Reform
The meaning of Lord Offord’s defection
Malcolm Offord has today quit Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives to join Reform UK. The peer was unveiled at a press conference…
The rudeness of Reform
Critics see Rachel Reeves as betraying her election manifesto tax promises; but she may well be trying ‘The Lady’s Not…
Starmer has bought himself time. Can he use it wisely?
The Labour conference in Liverpool was a curiously upbeat affair. Much of the good spirit came from schadenfreude at the…
Farage, flags and the forgotten English
The flag-raisings in towns and cities across the country are an inevitable consequence of elites’ seeming preference for every flag…
Can Reform beat the blob?
Shortly after he was elected as Britain’s youngest council leader last month, 19-year-old George Finch of Reform UK had a…
In Essex, the only way is Reform
The country is slipping away. The whole place, slowly, but London suddenly, blinding glass slabs becoming East End blocks, ‘SPLENDID…
Kemi’s one chance at recovery? Trussonomics
You may have noticed that for some while the BBC News people have stopped referring to Reform UK as ‘far…
Inside the Conservative clubs that are turning Reform
My first job was working behind the bar of the Richmond Conservative Club in North Yorkshire. The place was as…
The death of public discourse
It is said that since Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, it is once again possible to use the…
Reform and the problem with the Overton window
In the space of about one month a further 9 per cent of the electorate has decided that the views…
My apology to Reform
I have read countless commentaries explaining why we shouldn’t take Reform’s victories last Thursday too seriously. They are all wrong.…
Reform overtake Tories on Spectator poll tracker
The new year is off to a bad start for Kemi Badenoch’s Tories. The latest update to The Spectator data…
Does Kemi Badenoch have a plan?
We are nearing the 50th anniversary, next month, of Margaret Thatcher becoming leader of the Conservative party. Only one other…
Letters: why I’m voting Reform
Back to 1976? Sir: Your leading article perfectly reflects the public’s attitude to the manifestos of the major parties (‘Challenging…
Tory voters want to punish their party – and themselves
For progressive onlookers abroad, the Labour landslide now projected next month will seem a cheerful counterweight to the EU parliamentary…
How to lose voters
During the 1983 general election, I campaigned every single day with great zeal and avidity. I knocked on quite literally…
Why are the Tories playing Farage’s game?
How should Rishi Sunak respond to the unwelcome insertion of Nigel Farage into the election campaign? The Prime Minister called…
Is this the end of borrow and spend?
Since the spring statement last week, Rishi Sunak has been dealing with complaints from all sides: the right have been…
The greatest threat to Boris’s legacy
The government is starting to have an opinion poll problem, but it has nothing to do with any great threat…
Charles Moore on BBC reform
Former editor of The Spectator and Daily Telegraph Charles Moore is tipped to become chairman of the BBC. Despite being…
Laying down the law
A great test of political leadership is how well you deal with vested interests on your own side. In his…
Healing the NHS
To adapt Aeschylus’s aphorism on war and truth, the first casualty in a general election campaign is objectivity. Over the…
Leave Ukraine to the Russians
‘You can’t always get what you want,’ chorused Mick Jagger, ‘but if you try some time/You just might find/You get…
Addicted to gambling and reform
A book about one of the London clubs, published to mark its 250th anniversary, might be regarded as of extremely…
The President and the muckrakers
Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era are well-worn subjects for both professional and amateur historians, so it’s pertinent to ask…
