Am I Being Taken for a Ride
- 6 Nov 2007
I have spent much of the day dealing with undertakers, vicars and solicitors so I am afraid I know nothing about the reaction to the Queen's speech. More on that anon. But I do want to share something that happened today. I am the Executor to my Godmother's will, so went to...
Eleanor Daniels 1933-2007
- 4 Nov 2007
Eleanor Daniels, my beloved Godmother, died last night in an NHS hospice in Cambridge. Three weeks ago she was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital. No one at the time could have believed that she would have been taken from us in such a short time. Eleanor was born i...
Saying Goodbye
- 28 Oct 2007
Over the past week my beloved Godmother, Eleanor Daniels, has been slipping away. Tomorrow I am going to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge to say goodbye to her. She's dying of cancer. Sadly, she has given up the fight and just wants to let go. Eleanor has been more than a...
EDP Diary: Tweedle Huhne v TweedleClegg
- 26 Oct 2007
Those of you who fear Norwich might be relegated to League One (as I suppose we must call it) should make a plea to Ed Balls never to invite Gordon Brown to Carrow Road. The man has a jinx. I can think of no international sporting event which the PM has attended wher...
EDP Diary: Being Hit by Cecil Parkinson's Egg
- 12 Oct 2007
I got a little over-excited on Tuesday when I got a telephone call which started with the words: "Hello, I'm calling from Question Time...". I say 'over-excited' because it was an invitation to appear on Question Time Extra on News 24 as opposed to the main programme, but I su...
When Hospitals Kill
- 11 Oct 2007
Last week, the Chief Executive of Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Hospital Trust resigned. It wasn't before time. She had presided over four years of chaos and failure. I know, because I live there and saw at first hand what was going on. Local MPs' postbags were full of compl...
Upsetting Norman Tebbit
- 11 Oct 2007
I shan't be walking down any dark alleys in the next few days. It seems I have upset Norman Tebbit. In my Telegraph column a couple of weeks ago I warned Tories that they should be disciplined during their conference. During the article I wrote this... A speech by Sir Bufto...
Ann Widdecombe Blows My Cover
- 5 Oct 2007
Well thank you to all those expressing concern about my whereabouts! No, I wasn't kidnapped by La Widdecombe. I have been out at a meeting in Kent all morning, since you ask. I could tell you what it was about, but I'd have to shoot you [for the benefit of Chris Paul, it was n...
Conservative Conference Reflections
- 4 Oct 2007
Just before I vacate our little holiday chalet at the Ribby Hall Holiday Village (for more, read The Spectator Diary this week, which I penned yesterday) a couple of observations from the various fringe events and parties I went to last night. * Gordon Brown's trip to Iraq ...
Top 100 People on the Right 2007
- 1 Oct 2007
When we sat down to compile this list with a group of ten journalists, MPs and commentators we had no idea of the difficulty of the task ahead. To qualify for the list you have to live and work in the UK and be on the right of centre of British politics. We've deliberately ...
Top 100 People on the Left 2007
- 29 Sep 2007
1 Gordon Brown Prime Minister 2 Tony Blair Former Prime Minister 3 Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland 4 David Miliband Foreign Secretary 5 Ed Balls Secretary of State for S...
Will Gordon Brown Call an Early Election?
- 27 Sep 2007
The YouGov poll this in this morning's Sunday Times is the latest which shows a widening lead for Gordon Brown. I detect the beginnings of a bandwagon in the media for an October election. The Sunday Times leader column is headlined GO FOR IT GORDON. It concludes... The bounc...
EDP Diary: From Lake Como
- 27 Sep 2007
Moltrasio, Lake Como Foreign languages are a funny thing. I used to be fluent in German, having lived there for two years and studied it for my degree. But for twenty years I have had scant little opportunity to practice it. So when I got an invitation to speak to the Konra...
Telegraph Column: How Politicians Use the Internet
- 18 Sep 2007
Politicians of all colours ought to be embracing the internet with gusto, but British political parties appear to be falling behind other countries when it comes to using the web to market themselves and their policies. Visit any of the three main party websites and you’ll com...
Telegraph Column: Same old Gordon
- 13 Sep 2007
Gordon Brown’s political strategy has finally been exposed. Tories have spent the last ten weeks wondering if they had misjudged Gordon Brown. But now he has unwittingly revealed that far from adopting a ‘new kind of politics’, he’s using classic old politics to...
Suits You, Sir
- 9 Sep 2007
Six weeks ago I got a call asking if I would like to do a fashion shoot for Esquire Magazine. Naturally I thought someone was having a laugh at my expense, but no, it turned out to be true. Esquire wanted to shoot a session with seven male Tories which they have calle...
Fabian Review: Brown May Have Had a Good Start, But...
- 9 Sep 2007
What a ten weeks it has been for Gordon Brown. He appears to be master of all he surveys. He reckons he has proved he can do the job. He’s supposedly split with the Blair legacy in a number of important ways. He’s reputedly signalled an intention to withdraw from Iraq. He’s in...
Top Ten Ways David Cameron Would Benefit From National Service
- 8 Sep 2007
Today's Top Ten on Vox Politix will be TOP TEN JOBS GORDON BROWN DIDN'T OFFER JOHN BERCOW, PATRICK MERCER & MATTHEW TAYLOR. Your suggestions please. And yesterday's final list lined up like this... TOP TEN WAYS DAVID CAMERON WOULD BENEFIT FROM NATIONAL SERVICE Num...
How to Speak Your Mind Aussie Style
- 7 Sep 2007
Kiwiblog reports an interview with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. He was asked what he thought about the handful of protesters outside the Gnat’s conference. Well they are from the Socialist Alliance. These people are losers, you know. They lost the Soviet Un...
Top Ten Reasons the LibDems Should Ditch Ming Campbell
- 7 Sep 2007
Number 10: He really has no idea about anything apart from what is the best 'Werther's Original ' flavour Number 9: He's older than the average Conservative Party member. Number 8: Because if he mention Jo Grimond one more time... Number 7: H e hasn't got any skeletons in ...