The Week

Leading article

26th September, 2007

Ostensibly, Gordon Brown’s first Labour conference speech as Prime Minister on Monday was grandly non-partisan: there was not a single mention of the Tories or of David Cameron. In practice, the Conservative party generally, and Mr Cameron specifically, were present in every line.

Diary

26th September, 2007

London Fashion Week is one of those events, like the Lib Dem Conference and the Max Power show, that is important to a few people but passes most of us by.

The Spectator's Notes

26th September, 2007

Was there a single respect in which Gordon Brown made a good speech at Bournemouth?

Tamzin Lightwater’s conference diary

26th September, 2007

Sunday: All eyes on the opening ceremony for what I’m sure will be a truly memorable performance by world-renowned professional speechmaker William Hague.

Mind your language

26th September, 2007

Shakespeare plays need surtitles to make them intelligible. Otherwise one only understands what is going on by previous study.

Letters to the Editor

26th September, 2007

Thank you for Peter Oborne’s ruthlessly accurate exposé of the Political Class (‘The Establishment is dead’, 15 September).

Leading article

19th September, 2007

Extraordinary measures are sometimes necessary to quell the madness of crowds. When Diana, Princess of Wales’s mourners threatened to vent their angry grief on the institution of monarchy itself, it became necessary for the Queen to speak directly to her people.

Diary

19th September, 2007

In the wake of my niece by marriage, Charlotte Mosley, queen of editors, I have done a few book signings lately in aid of The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters.

The Spectator's notes

19th September, 2007

For ten years, it has been said that Gordon Brown gave independence to the Bank of England.

Notting Hill Nobody

19th September, 2007

Hooray! Labour no longer the Party of Economic Competence!!

Mind your language

19th September, 2007

Walking to the station the other day I was thinking how annoying it is that, when people are invited to name their favourite words, so many answer serendipity.

Leading article

12th September, 2007

The long quest to find a purpose for the Lib Dems is the modern equivalent to the probably apocryphal story about the child asking his mother about Lord Randolph Churchill: ‘What is that man for?’

Diary

12th September, 2007

We took Alastair on holiday with us this year. Listened to his version of the Blair years in the car all the way to Biarritz — it was either him or French pop music.

Politics

12th September, 2007

There is just one consolation for Sir Menzies Campbell as he prepares for his second and probably last conference as Liberal Democrat leader: they will not come after him in Brighton.

Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody

12th September, 2007

Dave has moved into the building! He and his staff left the Commons office on Friday night and set up camp in The Thatcher Room!

Letters

12th September, 2007

Leading Article

5th September, 2007

The great paradox of the Tory party is that its predicament in recent years reflects not failure, but success.

Diary

5th September, 2007

A lifetime’s ambition is fulfilled as I get to hear and see Wagner in Bayreuth...

Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody

5th September, 2007

V. exciting. Was in charge of note-taking and smoothies at our Emergency Treachery-Management Meeting.

Politics

5th September, 2007

The odd thing is that it is left-wingers, not Cameron, who have lurched to the right