Patrick O’Flynn

Will Starmer apologise for his slur against Boris?

9 February 2022 3:18 am

Well I don’t know about you, but I definitely heard a nasty slur flung from one leader to another during…

The great Tory Red Wall betrayal

4 February 2022 6:00 pm

Boris Johnson may well have to go. His own proximity to a party in his private flat in Downing Street…

The rampant egotism of Boris’s backbench MPs

22 January 2022 6:59 pm

The post-war Conservative statesman David Maxwell Fyfe once claimed that loyalty was the Tory secret weapon. Like many of his…

Boris can't fix the migrant crisis

18 January 2022 12:05 am

British prime ministers like to deploy the armed services in civilian life because doing so is one of the few…

Boris’s biggest mistake was taking his allies for granted

15 January 2022 6:00 pm

It is often said that there are few convinced ‘Boris-ites’ to be found among the ranks of Conservative MPs and…

How long until we tire of Boris?

11 January 2022 10:50 pm

The brilliant but troubled footballer Mario Balotelli once scored a goal in a Manchester derby match and then lifted up…

The flaw in Starmer's 'patriotic' pitch for power

5 January 2022 12:47 am

If campaign messaging is too subtle then the chances are that the electorate won’t even notice it, so in his…

Why have the Tories given up on fixing immigration?

30 December 2021 11:48 pm

In the fiercely competitive world of politics, it is not often that an opponent presents you with an Achilles heel…

Boris's lockdown gamble could spell big trouble for Labour

28 December 2021 10:12 pm

Has Boris Johnson just been thrown a lifeline by a devolution settlement that has caused nothing but trouble for UK…

Labour looks like a proper opposition. That doesn't mean they'll win

23 December 2021 9:02 pm

There’s no point denying it, Labour is doing a bit better these days. Its poll rating is averaging a 39,…

It’s time to end the era of forced lockdown restrictions

22 December 2021 12:47 am

Monday’s Cabinet meeting held over Zoom was a fraught affair by the sounds of it. Michael Gove and Sajid Javid…

Johnson is imperilled. So why are his enemies helping him?

13 December 2021 8:00 pm

It’s a topsy turvy world when your friends and allies do you all kinds of damage and then your enemies…

Boris’s successor should be Rishi Sunak, not Liz Truss

11 December 2021 9:00 pm

Is the ball about to come loose at the back of the scrum? Though an imminent defenestration of Boris Johnson…

'Partygate' is Boris's biggest crisis yet

8 December 2021 10:30 pm

In politics some rows gain potency from blowing up at a bad time. Some because of their symbolic power. Some because…

Boris must act to prevent a repeat of the Channel migrant tragedy

25 November 2021 9:38 pm

The tragic drowning of more than two dozen people in the English Channel yesterday should remind us that closing down…

Is Boris brave enough to solve the Channel migrant crisis?

19 November 2021 1:58 am

The sheer number of useless interventions that have been touted as offering a solution to the cross-Channel migrants crisis is…

Does Rishi Sunak really understand red wall voters?

13 November 2021 9:00 pm

Rishi Sunak thinks Boris Johnson goofed badly when he conspiring to upend Commons standards procedures and agrees with his colleagues…

The Tice is right: is Reform about to break through?

6 November 2021 6:15 pm

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes, said Mark Twain. Right now the commentariat is looking for something that…

The media has a climate change blind spot

22 October 2021 5:26 am

Are you someone who is delighted by the government’s eye-wateringly expensive commitment to deliver ‘net zero’ by 2035, or are…

Don't bet on the EFFing crisis bringing down Boris

13 October 2021 6:06 am

Boris Johnson is taking one heck of a risk by making labour shortages a deliberate part of his economic strategy. That,…

The powerlessness of Priti Patel

6 October 2021 1:30 am

It is hard not to feel sorry for Priti Patel. She would surely have been a Tory conference darling at the…

Starmer's essay is gold dust for Boris

25 September 2021 3:30 pm

Keir Starmer’s incredible shrinking pamphlet was initially said to run to 14,000 words, then 13,000, then 12,500 and now 11,000…

Does Liz Truss have what it takes to be Foreign Secretary?

18 September 2021 8:30 pm

In the dying days of Theresa May’s benighted premiership I spotted a long-serving Tory MP on the same weekend train…

Emma Raducanu’s amazing triumph does not belong to the left

12 September 2021 3:59 pm

It didn’t take long for the open-borders brigade to try and politicise the magnificent feat of British teenager Emma Raducanu…

The rise and rise of Rishi Sunak

8 September 2021 9:45 pm

When Victoria Beckham noticed that her husband David had developed a winning way, not just with her but with almost…