Iain Duncan Smith
How has the Conservative party’s ‘Dr No’ escaped everyone’s notice for so long?
This malevolent figure has been at the centre of the party for more than 40 years, says Nadine Dorries. But nothing in The Plot bears much relation to reality
My encounter with Sue Gray
I only voted in one no-confidence motion. The leader was Iain Duncan Smith, and it was a bit awkward. I…
A short history of political violence
The ugly attack on Iain Duncan Smith by five protestors at the Tory conference in Manchester has been widely seen…
Keeping yourself angry, the Hare way: We Travelled, by David Hare, reviewed
A character in David Hare’s Skylight claims she has at last found contentment by no longer opening newspapers or watching…
History holds far fewer lessons for Brexit than both sides think
How we love bringing history into our political debates. It may seem strange in a country where so little history…
Leave campaigners aren’t being disrespected. They’re being paranoid
There are moments when one wonders whether one is seeing and hearing the same things as others. For me such…
Iain Duncan Smith on how to save Conservatism
Iain Duncan Smith on the fallout from his shock resignation
George Osborne still deserves praise for his Living Wage
It was unfashionable of me to write in praise of George Osborne on Budget day. I did so, you may…
How Cameron and Osborne lost so much of their party
Why have David Cameron and George Osborne overreached? Why are so many in their own party no longer disposed to…
Tearing tax credits away from the working poor is a battle of choice, not necessity
Just over 30 years ago, Margaret Thatcher’s government decided to look at local government finance. A young aide, John Redwood,…
You can't spin yourself into authenticity – as Ed Miliband is finding out
For a politician to draw attention to his own deficiencies is a desperate attempt to curry favour with the electorate…
Benefits Street exposes Britain's dirty secret - how welfare imprisons the poor
A documentary has finally exposed what life is like at the bottom. So why is the left so angry?
The fight for compassionate Conservatism
‘Has the Secretary of State, like me, managed to watch programmes such as Benefits Street and On Benefits & Proud?…
Welfare wars
George Osborne is refreshingly uninterested in his public image, believing that he will be judged by the success (or otherwise)…
