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.

Who dares, wins? Not Michael Gove

25 May 2024 5:14 am

Michael Gove has just announced he is standing down at the election. He spent the past few days agonising privately…

Sunak hints at why he opted for a snap summer election

23 May 2024 8:37 pm

There is no good answer to the question of why Rishi Sunak called the general election for 4 July, other…

If only Starmer had answered his own questions at PMQs

22 May 2024 11:43 pm

Is Rishi Sunak going to announce the election date later today? Speculation was – once again – so rife that…

Can the Tories ensure the infected blood scandal never happens again?

22 May 2024 3:50 am

Are the compensation payments announced today for victims of the infected blood scandal a just response to what happened? Paymaster…

Sunak apologises during ‘day of shame’

21 May 2024 5:41 am

Rishi Sunak’s Commons apology for the contaminated blood scandal was reasonably comprehensive. The statement opened with him saying he wanted…

Will the NHS change after the infected blood scandal?

21 May 2024 2:14 am

The victims of the infected blood scandal have had to wait a very long time for there to be a…

MPs demand a rethink on mental illness

15 May 2024 1:12 am

Given so many people are suffering from some kind of mental distress at the moment, many of them out of…

The NHS’s maternity care has always been a mess

14 May 2024 6:10 am

The latest report on maternity care in the UK hasn’t told us anything new. The headline finding of the parliamentary…

Elphicke defection baffles Tories at PMQs

8 May 2024 11:12 pm

If Natalie Elphicke’s defection had much of an effect on the mood of Tory MPs at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions,…

Parliament’s Rafah rage

8 May 2024 7:19 am

It’s been a while since the Commons has had so much anger in it as it did during the urgent…

Jeremy Hunt snaps at Rachel Reeves over National Insurance

8 May 2024 2:38 am

Rachel Reeves may have been getting attention for her accusation that the government is ‘gaslighting’ the public over the state…

Tories aren’t panicking – they expected a drubbing

3 May 2024 8:59 pm

Unsurprisingly, the overnight results from the local elections have been very bruising for the Conservatives. Local election results day is…

Do Tory MPs really believe Rishi Sunak can win the election?

1 May 2024 11:45 pm

Could Rishi Sunak be about to win the next general election? That suggestion, made at Prime Minister’s Questions today by…

Why Sunak is not for turning in his fight with junior doctors

30 April 2024 10:51 pm

Those waiting for the local election results before they look for evidence of Rishi Sunak’s fightback are running late: the…

The benefits bill won’t improve without an NHS turnaround

30 April 2024 7:37 am

How much can Mel Stride really do to cut the benefits bill? In the Commons today, the Work and Pensions…

Rayner outsmarts Dowden at PMQs battle of the deputies

24 April 2024 10:50 pm

Few politicians have looked more pleased with a joke than Oliver Dowden did with his first offering at Prime Minister’s…

MPs need a proper HR service

19 April 2024 8:36 pm

The most damning bit of the lurid Mark Menzies case is that the Conservatives had been aware of the allegations…

Parliament votes for smoking ban

17 April 2024 5:47 am

In the past few minutes, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has passed its second reading by 383 votes to 67,…

What Liz Truss got right

17 April 2024 4:56 am

It’s easy to laugh at Liz Truss bringing out a book, much harder to ask whether there are points she…

When will the Rwanda ping-pong end?

16 April 2024 8:04 pm

MPs once again rejected all the changes made by peers to the Safety of Rwanda Bill last night, with the…

Starmer: Israel should show ‘strength and courage’ to de-escalate

16 April 2024 3:30 am

Rishi Sunak wants this weekend’s attempt by Iran to attack Israel to mark a de-escalation in the region. He told…

Rayner promises to quit if convicted

13 April 2024 4:32 am

Angela Rayner has this evening announced that she would quit if convicted of breaking electoral law, saying: ‘If I committed…

I’ve done very well, says Rishi Sunak at select committee grilling

27 March 2024 4:31 am

Normally when a select committee hearing or interview is described as ‘wide-ranging’, it’s because a lot was said, but none…

The Waspi women won’t be compensated any time soon

26 March 2024 9:56 pm

If the ‘Waspi women’ (women against state pension inequality) were hoping that last week’s ombudsman report into the maladministration of…

Is the UK’s China policy about to change?

26 March 2024 4:50 am

What difference is the revelation that China was behind two cyber attacks – on the Electoral Commission and UK parliamentarians –…