Michael Gove
Why lawyers deserve Michael Gove
A great test of political leadership is how well you deal with vested interests on your own side. In his…
Portrait of the week
Home Tens of thousands took part in a demonstration in London against austerity, and thousands more in other cities. Russell…
In defence of Michael Gove’s grammar guide
Few things are more likely to provoke the disapproval of the bien-pensant left than criticising someone’s grammar. The very idea…
Cameron's small majority means big challenges ahead
In ancient Rome, when a general rode in triumph through the city, a slave would stand behind him whispering into…
David Cameron's big secret: he's not a great politician
This was a vital election. A Tory failure would have been an act of political treason. Five years ago, the…
Five arguments for voting Tory (and one for anything but)
Five Spectator contributors on why they’re voting for Cameron (and one on why he isn’t)
Lefty myths about inequality
As a Tory, I’ve been thinking a lot about inequality recently. Has it really increased in the past five years?…
The teachers who (quietly) miss Michael Gove
Meet the teachers who are (quietly) grateful to the former education secretary
Proof that the schools revolution isn’t over
For those who assumed that the removal of Michael Gove as Education Secretary marked the end of the Conservatives’ scholastic…
The Tories have one real success in government – and they’re scared to talk about it
Schools are the one area where this government has made a real, positive difference – but it’s scared stiff of saying so
Has the Chief Inspector of Schools really gone rogue?
Sir Michael Wilshaw must revamp his power-crazed organisation
Cameron must reunite the Tories or lose the next election
No one goes to Birmingham to revive a marriage. But that is what David Cameron and the Conservative party must…
Miriam Gross’s diary: As a qualified teacher, I say let in the ‘untrained’
I knew that the historian Sir Richard Evans was a rather abrasive and quarrelsome man, but I was staggered by…
Gove, gone
‘There’s no shame in a cabinet to win the next election,’ declared an exasperated senior No. 10 figure on Tuesday…
The Spectator's Notes: this is the worst reshuffle since 1989
This must be the worst reshuffle since Mrs Thatcher demoted Geoffrey Howe in 1989. Unlike that one, its errors are…
Farewell, Speccie
So we are all going to have to pay for fatties to have stomach bands and bypasses, are we? It…
Cameron was right to move Gove
I tried to reach Michael Gove on Tuesday shortly after the news broke that he’d been moved to the Whips’…
The Birmingham ‘Trojan Horse plot’ is — like WMD — a neocon fantasy
I can remember where I was when Colin Powell presented to the United Nations his evidence for the existence of…
Yes, I compared Theresa May to an Israeli tank commander. Why is everyone so upset?
I expect all of us have said something we regret at one time or another, but not everyone does so…
Now it's Gove vs May - will Tory wars ever stop?
Modern Conservatives seem to be allergic to success. Every time things are going right, the party spasms. Sir John Major’s…
If Alex Salmond is cutting bureaucracy, why does he have so many quangos?
Escape committees An LSE/Institute for Government report estimated the cost of Scottish independence at £2.7 billion, a sum arrived at…
The truth about being a politician’s child
It was a Friday morning in 1992, Britain had just had an election, and I was on an ice rink.…
Michael Gove did not kill Of Mice and Men or To Kill A Mockingbird
I suppose I should be grateful that the liberal intelligentsia doesn’t bother to check any of the facts if an…
Spectator letters: Bereaved parents against press regulation, and a defence of Tony Benn
Why we need a free press Sir: As bereaved parents and (to borrow from some signatories of last week’s advertisement)…
Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and the return of Tory wars
From the moment he took his job, Michael Gove knew that he would make energetic and determined enemies. The teachers’…
