UKIP
Why it won’t be Ukip’s fault if Cameron loses
Ukip tried to play fair with Cameron. But he wouldn’t even talk to us
Who are Ukip’s new voters? The kind of people who decide elections
An opinion poll to be published next week will reveal that Labour leader Ed Miliband is slightly less popular with…
Ukip's logo is quite successful – in communicating a spirit of gung-ho crapness
Now that the conference season is over, we can compare not just the party policies, but their logos too. Last…
Why the real winner from George Osborne’s ‘Google tax’ could be Nigel Farage
George Osborne’s promise to crack down on multinational companies’ avoidance of UK taxes by the use of impenetrable devices such…
Nigel Farage’s class war
I initially thought Nigel Farage had made a mistake in unveiling Mark Reckless on the final day of his party…
Cameron must reunite the Tories or lose the next election
No one goes to Birmingham to revive a marriage. But that is what David Cameron and the Conservative party must…
The Spectator's Notes: this is the worst reshuffle since 1989
This must be the worst reshuffle since Mrs Thatcher demoted Geoffrey Howe in 1989. Unlike that one, its errors are…
Once Scotland votes, it's England's turn for a constitutional crisis
Before David Cameron heads off for his summer holiday, he’ll be presented with a first draft of the Tory manifesto…
What Julius Caesar would have done about Nigel Farage
Our politicians are desperately keen to turn the toast of the people, Nigel Farage, into toast himself. But is that…
Nigel Farage is becoming a moderniser
There are many words that you might associate with Nigel Farage, but moderniser probably isn’t one. Yet the Ukip leader…
Does Ukip believe in anything any more?
I’m worried about Ukip. It’s possible that my concerns are entirely misplaced but let me give you some examples of…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, responded to the triumph of the UK Independence Party in the European elections (which…
Peter Mandelson’s diary: The accomplishments of George Osborne – and Vladimir Putin
My trips to meet Russians in Russia these days are a little less controversial than my encounter with them in…
If Alex Salmond is cutting bureaucracy, why does he have so many quangos?
Escape committees An LSE/Institute for Government report estimated the cost of Scottish independence at £2.7 billion, a sum arrived at…
Labour has proved that it speaks for London – and nowhere else
So, now almost all the votes have been counted — except for those in the Islamic Republic of Tower Hamlets, where…
Portrait of the week
Home Demand for housing posed ‘the biggest risk to financial stability’ according to Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank…
David Cameron's plot to keep us in the EU (it's working)
I write this before the results of the European elections, making the not very original guess that Ukip will do…
I’d rather have a German next door too — and I have the figures to show why
Should we be worried about the vast numbers of German-born people living covertly in the United Kingdom? The Office for…
The most shocking thing about young Ukip supporters: they’re normal
Ukip’s young supporters are oddly normal
When Virginia Woolf's husband ruled Sri Lanka's jungles
Tucked away in the schedules, just before midday, just after midweek (on Thursday), just four lines in the Radio Times,…
Spectator letters: How schools fail boys, Jonathan Croall answers Keith Baxter, and why atheists should love the C of E
Why girls do better Sir: Isabel Hardman notes that girls now outperform boys at every level in education (‘The descent…
Portrait of the week
Home The British economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, disappointing hotheads who’d expected 1 per cent. It…
The Spectator's Notes: Max Clifford's conviction vindicates juries. But so did the acquittals
The conviction of Max Clifford for indecent assaults feels like a vindication of the jury system, as did the acquittal…
Ukip isn’t a national party. It’s a Tory sickness
It can happen that something ought to feel wrong yet somehow doesn’t; and you wonder whether this means that in…
