Articles tagged UK Politics:
Polling Day Seen Through The Eyes of A Losing Candidate - Me (And How to Lose Gracefully)
- 12 Dec 2019
Fourteen years ago I stood as a candidate in the 2005 general election. It seems a very long time ago. It was one of those days which could have changed my life forever, and in some ways did. Ten years ago I wrote a blogpost about polling day and the election count. It got suc...
The Vuelio List of Top 50 Political Influencers
- 11 Jan 2019
Embed from Getty Images The PR & Communications outfit Vuelio has produced a list of the 50 people they consider the main influencers on the political debate/agenda in this country. No one ever agrees on who's included in this sort of list, or where they are ranked...
The Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives of 2018
- 1 Oct 2018
Each year for the last eleven years I have convened panels to compile lists of the Top 50 Liberal Democrats, the Top 100 Most Influential People on the Left, and the Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right. This year, due to workload, I have wimped out of doing the Lib...
Some Political Gaffes For Your Delectation
- 22 Sep 2018
Back in 2007 Norwich North MP Ian Gibson experienced what is commonly known as ‘foot in mouth’ incident, when he appeared to describe the whole of the county of Norfolk as ‘inbred’. It was the latest in the line of political gaffes which have damaged and sometimes ended the ca...
Extra NHS Spending: Where's the Money Coming From?
- 24 Jun 2018
I’m not a great fan of unfunded spending promises. I am, after all a fiscal conservative. So, I had thought, were leading members of the government. The chancellor likes to remind us of his fiscal rectitude so Christ alone knows what Jeremy Hunt has on him. Somehow, he was per...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Peter Mandelson: An Obituary
- 8 May 2018
Back in 2009 GQ asked me to write a fake obituary of Peter Mandelson, along with Andrew Roberts, John Kampfner, Stephen Bayley, Matthew D’Ancona and John Rentoul. I decided to make mine rather more tongue in cheek than some of the others did, but they were all hugely entertain...
Evening Standard Column: The Sajid and Sadiq Show
- 1 May 2018
The Sajid and Sadiq show: UK’s two most influential British Asian politicians are on the path to greater power. When Sajid Javid was appointed Home Secretary yesterday, Sadiq Khan was the first to congratulate him — now their friendship could turn to political rivalry. He’s r...
Amber Rudd's Resignation, What Her Successor Needs to Do & the Terrible State of Our Politics
- 30 Apr 2018
Back in 2006, when he took over from Charles Clarke at the Home Office, John Reid famously declared that the Home Office was “not fit for purpose”. It is hard to escape the conclusion that little has changed in the intervening twelve years. Amber Rudd’s resignation last night...
If You're Standing in the May Elections, Here are 20 Pieces of Advice...
- 5 Apr 2018
A few years ago I wrote this in relation to people who stand for Parliament. It got quite a reaction. So if you’re standing for your local council in the May elections, quite a lot of this applies to you too! You can’t do everything yourself. Let others take the strai...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: What Really Happened at Margaret Thatcher's Final Cabinet Meeting
- 1 Apr 2018
Some time ago, back in 2006, I had intended to write a book about the month leading up to Margaret Thatcher’s fall from power. Part of the incentive to do so was that there seemed to be so many conflicting accounts of what actually happened. I knew I would be able to get acces...