Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
I spent my last year as editor of this magazine trapped on an auction block, hunting for a new proprietor. It was agony. There was a list of about 20 bidders for both The Spectator and the Daily Telegraph: the good, the bad and the really quite ugly. The ugliest of all – the government
From our UK edition
38 min listen
On this week’s 2024 Out Loud: Cindy Yu examined Chinese work ethic (1:13); Michael Simmons declared his love of the doner kebab (6:28); Angus Colwell reported from Israel in July (9:27); Igor Toronyi-Lalic explained the inspiration behind the cinema of Marguerite Duras (14:41); Mary Wakefield analysed the disturbing truth of the Pelicot case (20:38); Fraser Nelson
From our UK edition
75 min listen
This week is a special episode of the podcast where we are looking back on some of our favourite pieces from the magazine over the past year and revisiting some of the conversations we had around them. First up: the Starmer supremacy Let’s start with undoubtedly the biggest news of the year: Starmer’s supermajority and
From our UK edition
Now that I’m no longer editor of this magazine, I can admit that I spent the election night of 1997 cheering on Tony Blair. Reader, it gets worse. I didn’t particularly want a Labour government but I badly wanted the devolution they had promised. A parliament in Edinburgh would, I thought, consider why the East End
From our UK edition
31 min listen
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Fraser Nelson signs off for the last time (1:30); Cindy Yu explores growing hostility in China to the Japanese (7:44); Mary Wakefield examines the dark truth behind the Pelicot case in France (13:32); Anthony Sattin reviews Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Cultures (19:54); and Toby Young reveals
From our UK edition
37 min listen
This week: Israel’s revenge and Iran’s humiliation. As the anniversary of the October 7th attacks by Hamas approaches, the crisis in the Middle East has only widened. Israel has sent troops into southern Lebanon and there have been attempted missile strikes from the Houthi rebels in Yemen and from Iran. Is there any way the situation
From our UK edition
30 min listen
Loyal listeners will know that as well as our concise daily political analysis, Coffee House Shots often delves deeper into the issues of the day. We don’t shy away from fierce debates on controversial issues. The most legendary of these debates have been between our former editor Fraser Nelson and economics editor Kate Andrews. As
From our UK edition
In the late summer of 2009, Andrew Neil invited me to his villa in the Côte d’Azur but didn’t say why. I was mystified. I was then political editor of The Spectator and in eight years of working closely with Andrew, the then chairman, he’d never hinted that he saw me as an editor. I
From our UK edition
39 min listen
The mood at Conservative conference has been surprisingly jubilant considering the turmoil that the party finds itself in. Labour’s misfortunes may have contributed to this, but there seems to be a genuine optimism around the four candidates vying for the leadership of the party. What’s the latest? Have Kemi Badenoch’s comments on maternity pay impacted
From our UK edition
15 min listen
The final four leadership candidates have arrived at Conservative Party Conference to make their final pitches. However, day one and Kemi Badenoch has found herself in an online row over comments made about maternity pay. Katy Balls, Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson take a look at what was really said, and whether there is a
From our UK edition
30 min listen
Decarbonising power by 2030 is one of the flagship policies for Keir Starmer’s government. Whether this is achievable and how we go about the green transition will impact ten of thousands of jobs and everybody’s energy bills. So just how do they plan on reaching this ambitious target? Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB,
From our UK edition
13 min listen
We’ve had quite the day at 22 Old Queen Street. All Westminster politics seem small in comparison to the news that Fraser Nelson will step down as editor of this publication, with Michael Gove taking charge on October 8th. Hear Fraser’s thoughts on what this new chapter will mean for The Spectator, on the podcast.
From our UK edition
It’s a time of new beginnings here at The Spectator after Sir Paul Marshall’s historic £100 million bid for the magazine. As we plan for further growth, I’m delighted to announce two major appointments: Charles Moore is to become our new chairman and Michael Gove is to succeed me as editor. There’s never a good
From our UK edition
12 min listen
This weekend we had another twist in the story involving Labour donor Lord Alli, who was caught up in a ‘cash for access’ scandal a couple of weeks back. It now seems he has forked out the thick end of 20k on clothes and glasses for Keir Starmer and his wife. Foreign sec David Lammy
From our UK edition
31 min listen
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Fraser Nelson reflects on a historic week for The Spectator (1:15); David Whitehouse examines the toughest problem in mathematics (6:33); Imogen Yates reports on the booming health tech industry (13:54); Sean McGlynn reviews Dan Jones’s book Henry V: the astonishing rise of England’s greatest warrior king (20:24); and Ruari Clark provides his
From our UK edition
39 min listen
This week: The US election is back on a knife-edge. Republicans hoped this week’s debate would expose Kamala Harris’s weaknesses. ‘They forgot that, when it comes to one-on-one intellectual sparring matches with candidates who aren’t senile, Donald Trump is very bad indeed,’ writes Freddy Gray. ‘A skilled politician would have been able to unpick Harris’s
From our UK edition
For the past year or so, I’ve been involved in selling The Spectator as well as editing it. A long auction involving moguls, sheikhs and an act of parliament has finally produced a winner. The financier Sir Paul Marshall has become the 14th proprietor of this magazine. His faith in our prospects is reflected in the
From our UK edition
After a year-long auction drama that involved sheikhs and moguls and even ended up changing the law, The Spectator has a new owner. The financier Sir Paul Marshall is to become the magazine’s 14th proprietor. Had The Spectator been sold to the Emirati government, as was on the cards, we would have faced obvious questions about our operational and editorial independence. That
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Tomorrow MPs will vote on Rachel Reeves’ decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners who aren’t eligible for pension benefits. We spoke on this podcast on Friday about the pressure that Labour is under from all sides on this, but the temperature has increased over the weekend with the trade unions getting involved. What’s
From our UK edition
47 min listen
Join Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews, along with special guest Jonathan Ashworth, for a live edition of Coffee House Shots recorded earlier this week. They dissect the first few weeks of the new Labour government and look ahead to the policies autumn, and the budget, might bring. Having surprisingly lost his seat at the election,
