Politics Archives

Saturday

6 Sep 2025

Why Gay Times hit the buffers

Gay Times, the longstanding monthly magazine formerly aimed at gay men – but now repurposed as an ‘LGBTQ+’ title – is in trouble: it has lost 80 per cent of its advertisers in the last year, and £5 million in advertising revenue as a result. ‘Good old-fashioned discrimination’ is to blame, according to its chief executive Tag Warner. The real reason is rather more straightforward: Gay Times‘s troubles show, once again, that if you go woke, you risk going broke. Gay Times‘s troubles show, once again, that if you go woke, you risk going broke. The Guardian suggests instead that Donald Trump might be to blame. ‘There has been a

Iram Ramzan

Do Druze Lives Matter?

It’s not even 10am, but already the Galilee sun is prickling the back of my neck. I’m standing outside a war room set up in the community centre of the village of Julis, watching a delegation of 200 Druze men arrive. One by one, they make their way up the steep path – most dressed in their trademark black robes, baggy trousers, and white hats. They’ve come from across northern Israel to plead for their people on the other side of the border, where a quiet massacre has been unfolding in southern Syria. ‘Tomorrow it could be Europe or the US. These extremists will get stronger, and they will murder each and

Friday

5 Sep 2025

Madeline Grant

Nadine Dorries was a low point in Reform’s Campest Show On Earth

Reform had clearly planned the Campest Show On Earth for their conference this year. Sparklers, club anthems and strobe lights: imagine Sir Keith Joseph was in charge of your primary school disco and you get a sense of the vibe. Unfortunately for the budding impresarios of Reform, they were upstaged. Just as their conference was starting, the inevitable happened and Big Ange called it a day. In many ways, the Deputy Prime Minister and Reform have a lot in common: a working-class support base, an obvious contempt for the smoking ban and finances which are best left, er, unscrutinised. Still there was room for only one headline and the reshuffle

Lucy Dunn

Starmer completes post-Rayner cabinet reshuffle

Keir Starmer is carrying out a far-reaching reshuffle this afternoon after Angela Rayner resigned from her three roles (Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Minister and deputy Labour leader) following a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. The writing was on the wall for Starmer’s former second-in-command after her own lawyers put out a statement on Thursday in which they claimed to have been scapegoated over the whole ordeal. Now Rayner will move to the backbenches while Starmer galvanises his premiership with a cabinet reshuffle. There have been significant moves among the most senior ranks of the cabinet. David Lammy is now Deputy Prime

Steerpike

Zia Yusuf awarded yet another Reform role

Senior Reform figure Zia Yusuf has been on quite the journey within the party. The businessman first came to prominence as party chairman after taking over from now-deputy Richard Tice MP, promising to professionalise the growing party. Then, three months ago to the day, Yusuf shocked party colleagues and members by announcing his resignation from the role, posting on X that: ‘I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.’ He returned less than 48 hours later, however, to take on an Elon Musk-style role as Reform UK’s Head of DOGE. And now, during Nigel Farage’s

Graham Watts

Rayner’s resignation will save her from one embarrassment

The misjudgement over Stamp Duty which led to Angela Rayner’s resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, may be deeply embarrassing for her (and her party) but it will likely save her from the embarrassment of failing to achieve the government’s target of delivering 1.5 million new homes by 2029. In an interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, back in December 2024, the then DPM vehemently argued that this was her target, and she would be accountable for it. That interview might best be remembered for her inability to respond to Phillips’s assertion – backed up by quoting the government’s own data – that five out of every seven

James Heale

Reaction from Reform as Rayner resigns

17 min listen

Angela Rayner has resigned following the ethics probe into her tax affairs. What impact will this have on Starmer’s government? And does this hinder her chances of succeeding Starmer one day? The Coffee House Shots team react live from day one of the Reform party conference, which is taking place in Birmingham. What’s the mood in the conference hall? And, after Nadine Dorries joined Reform last night, could more former Conservatives follow? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Lucy Dunn

