make the next general election campaign quite unlike any previous election in this country. The first is…
Ed Balls doesn’t care what you and I think: he’s just tweeting at Labour’s floaters
There were a million people who voted Labour in the 2005 general election but not in 2010, when the party…
Transparency is the Tories’ greatest legacy to the NHS
Pinned to the wall of Jeremy Hunt’s office in the Department of Health is an A1 piece of paper detailing…
Going for a duck
It’s taken me a few months to catch up with the political farce The Duck House. Then again, it’s taken…
Union man
Can George Galloway keep Scotland in Britain?
Have I gone to the wrong party?
I’m still weighing up whether to run for Parliament, but after this week’s reshuffle I’ve concluded I’m in the wrong…
The Tories would be mad to cuddle up to Ukip
Such is my respect for Spectator readers that I offer you a column whose subtext is in Latin. Ours is…
Diary
They say nothing beats the feeling of seeing your book in print. But for me, the proudest moment was presenting…
Nick Clegg should stick with the devil he knows
I write this in Glasgow, at the Lib Dem conference. Nick Clegg has invented a constitutional doctrine. The doctrine teaches…
The PM is preparing for another coalition. His colleagues have other plans
Conservatives have been returning to their Westminster offices this week to find the wind behind them. Something suddenly seems to…
Columnists are still partisan. Our readers aren’t
An email exchange with a Conservative-leaning friend this week left me feeling sheepish. But if shameful my behaviour be, I’m…
