BOOK REVIEW: Unleashing Demons by Craig Oliver - The Inside Story of the Remain Campaign
- 9 Oct 2016
I did a 10 minute interview with Craig Oliver about his book, which you can watch HERE It was around 10am in the morning on a Saturday in December 2012. I was in bed. The previous night I had given a speech to David Cameron’s Conservative Association in Chipping Norton. The ...
ConHome Diary: The Mess That Is UKIP & Why I'm Being Damned Before I Even Publish
- 7 Oct 2016
I did enjoy Theresa May’s joke about Boris Johnson at the beginning of her main conference speech. It genuinely brought the house down. For those who didn’t hear it, here goes: “When we came to Birmingham this week, some big questions were hanging in the air. Do we have a ...
Top 100 People on the Right List 2016
- 3 Oct 2016
Each year for the last nine years I have convened a panel to compile a list of the Top 100 Most Influential People on the Right. This year our panel was comprised of a current Member of Parliament & former minister, two right leaning journalists, and a party agent current...
ConHome Diary: A Tale of Two Conferences & I Reveal a Dark Secret
- 30 Sep 2016
I’ve been to between 50 and 60 party conferences over the years – Conservative, Labour and LibDem. This year’s Labour conference in Liverpool was undoubtedly one of the flattest ever. I’d be surprised if there were more than 40 MPs there. Many of the delegates spent most of th...
The Top 100 People on the Left List 2016
- 24 Sep 2016
Iain Dale and his panel of experts choose their Top 100 Most Influential People On The Left list – and after a remarkable year for Labour, there have been some dramatic changes. Each year for the last ten years I have convened a panel to compile a list of the Top 100 Most I...
ConHome Diary: Hillary Debates The Donald and Why Corbyn Won't be Magnanimous
- 23 Sep 2016
Over the weekend I head up to the Labour Party conference. It’s my 18th conference, but I suspect this will be different to all the others. I’m expecting a very different clientele to be attending. Gone will be the sharp suited youths of the Blair years, present will be a new ...
WATCH: The LBC Middle East Process Debate With Mark Regev & Manuel Hassassian
- 19 Sep 2016
This was an hour long debate I hosted this evening between Mark Regev, the Israeli Ambassador to the UK, and his Palestinian counterpart, Manual Hassassian. I had interviewed them separately back in July and asked if they would debate each other. Somewhat to my surprise they...
BOOK REVIEW: Speaking Out by Ed Balls - Best Political Book I've Read This Year
- 18 Sep 2016
Very few political books stand the test of time. Three months after they come out they’re forgotten. Ed Balls can be proud that his book will be different. It’s not a conventional political memoir in that it’s not chronological and doesn’t pretend to be a learned, intellectua...
The Top 50 Liberal Democrats 2016
- 17 Sep 2016
Each year I convene three panels to compile lists of the Top 50 Liberal Democrats, the Top 100 People on the Left and the Top 100 People on the Right. Each list is published to coincide with the three party conferences. This is the ninth year I’ve been doing this and although ...
WATCH: Iain Dale Interviews Owen Smith
- 17 Sep 2016
Twenty minutes with the Labour leadership contender.
ConHome Diary: Dave Quits, I'm Playing Kofi Annan & Why Sadiq Refused an Upgrade
- 17 Sep 2016
Brits don’t quit. That’s the quote that came back to bite David Cameron on the arse this week, after he announced his departure from the House of Commons. This decision makes me sad as I have always taken the view that ex-Prime Ministers should continue to play a role in our n...
ConHome Diary: Do Some Lives Matter More Than Others?
- 9 Sep 2016
In the next few weeks we’ll get the results of the UKIP and Labour leadership elections and the SNP’s deputy leadership election. Labour and the SNP have both experienced booming membership growth, but there the similarity seems to end. Labour is languishing at 27% in the late...
WATCH: A Frankly Excellent Interview with Ed Balls!
- 6 Sep 2016
Earlier this evening I interviewed Ed Balls for twenty minutes about his new book SPEAKING OUT: LESSONS IN LIFE & POLITICS. I had just finished doing one of my more ‘robust’ interview with the Vice Chairwoman of Momentum, so perhaps that wasn’t the best preparation to ha...
WATCH: Iain Tells Newsnight Why Keith Vaz Should Quit
- 6 Sep 2016
This was a discussion I had on Newsnight last night about the Keith Vaz scandal. Ian Dunt from politicos.co.uk was my fellow guest. I explained why I thought Keith Vaz has to stand down as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. Ian disagreed. Emily Maitlis asked the ...
Keith Vaz And Why He Must Quit the Home Affairs Select Committee For Good
- 5 Sep 2016
On Saturday afternoon, for want of anything better to do, I watched a film called SOFT LAD. It is about a 22 year old lad called David who has an affair with his brother in law, Jules, played by Billy off Coronation Street. David then seeks to break off the relationship when h...
ConHome Diary: I've Had a LibDem Sympathy Shag
- 2 Sep 2016
I don’t quite know how I am going to write this in a way which won’t cause confusion, but here goes anyway. There was a LibDem Minister in the coalition government. Let’s call him Sean. That’s not his real name, although I do know his real name. Sean, lucky boy, had his own pr...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 49: When the 14th Most Influential Doctor in the Country Won't Answer a Simple Question
- 2 Sep 2016
This morning I interviewed Dr Hamed Khan, who sits on the Council of the British Medical Association. It didn’t start well, when he wouldn’t answer a simple question and descended from there. Dr Khan describes himself on his Twitter Feed as the 14th most influential GP in the ...
Extortion by the Liberal Democrats
- 22 Aug 2016
Since the election I’ve always felt a bit sorry for the LibDems. They didn’t actually deserve to lose 49 of their MPs, to only be left with eight. OK, I did take a little vicarious pleasure in the electoral demise of one or two of their number, I admit. However, I do think a t...
My Edinburgh Fringe Diary
- 19 Aug 2016
I’ve spent this week at the Edinburgh Festival. Last year virtually everything I saw was a comedy or had some political tinge to it. Several of my friends said I should spread my wings this year and go to some plays too. So I booked to see the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’! Oh dear. ...
ConHome Diary: The Pantheon of PMs, Any Questions & Trumpageddon
- 13 Aug 2016
I’ve always thought all months should be like August. Most political journalists take the whole month off and politicians are largely absent from Westminster. And yet somehow the country manages to struggle on. Indeed, it struggles on very nicely thank you. It’s a bit like the...