Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
If the Omicron death count falls short of the 6,000 a day envisaged by the gloomier Sage scenarios, it could be for many reasons. It might be because the variant is milder or because the vaccines offer strong protection — but there’s something else that seldom gets much notice. Britain has placed the world’s biggest
11 min listen
The first PMQs of 2022 was a little different. It was Angela Rayner’s turn to step up to the dispatch box whilst Keir Starmer is isolating having tested positive for Covid. Rayner went after Boris Johnson on inflation and the cost of living crisis looming in Britain, criticising the government for refusing to cut VAT
Boris Johnson latest Covid press conference was slightly confusing. The Prime Minister spent nearly an hour saying nothing particularly new. He warned that there was ‘considerable pressure’ on the NHS at the moment and unveiled daily priority lateral flow testing for 100,000 essential workers so that key services, including healthcare, don’t seize up due to
11 min listen
Keir Starmer arrived in Birmingham today to deliver his agenda-setting speech, outlining Labour’s vision for the future. The opposition leader had to tread the delicate path between offering a substantial, policy-based agenda whilst holding his cards close to his chest. ‘One of the challenges of opposition in the midterm is, they come up with new
Boris Johnson is hoping that his MPs have calmed down over the Christmas break and that this term will be slightly less turbulent than the autumn. There is not, though, much evidence that this will be the case. Worries about the cost of living, ongoing Covid problems and the unwinding of various Tory party rows
The one crumb of comfort the Tories are trying to take from the North Shropshire result is that Labour didn’t win the seat. Keir Starmer’s party came third with just under 10 per cent of the vote, a fall of 12 per cent from the 2019 result. Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden has been touring
11 min listen
The Conservative majority of 23,000 was wiped out overnight in North Shropshire, with Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan winning the by-election by nearly 6,000 votes. Tory MPs are already making their frustrations known, with Roger Gale saying Boris Johnson has ‘one more strike and he’s out’, and John Redwood saying it’s ‘Time to listen to Conservatives.’
90 min listen
Welcome to the special Christmas episode of The Edition! In this episode, we look at five major topics that dominated the news this year and the pages of The Spectator. First up a review of the year in politics with our resident Coffee House Shots’ team James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. We discuss
What was the point of tonight’s Covid press conference? Boris Johnson didn’t have anything big to announce, other than a very dubious-looking new lectern telling people to ‘Get Boosted N0w’, with the 0 in the ‘now’ looking a lot like a Hula Hoop. His purported focus was on the doubling rate of Omicron, and to announce today’s
Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was predictably ugly, with Boris Johnson in a visibly bad mood and unable to contain himself as he tried to defend his leadership against a full-throttle assault from Sir Keir Starmer. Tory MPs fear the goodwill he has enjoyed over the vaccine programme is fading Starmer for his part saw last
21 min listen
Last night Boris Johnson suffered the biggest rebellion of his Tory premiership. But, unlike his predecessor, he still managed to get his vote through with Labour’s support. Nearly 100 Conservative MPs voted against the government’s plans for vaccine passports. Their reasons for rebelling varied. For some, they want to send a message to the PM
Boris Johnson has just suffered a large majority-busting revolt in the House of Commons over vaccine passports, with 100 Conservatives rebelling against the government. The measure passed with Labour support, and 369 voted in favour with 126 against. Before the debate, some 86 Tories had said they would vote against. There had been concerted attempts
Sajid Javid found himself wading through treacle as he tried to make the case for the government’s ‘Plan B’ to MPs this afternoon. The impediments to his progress were constant interventions from all sides, including his own, questioning the wisdom of these measures, the data behind them and the principles at stake. The Health Secretary
11 min listen
Christopher Whitty has told the public he expects a ‘significant increase’ in Omicron hospitalisations over the next few weeks. The chief medical officer is concerned about the pressures this new variant will put on the NHS. Could he be overreacting? In contrast, there are encouraging signs coming from South Africa that continue to show that
17 min listen
Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and the New Statesman‘s Stephen Bush about the possibility of an upset next Thursday in the seat recently vacated by Owen Paterson.
12 min listen
Boris Johnson’s problems are not going away anytime soon and he is facing extreme pressure on several fronts going into the weekend. Hypocrisy charges from the media and the Labour Party, more scandal regarding the No. 10 flat refurbishment, and a massive Tory rebellion regarding his Plan B measures. Not to mention his recent announcement
12 min listen
Cindy Yu speaks to Isabel Hardman and Kate Andrews about the level of Conservative support for the Prime Minister after his latest Covid restrictions, and the Electoral Commission’s findings about the refurbishment of the flat above No. 11.
Is Boris Johnson really deploying a ‘diversionary tactic’ in announcing vaccine passports on the day he has had to perform a volte-face over a Christmas party in Downing Street? After watching his press conference tonight, I’m not so sure, though not because of the explanation the Prime Minister himself offered. He was asked about this
20 min listen
It is all kicking off in Westminster. A leaked video has emerged where the former Prime Minister’s spokesperson is seen laughing when questioned about a Christmas party at 10 Downing Street last year. In yet another blow, many Conservatives shared their dismay at the leaked footage. At PMQs, Boris Johnson said that he is furious
What possible lines of defence could the Prime Minister come up with after the leaking of footage showing his Downing Street aides joking about a party he has spent the past week insisting didn’t happen? From the moment ITV broadcast the clip, the No. 10 Christmas party was a dead cert as the sole topic