Tories
Rishi Sunak is a prime minister in waiting
It is always a pleasure to see a first-rate mind in action, as we did during today’s Budget. Equally, when…
Do Tories know the truth about Boris Johnson?
Exactly 40 years ago tomorrow, four Labour party grandees issued the Limehouse Declaration, signalling ‘the re-emergence of social democracy in…
Boris Johnson isn't the only one to blame for Britain's Covid crisis
Britain has suffered one of the world’s highest Covid death tolls and worst Covid recessions. It has managed this abysmal feat…
Why Boris, not Rishi, will lead the Tories into the next election
Some Tory MPs are hoping that Dominic Cummings’ departure from Downing Street will bring with it a vital lift to…
Enough plotlines to power several seasons of The West Wing: BBC1's Roadkill reviewed
Like many a political thriller before it, BBC1’s Roadkill began with a politician emerging into the daylight to face a…
Give Nigel Farage a peerage
Almost half of Tory supporters think that Nigel Farage deserves a peerage, according to a new poll. And while some…
Why a Tory-Brexit party pact isn’t likely
Nigel Farage’s European election-winning machine is the guest that has not yet turned up to the 2019 general election party. This…
It would be foolish to take Boris’s Brexit promises at face value
As the by-election result came through from Wales last week, one Tory Leaver tweeted this: “Brecon and Radnor is a timely…
The case against Boris Johnson
In the old days, if the Tory party was in trouble, old hands who had seen it all before would…
Cometh the hour: Boris Johnson may be the Tories’ best hope
The worse things are for the Tories, the better for Boris Johnson. If the Tories were ahead in the polls,…
Brexit failure will cost the Tories – whoever their leader is
One of the oddities of this parliament has been that, despite everything, the government has remained ahead in the polls…
Brexit belongs to the Tories — whether they like it or not
The Tory party is the party of Brexit, whether it likes it or not. The referendum was called by a…
Why May must stay
As from the Manchester conference hall I watched Theresa May’s big moment falling apart, as I buried my head in…
Letters
What do the Tories offer? Sir: I have been hoping that someone more eloquent than me would respond to your…
Can anyone unite the Tory tribes?
One of the reasons that coalition governments are so unusual in Britain is that both main parties are coalitions themselves.…
The many sides of satire
Brexit the Musical is a peppy satire written by Chris Bryant (not the MP, he’s a lawyer). Musically the show…
David Cameron’s plan for a graceful exit all hinges on the EU referendum
The year 2019 seems a long way away. Whether or not David Cameron can stay in office until then is…
Why I feel compelled to defend Boris
I got Boris Johnson into trouble once, without meaning to. The two of us had been driven hither and thither…
Inside the Tories' EU dogfight
The Brexit campaign has only just started to demonstrate its strength
Emma Thompson’s wrong about the EU and cake
At first glance, Emma Thompson’s intervention in the Brexit debate earlier this week didn’t make much sense. Asked at the…
The centre-right is failing worldwide, so what’s David Cameron’s secret?
There are times when Westminster’s obsession with US politics is embarrassing for even the strongest believer in the Anglo-American relationship.…
Spittle is the only thing Labour has left
I have started salivating excessively at night. I wake each morning in a pillowed swamp of my own effluvium, a…
It's not Tory vs Labour; it's the party of government v the party of protest
Political party conferences have, in recent years, felt like an empty ritual. They used to be convened in seaside towns,…