James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
We’re closing 2019 by republishing our ten most-read articles of the year. Here’s No. 1: James Forsyth’s article from October on a key Brexit briefing from Downing Street: Earlier today, I sent a message to a contact in Number 10 asking them how the Brexit talks were going. They sent a long reply which I
The thumping majority by which both the second reading and the programme motion for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed yesterday, confirmed that Boris Johnson will have no problem taking the UK out of the EU on January 31st. This sums up the remarkable position that this government is in. It will have done the main
The era of uncertainty has ended. Boris Johnson’s decisive victory has not only broken the Brexit deadlock created by Theresa May’s disastrous 2017 campaign, but also turned the page on almost a decade of weak government. The previous three general elections have all resulted in constrained prime ministers. First, David Cameron was forced to govern
The two most significant consequences of this election are that the United Kingdom is leaving the EU and the Tories are a national party in a way that they haven’t been for decades. Boris Johnson’s critics relish saying that these two things are incompatible, that there is no way that Brexit can be made to
‘If Darlington high street isn’t visibly better in four years’ time, we’ll be in trouble’, one of Boris Johnson’s confidants told me the other day. Boris Johnson and his team are, as I say in The Sun this morning, acutely away that if they are going to make Thursday night’s electoral shift permanent then they
Boris Johnson has won one of the most spectacular election victories in recent British political history. He has broken the deadlock that has gripped British politics since the 2017 election, winning a much larger majority than anyone expected. He is, currently, projected to have a majority of 68. This victory means that the UK will
Elections should be carnivals of democracy, yet the campaign we have just been through has felt more like amateur dramatics at times – the standard of debate has not risen to the importance of the issues at stake. Yet this election will go down as one of the most consequential in British history. It has
The exit poll is predicting a Tory landslide, a majority of 86 seats. The United Kingdom will leave the EU on the 31 of January. (The exit poll does have a margin of error but it is inconceivable that it could possibly be this wrong.) This is a huge achievement by Boris Johnson. Earlier this
Polling stations open in 15 hours time and this is an election where no one is certain what the result will be. The YouGov MRP shows a tightening race with the Tories currently on course for a majority in the twenties but with Labour closing strongly. On the YouGov MRP, if the Tory lead fell
In 72 hours time, voting will be well underway. We will be talking about turnout being ‘brisk’. Right now, the polls are indicating that a Tory majority is the most likely result. But it is not certain and a combination of three things could still stop it. First, mass Remainer tactical voting. The margins in
There are, as I say in the Sun this morning, two possible outcomes to this election: a Tory majority or a hung parliament. The seats where Labour are now concentrating their resources show that they don’t think they can win outright. Instead, their hopes rest on stopping Boris Johnson from getting to 326 seats. Right
Despite their consistent poll lead, the Tories are anxious. There is only a week to go and in many seats the race is far too tight for comfort. Because they have no potential partners in a hung parliament, if the Tories win, it will be by the ‘skin of their teeth’, I’m told. ‘There’s quite
Donald Trump is on his way back to the US, and—as Katy says —they’ll be breathing a large sigh of relief in CCHQ. The great disruptor has not been that disruptive on this visit. He has, largely, kept out of the election. He hasn’t said anything to add fuel to the fire that Labour is
If Donald Trump really doesn’t want Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime Minister, he should, I say in the Sun this morning, just ignore the Labour leader when he comes to London for the Nato summit next week. The Labour leader would like nothing more than to get into a war of words with the US
So, will Boris Johnson sit down for an interview with Andrew Neil? Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon have done theirs while Jo Swinson and Nigel Farage are scheduled for next week. The Prime Minister hasn’t yet agreed a time for his. Given how tough an Andrew Neil interview is, just ask Jeremy Corbyn if you
After last night’s interview with Andrew Neil, Jeremy Corbyn desperately needs to change the conversation. He attempted to do that this morning, presenting a set of leaked documents that he said showed the NHS would be sold out if the Tories won the election. But the problem for Corbyn is that these documents don’t show
It was one of the defining moments of the 2014 Scottish referendum campaign. In that early August TV debate, Alistair Darling said any 8 year old could tell you what a country’s flag, capital and currency were but that Alex Salmond couldn’t say what currency an independent Scotland would use. Salmond’s floundering that night badly
In their attempt to avoid a repeat of 2017, the Tories have cleared another hurdle. A day on from the launch of their manifesto, there are no policies that are alienating core voters (the dementia tax) or target voters (means testing the winter fuel allowances). Instead, the biggest row is over whether using a net
What happened last time means that the Tories are extremely nervous about their manifesto launch tomorrow. As I say in The Sun this morning, the Tories have had teams poring over it to see what might blow up in it. One of the many problems with the 2017 document was that it failed to understand
Ever since the referendum, the two strongest political forces in Britain have been Leave and Remain. Loyalty to political parties has faded, but feelings about the referendum result are almost stronger now than they were on 23 June 2016. For Remainers, these are tense times: for years, there has been the hope of a second
