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...
Evening Standard Column: The Sajid and Sadiq Show
- 1 May 2018
The Sajid and Sadiq show: UK’s two most influential British Asian politicians are on the path to greater power. When Sajid Javid was appointed Home Secretary yesterday, Sadiq Khan was the first to congratulate him — now their friendship could turn to political rivalry. He’s r...
Amber Rudd's Resignation, What Her Successor Needs to Do & the Terrible State of Our Politics
- 30 Apr 2018
Back in 2006, when he took over from Charles Clarke at the Home Office, John Reid famously declared that the Home Office was “not fit for purpose”. It is hard to escape the conclusion that little has changed in the intervening twelve years. Amber Rudd’s resignation last night...
ConHome Diary: The Death of the Political Poster
- 27 Apr 2018
Amber Rudd, in her evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Monday, declared that she was aware of individual cases related to Windrush children, but hadn’t joined the dots and realised that something systemic had gone wrong. I suppose I would gently ask how many cases...
Book Review: Unbelievable - My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur
- 22 Apr 2018
If you want to read Bridget Jones meets Donald Trump, then this is the book for you. And even if you don’t, it’s for you. It’s a really enjoyable, funny, and mostly insightful book about Donald Trump’s campaign to become President, seen through the eyes of an NBC reporter. K...
So What's It Like To Be On Question Time?
- 21 Apr 2018
So, what was it like? That’s the question I’ve been asked a lot over the last 36 hours. Everyone wants to know what it was like to be a guest on BBC’s Question Time. Well, on Thursday I appeared on it for the first time. I’d done ANY QUESTIONS on Radio 4 quite a few times, but...
20 Things I Did For the First Time
- 21 Apr 2018
First Job Mucking out my Dad’s pigs on a Saturday morning for 10p an hour First Real Job Researcher to Patrick Thompson MP 1985-7 First Role in Politics Chairman of UEA Conservatives in 1981 First Car An orange Ford Cortina Mk III, lovingly nicknamed the Big Jaffa. I wrote ...
ConHome Diary: The Consequences of Windrush & Spinning the Local Elections
- 20 Apr 2018
Back in 2006 the then Labour Home Secretary John Reid described his own department as “not fit for purpose”. Twelve years on very little seems to have changed. Even after eight years of Tory occupation, six of which were controlled by Theresa May, it is still the department wh...
What Really Happened At Margaret Thatcher's Final Cabinet Meeting
- 19 Apr 2018
Some time ago, back in 2006, I had intended to write a book about the month leading up to Margaret Thatcher’s fall from power. Part of the incentive to do so was that there seemed to be so many conflicting accounts of what actually happened. I knew I would be able to get acces...
WATCH: Is Trump Morally Fit to be President (Our Most Watched Show So Far)
- 16 Apr 2018
Is Donald Trump “morally unfit” to be President? That was one of the comments from former FBI Director James Comey. With me, Afua Hirsch, Liam Halligan, presented by Hannah Vaughan-Jones.
The 100 Most Powerful Politicians of the Last 100 Years
- 16 Apr 2018
1 Winston Churchill Con 2 David Lloyd George Lib 3 Clement Attlee Lab 4 Margaret Thatcher Con 5 Harold Wilson Lab 6 Stanley Baldwin Con 7 Edward Heath Con 8 Ramsay Macdonald Lab 9 Tony Blair Lab 10 James Callaghan Lab 11 Harold Macmillan Con 12 R A Butler Con 13 William Whitel...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: In Conversation with Nigel Farage
- 16 Apr 2018
This interview took place in October 2008. It’s actually very hard for Nigel Farage to give a bad interview. He is the kind of character who always has something interesting to say. Indeed sometimes he says far too much for his own good. Politics needs characters like Farag...
WATCH: CNN Talk - What Would Military Action in Syria Achieve?
- 14 Apr 2018
I post this twelve hours after military intervention started, but this was our discussion on CNN yesterday lunchtime.
On the Gender Pay Gap in Airlines
- 11 Apr 2018
In last week’s ConHome column, I wrote about the gender pay gap and used airlines as an example. A reader emailed me afterwards and I thought his email might be interesting for people to read… On April 6th, in regard to the gender pay gap - specifically airlines - on your reg...
Twenty Things I Did For the First Time...
- 11 Apr 2018
First Job Mucking out my Dad’s pigs on a Saturday morning for 10p an hour First Real Job Researcher to Patrick Thompson MP 1985-7 First Role in Politics Chairman of UEA Conservatives in 1981 First Car An orange Ford Cortina Mk III, lovingly nicknamed the Big Jaffa. I wrote ...
Why a Gap Year Is The Best Thing I Ever Did
- 10 Apr 2018
It really gets my goat when I hear people who ought to know better advising 18 year olds not to go on gap years. Instead, they should concentrate on getting work experience and extra training. Balls. Going on a gap year was the best decision I have ever made - apart from hitc...
A Letter to my 16 Year Old Self
- 9 Apr 2018
I wrote this in 2010. I wouldn’t change a word of it now… Dear Iain, This could turn into a 100 page epistle, if I am not careful. As you know, you have had a perfect childhood - brought up by two loving parents in a wonderful rural environment. I know you know how lucky you...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: In Conversation with Adam Boulton
- 9 Apr 2018
THIS INTERVIEW IS FROM EARLY 2010. Adam Boulton is a legend and I have huge respect for him. He probably spends more hours live on air than any other political journalist. He has an incredible knack of explaining complex political issues to the Sky News viewers, he can be c...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: In Conversation with Alex Salmond
- 8 Apr 2018
This was the first In Conversation interview I did for Total Politics, back in July 2008, nearly ten years ago. I met Alex Salmond in his House of Commons office and talked for close on two hours. It was a strange experience as he twice had to go to vote, which meant that we c...