Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and edits the Coffee House blog. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

Last ones standing: the leadership finalists on taxes, net zero and freedom of speech

23 July 2022 9:00 am

The leadership candidates on taxes, net zero and freedom of speech

Boris Johnson's final PMQs was a let down

20 July 2022 10:39 pm

Boris Johnson’s farewell Prime Minister’s Questions was rather like his premiership: full of the unexpected, rather chaotic and a bit…

Will the next Tory leader tackle sleaze?

10 July 2022 6:29 pm

All the candidates in this Tory leadership contest will have to pay tribute to the importance of standards in public…

Boris isn't ready to go

7 July 2022 2:10 am

Boris Johnson’s final hours as Prime Minister have been undignified. We do not yet know quite how this will end,…

Who will tell Boris it’s over?

6 July 2022 11:32 pm

In the past couple of minutes, five ministers have resigned as a co-ordinated group and Michael Gove is reported to have…

The most brutal line in Sajid Javid's resignation speech

6 July 2022 10:22 pm

Sajid Javid’s resignation in the Commons just now was coldly brutal. He’s had some practice, which he acknowledged, given this…

PMQs will only encourage further rebellion

6 July 2022 10:10 pm

At one point in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, the Speaker called MPs to order and told them: ‘We’ve got to…

The most damning accusation against Boris Johnson

6 July 2022 8:25 pm

In the blizzard of letters by Tory MPs who want Boris Johnson to go, one stands out. Chris Skidmore has called…

The ministerial resignations keep on coming

6 July 2022 5:51 pm

More ministerial resignations are underway and the day has barely begun in Westminster. Will Quince, who had the humiliating job…

Boris appoints Steve Barclay as Health Secretary

6 July 2022 5:50 am

Steve Barclay is the new Health Secretary. This is a fascinating move for both political and policy reasons. The first…

The silence of Nadhim Zahawi

6 July 2022 5:19 am

One by one, cabinet ministers are confirming that they are not resigning this evening, leaving a very small group of…

Boris remains 'bullish' as his cabinet implodes

6 July 2022 4:21 am

Shortly after he received the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, Boris Johnson addressed around 70 Tory MPs who…

Boris’s desperate tearoom tour

6 July 2022 2:05 am

This afternoon, a text message went out to certain Tory MPs telling them that the Prime Minister was going to…

Boris ‘forgot’ about Pincher allegations, claims minister

5 July 2022 11:55 pm

The government’s line yesterday on what Boris Johnson knew about Chris Pincher’s behaviour kept changing. Today, it’s quite hard to find…

Boost defence spending to prepare for Putin, Wallace demands

28 June 2022 10:42 pm

Ben Wallace is giving a speech this afternoon in which he will urge Boris Johnson to increase defence spending. The…

The Northern Ireland Protocol: the real fight is yet to come

28 June 2022 7:23 pm

Last night’s vote on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill didn’t turn into an open revolt from Tory MPs – but…

Boris’s unapologetic by-election response

25 June 2022 2:20 am

Boris Johnson has not accepted responsibility for the two by-election defeats. You could have written this line at any point…

How long can Boris hold the line on railway strikes?

22 June 2022 4:31 am

Is the government’s approach to strikes and public sector pay too blunt? Today Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak took the…

Should Starmer be worried about the rail strikes?

22 June 2022 1:52 am

Sir Keir Starmer has ended up in a very Starmer-esque pickle over the rail strikes this week. Yesterday he instructed…

Starmer’s PMQs performance was oddly flat

8 June 2022 10:35 pm

It’s not unusual for a Labour leader to attack the government over the NHS at Prime Minister’s Questions. Neither is…

Boris: It's not over. Rebels: Yes, it is

7 June 2022 6:49 am

Boris Johnson has just insisted that he has had ‘an extremely positive’ and ‘decisive result’ in the vote of confidence…

The Sue Gray report makes for grim reading for No. 10

25 May 2022 8:27 pm

In the past few minutes, Sue Gray’s final report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street has been published. It makes…

Johnson's partygate apology ploy

20 April 2022 4:30 am

Boris Johnson bundled his Commons apology for breaking Covid laws together with an update on Ukraine because he wanted to…

Boris thinks he can ride this scandal out

13 April 2022 3:45 am

Boris Johnson has now apologised for receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending a lockdown-busting party. In a clearly very…

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined over partygate

12 April 2022 10:55 pm

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are both to receive fixed penalty notices for attending lockdown parties, it has just emerged.…