ConHome Diary: Quite a Week...
- 13 Jul 2018
I am still trying to work out why the Prime Minister appointed Dominic Raab to succeed David Davis as Brexit Secretary. He’s a protégé of DD and succeeded me as his chief of staff back in 2006. If anything, he’s more hardline than David on Brexit matters – some call him an int...
Evening Standard Column: The Fall-out From the David Davis Resignation
- 9 Jul 2018
We’ve been here before. When I heard, late last night, that David Davis had resigned, my mind didn’t go back to 2008 when he suddenly resigned as shadow Home Secretary, it went back nearly 30 years to the resignation of the then chancellor of the exchequer, Nigel Lawson from M...
Telegraph Column: What David Davis's Resignation Means
- 9 Jul 2018
Whenever a minister resigns from the government on a point of principle he or she knows that the full might of the government spin machine will be deployed to depict them as either mad, bad or sad. David Davis knows that better than most. Although he wasn’t in governme...
ConHome Diary: A 'Betrayal of Cabinet Ministers Or a 'Schism'?
- 29 Jun 2018
So 100,000 people attended the anti Brexit march at the weekend, on the second anniversary of the momentous vote. Andrew Adonis tweeted a question: “Is this the day Brexit died?” You’ve got to laugh. The utter delusion of it all. Alison Pearson in the Telegraph this week: “The...
Northbank Talent Management Signs Up A New Client - Me
- 26 Jun 2018
One of the things you never notice when you’re doing a job is what it takes out of you. When I left Biteback at the end of May I didn’t realise not only how much time it would free up, but also how much of a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I took very seriously the ...
Extra NHS Spending: Where's the Money Coming From?
- 24 Jun 2018
I’m not a great fan of unfunded spending promises. I am, after all a fiscal conservative. So, I had thought, were leading members of the government. The chancellor likes to remind us of his fiscal rectitude so Christ alone knows what Jeremy Hunt has on him. Somehow, he was per...
Book Review: No Nonsense by Joey Barton
- 23 Jun 2018
I read a lot of football biographies and autobiographies. And I mean, a lot. Many of them I don’t finish because they’re totally fake. They’re usually ghosted by someone who clearly hasn’t taken the trouble to get inside the head of his subject. On rare occasions as a reader ...
ConHome Diary: The Shame of the DCMS Select Committee & Why Brexiteer Ministers Need to Evangelise
- 15 Jun 2018
Philip Lee’s resignation came as a bolt out of the blue, according to many learned commentators this week. Well, on this issue maybe, but several people have told me of his unhappiness at being overlooked for promotion to the Cabinet. I think most politicians are only ever a c...
WATCH: CNN Talk - Is Brexit Doomed?
- 13 Jun 2018
This is today’s 30 minute CNN Talk in which Liam Halligan, Ayesha Hazarika and I discuss the latest state of Brexit, following yesterday’s votes in the House of Commons.
ConHome Diary: One Year On...
- 8 Jun 2018
Today marks the first anniversary of the 2017 general election result. I think we all remember the sense of astonishment we all felt as it became clear that Theresa May’s majority was disappearing down the swannee. Looking back on the last twelve months, it is difficult to do ...
The Top 25 Books I Published at Politico's & Biteback
- 2 Jun 2018
Last week I announced I was leaving Biteback Publishing, the company I founded back in 2009. It marked an end to twenty years in publishing. Back in 1998 I started Politico’s Publishing, having spotted that there was a real gap in the political publishing market. My colleagues...
Book Review: 'It's All About Clout' by Max Foster
- 2 Jun 2018
Clout is a strange word. It’s almost slang for a combination of ‘power’ and ‘influence’. If someone has to tell you they have clout, they probably don’t. It’s like charisma. You know it when you see it. You’ve either got it, or you haven’t. It’s difficult to learn how to acqu...
ConHome Diary: Desert Island Dicks, How God Injured Mo Salah & Bad Parenting
- 1 Jun 2018
One of the moments of the week was Good Morning Britain stand-in host Richard Madeley terminating an interview with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, after he had avoided giving an answer three times as to whether he regretted telling the Russians to “shut up and go away”. W...
ANNOUNCEMENT: After Ten Years, I'm Leaving Biteback Publishing...
- 22 May 2018
This is a press release I’ve issued this morning. Sad day. Iain Dale steps down at Biteback and Andy McNab takes on advisory role to guide Biteback into next stage of growth After ten years, Biteback Publishing Managing Director Iain Dale is to step down from the company in ...
CNN Talk: A Royal Wedding Special
- 18 May 2018
This is a special edition of CNN Talk on the Royal Wedding live from Windsor. Lovely setting.
ConHome Diary: Brexit 'Gammon' and Brexit Madness
- 18 May 2018
Tory MP Nick Boles wrote a brilliant article for the Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday in which he took Israel to task for the killing of 58 Palestinians on the Gaza border. In it he explained that as a strong supporter of Israel he couldn’t stand by and not question the tactics u...
The Words No One Wants to Hear - "It Could be Pre-Cancerous"
- 12 May 2018
Around a year ago I was just finishing my 3.59pm talkup, at the start of my show – the bit where I take over from Shelagh Fogarty. I saw her looking at me rather intently. As the news started she said to me: “You should get that looked at.” I had no clue what she was referrin...
ConHome Diary: Who are the Real "Obsessives"? Remainers or Brexiteers?
- 11 May 2018
I was always under the impression that David Willetts had two brains. It seems that he has mislaid at least one of them since he left the House of Commons. Quite how he put his name to a ludicrous proposal from his Resolution Foundation to give every 25 year old £10,000 is one...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Peter Mandelson: An Obituary
- 8 May 2018
Back in 2009 GQ asked me to write a fake obituary of Peter Mandelson, along with Andrew Roberts, John Kampfner, Stephen Bayley, Matthew D’Ancona and John Rentoul. I decided to make mine rather more tongue in cheek than some of the others did, but they were all hugely entertain...
ConHome Diary: The Loneliness of a Prime Minister & Why She Needs Some Willies
- 4 May 2018
Wednesday’s meeting of the Brexit subcommittee on Brexit could have gone very wrong indeed. If the Prime Minister had tried to force through her unworkable ‘Customs Partnership’ proposal there could have been very serious consequences. If any or all of the ‘four Brexiteers’ ha...