The experts knew all along: Donald Trump was never going to win. You can’t trust those caucus and primary polls. Calm down, everybody. The great winner is actually a loser. He couldn’t even beat someone as unattractive as Ted Cruz. If only things were that simple. The truth is that Trump, with no serious ‘ground game’ to
When Robert Peston was at the BBC, his bosses were left unimpressed when his floppy hair became the story during a live News at Ten broadcast from windy Athens. After filming Peston received an email from a BBC executive telling him that a haircut was ‘imperative’. Happily Peston’s new bosses at ITV appear to be more accepting of his
This is the analysis of the latest EU referendum negotiations in tonight’s Evening Blend email, a free round-up of the day’s political events. Click here to subscribe. Today in brief The EU renegotiation entered its endgame, with European Council president Donald Tusk saying he will publish proposals for a draft deal tomorrow at noon… …as
Haven’t had a chance to follow the day’s political events and interviews? Then don’t worry: here, The Spectator, brings you the best of today’s audio clips in one place for you to listen to. Releasing a report into the Kids Company fiasco, Bernard Jenkin accused other select committees of ‘putting people up against the wall
Tory MPs have been buzzing today about Mark Pritchard’s announcement that he would be supporting the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union. The well-known eurosceptic MP wrote a significant piece for the Sunday Times yesterday setting out his reasons for becoming a reluctant Inner, which include the risk of weakening Nato, and
Marco Rubio wins tonight in Iowa — by coming third. That, I suspect, will be the on dit among the commentariat this evening in America. And it might not be wrong. According to the latest polls, Rubio is the only candidate to have gained momentum in the run up to today’s caucuses. If the polls aren’t off —
In the past week, David Cameron has held a number of last-minute talks with EU counterparts in the hope of agreeing a deal that can be put to EU leaders ahead of a summit on 18 February. This included a visit to Brussels on Friday to hold renegotiation talks with EP president Martin Schulz. Alas a flag
It is very sporting of John McDonnell to release his tax return for us all to inspect. It is reassuring to see that he isn’t posing as a hero of the working man while living off rent from a property portfolio, and that he hasn’t been working on the side for Vodafone or Google while
Last September a photograph of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s lifeless body washed up on a beach near Bodrum made headlines around the world. The image had a significant effect on shifting public perception to the Syrian refugee crisis as well as sparking a debate around the ethics of the circulation of such images. Academics at the
How many MPs will come out for Brexit? After hearing endless best guesses, we got rather fed up, and used Ipsos Mori’s Reputation Centre to conduct a proper survey of MPs. The total sample size is just under 100, with respondents included front and backbenchers, weighted accordingly. In total, half of respondents said they would
It’s great to see Newsnight once again nominated for an award for its coverage of the Kids Company scandal, and I hope that it wins this time. When Miles Goslett broke the story in The Spectator in February last year, he had all of the details: the full horror of Camila Batmanghelidjh and her bizarre
Few things get transatlantic political geeks revved up like the Iowa caucuses. If, as Clinton strategist Paul Begala put it, politics is ‘show business for ugly people’, then Iowa is our Eurovision – bizarre, extreme and irreverent, with a cult following among a small section of the public to the bafflement of everyone else. Even
You can expect an oddly muted response to the news that the Camerons may be sending their son Elwen to Colet Court, the feeder prep for St Paul’s (public…i.e. private) school. All those pundits who are usually reliably furious at social immobility and Tory cuts are, I find, prone to pull their punches on this
A year ago, The Spectator blew the top off the Kids Company scandal – it was to take Fleet Street months to catch up. Here’s Miles Goslett’s original article, revealing not just the chaos within the charity but how civil servants wanted to stop charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh’s funding but were overruled by 10 Downing
Although Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls from Michael Dugher to step down in 99 days unless he proves himself, the Labour leader can take heart that not everyone is against him. In fact in a Sunday Times interview, Keith Allen professed his love for the man of the moment. The comedian says Corbyn is ‘drawing