Angela Rayner quits over stamp duty scandal

Angela Rayner has resigned as Deputy Prime Minister after a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. Rayner was investigated after it emerged she had underpaid stamp duty when purchasing a seaside apartment in Hove, East Sussex. Sir Keir Starmer hinted on Thursday that he would move to sack Rayner pending the results of the investigation, but Rayner has jumped before she was pushed. Her departure has triggered a cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to take place today. The announcement comes as Nigel Farage kicks off Reform UK’s annual party conference. Rayner’s resignation – and the looming cabinet reshuffle – casts a large

Tim Shipman

Tim Shipman, Colin Freeman, Rachel Clarke, Michael Gove & Melanie Ferbreach

40 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman interviews shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick (plus – Tim explains the significance of Jenrick’s arguments in a special introduction); Colin Freeman wonders why the defenders of Ukraine have been abandoned; Rachel Clarke reviews Liam Shaw and explains the urgency needed to find new antibiotics; Michael Gove reviews Tom McTague and ponders the path that led to the UK voting to leave the EU; and, Melanie Ferbreach provides her notes on made-up language. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Steerpike

Poll: what do Brits think of Farage?

It is day one of Reform UK’s conference today and thousands are flocking in to the Birmingham NEC. But while those attending today are the true-teal Farage faithful, what do the millions outside the conference hall make of the lifelong Brexiteer? Merlin Strategy has done some polling for The Spectator to dig into what Britain thinks of the man trying to fashion himself as Britain’s next Prime Minister… Asked whether Farage is a ‘racist’, some 44 per cent say he is not, compared to just over a third (34 per cent) who say he is. Among those considering backing the party, this figure drops, with 27 per cent believing the

Tim Shipman

The scale of Nigel Farage’s ambition

When Nigel Farage stands up this afternoon to deliver his speech to Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham he will do so for the first time as a potential prime minister. His message to the 7,000 delegates gathered at the NEC will be that they need to prepare for a general election as early as 2027. One cloud looms over Farage’s funfair today Labour would not have to call an election until 2029, but Farage believes the state of the economy and the emergence of new parties means the government could collapse before that. With Rachel Reeves facing a black hole of anything up to about £40 billion in the

Ross Clark

Angela Rayner is the victim of a convoluted tax system

Here is a rather delightful fact. For 13 years between 2010 and 2023 Britain had a quango called the Office for Tax Simplification. You may never have heard of it, but it really did exist. Its annual report for 2021/22 shows that it was chaired by someone called Kathryn Kearns and had a budget of £1.057 million, £868,000 of which was paid in staff wages. But here’s the thing. In 2010, when it was founded, Tolley’s Tax Guide – the accountant’s bible – ran to 867 pages. The 2023 edition – the year the Office for Tax Simplification was wound up – ran to, er, 1,020 pages. No one should

Stephen Pollard

The truth about the Fabian Society

It’s a strange feeling finding out that you have been part of a revolutionary group that secretly controls Britain and, er…didn’t realise it. For four years in the 1990s, I was the Research Director of the Fabian Society. It was a wonderful job, at a time when Labour under Tony Blair was open to new ideas and policies. As a Labour-affiliated, mildly left-of-centre organisation, the Fabians were very well placed. Earnest thinkers, networkers and youngsters finding their feet in politics all had a space in which they could come together and think about and discuss politics and ideas in an environment where questioning the received wisdom was the point, rather

Lara Brown

What has Hollywood done to Wuthering Heights?

