David cameron

George Osborne: I tried to swap jobs with William Hague

I could be that rare thing: a former chancellor who is still a member of the Conservative party. Philip Hammond has lost the whip and will be expelled if he stands for election again. Ditto Ken Clarke. How times change. I remember a time when we were desperate to get Ken into the tent, not kick him out. Back in 2008, we wanted him to join our shadow cabinet. Tory wars had consigned us to opposition and we needed to end them. The negotiations were conducted in secret in case he said ‘no’, so we agreed to meet at my house rather than Westminster. It was all very cloak and

Diary – 15 August 2019

I lay low during the ‘season’ as I can’t think what to say to people any more. I went to only two summer parties, a personal worst for me: Lady Annabel Goldsmith’s annual gold-plater in Richmond, and Jenni Russell and Stephen Lambert’s Notting Hill do, where I found myself introducing David Cameron to Seumas Milne. ‘You were at Eton and you went to Winchester,’ I said, as if the pair were shy teenagers at the Feathers Ball before the snogging, ‘so you two should get on like a house on fire!’ Seumas tried to recruit me in 2017 but I never came across. ‘Which party should I enter as a

It’s time David Cameron returned to fix his Brexit mess

In private moments of exasperation with rebellious Tory MPs, prime minister David Cameron used to complain that “too many of my colleagues think they’re here as tribunes of the people”. For him, as for Conservatives since the days of Edmund Burke, MPs should be representatives autonomously exercising judgment, not delegates meekly obeying instructions. Well congratulations Dave. Thanks to your brilliant decision to risk EU membership – and the entire British political settlement on a coin-toss, MPs are all tribunes now. There are some serious caveats about the ComRes poll on the front of the Daily Telegraph today: the question looks loaded and the “don’t know” figure is very high. But

Will Boris revive cabinet government?

It has become something of a tradition in British politics: an incoming prime minister promises to restore proper cabinet government. They vow to go back to the good old days of NHS policy being run by the health secretary, schools policy by the education secretary — and decisions taken in open discussion with a prime minister who is first among equals. The reality, however, is that a small clique in No. 10 ends up controlling the government. Gordon Brown made a fuss about bringing back cabinet government to try to differentiate himself from Tony Blair. In a rare admission of error, Brown says in his memoirs that he failed to

The problem with Theresa May’s desire for a legacy

In less than a month, Theresa May’s premiership will be history. If she is remembered at all, it will mainly be for Brexit. She took on a near-impossible task, made it harder (her misjudged ‘red lines’ from autumn 2016 will always haunt her), and finally failed at it. That had many consequences, not least the neglect of domestic policy. The burning injustices she so memorably listed on the Downing Street step are still blazing away. Poor social mobility, health inequality, racial bias in the justice system, a dysfunctional housing market and poor provision for mental health problems – all remain unresolved. It is therefore understandable that Theresa May wants to

Letters | 17 April 2019

Moaning minnie MPs Sir: I was recently quoted in the Sun newspaper in a story about how MPs were reacting to the Brexit drama in the House of Commons. I said: ‘It feels like the Commons is having a collective breakdown — a cross between Lord of the Flies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. People are behaving in ways that were unimaginable even just a year ago, whether they be Remainers, Leavers or in-betweens. The Brexit madness has affected us all.’ Following Melissa Kite’s article in last week’s Spectator berating MPs for being such wastrels and using my quote as an example of ‘wimpishness’ personified, I learn we

Life after No. 10 is not what David Cameron was hoping for | 2 November 2018

It can be cruel, the way politics plays out. At the very moment George Osborne was telling the bemused staff of the London Evening Standard  that his working life in politics had obscured a passionate desire to become a newspaper editor, a familiar figure could be seen in the fresh meat department of the Whole Foods supermarket almost directly underneath the paper’s Kensington newsroom. That man was David Cameron, and inevitably someone with journalistic instincts spotted him, snapped him on her phone, and tweeted it. We congratulate ourselves on the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ nature of British politics. So it is a healthy sign that there is an informality about

James Forsyth

What to do about returning jihadis

In normal times, the reported return of 400 Isis fighters to Britain would be the biggest story out there. But with policymakers preoccupied by Brexit, and the press examining the sexual culture of Westminster, this news has not received the attention it deserves. The return of these fighters has profound implications. The security services are struggling to keep up with all the possible terrorists at large. Notably, Andrew Parker, the director-general of MI5, has warned that plots are being devised at the fastest rate he can remember in his 30-year career. Though he stressed that the security services have prevented seven attacks since March, he also said they cannot foil

Will Cameron take his revenge on Merkel?

As James Kirkup writes on Coffee House, David Cameron’s misreading of Angela Merkel contributed to Brexit. The then Prime Minister and his team believed that Cameron’s personal relationship with Merkel – who apparently saw him as a ‘naughty nephew’ – would be enough to secure some important compromises in the renegotiation. Those compromises never came but Mr S has reason to suspect Cameron could soon take his revenge on his one time ally. A little birdy tells Steerpike that Merkel will have a starring role in Cameron’s upcoming memoirs – only it won’t be a particularly positive one. ‘I hear he will not hold back when it comes to pointing out the role

Theresa May’s spouse rebuke on shaky ground

After the Prime Minister turned her ire on a lobby hack this week for failing to ask her a serious question, Theresa May has now moved on to would-be journalists in the Tory party. In the latest edition of the House magazine, James Cleverly – the deputy chairman – interviews his boss. In the easy touch, pre-conference interview, Cleverly asks May if she ever seeks work advice from her husband Philip. However, he doesn’t get the answer he is looking for with May accusing him of light sexism: ‘This is just a thought. I just wondered when you asked me about Philip’s role, whether if I was a male prime minister,

Theresa May’s social housing plans are another step away from Cameronism

These days Theresa May has less time to spend distancing herself from her predecessor. With blue-on-blue warfare rife and her premiership at a continual rocky patch, the Prime Minister’s priorities tend to be getting through the day/week rather than killing David Cameron’s pet projects. However, this week’s social housing green paper serves as a reminder of the difference in their approaches. After leaving the coalition government, Nick Clegg recalled a senior Conservative minister telling him: ‘I don’t understand why you keep going on about the need for more social housing – it just creates Labour voters.’ This dismissive attitude to social housing could be found in the policies the Cameron

Why is Theresa May so dependent on Angela Merkel?

