Michael Gove
Enter Boris Johnson, eyes on the prize
After an eight-year detour into municipal government, Boris Johnson has now returned to national politics. The former mayor of London…
Let’s make assisted dying legal for Brightonians
I am having terrible trouble with my hair at the moment. It is lank, flat and lifeless. There are split…
Leave campaigners aren’t being disrespected. They’re being paranoid
There are moments when one wonders whether one is seeing and hearing the same things as others. For me such…
David Cameron is heading for a hollow victory in the EU referendum
‘Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won,’ wrote the Duke of Wellington after…
I have seen classroom miracles at Michaela Community School
It was like being on the set of an inspirational Hollywood film about a visionary teacher who transforms the lives…
Brexit is none of Mark Carney's business
Surely there is a difference between Mark Carney’s intervention in the Scottish referendum last year and in the EU one…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, having continued talks through the night in Brussels, announced that he had achieved a ‘special status’ for…
Inside the Tories' EU dogfight
The Brexit campaign has only just started to demonstrate its strength
Cameron’s first EU referendum battle: shutting up his own MPs
On the day that David Cameron delivered his Bloomberg speech, the 2013 address in which he committed himself to a…
David Cameron is presenting all the wrong arguments for staying in the EU
It is normally in the final, frantic days of a campaign that a multitude of dubious claims are made. But…
Michael Gove is the leader the ‘leave’ campaign needs
The leader that quiet ‘leave’ voters are missing
There’s too much bunkum talked about the arts and education
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
Britain should not mistake its allies for friends
It would be hard to dream up a more absurd piece of political satire than an agency of the British…
Nicky Morgan's pitch for the Tory leadership
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan thinks a woman should run to be the next Tory leader
Why lawyers deserve Michael Gove
A great test of political leadership is how well you deal with vested interests on your own side. In his…
Portrait of the week
Home Tens of thousands took part in a demonstration in London against austerity, and thousands more in other cities. Russell…
In defence of Michael Gove’s grammar guide
Few things are more likely to provoke the disapproval of the bien-pensant left than criticising someone’s grammar. The very idea…
Cameron's small majority means big challenges ahead
In ancient Rome, when a general rode in triumph through the city, a slave would stand behind him whispering into…
Michael Gove vs the lawyers - his toughest fight yet
The Justice Secretary’s new mission will make education reform look like child’s play
David Cameron's big secret: he's not a great politician
This was a vital election. A Tory failure would have been an act of political treason. Five years ago, the…
Five arguments for voting Tory (and one for anything but)
Five Spectator contributors on why they’re voting for Cameron (and one on why he isn’t)
Lefty myths about inequality
As a Tory, I’ve been thinking a lot about inequality recently. Has it really increased in the past five years?…
The teachers who (quietly) miss Michael Gove
Meet the teachers who are (quietly) grateful to the former education secretary