Politics

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

Saturday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Labour politicians are already preparing for opposition. The race to succeed Gordon is on

Over lunch about a year ago, I tried to tease out the intentions of someone tipped as a possible successor to Gordon Brown. He was feigning optimism and loyalty to the anointed leader-in-waiting, so I advanced some hypothetical scenarios involving various MPs being run over by buses. So would he maybe… ‘Me? God, no,’ he replied, cutting me off. ‘Forget it. As soon as this party gets into opposition then — boof.’ He mimed an explosion with his hands. ‘Trust me. The queue to be Labour’s William Hague will not be a long one.’ Here were two striking assumptions: that Mr Brown was certain to lose, and that the Labour

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

IQ2 debate: America has lost its moral authority

Big names at last Tuesday’s Intelligence Squared debate. Our beaming chairman Adam Boulton called on Will Self to propose the motion that America has lost its moral authority. In his sharp black suit, Self glared at us like an undertaker whose hearse has just failed its MOT and rattled through the sins of ‘the paternalistic superpower’. America guzzles up vast quantities of nature’s resources. It has a ‘systematically biased corporate media’ and a justice system ‘where 25 per cent of black males are either in jail or on bail’. He produced a killer statistic to highlight its oligarchical political system, ‘The re-election rate for congressmen is 98 per cent.’ An

Friday

Matthew Dancona

Congratulations Boris

Greetings to all CoffeeHousers from the 29th Floor of Millbank Tower, where the faithful have gathered to toast our new Mayor – who, poor fellow, is stuck at the count waiting for official public confirmation of the triumph that Downing Street conceded hours ago, the bookies have already accepted, and the Evening Standard has announced in a special late edition. It is a pleasure and a privilege to congratulate Boris on his victory – as his successor at the Spectator, his friend and (above all) a Londoner. Be in no doubt: this is a sensational achievement. Ken Livingstone has dominated London politics for a quarter century and presided over a

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Boris’s secret weapon: driving the left crazy

The conventional wisdom is to regard Mayor Boris as a loose cannon and, ergo, a liability to Cameron. But he may help oust Brown by another skill that has only become apparent in recent weeks: he drives the left mad. By mad, I mean he drives them to inverted snobbery and making personal and ludicrous attacks which strike the onlooker as hysterical. His education and background just seem to flick a switch in a certain sort of Labour supporter – leading to behaviour that even that even their peers find distasteful. Just look at the comments to this Toynbee piece where she called Boris a “sociopath” or the language in

The Spectator

The week that was | 2 May 2008

Peter Hoskin reports from Israel on life in the town of Sderot, and on efforts to forge peace with Syria. James Forsyth says Gordon Brown has spectacularly failed his first electoral test, and suggests that Cameron is walking into trouble over the 42-day detention plans.   And Fraser Nelson keeps track of the Prime Minister’s Brownies, and highlights Mervyn King’s attempts to reveal the truth behind Treasury spin.

Peter Hoskin

Blair trumps Brown (again)

If Brown feels like taking his mind off things, he shouldn’t flick through the latest Time 100 – the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.  Thing is, he’s not in it.  But Tony Blair is, complete with a glowing tribute from Bill Clinton.  I’m sure a few Labour MPs will be reading through it today, filled with deep, deep regret.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

When will we get a result?

Dire rumours flying about the Mayoral count, hopefully all untrue. The worst is that we may not have a winner by midnight. Adam Boulton at Sky News confident of getting one tonight – but perhaps not until 10.30pm. One Tory Shadow Cabinet member says he has been told there’s 1% in it, so they will have to do a recount anyway – this conflicts with numerous reports that Boris is comfortably ahead. Even Brian Paddick has called it for Boris. But we were supposed to get the first vote at 3pm and the final result at 5pm. It’s now 6pm and most votes remain uncounted. The high turnout has overwhelmed

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Next Labour leader odds

The latest William Hills odds for the next leader of the Labour party make interesting reading in the light of last night’s results and the list of cabinet ministers at risk. D Miliband 2/1 E Balls 5/1 A Johnson 7/1 J Straw 10/1 J Purnell 10/1 J Denham 14/1 A Burnham 14/1 Y Cooper 16/1 H Benn 16/1 D Alexander 16/1 E Miliband 16/1 H Harman 20/1 Personally, I quite fancy a sly fiver on Jon Cruddas but William Hills doesn’t offer odds on him yet.

