Boris Johnson
The radical history of The Spectator
A newspaper – it would be more than 100 years before it became a magazine – calling itself a spectator…
Biden is the American Boris
We all know which American politician Boris Johnson is supposed to most closely resemble. Comparisons between the prime minister and…
Vodka, kaolin and morphine: my welcome drinks at The Spectator offices
In 2001, aged 44, I was hired to write a weekly column for this august paper, and for the first…
The case for trusting the public is stronger than ever
Our Plan is entirely new, comprising – 1. The whole News of the Week: selected, sifted, condensed and arranged as…
Ian McEwan: The strange vocabulary of coronavirus
The vocabulary of Brexit has passed into oblivion. Now there’s fresh work to be done. We all know about ‘flattening…
Getting coronavirus does not bring clarity
I had thought that actually getting the coronavirus would bring clarity — that there would be some satisfaction in meeting…
Who is in charge of the government?
Boris Johnson is still officially recuperating from coronavirus at Chequers and is ‘not doing government work’, according to No. 10.…
What the country needs most is Boris Johnson back at his desk
Boris Johnson has been out of action for almost a fortnight. His last meaningful act before going into hospital was…
How Covid-19 will change the Tory party
Politics is full of events that are meant to change everything but actually do little. Yet the coronavirus crisis will…
Portrait of the week: Boris recovers, flour sales soar and France and India extend lockdowns
Home The number of people with the coronavirus disease Covid-19 who had died in hospitals by the beginning of the…
How did the virus get past my Obsessive Compulsive Corona Disorder?
When two members of my family went down with what appears to be Covid-19, I felt concerned. What I hadn’t…
The joy of pumping iron at 83
Gstaad So the days — and months — drift by. This once peaceful Alpine town is packed with rich refugees…
Portrait of the week: Queen speaks, mobile masts burn and Boris Johnson goes into hospital
Home The number of people who had died from the coronavirus disease Covid-19 in the UK by Sunday 5 April…
The problems of a sick prime minister
It is good of President Trump to offer Boris Johnson his best wishes and the best American pharmaceuticals (though no…
Dominic Raab is the constitutional choice, but a complicated one
We have never had a moment like this before in our history: a time when the Prime Minister is, in…
Britain needs Boris, the extraordinary man I’ve known for 35 years
The extraordinary man I’ve known for 35 years
Boris Johnson moved out of intensive care
The Prime Minister has this evening been moved out of intensive care but remains in hospital. After being moved on…
Prime Minister taken into intensive care
In the past few minutes, Downing Street has announced that Boris Johnson is now in intensive care at St Thomas’…
Boris Johnson admitted to hospital for coronavirus tests
Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital for tests after having a continuous temperature for 10 days since testing positive…
Portrait of the week: Coronavirus hits cabinet, EasyJet grounded and postman soldiers on
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, contracted the coronavirus disease Covid-19, as did Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary. The Prince…
Pericles would have approved of the PM’s response to the pandemic
It must be infuriating for those who see the Prime Minister as a prisoner of a rigid elitist mindset that…
How much are people eating during lockdown?
People power Boris Johnson said that the reaction to the coronavirus crisis showed ‘There really is such a thing as…
Frightened people love their leaders
‘The Trump presidency is over’, said Peter Wehner, in the Atlantic. The great wizards of liberal punditry stroked their beards…
Why the coronavirus crisis could peak sooner than expected
The government is adjusting to the reality of dealing with the coronavirus crisis, while three of its most important figures…
Boris's coronavirus pragmatism is confounding his critics
If ever Britain has undergone a period of authoritarian socialism, then this is surely it. Massive state intervention in the…
