LISTEN: My 'Media Masters' Interview - My Career in Radio, Books & What Really Happened on Brighton Seafront!
- 14 Jul 2016
You can download the Podcast through iTunes HERE or stream it HERE One of the podcasts I subscribe to is the Media Masters Podcast hosted by Paul Blanchard. He interviews people in the media who, according to him, are “at the top of their game”. He spends 45-60 minutes with ...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 48: When to Kill With Kindness, Rather Than Lose Your Temper
- 12 Jul 2016
This evening I spent an hour on my LBC show discussing David Cameron’s legacy. I have to admit I wasn’t prepared for David in Croydon. He said Cameron had converted him from Labour and thought he was a great leader, apart from one thing – gay marriage. I don’t think he kne...
Mrs May's Cabinet Dilemmas - Whoever She Appoints, the Balance Will Be Heavily In Favour of Remain
- 12 Jul 2016
Theresa May didn’t expect to have to appoint her Cabinet until after September 9th. Instead, she has to start the process on Wednesday afternoon. It won’t be an easy task. All prime ministers seek to appoint a balanced Cabinet, but previous Prime Ministers didn’t have the Leav...
The Challenges Facing Theresa May
- 11 Jul 2016
I tweeted this earlier… You really couldn’t make this shit up. — Iain Dale (@IainDale) July 11, 2016 And no, I wasn’t referring to the fact that within six minutes Labour had sent out two press releases, one calling for an immediate general election and the second a...
21 Things I'd Like to Do, But (Almost Certainly) Never Will
- 9 Jul 2016
I have very few regrets in my life. I don’t really believe in ‘what ifs’ or looking back with a degree of wistfulness, but this ‘bucket list’ with a difference gives a clue to what some of my regrets might be, as well as list a few things that were always going to unfulfilled ...
ConHome Diary: So It's A Tory All Woman Shortlist!
- 8 Jul 2016
I was at a party on Wednesday night celebrating the 60th birthday of a Tory Party politician. Oh alright then, it was Andrew Mitchell. It was quite a do. I was amused to be approached at one point by a veteran of David Davis’s leadership of 2005 who was looking rather pleased ...
Attitude Column: I'm Just Sooooo Offended!
- 7 Jul 2016
“I’ve never been so offended in all my life.” How many times have we heard that increasingly irritating phrase in recent times? Being offended has almost become a national sport in this country. The slightest off colour remark can provoke howls of outrage from people who ought...
Why I Feel Duped Over Iraq and Why Chilcot Isn't a Whitewash
- 6 Jul 2016
In twenty short but utterly devastating minutes Sir John Chilcot laid bare the errors of judgement, the errors of policy and errors of implementation that led to what I am now content to say was Britain’s biggest foreign policy misjudgement since Suez. At the time, I believed...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: LIAM FOX
- 4 Jul 2016
FULL NAME: Liam Fox BORN: 22 September 1961, East Kilbride AGE: 54 EDUCATION: St Brides High School, University of Glasgow Medical School STATUS: Married to Jesme Baird FIRST ELECTED: 1992 CONSTITUENCY: Woodspring, North Somerset EXPERIENCE: Government Whip 1993-6, Foreign O...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: MICHAEL GOVE
- 4 Jul 2016
FULL NAME: Michael Gove BORN: 26 August 1967, Edinburgh AGE: 48 EDUCATION: Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen. Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. 2-1 degree in English. STATUS: Married to Sarah Vine, 2 children FIRST ELECTED: 2005 CONSTITUENCY: Surrey Heath EXPERIENCE: Secretary of ...
WATCH: My Analysis of the Tory Leadership on the Andrew Marr Paper Review
- 3 Jul 2016
So there I was last night, sitting on the sofa in Norfolk watching Germany win yet another penalty shootout and I get a text from Rob Burley asking if I could do the paper review on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. Someone had dropped out at the last minute – someone, shal...
My 'Take of the Week' for THIS WEEK: The Gove/Boris Fallout
- 2 Jul 2016
Over the years I have appeared many times on the Daily Politics, but never This Week. If I am honest, it rankled a bit and I had always wondered why. It’s funny because everyone, including members of the This Week production team, seemed to think I had been on many times. A...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: STEPHEN CRABB
- 30 Jun 2016
FULL NAME: Stephen Crabb BORN: January 20 1973, Inverness AGE: 43 EDUCATION: University of Bristol, London Business School STATUS: Married to Beatrice Monnier, 2 children FIRST ELECTED: 2005 CONSTITUENCY: Preseli, Pembrokeshire EXPERIENCE: Junior whip 2010-2012, Welsh Office...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: ANDREA LEADSOM
- 29 Jun 2016
FULL NAME: Andrea Jacquline Leadsom BORN: May 13 1963, Aylesbury AGE: 53 EDUCATION: Tonbridge Girls Grammar, University of Warwick (Political Science) STATUS: Married to Ben, 3 children FIRST ELECTED: May 2010 CONSTITUENCY: South Northamptonshire EXPERIENCE: Councillor, Sout...
Boris Has Fewer Female Supporters Than Old Etonians
- 29 Jun 2016
You don’t have to have gone to Eton to support Boris Johnson, but it certainly helps. So far Boris Johnson has attracted the support of 30 MPs. At the last count 6* of them were Old Etonians, including Boris himself. That’s 20%. Astonishingly, it’s also more than the number o...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: THERESA MAY
- 28 Jun 2016
FULL NAME: Theresa Mary May BORN: 1 October 1956, Eastbourne AGE: 59 EDUCATION: Wheatley Park Comprehensive, St Hugh’s College Oxford (Geography) STATUS: Married to Philip, no children FIRST ELECTED: 1997 CONSTITUENCY: Maidenhead EXPERIENCE: Councillor, London Borough of Mer...
Conservative Leadership Runners & Riders: BORIS JOHNSON
- 27 Jun 2016
FULL NAME: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson BORN: June 19, 1964, New York AGE: 52 EDUCATION: Eton, Balliol College Oxford STATUS: Married, 6 children FIRST ELECTED: 2001 CONSTITUENCY: Uxbridge – Majority 10,695 EXPERIENCE: Shadow Arts Minister May-November 2004, Shadow Univ...
EXCLUSIVE: Boris Aims To Sign Up 150 MPs to Blow Rivals Out of the Water
- 26 Jun 2016
I was watching Isabel Oakeshott declare on the Sunday Politics that the only leadership team not doing much this weekend was Boris Johnson’s. Oh how I laughed. The fact of the matter is that Boris’s team have not only been very active, they are trying to sign up as many MPs ...
WATCH: LBC's Seven Hour Long Referendum Night Show
- 25 Jun 2016
This is the video of LBC’s seven hour long Referendum Night show. For the first time we filmed and live-streamed the whole thing on our website via Youtube, and also Facebook Live. There are some quite amusing moments when some of us forgot we were on camera. The programme f...
ConHome Diary: Initial Thoughts on The Most Momentous Day in My Adult Political Life
- 24 Jun 2016
I sit here in my Leicester Square hotel room. It’s 6.34 in the morning on Friday and a new dawn has broken, has it not? I’ve just had the privilege of presenting LBC’s seven hour referendum results show. I ought to be dead on my feet but I’m not remotely tired. I feel a profo...