Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The challenge for insurgents and ex-insurgents in tonight’s TV debate

The party leaders have been reflecting on the challenges facing them ahead of tonight’s TV debates. Nigel Farage said this morning that he wished there weren’t so many of them taking part, something the audience may also feel by the end of tonight’s two-hour extravaganza. But the Ukip leader is probably peeved by the sheer number of party leaders because it makes it more difficult for him to appear to be the only exciting force disrupting British politics. His advantage is that he’s the only one on the Right. John Cleese or not, Nick Clegg does have one of the biggest challenges of any of the leaders participating. He needs

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Why aren’t the Tories winning? Because they are seen as the party of the rich.

The leader column in this week’s edition of the magazine (please subscribe, by the way) asks an excellent question: Why aren’t the Tories winning? After all, and despite everything, David Cameron has presided over a period of, first, economic stabilisation and, now, some useful quantity of economic growth. His party is better trusted on economic issues than the opposition and, well, Mr Ed Miliband has not yet convinced voters he has the chops to be Prime Minister. As Danny Finklestein observed in The Times yesterday, it is possible to lose despite enjoying one of those advantages but most unusual to lose while being ahead on both these metrics. And yet the Tories may still

Steerpike Steerpike

Nigel Farage causes problems for Alison Jackson ahead of leaders’ debate

Tonight’s leaders’ debate will see the seven party leaders battle to be heard on ITV. The set up has given organisers a headache as they work out how to arrange it without the debate descending into chaos. For Alison Jackson who is going to shoot a lookalike version in its aftermath, she has another issue to contend with. The English artist, who is known for her lookalike photographs of celebrities, is in the process of assembling a team of political doppelgangers. While David Cameron and Nick Clegg have been located, there are still a few more to be found, including Nicola Sturgeon. However, the man causing her the biggest problem is Nigel Farage. ‘I am still looking for a Farage. It is very difficult

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: Eton mess

From ‘News of the Week‘, The Spectator, 3 April 1915: Some remarks made by Dr. Lyttelton, the Head-Master of Eton, in a sermon at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, on Thursday week have caused a storm in a tea-cup. Dr. Lyttelton argued that the Germans must be saved from the results of their own appalling venom by being made to feel that they were not excluded from the comity of nations. He used as an illustration of the kind of guarantee of goodwill which might be offered by Britain to somebody’s suggestion that if the Kiel Canal were internationalized Gibraltar should also be internationalized. We think that the suggestion is utterly futile,

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The election result that everyone expects – and no one wants

To form a coalition, David Cameron had to give up the Prime Ministerial prerogative to determine when the election was called. But it is hard to imagine that, given the choice, he would have gone to the Palace any earlier than Monday. The Tories have merely drawn level with Labour in recent weeks and there hasn’t been a poll yet which points to him winning a majority. This will be the most polled campaign in British history. On the day it started, depending on your choice of pollster, the Tories were four points ahead of Labour, four points behind or dead level. But one clear theme is emerging from this

Mark Palmer

Letter from Cuba: The tourists are coming – but don’t expect Walmart just yet

Sloppy Joe’s — which starred in the film of Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana — was always likely to wither on the post-revolution vine. As the decadent hangout of unsavoury ‘imperialists’ whom Fidel Castro despised, it never stood much of a chance. Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and local hero Ernest Hemingway all used to call in from time to time, slaking their thirst at the 65ft-long mahogany bar. It closed in 1960 and no one expected to see mojitos and daiquiris being poured here again, at least not until Fidel and his brother Raúl were gone. But needs must. Double measures and double standards keep Cuba alive. Two years ago,

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

Why are so many men on diets? I blame feminists

According to Jenni Russell, my colleague at the Times, David Cameron has lost 13lb since Christmas, mainly by giving up on peanuts and biscuits. Now that’s a lot of peanuts and biscuits. It’s a bit yo-yo, Cameron’s weight, isn’t it? He gets bigger, he gets smaller again, like a giant, very pink, human-shaped balloon that some giant unseen hand is alternately squeezing and relaxing around the legs. He wears it well, though. When Nigel Lawson lost all that weight he looked like a man with a puncture. George Osborne only shrinks these days, and will soon be as slim as his own lapels. So I suppose Cameron might be spurred on

