Tom Goodenough

Tom Goodenough

Tom Goodenough is online editor of The Spectator.

London deserves better than Sadiq Khan

By any measure, Sadiq Khan deserves to lose the London mayoral election. Khan has been terrible for the capital, yet Londoners are stuck with him. Barring a near miraculous upset by the Tory candidate Susan Hall, Khan will almost certainly win re-election today. Surely one of the world’s great cities deserves better?  Instead of going to

Asylum seeker dies on board migrant barge

An asylum seeker has died on the Bibby Stockholm boat. The identity of the migrant who lost his life on board the barge in Dorset, which has been used to house those awaiting the outcome of their asylum application, has not been confirmed. A spokesman for the Home Office said: ‘We are aware of reporting

Tom Goodenough

Shamebridge: why is Cambridge so embarrassed about its past?

Finding Cambridge’s ugly side isn’t easy, but a walking tour of the city promises to show you it. Uncomfortable Cambridge, which bills itself as the ‘perfect introductory tour’ of the city, suggests tourists are wrong to think this is a place of beauty. Rather, Cambridge is a place we should be ashamed of – or

Is this year’s Tory conference slogan the worst ever?

Boris Johnson got plenty of things wrong as prime minister but he at least knew how to come up with a punchy slogan. ‘Get Brexit done’, was the tagline of his October 2019 Tory conference. It was a work of genius: both sides of the referendum, exhausted by infighting and frankly bored with Brexit, could

J. Meirion Thomas, Tom Goodenough and Adam Sweeting

23 min listen

This week: J. Meirion Thomas tells us about the story of the politician, the street trader and the foiled kidney transplant plot (00:57), Tom Goodenough discusses the blurred lines between sport and entertainment (08:30) and Adam Sweeting reads his interview with documentary-maker Nick Broomfield about the forgotten Rolling Stone (13:42). 

TV dramas like Welcome to Wrexham are spoiling sport

Wrexham had never seen anything like it: thousands of fans cheering their team as an open-top bus made its way through the city’s streets. On board, Wrexham’s footballers celebrated their side’s promotion back to the English football league. The club’s star owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, were there too – and with them, as

Should the Elgin Marbles be returned?

‘For the Greeks, it feels like a gaping wound,’ says Sarah Baxter, a columnist at the Sunday Times, of the Elgin Marbles. For 200 years, the Parthenon sculptures have taken pride of place at the British Museum. The Greeks want them back, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Tom Goodenough

Can Aukus help counter the threat from China?

Aukus is a pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. But its primary purpose is combatting another country: China. ‘It’s about China, let’s be quite clear,’ says security minister Tom Tugendhat. ‘You will not see many direct references to China in Aukus literature,’ says Sophia Gaston, director of the British Foreign Policy

Is Britain making the most of Brexit?

Brexit was hailed by its supporters as an opportunity for Britain to go out and into the world. But six years on from the EU referendum, are we making the most of Britain’s departure from the EU? Not so, according to Conor Burns, Minister of State in the Department for International Trade. Burns says that,

Royal Family gathers at Balmoral amid fears for the Queen’s health

Members of the Royal Family have gathered at Balmoral amid concerns for the Queen’s health. Buckingham Palace released a statement this afternoon saying Her Majesty was ‘comfortable’ but that ‘the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision’.  Prince Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne are at Balmoral. Prince

Liz Truss triumphs in Tory leadership race

Liz Truss has won the race to become Tory leader and Britain’s new Prime Minister. Truss, who was the runaway favourite to win, defeated her rival Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399 – a margin of 57 per cent to 43 per cent. She will take over from Boris Johnson tomorrow, after flying to Balmoral to see

Watch: Trump hints at comeback after FBI raid

Love him or loathe him, Donald Trump is a brilliant political opportunist. And the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate last night may have handed the former president a significant boost in any future run for the White House. Speculation is rife that The Donald will have another shot at the presidency – and the dramatic events of the

Penny Mordaunt doesn’t understand the internet

Penny Mordaunt’s flip-flopping over gender self-ID makes it difficult to know where she stands. But on another issue she has made things abundantly clear: Mordaunt doesn’t understand how the internet works. If she makes it to the final round of the leadership contest this afternoon – and indeed to No. 10 – Mordaunt has vowed

Will Chris Pincher remain a Tory MP?

Chris Pincher remains a Tory MP this morning, but how long will that be the case? The Conservative deputy chief whip resigned from the government last night, following allegations that he groped two men at a private members’ club on Wednesday evening.  In a letter to Boris Johnson, Pincher said he ‘drank far too much’ and ’embarrassed myself and

Boris survives confidence vote – for now

Boris Johnson has won a confidence vote in his leadership – but nearly 150 Tory MPs voted against him in a huge blow to the Prime Minister’s leadership. The PM won the support of 211 Conservative MPs, while 148 voted against him in the ballot of Tory MPs.  The PM insisted that this was a ‘very good

Is Jürgen Klopp really football’s Mr Nice Guy?

Jürgen Klopp is football’s Mr Nice Guy. Despite his Liverpool side missing out on winning the Premier League, Klopp was this week named as the League Managers’ Association manager of the year. The German also won the Premier League manager of the year. It’s not the first time Klopp has won both awards in the