My Top Ten Songs of 2022
- 26 Dec 2022
My musical tastes are, shall we say, not to everyone's liking. I like pop, pure and simple. I like misery ballads. I also like electro-pop and African music. You'll find lots of examples here in my list of ten favourite songs of 2022. These are songs I discovered in 2022, but ...
My Top 20 Podcasts of 2022
- 23 Dec 2022
Time for my top 20 podcasts of the year. I have to say my podcast listening habits have changed somewhat in recent times. I'm listening to far fewer political or news podcasts than I used to and tend to use podcasts nowadays to escape the world of current affairs. As you w...
My Top Tweeters of 2022
- 22 Dec 2022
This is a list of 250 Tweeters I have most enjoyed during 2022. This is the ninth year I have compiled this list. I follow about 4400 people on Twitter. Anyway, these are the ones who have entertained, informed, educated, annoyed and, most of all, made me laugh most this y...
Bubba
- 11 Dec 2022
As many of you all know, our two dogs, Dude and Bubba, are the lights of our lives. Now that they are both 11, you start to think about the awful day when they'll no longer be with us. This week, I'm afraid that the dreadful prospect of one of them leaving us ...
Please Help Repair the Cello That I Obliterated When I Fell Off A Stage In July
- 11 Nov 2022
DONATE HERE On 23 July this year, I obliterated a cello in the orchestra pit of Buxton Opera House by falling off the stage on top of it. You can read the gory details HERE. I was lucky to have landed on the cello. If it hadn't been there my injuri...
The Trials Down Under of Hatt Mancock
- 7 Nov 2022
In principle, there’s nothing wrong with politicians appearing on reality TV shows. Yet whenever they do it they get a shed load of abuse, especially if the show is taking place when parliament is in session. Politicians only seem to get away with it when the show is prerecord...
The Challenges Rishi Sunak Faces in Forming His Government: Reshuffle Predictions
- 25 Oct 2022
The first task facing any new prime minister is to form a government. This means sacking existing ministers and appointing new ones. It means rewarding allies and penalizing those whose faces don’t fit. For Rishi Sunak this is not going to be the most pleasurable of experience...
Why I am Endorsing Penny Mordaunt
- 20 Oct 2022
This article first appeared on Telegraph Online So Liz Truss becomes the third female Conservative leader to be effectively toppled by her own MPs. When Margaret Thatcher left Number 10 on that November day 32 years ago, she said: “We leave the country in a far better ...
Will Liz Truss Read the Writing on the Wall? And Other Pertinent Questions
- 15 Oct 2022
Friday turned out not to be the end for Liz Truss. But it did mark the beginning of the end. And rightly so. I have no idea why people are surprised. Right from the start of the leadership contest I said she was not fit for the job. She is a terrible communicator and has a tin...
On This Day in Politics is Published!
- 6 Oct 2022
My latest book, ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS - BRITAIN'S POLITICAL HISTORY IN 365 DAYS is published today, and I am a proud author! When Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was asked by a journalist what his greatest challenges were, his reply was very simple. “Events, dear boy,...
Quick Reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng's "Mini" Budget
- 23 Sep 2022
I was on a plane to Jersey (no, not visiting my money!) when Kwasi Kwarteng was on his feet in the Commons. It wasn't exactly a "mini" budget, more of a "We don't care if you don't like us, we're going to do it anyway" budget. "Courageous", as Sir Humphrey might say. Timing...
We Can Be Proud Of Our Country
- 19 Sep 2022
Today really will mark the end of one era and the beginning of another. I'm so proud of the way the country has reacted to the death of Her Majesty. With very few exceptions, a huge amount of respect has justly been shown to her memory. The sight of the queues of people to pay...
A Few Reflections on the Last Few Days
- 12 Sep 2022
Harold Macmillan once said ‘Events, dear boy, events, when asked what the most troubling things about his premiership were. Liz Truss would no doubt sympathise. She won the Tory leadership on Monday, traveled to Balmoral to be appointed by the Sovereign to be Prime Minister. O...
My Memory of September 11 2001
- 11 Sep 2022
Twenty one years ago today, Al Qaeda committed a terrible act of terrorism in the United States, something which has gone down in history as 9/11. I think we all remember where we were when we found out about it. I was sitting at my desk on the balcony at Politico’s talking...
Goodbye Boris, Hello Liz
- 4 Sep 2022
I’ve been of voting age for 42 years. I’m used to having prime ministers who are in office for a long time. For 35 of those 42 years we had prime ministers who served for at least six years. Latterly we’ve had three PMs who’ve only managed only three each. Historically, this i...
'Iain Dale All Talk' Podcast Episode List
- 25 Aug 2022
In August 2019 I launched 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 a podcast. And...
Edinburgh Fringe Diary Days 6-10
- 19 Aug 2022
I dubbed the Wednesday of my Edinburgh run, ‘Super Wednesday’, as it involved hosting three shows rather than two. I was actually quite anxious about it as two of the interviews involved Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn, both of who have the ability to be quite tricky intervi...
What I Really Said About Nicola Sturgeon & Her Critics
- 16 Aug 2022
I don't know what has got into the water supply but for the last week I have been under attack for things I haven't said and don't believe.. That's Twitter for you, I suppose, but it's incredibly frustating to read stuff which is simply a lie. It all stems from the interview I...
Edinburgh Fringe Diary: Days 4 & 5
- 12 Aug 2022
Monday proved to be quite a day here at the Fringe. The first show was with Rory Bremner, who was everything I knew he would be. In fact, I barely had to ask a question! He was an absolute joy to listen to, and his impressions were as spot on as ever. He also talked about ...
Edinburgh Fringe Diary Days 1-3
- 7 Aug 2022
My Edinburgh experience started early on Friday morning. I finished doing my regular stint with Jacqui Smith on Good Morning Britain at 7am and was then driven to Kings Cross station to get the 8.30 train to Edinburgh. I normally fly, but thought this time I’d let the train ta...