Why do the British turn to the Germans in their moments of European trouble? It never works. When Jacques Delors conceived his single currency plans, Mrs Thatcher over-relied on Karl Otto Pöhl at the Bundesbank to squash them. Dr Pöhl preferred to side with Helmut Kohl. When Britain was struggling to stay in the ERM in the late summer of 1992, the Major government put faith in what they thought were German promises to help them out. These failed to materialise. When David Cameron sought a new EU deal which would win him the 2016 referendum, he placed his greatest hopes in Angela Merkel, who offered him concessions so feeble

Don’t blame Cameron for the government’s Brexit mess

I listened to the Coffee House podcast about Danny Dyer’s David Cameron rant. Fraser Nelson appears to live in a parallel universe. It is true that Cameron probably expected to be in a coalition with the Lib Dems again in 2015 and to never have to fulfil the promise of an EU referendum. However it is absurd to lay the blame for the government’s disastrous handling of Brexit negotiations at Cameron’s door. After all, was it David Cameron or Theresa May who triggered Article 50 with no clear negotiating plan? Was it David Cameron or Theresa May who called a snap election in a fit of hubris only to lose

Diary – 25 January 2018

We Citizens of Nowhere have made our home in Davos this week. Where else? Those who think we’re a remote global elite hiding away behind barbed wire in a luxury Swiss ski resort have decided to travel all the way here to tell us. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is braving the Glühwein to lecture us on Marxism. Theresa May is back, flush from her successful outing last year when she warned the audience here that they’d lose elections unless they understood how out of touch they’d become. Donald Trump is swapping cheeseburgers for Swiss fondue on his mission to put America first. They are all welcome. Davos Man understands that

David Cameron: Brexit isn’t as bad as I expected

Surprise guests at this year’s Davos include Donald Trump and John McDonnell. But fear not, there’s still the usual citizens of nowhere. David Cameron and George Osborne have upped (ski) sticks and headed to the luxury Swiss resort for the week. Unfortunately for the former Prime Minister, he appears to have been caught out by a roaming microphone. Channel 5 have released footage of Cameron in conversation with Lakshmi Mittal in which he lets his thoughts be known on Brexit. It turns out it’s not so bad as he thought – though it’s still a ‘mistake’: ‘It’s frustrating. As I keep saying, it’s a mistake, not a disaster. It’s turned

Ed Vaizey’s reshuffle lament

Although Theresa May’s reshuffle of junior ministers was less gaffe-prone than the main event on Monday, there’s a feeling in the party that overall it has been an underwhelming event. With little change in the top ranks of May’s Cabinet, critics have been quick to suggest that she is too weak to carry out a proper reshuffle. But now there’s a new criticism being levied at the Prime Minister: too much change. Ed Vaizey – the former culture minister and resident Cameroon – took to social media on Tuesday to congratulate Michael Ellis on his appointment as the arts, heritage and tourism Minister. However, he went on to complain that

Continental divides

What do Europeans really think about Brexit? Do they secretly admire our unexpected decision to walk away from all those pesky regulations and sub-committees? Or are our former ‘European friends’ relieved the arrogant, entitled Brits are leaving them alone? The official response of the European political class is one of regret combined with studied indifference and a determination not to let Brexit weaken the project. That, broadly, seems to be the unofficial response too. The EU, after a couple of decades of declining popularity and a rising populist challenge, has actually seen a small up-tick in popularity since Brexit, according to the Eurobarometer polling organisation. Trust in the EU stands

Cashing out

What could be more terrifying than a return to the 15 per cent interest rates with which homebuyers had to contend in the early 1990s? Possibly the vision presented last week in UBS’s Global Economic Outlook: interest rates at minus 5 per cent. It would take us to an unknown world where savers who deposited £100 in a bank would return a year later to find only £95 left. This month’s small rise in interest rates has rekindled fears that the era of ultra-low rates could be at an end and that millions of borrowers, enticed into loans thinking rates of virtual zero are normal, could be left with debts

The Spectator’s notes | 26 October 2017

Theresa May’s style of negotiating with the European Union is coming spookily to resemble David Cameron’s. She is in the mindset where the important thing is to get a deal, rather than working out what sort of a deal is worth getting. The EU understands this, and therefore delays, making Cameron/May more desperate to settle, even on bad terms. Eventually, there is an inadequate deal which the British government then has to sell to a doubting electorate. Mr Cameron was punished for this at the referendum he had called. Mrs May is inviting punishment at a general election. It is interesting how moderate politics cannot get a hearing just now.

Samantha Cameron reveals which opposition party she backs

Before David Cameron became Prime Minister in the 2010 election, he was dealt a setback when his old chum Ed Vaizey suggested that Cameron’s wife Samantha might be voting Labour. Although Cameron’s team were quick to pour cold water on the suggestion – and Vaizey in turn backtracked – the rumour persisted over the years. Now that the pair are out of No 10, Sam Cam has finally set the record straight in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph. The fashion designer tells the paper that she never went so far as to vote Labour – but she did sometimes vote Green: ‘But I didn’t always vote Conservative – sometimes I went