Patrick O’Flynn

Booting Boris was a catastrophic error

20 October 2022 8:00 pm

To call it a shambles is an insult to the many perfectly respectable shambles that take place each day up…

Could the Tories’ downfall be Reform’s big chance?

19 October 2022 8:00 pm

The Reform party, under its leader Richard Tice, invented Trussonomics before Liz Truss – launching an economic recovery plan in…

Beware a Tory in a hurry

18 October 2022 9:40 pm

Liz Truss will not lead the Conservative party into the next general election, despite her rather hesitant claim to the…

Who voted for Jeremy Hunt to run Britain?

16 October 2022 7:01 pm

Jeremy Hunt has no mandate to lead Britain. He couldn’t muster sufficient Tory MPs behind him to properly enter the…

The spectacular fall of Liz Truss

15 October 2022 1:48 am

Is Liz Truss the new Theresa May? A fortnight ago that question seemed unduly insulting to the Prime Minister. Now it…

A Boris Johnson comeback is ridiculous – but not impossible

8 October 2022 5:15 pm

It would obviously be ridiculous for the Conservatives to dump Liz Truss after just a few weeks and seek to re-install…

The Liz Truss survival guide

29 September 2022 11:35 pm

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you then, as Rudyard…

The Queen's funeral was a fitting send off for Elizabeth the Great

20 September 2022 2:15 am

In the Christian tradition, which allows for a protracted gap between death and burial, there is often time for initial…

The sorry state of republicanism

14 September 2022 4:00 pm

As republican protestors seek to disrupt the handing on of the title of head of state from one royal to…

The end of the Elizabethan age

10 September 2022 6:00 pm

The Queen’s fragile smile in the official photograph released as she waited to appoint Liz Truss as her 15th Prime Minister…

Truss is in a stronger position than Thatcher – for now

7 September 2022 7:35 pm

People used to understand that they were ageing when they noticed police officers in their neighbourhood looking unfeasibly young. Given…

The issue that will win or lose the election for Liz Truss

6 September 2022 3:56 pm

Nobody knows what they think about Liz Truss. Not literally nobody – those of us with a wholly unusual level…

Albanian channel crossings are making our borders look like a joke

25 August 2022 11:27 pm

The wholesale abuse of the United Kingdom’s asylum system has taken a novel, absurdist twist in the last few months.…

Don’t write off Michael Gove

20 August 2022 7:00 pm

No senior politician has ever possessed a talent for upsetting prime ministers to match that of Michael Gove’s. David Cameron…

The Channel migrant crisis will make or break Liz Truss

16 August 2022 9:07 pm

Liz Truss has been clear about her key selling point throughout her leadership campaign. At its launch she boasted: ‘I…

Why Rishi Sunak shouldn't quit

10 August 2022 7:56 pm

We are in the depths of silly season. The perfect time, then, for the Conservative party to be choosing a…

How 'taking the knee' spoiled football

6 August 2022 4:30 pm

Premier League footballers ‘taking a knee’ came in at the tail end of the 2019-20 season, when stadiums were empty…

Why can't we enjoy England's football win without politicising it?

1 August 2022 7:45 pm

Not everything has to be politicised all the time. Some things are just news. Often bad news, such as an…

The triumph of Truss

30 July 2022 4:47 pm

This week has seen a dramatic development that has taken the Westminster Village by surprise: Britain suddenly has an identifiable…

The decline and fall of Rishi Sunak

27 July 2022 7:31 pm

Ed Balls, the intellectual powerhouse behind the economics of the New Labour era, was once described as having a brain…

Why I’m coming round to the idea of Prime Minister Truss

21 July 2022 7:47 pm

The prospect of Liz Truss becoming the United Kingdom’s third female prime minister is antagonising all the right people. Almost…

Kemi Badenoch will be the new Tory leader's secret weapon

20 July 2022 7:52 pm

There was an unmistakable whiff of an Addams Family portrait about the cabinet photocall that marked the final gathering of…

Liz Truss was the biggest loser of last night’s debate

16 July 2022 3:57 pm

Enid Blyton made a lot of money out of the Famous Five. Maybe she could have invented a brand called…

The triumph of Tory mediocrity

14 July 2022 7:40 pm

Every loser wins, once the dream begins. So sang the EastEnders actor Nick Berry in a godawful mid-1980s pop song…

Could Sunak implode?

11 July 2022 9:25 pm

There are few positions so perilous as being the frontrunner in a party leadership contest. Just being the heir apparent when…