Tories
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…
Cameron’s plan for a graceful exit all hinges on the 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…
The Tory dogfight
The Brexit campaign has only just started to demonstrate its strength
Emma Thompson’s wrong, and not just about the EU
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 world-wide – so what’s the secret of Cameron’s success?
There are times when Westminster’s obsession with US politics is embarrassing for even the strongest believer in the Anglo-American relationship.…
The Spectator’s Notes
Speaking on the Today programme on Monday, Sir David Attenborough, who wants a global agreement to control carbon emissions, pointed…
Strange young things
Why are so many Conservative activists so noxious?
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…
This is the Tories’ golden chance to seize the centre ground
Political party conferences have, in recent years, felt like an empty ritual. They used to be convened in seaside towns,…
The Tories are still anxious to reach out. And that’s a very good sign
Post-election party conferences usually follow a standard pattern. The winning party slaps itself on the back while the losers fret…
The right answer
David Cameron might not be remembered as the best prime minister in modern British history but he will probably be…
Why I left
I cannot be part of a movement run by half-educated fanatics
Spectator’s Notes
Was there ever a more unilluminating political idea — for voters rather than practitioners — than triangulation? For those readers so…
The green ink brigade is now running the show
Daily they drop into my email account — alongside the more obviously useful stuff about how I might elongate my penis…
Labour must estrange its awful voters
And so now we have to suffer the epic delusions, temper tantrums and hissy fits of the metro-left. They simply…
The disunited kingdom
This was the Scottish election. Where next for the Union now?
‘Mili-what? Who’s he?’
What opinion polls feel like from the other end of the line
The right choice
When election day dawns, it’s worth bearing in mind that two million more people will be going to work than when…
Death by politics
Dead Sheep is a curious dramatic half-breed that examines Geoffrey Howe’s troubled relationship with Margaret Thatcher. Structurally it’s a Mexican…
The election result that everyone expects – and no one wants
To form a coalition, David Cameron had to give up the Prime Ministerial prerogative to determine when the election was…
Re-election
In a late schedule change, Channel 4’s Coalition was shifted from Thursday to Saturday to make room for Jeremy Paxman…
This year, I’m keeping my ambitions modest
This time last year, I wrote an article saying my main project in 2014 would be to unite the right.…
The deal Dave didn’t do
Ukip tried to play fair with Cameron. But he wouldn’t even talk to us