Peter Hoskin

“Boris has got it”

Over at Comment Central, a senior Conservative tells Daniel Finkelstein that “Boris has got” the role of mayor.  It isn’t quite the fat lady singing, but enough for the Times to run an article on.  Not too long to wait now for proper confirmation…  

Peter Hoskin

These minsters will be very, very worried

A nice summary from ConservativeHome: “All these ministers would lose their seats if last night’s elections were repeated at the General: Ed Balls, Jacqui Smith, James Purnell, John Hutton, Caroline Flint, Ruth Kelly, John Denham.”

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Labour implosion

Ben Brogan reports that just to make things even worse for Labour, the incoming General Secretary has resigned. Meanwhile, even Jackie Ashley is saying that Brown only has until the party conference to sort himself out. Somewhere, Cherie Blair is laughing her head off.  

Peter Hoskin

Election update

Just an update on some of the election figures: 139 of 159 councils have now declared their results, and it just gets better and better for the Tories.  They’ve picked up 221 seats; Labour have lost 257; and the Lib Dems have picked up 29.  But the battering’s not over for Labour – Sky are reporting that they’re set to lose an astonishing 329 seats.  A quick look at this nifty New Statesman / Politics Home graphic shows that the Tories are firmly in champagne territory, whilst Team Brown are probably headbutting the panic button. As far as the mayoral race is concered, Sky are ahead of the game once again.  Adam Boulton’s just reported

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

It just keeps getting worse for Gordon Brown

“So fair and foul a day I have not seen” – Macbeth Act 1, Scene 3   Can this beautiful May afternoon get any worse for McBrown? Em, yes. Stuart Wheeler has been granted permission to hold a High Court hearing over the Government’s refusal to hold a referendum on the renamed EU Constitution. Even Open Europe didn’t expect him to get a full hearing on this – but he hired a top QC and at the High Court Mr Justice Owen has said Wheeler has an “arguable case.” The hearing is due on the 9th and 10th June – which raises questions as to whether the issue is now sub judice.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The column that should worry Gordon Brown

Steve Richards is one of the most perceptive commentators on the left, he’s also generally inclined to give Gordon Brown a pretty fair shake. So, his piece for Open House detailing how impressive the Tory achievement last night was and how Labour has ‘no clear route’ towards salvaging its general election chances is all the more devastating.  Here’s how Richards starts: There are no qualifications. The election results are dire for Labour and a triumph for the Conservatives. The Conservatives can claim much more credibly now that they are on course to win a substantial majority in a general election. David Cameron has managed to achieve this without the equivalent

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tory opportunity

The Tories have an open road ahead of them. Until at least the party conference season, Labour will be in disarray. This provides the Tory with a real opportunity to set the political agenda and lock in the 44 percent of the vote they achieved last night. Boldness now would be seen as a sign of confidence not panic. Perhaps, the most important task for Cameron and Osborne is to set out how they would shift the tax burden from work to waste. A more detailed tax policy to go alongside the already impressive work the Tories have rolled out on education and welfare would give the Tories the core

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

All down to Brown 

I’ve just done BBC World Service with Martin Bright, my counterpart at the New Statesman. We’re pitched against each other quite a lot – the theory being that I’m a right-winger, he’s a left-winger and we’ll go at each other. Problem is, we agree on most things – and I certainly won’t demur from his verdict on last night. “I don’t think anyone thought the results could be quite as devastating for Labour,” he said. “These are national issues. It’s very difficult to see this as anything else. A year ago, possibly even six months ago, people didn’t think there was a realistic prospect of a Conservative government. That has

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Brown, the author of his own misfortune

When considering what effect these results will have on the mood of the Parliamentary Labour Party, it is worth remembering that most people are blaming Labour’s ghastly performance on the abolition of the 10p tax band. Now, who was responsible for that? G. Brown. If Boris has won London—which seems almost certain, watch to see what Ken says about why he lost. If he blames his defeat on Labour’s national unpopularity, he will heighten the skittish mood among Labour MPs.