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg’s picture caption election

Mock Nick Clegg all you like, but he is taking an impressively pragmatic approach to this General Election. The Deputy Prime Minister knows that he might not get as much coverage as the main parties or the insurgent parties if he just says things (though already announcing a lot of your manifesto and charging hacks £750 a day for the pleasure of hanging out in your disturbingly Austin Powers-esque bus might make that a tad more difficult anyway). So to ensure that he does get a modicum of coverage each day, he’s having a picture caption election. On Monday, it was hedgehogs in Solihull. Yesterday he had that selfie with Joey

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

David Cameron’s curiously sanitised Christianity

David Cameron has written a rather interesting piece for Premier Christianity magazine on his faith and the meaning of Easter. I use the word ‘interesting’ advisedly and in the sense that an aged relative might deploy it when regarding some new fangled Christmas present that has a touch screen. The final two paragraphs are particularly interesting: ‘So I end my argument with this: I hope everyone can share in the belief of trying to lift people up rather than count people out. Those values and principles are not the exclusive preserve of one faith or religion. They are something I hope everyone in our country believes. ‘That after all is the

Steerpike Steerpike

Camilla Rutherford backs Ed Miliband’s 007 campaign

Yesterday Ed Miliband declared that it was high time the James Bond films moved with the times and cast a woman as the next 007. Although the comments were met with outrage from some of the more traditional Bond fans, the Labour leader can take heart that Camilla Rutherford has picked up his rallying cry. Speaking at Spectator Life‘s third birthday party, the Gosford Park actress urged the producers to cast a female lead. ‘It’s definitely time we had a Jane Bond instead of a James Bond. I think a woman would be great in the role. The only thing is that with a man it can be quite a suave move

Ismene Brown

Dance has never addressed whether making money is a good or bad thing. It’s time to do so

A couple of weeks ago some dance instructors went to Westminster to coach MPs to shake their tushes for the cameras, while they promised to support a ‘dance manifesto’ for Britain. Since then the image of MPs twerking has stuck to the inside of my head like snail slime on my hands. I’ve scrubbed away with the mental Swarfega but I can still sense those lovely, lively honourable members of a certain age who feel they can best drum up public support for British dance by going onto the floor themselves. You might be surprised that there exists an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dance in Westminster at all. The 20

Mark Gettleson

A Cabinet of losers?

Here’s an interesting factoid. We have gone the longest time since any serving Cabinet Minister has lost their seat… ever. Seven were booted out in 1997, most famously Defence Secretary Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate – an experience shared by just 32 people since 1900. To some extent, MPs from marginals may be less likely to reach the Cabinet: they are by definition more likely to be newly elected and are forced to spend vast amounts of time and energy campaigning in their constituency, from which a Cabinet role can serve as a distraction. 2015 seems likely to end this streak, with five names around the current Cabinet table looking

Sebastian Payne

Could Nick Clegg really lose his seat?

Will the Liberal Democrats avoid being wiped out at the upcoming election? In his latest round of constituency polling, Lord Ashcroft has revisited eight Liberal Democrat marginal constituencies he deems to be close races. Across all the seats, Ashcroft reports there is presently a four per cent swing to the Tories since the last election. Use the interactive chart to see the polls for each constituency. The picture is mixed for the Lib Dems. In four of the seats — North Cornwall, St Ives, Torbay and Cambridge — they are on track to hold the seats, despite swings to the Conservatives. But the Tories are ahead in two Lib Dem seats: St Austell &

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will there be a late swing to the Tories?

