All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Boris Johnson became the new Prime Minister this week, but what will his first 100 days in office be like? In this week’s magazine, James Forsyth examines why the unconventional Team Boris have to hit the ground running – he argues that if they can get public opinion on side, then it’s possible to tackle
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s frontbench debut made it clear he won’t be a typical member of the Cabinet. Fresh from making waves in Parliament, the new leader of the house of Commons has now released his own style guide for staff. On the banned list are full stops after Miss. or Ms., commas after and, and double
Since entering No. 10, Boris Johnson has made clear that any route to a Brexit deal must involve ditching the backstop that currently sits in the withdrawal agreement. If that’s not possible, he intends to take the UK out of the EU without a deal. The backstop was the major stumbling block for Theresa May
Just what would be it take for the Guardian to stop suggesting Conservatives are racists? We now have the four great offices of state held by: a man baptised Catholic but now a functioning atheist, a man with a Jewish father but who was brought up in the Church of England, a son of Pakistani
The sacking of David Mundell as Scottish Secretary has left Ruth Davidson’s Tories reeling. The response is not tribal or even ideological; Brexiteers and Remainers alike regard his replacement Alister Jack as a good sort. What most are still struggling to fathom is the thinking behind Mundell’s punting. Of course, he is an opponent of
Until now, new Prime Ministers have always arrived in 10 Downing Street accompanied by the team they built around them in Parliament. But Boris Johnson is different. He is the creature of two Blair-era inventions: devolution and referendums. The team he is building around him in No. 10 is from City Hall and Vote Leave,
Global trade would collapse amid a tariff war. The dollar would be in free-fall as investors fled the chaos. The stock market would tank as money was pulled out of the country. When Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, there were lots of dire predictions about the impact it would have
I don’t know if Boris Johnson is as surprised to be prime minister as those who’ve known him for 20 years, and worked for him when he was Spectator editor, and became incredibly grumpy at his seeming pathological inability to make up his mind. But it all felt a bit unreal and disconcerting to see
Theresa May’s clashes with Jeremy Corbyn were usually dull affairs. Now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, Mr S. is looking forward to some livelier bust-ups in Parliament. Boris didn’t disappoint in his first encounter with the Labour leader. Here are five of the best bits from Boris’s government debut: Corbyn’s ‘terrible’ Brexit ‘metamorphosis’: Boris wasted
As a life-long Labour voter and campaigner against Tory policies, particularly when it comes to issues relating to violence against women and girls, I find it odd to be writing this sentence. But today, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission published a report into prostitution that is so progressive, so comprehensive, and so practical that
Boris Johnson has never really known how to speak in the Commons chamber. He has tried to adjust his speaking style but without great success. And as I say in the magazine this week, despite his reputation for rhetoric he has never made a memorable speech in the House of Commons. But in his first appearance
Last night’s ‘F**k Boris’ demo in London really was an extraordinary spectacle. It felt almost historic. For what we had here was a gathering of radicals raging against a new Tory PM for threatening to upend the political status quo. Yes, these supposedly edgy, rebellious, pink- and blue-haired haters of Conservatism were essentially pleading with
Mr Speaker, I with permission, shall make a statement on the mission of this new Conservative Government. But before I begin, I am sure the whole House will join me in paying tribute to my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead – for all that she has given in the service of our nation. From
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already delighting his supporters, but not everyone is happy about Britain’s new leader. Boris’s first speech in Downing Street and the Cabinet bloodbath that followed has led to a fair bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth, not least on Twitter. From independent group MPs and David Lammy to the
When Boris Johnson stood in the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre and gave his victory speech, he spoke of his DUDE strategy for government: 1. Deliver Brexit; 2. Unite the country; 3. Defeat Corbyn; and 4. Energise the country. When it comes to step two, Coffee House understands plans are afoot to action an attempt to
Jacob Rees-Mogg, as newly appointed Leader of the Commons, had his first stint at the dispatch box this morning, after being elevated to Boris Johnson’s Cabinet late last night. The Commons Leader is responsible for the government’s business in the House and as expected Mogg, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of parliamentary procedure and history, was clearly
A day on from Boris Johnson’s brutal Cabinet clear out, the PM is appointing junior ministers tonight. Here is the full list of who’s in, and who’s out so far: Who’s in: Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer Priti Patel, Secretary of State for the Home Department Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First
When I was fresh out of university, I applied for a job as a parliamentary aide to Jo Swinson. The MP for East Dunbartonshire was full of promise and more to my political tastes then than the clunky managerialism of new PM Gordon Brown. She rejected me. If nothing else, this shows Swinson has sound
Join us in the boardroom at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP for the following Spectator Winemaker Lunches where a delicious, cold four-course lunch provided by Forman & Field will be served; arrive at 12.30pm for a 1pm start. To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Friday 6 September: Journey’s End Since the Shropshire-based Gabb
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 11 October for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Château de Pommard. Château de Pommard – founded in 1726 in the heart of the Côte d’Or and now owned by the Carabello-Baum family – is the largest private Clos in Burgundy.
