Politics
David Cameron is nearing crisis point
For David Cameron, Margaret Thatcher’s funeral must seem an awfully long time ago. Back then, all the talk was of a new Tory unity. He had found a way to… Read more
Why the Tories need their own Nigel Farage
There are two talking points in Westminster this week. One is about who is up and who is down following the local council elections. This finds the Cameroons privately pleased… Read more
A rare mood of unity descends on the Conservatives
The idea that ‘loyalty is the Conservative party’s secret weapon’ was always dubious. Benjamin Disraeli, for instance, made his name attacking a sitting Conservative prime minister. This, though, did not… Read more
Ed Miliband, Nigel Farage and the age of cynical politics
Would you rather this country was led by a man who is out of touch, arrogant and smug or someone who is out of his depth, weak and out of… Read more
The Tory modernisers are Margaret Thatcher's true heirs
Margaret Thatcher’s death has inevitably prompted intense reflection among Tories about what lessons the party should learn from her time in office. ‘We must finish the job’ is the refrain… Read more
What will David Cameron be remembered for?
Ten Downing Street has been an odd place these past few days. The prime ministerial portraits that line the main staircase have been taken down and the furniture covered in… Read more
Do Tories want David Cameron to lose?
Downing Street aides nervously run through the symptoms: a flat economy, poor press, leadership mutterings. Then they say, ‘It’s just mid-term blues, isn’t it?’ A second later, they add nervously,… Read more
For once, Osborne will be glad not to be the story
A few years ago George Osborne would have bristled at the idea that one of his budgets wouldn’t be the biggest event of the political week. His ability to conjure… Read more
David Cameron’s secret Budget plan
It was the night that the Conservatives’ dream of a majority died. The first televised election debate in British history was meant to be the moment that David Cameron moved… Read more
David Cameron needs Willie Whitelaw. He has Nick Clegg
David Cameron needs a Willie. So say the ministers who work most closely with No. 10. It is not a call for shock-and-awe radicalism, but for someone who can help… Read more
Lord Rennard, Mark Oaten and the Lib Dems’ embarrassing adolescence
Imagine if seven Tory Cabinet ministers had resigned since David Cameron became Prime Minister. Then think about another seven being accused of having covered up alleged sexual misconduct by a… Read more
The horsemeat scandal shows the true extent of Europe’s power in Britain
There’s something gripping about a food scandal. The idea we could be inadvertently eating something taboo exercises a fascination on the public mind. But where has all the horsemeat in… Read more
The battle of Eastleigh will be bloody
This week’s Cabinet meeting was a deceptively straightforward affair. Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers met as usual, and discussed economic competitiveness and their priorities for the next Queen’s speech. It… Read more
Cameron will have to fund his Mali adventure
‘This is the hour of Europe, not the hour of the Americans,’ Jacques Poos, foreign minister of Luxembourg, declared in 1991. Yugoslavia, he said, was a problem in Europe’s neighbourhood… Read more
Will the real radicals please stand up?
At the next election, all parties will agree that Britain is in a mess. They will disagree about is who is to blame. Both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats… Read more
Cameron’s European moment has come – a year late
David Cameron should have given his big Europe speech a year ago. Having just threatened to veto a new EU treaty, he had proved that he was prepared to aggressively… Read more
The Cameron election
One of the first things that the coalition did on taking office was to announce the date of the next election. This was meant to prevent destablising speculation about when… Read more
Our person in Brussels
One of David Cameron’s great skills is his ability to separate the cares of office from the rest of his life. Samantha Cameron is never likely to say, to misquote… Read more
Osborne is the St Augustine Chancellor – he wants to balance the books, but not yet.
After months of squabbling and not-so-civil war, the coalition now appears to be functioning again. This is one immediate consequence of George Osborne’s Autumn Statement. The Chancellor was allowed to… Read more
Now is the time to buy stock in George Osborne
Few politicians have a more volatile share price than George Osborne. His career to date has been a tale of highs (the inheritance tax announcement, the 2010 emergency budget) and… Read more
Latest blogs
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- Drummer Lee Rigby Douglas Murray
- Eight Golden Rules for Tragedy Tweeting Freddy Gray
- Government behaving badly over ‘quietly aborted’ lobbying reform Iain Anderson
- Vice is vanishing from Britain Leo McKinstry
- Edmund Burke and post-modern conservatism David Blackburn
- Why, once again, a fall in student immigration is good Andrew Green
