If I Had to Vote (or Speak) For...
- 9 Nov 2019
Politics has always been a tribal sport. Political allegiances are often handed down through the generations. Some people find it unthinkable that they would vote any way other than their parents and grandparents did. Other people change their votes as often as they change the...
Iain to Chair Orwell Prize Judging Panel on Exposing Britain's Social Evils
- 6 Nov 2019
It's being announced this morning that I am to chair this year's Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils. The prize is worth £3,000 to the winner and is sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The prize is free to enter and independent of any editorial agenda. En...
My Interview with Sir Lindsay Hoyle
- 6 Nov 2019
The Bercow era is over and the Hoyle era has begun. Not before time, many would say. I genuinely believe Sir Lindsay Hoyle has it in him to become one of the greatest Speakers we have ever had. His no nonsense style is just what is needed and his transparent love of the House ...
What Bush Fires Can Teach Us In the UK
- 5 Nov 2019
This evening I received an email from Mark, a listener to my radio show. It was in response to the furore about Jacob Rees-Mogg's remarks on Grenfell, which have made headlines today. The LFB's 'stay put' advice has rightly come under scrutiny. There have been 5,000 fires in L...
Are We Destined to Have December Elections Forever?
- 5 Nov 2019
Last week someone emailed a question to the For the Many podcast, which I record each week with Jacqui Smith about election dates. They asked if we would now have to go to the polls in December every five years, given the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. I confidently said, yes,...
Election Predictions, Debates, Shows and More...
- 30 Oct 2019
Well, off we go for the first December election since 1923. A governing party has never won a winter election, so if Boris Johnson attains a majority he will have broken a political record. The last winter election was in February 1974 when Ted Heath went to the country asking...
LibDem MEP Questions Motives of Poppy Wearing Brexiteers
- 29 Oct 2019
We wear red poppies for remembrance and hope for a peaceful future (Royal British Legion). But the EU provides more than hope, after centuries of conflict it was created to ensure that it must never happen again. Am I wrong to be cynical about Brexiteers wearing poppies? — ...
Podcast: Iain's Interview on the 'Delingpod'
- 28 Oct 2019
What is a true conservative? And note the small ‘c’. On this week’s Delingpod you’ll find a 75 minute chat between James Delingpole and myself in which he accuses me of not being a proper conservative and being a bit ‘squishy’. I am apparently not ‘sound’ enough...
Calm Down, Calm Down...
- 27 Oct 2019
I really should know better. On Tuesday night, I was on a Newsnight panel which included the rather impressive Liam Thorp, political editor of the Liverpool Echo. Emily Maitlis threw him a question about Boris Johnson, and he immediately launched into a little spiel about how ...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 72: Corpsing
- 19 Oct 2019
We all do it from time to time. Something happens and we just start to laugh uncontrollably. Sophie, my producer unearthed this clip from last year. The context is that around 6.30pm each day, she and I disappear into a recording booth to record a 10 second trail, which is the...
The 2019 Top 100 Conservative Influencers List
- 30 Sep 2019
Each year for the last twelve years, in the runup to Conservative conferences I have convened panels to compile a list of the most influential Conservatives in the country. To be included you have to self identify as a Conservative. So anyone associated with UKIP, the Brexi...
Broad Church Political Parties Win Elections, Narrow Sects Do Not
- 19 Sep 2019
A few of weeks ago I wrote in my EDP column about the retirement from the Commons of long-serving LibDem MP Norman Lamb. Retirement resignations are a bit like red buses. You write about one and inevitably another one is following on right behind. At the beginning of this m...
Telegraph Column: 'Question Time' Has Become a Bear Pit & Needs to Change
- 11 Sep 2019
In 15 years of political TV punditry it had never occurred to me to walk out of a show, live on air. But it nearly happened on last Thursday’s Question Time. The thought flitted through my mind as, yet again, the other panellists talked over each other and I was barely ...
The Penny Mordaunt Profile (Long Read Version)
- 29 Aug 2019
Back in July I filed a profile of Penny Mordaunt, the then Defence Secretary, to the Sunday Times magazine. It appeared in the 21 July edition and you can read it HERE. Three days later, she was summarily sacked from her job much to everyone's surprise, including mine. I thoug...
Calm Down, Calm Down, Prorogation is Not the End of Democracy As We Know It
- 28 Aug 2019
It's the end of democracy as we know it. This government is autocratic. Boris Johnson is running a tin-pot dictatorship. A coup. Just four of the quotes I've heard on the radio and TV over the last hour and all to do with the fact that the Prime Min...
Pictures from my Sunday Times Photoshoot (With Dogs & Stormclouds!)
- 25 Aug 2019
About six weeks ago I did an interview for the Sunday Times Business Section 'Fame & Fortune' column. It's a Q&A format and is designed to find out about how people in the public eye handle money. It's always accompanied by a rather striking photo. So the Sunday Times ...
Film Review: Red Joan
- 20 Aug 2019
The short review is 'don't bother buying the DVD or streaming it - it's a bit rubbish'. Let me elaborate. To bo honest, I only bought this because Judi Dench is in it. I was vaguely aware of the story of Melita Norwood, around whom the storyline is loosely based, and that s...
The Launch of the 'Iain Dale All Talk' Podcast
- 20 Aug 2019
Tomorrow (Wednesday) sees the launch of a new podcast called IAIN DALE ALL TALK. During my Edinburgh Fringe show I was inundated with people asking if they could listen to the interviews if they weren't able to attend the shows themselves, so we decided to release them all on ...
My Edinburgh Fringe Experience: Some Memories & Reflections
- 15 Aug 2019
As my run of 24 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe has now concluded, I thought I’d reflect on the whole experience. I have to say that I’m suffering a bit from the post Fringe blues, and there’s part of me that wishes I could have done the whole month. So how did I come to do it? ...
Edinburgh Fringe Diary - Sunday 11 August
- 11 Aug 2019
It's my final day in Edinburgh and it was a very early start to head down to the BBC in Edinburgh to do the paper review on Paddy O'Connell's Broadcasting House show. It finished at 10 and I got back to my digs at 10.10 to record this week's FOR THE MANY PODCAST with Jacqui Sm...