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 25 October for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Glenelly Estate. Glenelly Estate in Stellenbosch is an outstanding winery, founded by May-Eliane de Lencquesaing (former owner of Château Pichon-Lalande) in 2003. Export director, Nicolas Bureau (Mme de Lencquesaing’s grandson) will take
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 8 November for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Joseph Phelps Vineyards. Joseph Phelps is a name to conjure with in California and under the expert tutelage of export director, Robert Baxter, we will enjoy the winery’s Freestone Chardonnay, Napa Valley
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 15 November for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Domaine Léon Beyer. The gregarious patron, Marc Beyer, a titan of Alsace winemaking, is coming to London specially to host this lunch, bringing with him a fine selection of the Beyer family’s world
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 22 November for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Château Grand-Puy Ducasse and Château Meyney. Château Grand-Puy Ducasse (5ème Grand Cru Classé Pauillac) and Château Meyney (St Estèphe) are two of the most familiar names of Bordeaux and we are indeed
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 29 November for the next in our series of Spectator Beermaker Lunches with Timothy Taylor’s Brewery. Timothy Taylor is one of the UK’s most celebrated brewers, founded in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in 1858 and still family owned. Best known for its Landlord Pale Ale (four
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 6 December for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Domaine of the Bee. Domaine of the Bee is a boutique wine estate in Languedoc-Roussillon (‘a tiny producer of enormous reds’) founded by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, former wine buyer for Waitrose, his
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 13 December for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Château Quintus. Château Quintus is an exceptional estate in Saint-Emilion owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon, in whose portfolio it rubs shoulders with Château Haut-Brion, Château La Mission Haut-Brion
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 27 September for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Bodegas Artadi. Bodegas Artadi dates from 1981 when Juan Carlos López de Lacalle, his family and 13 other growers founded the estate in Alava in the heart of Spain’s Basque country. Today,
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 13 September for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches. Ben Howkins is one of the world’s leading authorities on sherry. To mark the publication of his book, Sherry, Maligned, Misunderstood, Magnificent! (published by the Steven Spurrier-led Académie du Vin Library), Ben will introduce us
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. Join us in the Spectator boardroom on Friday 6 September for the next in our series of Spectator Winemaker Lunches with Journey’s End. Since the Shropshire-based Gabb family took over Journey’s End in 1995, the estate has grown greatly in both size and reputation. The warm days/cool nights of the coastal Schapenberg Hills
To buy tickets, head to the Spectator Shop. We are delighted to announce that the Spectator Wine School’s eight week autumn term will start at 6.30pm on Wednesday 25 September in our boardroom at 22 Old Queen Street. Drawing on the unrivalled expertise of our merchant partners (namely Corney & Barrow, FromVineyardsDirect, Mr Wheeler, Private Cellar and Yapp Bros)
Love him or hate him, Boris Johnson is big news. His victory in the Tory leadership race – and imminent appointment as Britain’s next PM – has filled newspapers around the world this morning. Brexit aside, it’s rare these days for British politics to make the front pages of papers outside of the UK. But
This really ought to be called the Ferrero Rocher cabinet: truly with these appointments the Prime Minister is spoiling us. Sure I’ve got the odd quibble – Amber Rudd, for example, seems far too closely associated with the values of the discredited old regime to be welcomed back into the fold so soon; and I’d