‘Come undone’, the billboard reads. Two hands are clasped together. On another a blonde-haired woman lies prone on a fuzzy peach mattress, her hands tightly gripping the sheets. ‘Drive me mad’, implores the caption. In theatres Valentine’s Day 2026. Despite appearances, this isn’t the latest boilerplate steamy romance for women to drag their boyfriends to in February, but the official marketing for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights. The trailer, released on Thursday, sets the tone for an apparent massacre of Emily Brontë’s magnum opus. It opens with a shot of Aussie heart-throb Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, sucking the fingers of erstwhile Barbie Margot Robbie while her not-insubstantial breasts heave out of an

Mark Galeotti

Putin doesn’t want to live forever

‘Rejuvenation is unstoppable, we will prevail,’ blared the editorial in the Chinese newspaper Global Times. The subject was China’s resurgence, but it looked oddly apposite in light of an inadvertently overheard conversation between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Some Western journalists have mistaken this as evidence of Putin’s hubris and his personality cult ‘Biotechnology is continuously developing,’ commented Putin as the two men walked towards the podium in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during the military parade to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War Two. ‘In the past, it used to be rare for someone to be older than 70 and these days they say that at 70 one’s still a

Sam Olsen

The centre of gravity is shifting to Beijing

Beijing gave us a glimpse of the future this week. Across Tiananmen Square rolled column after column of tanks, missile launchers and robot dogs. Above, sleek new J-35 stealth fighters cut through the smog, together with drones and surveillance aircraft. The centrepiece was unmistakable: gleaming hypersonic and ballistic missiles, designed to extend China’s military reach across continents. Reviewing all this was Xi Jinping, flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. It was military theatre, yes. But it was also a declaration: China is no longer just a regional power. It intends to set the rules of a new world order. Trump staged a piece of political nostalgia;

Coffee House

The Spectator at Conservative conference 2025: events programme

The Spectator is delighted to be at Conservative party conference in Manchester this year. Join us in Exchange 11, MCCC. Our schedule is below: Sunday 5 October Coffee House Shots Live – welcome reception 3.30-4.30pm Join The Spectator’s team to kick off party conference with a glass of wine. Meet Michael Gove, Tim Shipman, James Heale and subscribers from across the country to toast the start of three days of stimulating discussion and debate. Private drinks reception: The Spectator in association with Santander 5.30-7pm The Tories have traditionally prided themselves on being the party of small business. But is that still the case? Ahead of Rachel Reeves’s second Budget, Sir Mel Stride will argue that it

Thursday

4 Sep 2025

Steerpike

Nadine Dorries defects to Reform

On the eve of Reform’s annual conference, the party has dropped another bombshell. Former Tory culture secretary Nadine Dorries has defected to Reform UK – a move Nigel Farage has gushed he is ‘absolutely delighted’ about. In an explosive interview with the Daily Mail, Dorries has declared ‘the Tory party is dead’ – and advised party members to ‘now think the unthinkable and look to the future’. Dorries’ defection follows the ex-cabinet minister’s three decades as a Conservative party member. As reported by the Mail, her talks with Farage did not involve a guaranteed place in a Reform government. Yet while the once-vociferous Boris Johnson ally is not currently a

Lucy Dunn

Bell Hotel asylum seeker found guilty of sexually assaulting teenager

Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia who was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, has been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, inciting a child into sexual activity, and harassment without violence. Kebatu did not react as he was found guilty at Chelmsford magistrates’ court of all five counts he was charged with, keeping his hand held to his face. During the proceedings, the court heard that the 38-year-old asylum seeker had approached a group of teenagers and asked a girl back to his room at the hotel to ‘make babies’. The judge told Kebatu the evidence against him was

Steerpike

Reform to launch new campaign app

Reform UK kicks off party conference season tomorrow. Thousands of attendees are expected to flock to the Birmingham NEC to hear from Nigel Farage, Zia Yusuf and others. A year after the last jamboree, the party is keen to emphasise how much it has grown in the 12 months since: 700 councillors, the Runcorn triumph and four months of poll leads to boot too. And now, in the party’s bid to make further gains next May, Steerpike can reveal that the party is launching its own campaign app to co-ordinate Reform’s 230,000 members across 400 active branches. Chairman David Bull will be touting the new ’ReformGo’ app in the coming