Status anxiety
Toby Young: The surprising lesson of my old friends - middle age makes you nicer
When I first suggested to my closest male friends that we have a boys’ Christmas lunch, it didn’t occur to…
Toby Young: Nobody appreciates you sending Christmas cards of your children's 'art'
I’ve just had a massive row with Caroline about Christmas cards. We usually send about 120 and this year we’ve…
Toby Young: Why I'm not going to be an MP
Damn and blast. I was quite keen on becoming the Conservative candidate for Hammersmith, but the timing isn’t going to…
My life as a litter monitor
The think tank Policy Exchange has just published an excellent report on Britain’s urban green spaces called ‘Park Land’. The…
Toby Young: Tristram Hunt, the Spectator's 'Newcomer of the Year'?
I love The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. On the face of it, they’re a great advertisement for just…
Fighting dirty
Why is local politics so much dirtier than national politics? Is it because the players are fighting over relatively trivial…
Toby Young: Please, Boris, don't allow a Waitrose in my neighbourhood
Five years ago I joined forces with some local worthies to object to the opening of a strip joint on…
Toby Young: It's biological, I become a caveman when my child is sick
The first sign that something was wrong with Ludo was when he complained of a tummy ache. This was after…
Toby Young: Am I in denial about turning 50?
By the time you read this I’ll be 50. A couple of years ago, when President Obama passed this milestone,…
Toby Young: I'm too posh for the Tories. I should try Labour
I’m still weighing up whether to run for Parliament, but after this week’s reshuffle I’ve concluded I’m in the wrong…
Miliband's fight with the Mail is cold political calculation
I’m writing this from the Conservative party conference in Manchester, but it’s Ed Miliband I want to discuss. In particular,…
The great zebrafish massacre
I should never have agreed to buy Sasha fish for her tenth birthday. But it seemed like such a modest…
Why I want my schools to ban the burka (and the miniskirt)
For most people, the question of whether to ban the burka is a purely theoretical one. Not for me. As…
Toby Young: Why do so many people want me to take on Andy Slaughter?
I was at a surprise birthday party for a member of the cabinet last week when a Conservative minister spotted…
Toby Young: I'm thinking of going into politics
The Hammersmith Conservative Association will shortly be looking for a candidate to run against the sitting Labour MP in 2015…
Sorry, Rayhan Uddin, but your comprehensive didn’t teach you how to think
An acquaintance of mine called Daisy Christodoulou has just published a book called Seven Myths about Education. It’s a merciless…
Lessons from a friend with a tragic flaw
Character is destiny, according to Heraclitus, and that becomes increasingly clear as you get older and chart the ups and…
Like my dad, I dream of sports cars. Like him, I'll never buy one
I’m currently in Cornwall with my family and whenever I spend a lot of time with my children I’m constantly…
The myths of the English countryside
One of the great things about spending the summer holidays in England is that it gives you an opportunity to…
Britain is now a socialist utopia
Scarcely a day passes, it seems, without another book landing with a thud on my desk that bemoans the rise…
Royal reporters make it all up - doesn't everyone know that?
Seeing the royal hack pack in full cry on Monday reminded me of the week I spent with the late…
Can I turn the West London Free School into Fame Academy?
‘Another opening, another show,’ sang five-year-old Charlie on his way to school this morning — and then proceeded to belt…
The saddest discovery of middle age: I can get by without my old friends
A few years ago, I got the shock of my life when a girl I was sitting next to at…
Our house was burgled as we watched The Fall
Caroline and I were watching The Fall in our front room when the intruder entered our house. Not great timing…
