The Spectator

A poll of the people

The Need For A Poll Of The People, 2 August 1919: ‘It is not to be wondered at that during the anxious public discussions about nationalisation, proposals should have been made that the great issue should be decided by means of a Referendum or, as we prefer to call it, a Poll of the People.

How Boris can silence his critics again

It’s hard to think of a prime minister who has reached No. 10 with lower expectations. Boris Johnson has been dismissed as a philandering clown, a joker calamitously miscast as prime minister in a moment of national crisis. Obloquy has been hurled at him every time he has taken a new job — from mayor

Letters | 25 July 2019

Rose is the right choice Sir: Every Wednesday for the past nine years, it has been my privilege to attend the lunchtime Eucharist services in the Parliamentary Chapel, conducted by the Speaker’s Chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin. These routine acts of worship are not public, but are attended by parliamentary staff, MPs and peers. Central to them

Barometer | 25 July 2019

Losing confidence The government may soon face a vote of no confidence, the second this year. How often do these votes happen — and succeed? — Since 1945, UK governments have faced votes of no confidence on 23 occasions. Only one of these has been successful — when Jim Callaghan lost by a single vote

Portrait of the week | 25 July 2019

Home Boris Johnson became Prime Minister after being elected the leader of the Conservative party by its members, with 92,153 votes to Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656 and a turnout of 87.4 per cent. Philip Hammond got his resignation as chancellor of the exchequer in before he could be sacked, as did David Gauke as justice secretary

Boris begins

It’s hard to think of a prime minister who has reached No. 10 with lower expectations. Boris Johnson has been dismissed as a philandering clown, a joker calamitously miscast as prime minister in a moment of national crisis. Obloquy has been hurled at him every time he has taken a new job — from mayor

Full text: PM Boris’s first speech in the Commons

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

Boris’s Cabinet: who’s in and out?

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

Winemaker Lunches – 2019 dates

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

Winemaker’s Lunch with Château de Pommard – Friday 11 October

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.

Winemaker’s Lunch with Glenelly Estate – Friday 25 October

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

Winemaker Lunches with Joseph Phelps Vineyards – Friday 8 November

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

Winemaker Lunches with Domaine Léon Beyer – Friday 15 November

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

Winemaker’s Lunch with Domaine of the Bee – Friday 6 December

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

Winemaker’s Lunch with Château Quintus – Friday 13 December

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

Winemaker’s Lunch with Bodegas Artadi – Friday 27 September

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,

A way with words

From ‘Low talk’ by John Daniel, 19 July 1963: Everybody has heard of Dr Johnson’s dictionary, which is now not much more than a curiosity piece, while few know Grose’s dictionary, which provides a unique anthology of 18th-century underworld slang… He collected words he remembered from his reading and his night-time excursions about Drury Lane