Why the LibDem Seats Will Win 30-35 Seats in 2015
- 5 Feb 2014
There’s a lot of speculation about the number of seats the Liberal Democrats will win at the next election. Some people expect a virtual wipeout, while LibDems themselves cling onto the hope that incumbency will help them win seats they might otherwise lose. The truth will pr...
Who Will Be The New Sky News Political Editor?
- 2 Feb 2014
This week applications close for the position of Sky News Political Editor. There has been much speculation about who the runners and riders are, with some ludicrous names being put forward by some of the betting companies to succeed Adam Boulton. I would say this is one of t...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 14: When Bob Crow's RMT Lies To You
- 1 Feb 2014
Yesterday we rang to RMT to invite Bob Crow to appear on my radio show. Boris Johnson had just made an offer to meet him to talk about ticket office closures. His press people said they’d get back to us but Bob was a bit busy. “There’s a lot going on,” they said. Yes indeed. T...
LBC Becomes a National Radio Brand
- 30 Jan 2014
It’s just been announced that LBC is going to go national on February 11th. We will be transmitting on the National Digital One DAB platform meaning that for the first time all our programmes can be heard all over the country. You can imagine what massive implications have fo...
Lecture: The NHS - Things That Need To Be Said
- 27 Jan 2014
This is the text of a 45 minute lecture I gave today to an audience at Queen’s Hospital in Romford. It is the annual Leslie Oliver Oration. Every year the hospital celebrates the works of one of pioneers in Neurosurgery in this country. Leslie Oliver founded the Neuroscience u...
Making a Speech is Like Giving Birth
- 25 Jan 2014
Someone once said that writing a speech is like giving birth. Whoever it was, they had a point. Back in early December I wrote this on the blog… I must be mad. When will I ever learn? I have just accepted an invitation to give a lecture on the NHS to 50 doctors, surgeons a...
It's Thank You and Good Bye to Grant Tucker
- 21 Jan 2014
Four and a half years ago I first met Grant Tucker. He was introduced to me by Dawn Parry, who was then the Conservative candidate for Newport, in South Wales. It was at the Tory Party conference and he was very interested in how I knew Margaret Thatcher and what I thought of ...
An Interview With Cherwell
- 19 Jan 2014
This is an interview I did a couple of weeks ago for CHERWELL, the Oxford University student newspaper. The interviewer was Robert Walmsley. The original article can be read HERE Iain Dale is affable and easy to talk to. He seems to have the ability, which every good radio ta...
Biteback Author Alexandros Petersen Killed in Kabul Bomb Blast
- 19 Jan 2014
On Friday night on my radio show I was interviewing Sir Nicholas Barrington about his new book, ENVOY. Sir Nicholas had spent a lot of time as a diplomat in Afghanistan. Indeed, it was his first posting. During the show I had to read out the tragic news that a bomb blast had ...
Newsnight's Debate Was An Insult to Alex Crawford
- 16 Jan 2014
I didn’t see Newsnight last night but while I was at Sky News Anna Jones told me Alex Crawford was on the programme discussing the merits of foreign news. “I’ll watch that in the morning,” I thought to myself. I rather I wish I hadn’t. What an appalling piece of broadcasting...
The Wonderful Story of Christian the Lion
- 11 Jan 2014
Grab a Kleenex and watch this… And this is the full story… And this is a US TV interview with the owners of Christian. And this is an interview I did yesterday on LBC with John Rendall ostensibly on the closure of the Harrod’s pet shop, but it was mostly about Christi...
Video of London in 1927 - In Colour
- 11 Jan 2014
This is the first colour film ever shot of London, in 1927. The quality is astonishing. But what is even more surprising is that not a lot has changed! Fascinating.
Why I Have Quit My ConHome Diary Column
- 10 Jan 2014
Last year I didn’t have a two week holiday. Yes, I took time off, but only a few days at a time. By the end of the year I was completely exhausted. Knackered. It was mostly my own fault in that in addition to my two jobs at Biteback and LBC I would take on other work too, and...
Remembering Simon Hoggart
- 6 Jan 2014
Simon Hoggart was one of the people who sparked my interest in politics back in the late 1970s. Along with Frank Johnson he was brilliant in poking fun at politics and politicians in his Punch sketches and I remember one of the first political books I ever bought was his coll...
The Wonderful Country Paintings of Cornelia Fitzroy
- 4 Jan 2014
Original paintings never quite look as good on a computer screen as they do in real life, or perhaps it is my photography, but I wanted to introduce you to a wonderful Norfolk artist called Cornelia Fitzroy. A couple of years ago I bought a painting of hers called THE RED HOU...
My Ten New Year's Resolutions Are...
- 31 Dec 2013
Continue to lose weight. Target 16 stone by June, 15 1/2 by end of the year. To up my exercise. More golf, start running and a bit of rowing. Try to resist getting involved in Twitter spats. Think of a way of raising £5k for charity. To be a better husband to Simmo....