Boris Johnson
Owen Paterson quits the Commons – what next?
Owen Paterson has resigned as an MP. In a dramatic turn of events, Paterson has in the past 24 hours…
Where is the climate plan B?
The COP26 summit is unlikely to be an outright flop. There has been no shortage of drama, with speakersseeming to…
Did Macron win the Brexit fish war?
Who is winning the fish war? Will gentlemen in England still a-bed think themselves accursed they were not there? This…
Can Boris Johnson salvage COP26?
It’s day two of COP26 and so far the climate summit in Glasgow has made news for travel chaos, Greta…
Why Boris wins
A couple of years ago at The Spectatorsummer party I realised I was standing close to the British prime minister.…
Will the Tories cut taxes before the next election?
The Tory party has reached a fork in the road, I say in the Times today. One path involves sticking…
Cop out: Boris’s battle to save the climate summit
Will COP26 actually achieve anything?
Why lockdown sceptics like me lost the argument
I’m optimistic that the government won’t implement ‘Plan B’, let alone impose another lockdown — but not because sceptics like…
The curious case of Boris and the bishops
Back in July the wedding of Boris and Carrie at Westminster Cathedral prompted Steerpike’s diligent colleague Robert Peston to ask…
Why did we decide that Covid was over?
Look, I don’t know much epidemiology. Can’t pretend to. So what follows is, necessarily, a personal finger to the wind.…
Boris Johnson should trust the market to solve climate change
In a 368-page document published this week, the government announced its strategy to cut emissions to net zero by 2050…
How serious is the government about Net Zero?
The green agenda is leading the news today with Boris Johnson on a PR mission to sell his environmental plans…
Why does Boris Johnson keep on winning?
For his critics, Boris Johnson offends the notion that the British are a sensible people so deeply we feel we…
Rishi in, Keir out: 2020's most popular baby names
Once the popularity of politicians was judged by how many babies they were asked to kiss – now it’s by…
Why Covid means the big state is back
History suggests that when the state expands in a crisis, it doesn’t go back to its pre-crisis level once the…
Don't bet on the EFFing crisis bringing down Boris
Boris Johnson is taking one heck of a risk by making labour shortages a deliberate part of his economic strategy. That,…
David Frost's protocol diplomacy
As a general rule in post-Brexit politics, when David Frost makes a public intervention on the Northern Ireland protocol, it…
A matter of Truss: the unlikely rise of Lizmania
If Boris Johnson were to vanish tomorrow, who should replace him? The American pollster Frank Luntz asked this of about 200…
Boris’s hostage to fortune
Most prime ministers would be worried about supply chain shortages. But as became increasingly clear at the Tory party conference…
The Tories will pay a price for Boris's housing strategy
One of the themes of Conservative conference was that the government has dropped plans for a radical reform of the…
Build Back Boris!
As a clarion call, a sounding of hosannas, a piece of fiery rhetoric to hold puissance over the soul of…
Levelling up is Johnsonian cakeism
Until this morning, few people in Britain will have heard of the works of Wilfredo Pareto (1848-1923). Now, thanks to…
Boris's tetchy Marr interview showed the risks he is taking
Boris Johnson’s rather testy interview with Andrew Marr this morning revealed the political gamble that he is taking. Johnson is calculating…
Boris Johnson and the Tory identity crisis
The Tory conference in Manchester will be a relatively muted affair. In part, this is because — as I say…
Running on empty: the government is out of fuel – and ideas
The government has no ideas and no direction
