Politics

Why was an erroneous graph used to justify the second lockdown?

11 November 2023 9:00 am

Two stories are emerging from the Covid Inquiry: one that it wants to tell and one that it does not.…

Hope might be the only strategy Sunak has left

11 November 2023 9:00 am

The first King’s Speech for more than 70 years was a festival of the expected: the royal reading of a…

How the National party toppled Labour in New Zealand

14 October 2023 10:42 pm

Just three years on from Jacinda Ardern’s phenomenal outright victory, New Zealand’s Labour government has collapsed, slumping to half its…

Portrait of the week

14 October 2023 9:00 am

Should Ukraine hold a general election next year?

30 September 2023 9:00 am

Should Ukraine hold a general election next year?

Portrait of the Week

30 September 2023 9:00 am

Enjoyable and informative but where’s the drama? Political Currency reviewed

30 September 2023 9:00 am

The first episode of George Osborne and Ed Balls’s new podcast, Political Currency, opened with an old clip of the…

Portrait of the week

23 September 2023 9:00 am

Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, proposed reaching net zero in 2050 ‘in a better, more proportionate way’ such as by…

Politicians can’t win on illegal migration

23 September 2023 9:00 am

It is eight years now since The Spectator sent me to Lampedusa to see the boats coming in. That was…

Letters

23 September 2023 9:00 am

Whose victory? Sir: Politicians are often accused of engaging in doublespeak, and I fear in the case of Boris Johnson’s…

Australia’s disastrous indigenous voice referendum

23 September 2023 9:00 am

My partner and I have just returned from the most magical trip. As guests of Western Australia’s tourist board we’ve…

Broken Britain: what went wrong?

9 September 2023 9:00 am

Who broke Britain?

Will the collapse of councils be the next great scandal?

9 September 2023 9:00 am

Last month India managed to land a spacecraft on the moon for a third of the price of refurbishing Hammersmith…

Does the public want reheated Blairism?

9 September 2023 9:00 am

To understand the political journey of Sir Keir Starmer, look to Liz Kendall. This week the Blairite and one-time leadership…

‘We need to start the road to rejoin’: Gina Miller on Brexit, farmers and her ambitious plans for Epsom

9 September 2023 9:00 am

Gina Miller on Brexit, farmers and her ambitious plans for Epsom

Should vintage comedy be judged by today’s standards?

22 July 2023 9:00 am

A successful joke relies on rhythm, tempo, cadence, pause – so why does David Stubbs find comedy and music so antithetical, wonders Joel Morris

The battle with the Blob

3 June 2023 9:00 am

Most prime ministers fall out with the civil service at some point. David Cameron attacked the ‘enemies of enterprise’; Tony…

All change at CCHQ

5 November 2022 3:42 am

The winds of change are blowing through the corridors of 4 Matthew Parker Street. Having turfed team Truss out of…

Why Sunak backtracked over fines for missed GP appointments

28 October 2022 11:37 pm

Not surprisingly, Rishi Sunak has dropped plans to fine NHS patients £10 for missed appointments. It was one of the…

Has the pandemic made us appreciate nature more?

22 October 2022 9:00 am

Out to grass If Liz Truss is forced out of office (and doesn’t also resign her parliamentary seat as Tony…

Penny reign: why Mordaunt is the kingmaker

21 October 2022 9:27 pm

Tory MPs will likely have three candidates to vote for in Monday’s leadership race: Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi…

How long can Liz Truss hold on?

17 October 2022 1:38 am

How much trouble is Liz Truss in? Just six weeks into her premiership, the Prime Minister’s economic plans are in…

Removing PMs hardly ever ends well

14 October 2022 10:38 pm

As Tory MPs appear to descend into a panic of buyers’ remorse over the election of Liz Truss, they would…