Blog
Receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Kent
- 25 Jul 2025
[Scroll in 1.09.00 for the Oration and 1.20.00 for my speech] Three years ago I got an email out of the blue from an academic at the University of Kent asking if I would accept an honorary degree in recognition of my services to political broadcasting and civic...
On the Spectrum - We All Need to Understand More About Autism & ADHD
- 20 Jul 2025
Over the years, I have done countless phone-ins on my LBC radio show about people who have some form of autism or ADHD diagnosis. They range from children in the early years, to people in their 60s or 70s who have been diagnosed. Many older people tell me that their diagnosis ...
The Older I Get...
- 15 Jul 2025
The older you get, the more a birthday leads you to think about how many more of them you’ve got left. Today is my 63rd birthday and I’m in a melancholy rather than a celebratory mood. I suppose I could celebrate the fact that I’ve made it to 63, given that too many of my cont...
A Tribute to Norman Tebbit
- 8 Jul 2025
Norman Tebbit was a giant among Conservative politicians of the late twentieth century. His image on Spitting Image as the ‘Chingford Skinhead’ belied the reality that he was an immensely kind, softly spoken man, who sadly never reached his full political potential. Had he not...
Keir Starmer, Welfare and His First Year in Power
- 29 Jun 2025
On Saturday Keir Starmer will celebrate his first anniversary as prime minister. Well, when I say ‘celebrate’, that’s perhaps overdoing it. Perhaps ‘mark it’ is more accurate, because he hasn’t got a huge amount to celebrate, as various of the Sunday papers aren’t slow in poin...
The Tablet Reviews my Margaret Thatcher Book
- 7 Jun 2025
By Adrian Smith It’s Margaret Thatcher’s centenary this year. For anyone middle-aged or older it seems impossible – is it really 100 years since she was born, and 35 years since she left office? For Iain Dale she’s still very much alive, and yet in this short biography he p...
The Irish Independent Reviews my Margaret Thatcher Biography
- 5 Jun 2025
This article first appeared in the Irish Independent A kinder look at Margaret Thatcher: the lady’s not for turning into a monster By Ellis O'Hanlon Broadcaster Iain Dale’s new book on the UK’s first female prime minister offers an intelligent, nuanced take on a woman...
Lord Lexden Reviews my Thatcher Biography in The House Magazine
- 4 Jun 2025
This article first appeared in The House Magazine While there is no such thing as a definitive biography, Iain Dale’s balanced and succinct study of Margaret Thatcher brings us a fuller understanding of a controversial politician Those interested in the full details of M...
Mary Beard Reviews my Margaret Thatcher Biography
- 3 Jun 2025
This article by Mary Beard was written for The Observer. couple of decades is a very long time in politics. Twenty years ago, I seethed with rage at the “crimes” of George W Bush. These days, compared with the current occupant of the Oval Office, he comes across more like a...
It's 'Margaret Thatcher' Publication Week!
- 1 Jun 2025
It’s finally arrived. My Margaret Thatcher biography is published on Thursday. It seems a long time since I started writing it sometime in 2023, which is odd given it’s a very short book. The book has two aims: to introduce Thatcher to new generations and to burst a few of the...
A Few Thoughts on the Local Elections
- 4 May 2025
A few observations about the local election results… For those who have always though Reform UK would be a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ political party, think again. The only way that will happen is if Nigel Farage self combusts. He’s got the sniff of power in his nostril...
Telegraph Column: It’s going wrong for the Right in the Anglosphere
- 22 Apr 2025
What is it about English speaking Conservatives in Britain, Canada and Australia that appears to render them completely incapable of running competent election campaigns? Theresa May started the rot in 2017. Her mantle as a useless campaigner was inherited by Rishi Sunak, and ...
The Rachel Reeves Interview: Behind the Scenes
- 30 Mar 2025
In opposition, Rachel Reeves used to do a monthly phone-in with me. She even did one on the evening of Jeremy Hunt’s last budget a year ago. Ever since she has been Chancellor I’ve been trying to persuade her to do something similar but until this week to no avail. On Monday w...
The Truth About Benefit Reforms
- 23 Mar 2025
This article first appeared in the i Newspaper It takes a rare political talent to offend and upset so many voters in such a short period of time, but sometimes it’s necessary if you’re going to introduce radical reforms and shake things up a bit. The trouble for Keir St...
Review of the WHERE POLITICS MEETS HISTORY podcast
- 16 Mar 2025
Dear all, Last week Tessa Dunlop and I recorded the first two episodes of our brand new WHERE POLITICS MEETS HISTORY podcast. We were pleased with the first but knew we hadn’t got it quite right. We sat down with Corey, our producer, and analysed what we got right and what ...
Three Days in Germany to See Alphaville
- 9 Mar 2025
It was Christmas Day 2024 and we were opening presents. Well, more precisely, everyone else was, because as we all know, older men don’t ...
Iain Dale & Tessa Dunlop Launch WHERE POLITICS MEETS HISTORY Podcast
- 3 Mar 2025
Global announces new twice-weekly podcast with Iain Dale and Tessa Dunlop Where Politics Meets History launches on Tuesday 11th March Episodes will be available on Global Player and all major podcast platforms Global has announced tod...
Telegraph Column: The LibDems Are Just As Much a Threat to the Tories as Reform UK
- 18 Feb 2025
This article first appeared in the Daily Telegraph. Show up at a Conservative Party function and it’s a fair bet that someone will engage you in a discussion about what to do about Reform UK. It’s also likely that no one will talk about the threat posed to the Conservative ...
Telegraph Column: It's Time to Ditch the Arbitrary % of GDP Defence Targets
- 18 Feb 2025
It’s very rare that I agree with Donald Trump about anything, but in his first term I applauded him for pointing out most European countries weren’t paying their way on defence. Many of them bucked up their ideas and nowadays 23 out of Nato’s 32 members do contribute at least ...
A United Ireland May Be Closer Than You Think
- 18 Feb 2025
This article first appeared in the i Newspaper Assuming you don’t live there, think about the last time you thought about Northern Ireland. Events there are routinely ignored in the UK media, despite it being an integral component of the United Kingdom. It has a pop...