Margaret Thatcher
Why I’ve finally given up on the left
I cannot be part of a movement run by half-educated fanatics
‘I was facing truths I didn’t particularly want to look at’: Michael Moorcock interview
Cult novelist Michael Moorcock on fantasy, his father, and the London he loved and lost
William Waldegrave: too nice ever to have been PM
‘Lobbying,’ writes William Waldegrave in this extraordinary memoir, ‘takes many forms.’ But he has surely reported a variant hitherto unrecorded…
Which political souvenirs are worth hanging on to
My first reaction on hearing of Margaret Thatcher’s death in 2013 was: ‘Great — now my autograph from her will…
The most powerful man in classical music
When Margaret Thatcher imagined perfect power, she thought of the orchestral conductor. ‘She envied me,’ said Herbert von Karajan, ‘that…
Charles Moore’s notes: The anti-EU camp need to be sure what No means
It is natural to assume that, if a majority votes No in the referendum on Britain’s EU membership, we shall…
The last Europe vote, 40 years on
Forty years on The forthcoming EU referendum has rekindled memories of the in-out Common Market referendum of 1975. But it…
What to drink when you're on a cloud of post-election euphoria
Most of my friends are still on a cloud of post-election euphoria. There is one exception: those involved with opinion-polling.…
This election has made me understand how it felt to be a lefty under Thatcher
On the weekend of 25 April 2015 I started to believe that the party I supported might not win an…
The art of political biography remains in intensive care if Giles Radice’s latest book is anything to go by, says Simon Heffer
With the odd exception — I think principally of Charles Moore’s life of Margaret Thatcher — the genre of political…
Another enemy within: Thatcher (and Wilson) vs the BBC
In a ‘Dear Bill’ letter in Private Eye, an imaginary Denis Thatcher wrote off the BBC as a nest of…
Want more diversity? Hire groups, not individuals
If I were to give you a budget to choose your perfect house, you would quickly have a clear idea…
The Heckler: how funny really was Spitting Image?
Hold the front page! Spitting Image is back! Well, sort of. A new six-part series, from (some of) the team…
The elderly are society’s new baddies
The gulf in understanding between the old and the young has widened with the news that the young are beginning…
EastEnders wanted to show Thatcher’s Britain. These days it would make Maggie proud
How EastEnders became a positive reflection of Tory values
Even the people who make political adverts aren’t sure they work
It is a common prejudice about modern politics that it is all focus groups and spin, all public relations and…
Don't believe the gloom-mongers: deflation will be good for Britain
Campaigning in Putney in 1978, Mrs Thatcher famously took out a pair of scissors and cut a pound note down…
Without childhood traumas, how did Alan Bennett ever become a writer?
‘So — take heart,’ said Alan Bennett, sending us out from his play, Cocktail Sticks, on a cheery note. The…
All you’ll ever need to know about the history of England in one volume
Here is a stupendous achievement: a narrative history of England which is both thorough and arresting. Very few writers could…
Richard Madeley’s diary: Forgetting Tom Conti’s name, and other harrowing experiences
Oh God, it’s happened again. Another evening where I’m surrounded by people I know personally or have interviewed, and I…
Mark Amory's diary: Confessions of a literary editor
Until recently I used to claim that I had been literary editor of The Spectator for over 25 years; now…
A fitting exit for the self-publicising Lady Warsi
At the impressive Westminster Abbey vigil to mark the centenary of the first world war on Monday night, there was…
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…
My tax avoidance tip – win literary prizes!
David Cameron is said to want a woman to be chairman of the BBC Trust, now that Chris Patten has…
The wonderful, vanishing world of the handwritten letter
Peter Oborne 4 July 2015 9:00 am
In praise of the old-fashioned letter-writer