Perhaps, the biggest question of this campaign is whether the Tories will gain support in the next five and a bit weeks. If they don’t, Cameron will almost certainly lose and Ed Miliband will become Prime Minister. In his column today, Danny Finkelstein looks at polling data produced by Andrew Cooper of Populus to see what the chances are of a late surge. Cooper looked at those who prefer Cameron to Miliband as Prime Minister and also think that the Tories would manage the economy better than Labour but are currently not saying they’ll vote Tory. In Cooper’s poll of 10,000 voters, conducted in five waves, this group made up 18%

Steerpike Steerpike

Jim Murphy’s popularity surges (in England)

There’s not much love for Labour in Scotland at the moment, with Mr S reporting this week that Jim Murphy has failed to mention his own party on campaign leaflets. As the SNP come out on top in the polls and the reds hope for a ‘late swing‘ to Labour north of the border, the Scottish Labour leader can take comfort that he is at least popular down south. Word reaches Mr S that at a London fundraiser last week for the Scottish Labour Party, a jog with fitness freak Jim was auctioned off for well over £1,000. Meanwhile a bottle of House of Commons whisky signed by Ed Miliband failed to reach £100 in bids,

The Spectator

Podcast special: competition is key as the airports debate comes in to land

The debate over the future of Britain’s airports will reach its conclusion in just four months. In this View from 22 podcast special, The Spectator’s Fraser Nelson discusses the current state of the debate and the likely outcomes of the Davies Commission with Stewart Wingate, CEO of Gatwick Airport; Simon Calder, Travel Editor of The Independent and Christian Wolmar, travel expert and a candidate for Labour’s London mayoral nomination. Which outcome do our experts think is the most likely? What are the benefits of creating more competition between each airport? And what role will airports play in the upcoming general election and next year’s London mayoral election? This podcast was sponsored by Gatwick Airport

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Should Labour dismiss a letter from 100 business chiefs?

The Labour reaction today to the Telegraph’s high-volume splash on 100 business leaders warning about the dangers of a Labour government has largely been along the lines of ‘how interesting, and tomorrow will you tell us about the Pope’s theology?’ The coverage of the letter, which has the mark of Tory co-chair Lord Feldman, has certainly created a rather stark contrast to the party’s own announcement that it will give workers on zero hours contracts a legal right to request proper hours after 12 weeks. Labour likes this contrast. The letter says: Dear Sirs, We run some of the leading businesses in the UK. We believe this Conservative-led Government has

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A shocking Scottish opinion poll reveals that Labour aren’t dead yet

When is a disaster also a miracle? When it allows Scottish Labour to simultaneously endure its worst result since 1931 and live to fight another day, that’s when. Yesterday’s ComRes/ITV poll is the best news Labour has enjoyed in months. That’s how grim it has been for Labour lately. A poll of voters in 40 Labour constituencies which puts them six points behind the SNP may not be much of a lifeline but it’s the only lifeline available to the erstwhile people’s party. It will have to do. Sure, this poll suggests the SNP could take as many as 28 Labour seats meaning that the nationalists would, probably, win something like

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: Nick Clegg enlists Basil Fawlty to play Farage in TV debate rehearsals

Tomorrow’s TV debate between the seven party leaders is the chance for the insurgent parties to muscle up to the mainstream leaders, make them look tired and old, and in doing so gain more supporters. But the leader with the biggest challenge is Nick Clegg, the insurgent in the 2010 debates, now coming to the end of five years in government. How does he fight Farage and boost the Lib Dem brand? The Lib Dem leader has been rehearsing with colleagues playing his rivals like all the other politicians, but I understand that his preparations for the debate have a rather more stellar quality to them than his opponents’ rehearsals. John

Steerpike Steerpike

Spectator Life celebrates its third birthday

Mr S was a guest at Spectator Life‘s birthday party at Belgraves. To mark the magazine’s third anniversary, party-goers including Princess Michael of Kent, Pippa Middleton, Rachel Johnson and Mick Hucknall joined editor Olivia Cole to raise a glass in celebration. Gosford Park actress Camilla Rutherford stuck to water at the event, revealing to Steerpike that she is expecting her fourth child. Meanwhile over at the bar, Daily Politics‘s Jo Coburn reminisced about meeting her fellow guest Hucknall during her university days – something which the Simply Red singer struggled to remember. While none of the publicity shy Tories tipped for success in this issue’s cover feature David Cameron’s secret A-List could summon enough bravery to attend the bash, Nicky Haslam was