Tory party
The punishing life of a chief whip
Simon Hart describes his frustrations as he grapples with the rivalries and petty jealousies of colleagues lobbying for peerages and knighthoods as the Tory party implodes
‘I will die protecting this country’: Kemi Badenoch on where she plans to take the Tories
‘It’s like a start-up,’ Kemi Badenoch explains of her new job, as she plumps down on a sofa in the…
The strange silence around the Southport attacks
There are certain rules in British public life that are worth noting. Such as this one: if someone is killed…
The joy of opposition
By rights, the Conservative party conference in Birmingham ought to have been a funereal affair. It was the first time…
Portrait of the week: Iran fires missiles into Israel, Rosie Duffield resigns and Mount Everest gets taller
Home The Conservatives at their party conference examined the four surviving candidates for leader – Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James…
Why the Tories lost – by the Tory leadership candidates
As the four candidates prepare to make their pitch at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, we quizzed them about…
Who’s on top in the Tory leadership contest?
In recent years, the Conservative party conference has become something of an irrelevance. Often it is little more than a…
Labour’s age of miracles
I am not yet eligible for the winter fuel allowance. Nor am I especially in favour of it, regarding it…
Inside the long race for the Tory leadership
Conservative MPs who hoped for a relaxing summer break have had a nasty shock: their phones have been ringing on…
When in doubt, have a drink
Most Tory MPs enjoy leadership elections. There may be an element of what the trick-cyclists call ‘displacement activity’. Equally, it…
Peter Hitchens: I invented the ‘left-wing face’
Sitting ducks Sir: James Heale is right to highlight the important question about Rishi Sunak’s replacement (‘Who will lead the…
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…
The Liz Truss survival plan
At the first stage of the Conservative leadership race, when Liz Truss was trying to win MPs’ support, her message…
The Spectator’s Notes
In the House of Commons on Monday, someone accused Liz Truss’s government of being ‘in office but not in power’.…
Nobody on God’s earth wanted Truss
One of the most important ingredients in the oil used to anoint King Charles during his coronation is becoming a…
Beyond Truss
Seldom has support for a government fallen so far, so fast. Polls show that 24 per cent of the public…
Why Liz Truss had to go
The Liz Truss survival plan was, in the end, unworkable. She not only hired her enemies – Grant Shapps and Jeremy…
How long can Liz Truss hold on?
How much trouble is Liz Truss in? Just six weeks into her premiership, the Prime Minister’s economic plans are in…
Five ways the Liz Truss saga could end
How does this end? That’s the question being asked by Tory MPs as Liz Truss’s government finds itself in turmoil…
‘She’s just so bad at everything’: Tory MPs turn on Truss
Liz Truss’s Downing Street press conference has made everything worse, as far as Tory MPs are concerned. As soon as…
Crash course
Where does the Truss revolution go from here?
Rishi by Christmas?
What was supposed to be a recovery moment for the Conservatives instead looks like a collective nervous breakdown. The Prime…
Portrait of the week
Home Liz Truss, the Prime Minister, came up with a message for the Conservative party conference: ‘Whenever there is change,…
The right reforms
Conservative governments have a habit of self-destructing: they die not in battle with political enemies but as a result of…
