ConservativeHome Diary Week 27: Russell Brand May be a Hammer But That's His Only Redeeming Factor
- 25 Oct 2013
I was on my sick bed on Wednesday, so I had the dubious delight of watching the entire coverage of the Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on Plebgate. It didn’t exactly make me think we have the most wonderful police in the country. The three Police Federation representativ...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 27: If Chris Bryant Can Apologise to Andrew Mitchell, So Should Ed Miliband
- 18 Oct 2013
My job leads me to meet some interesting people. This week I interviewed Princess of Michael of Kent about her new novel, The Queen of Four Kingdoms. We were sent a protocol sheet in advance which instructed us what to call her and how to bow. Never having been very good at an...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 26: Has Adam Afriyie completely lost his marbles?
- 11 Oct 2013
I try not to obsess about West Ham in this column, but you will forgive me reporting an exchange between West Ham supporting Tory MPs Alec Shelbrooke and Bob Neill, and Spurs fans Iain Duncan Smith and Mike Penning. You will recall that West Ham hammered Spurs 3-0 on Sunday by...
MPs in Grinder Shock!
- 5 Oct 2013
Shocked. I say, I’m shocked. This was a picture taken on one of the commercial stands at the Tory Party Conference. Sadly I have no idea what the real context is. Maybe just as well.
ConservativeHome Diary Week 25: George Osborne is a Kewl Dude
- 4 Oct 2013
Manchester proved to be a much quieter week for me than Brighton was (ahem). It has to be said that virtually everyone I met made some joke or other about the “incident”, as if they thought they were being entirely original. Still, I had half thought I might well be totally sh...
Speech to the Tory Pride Dinner in Manchester
- 4 Oct 2013
On Tuesday night I gave the after dinner speech at the Tory Pride Dinner in Manchester. Several people who weren’t there have apparently been told about it and asked if I would put it on the blog, so here goes. I have removed all the jokes and smut, though, which formed about ...
Top 100 People on the Right 2013
- 1 Oct 2013
Each year the Telegraph assembles a group of experts to compile a list of the top 100 most influential people on the Right. Meeting this year in the Westminster Intercontinental – the new hangout of choice for politicos – the panel judged the performance of right-wing politico...
Top 100 People on the Left 2013
- 28 Sep 2013
Labour may be beginning to flat-line in the polls, but there is no shortage of new names and rising stars to inject what seems to be currently missing in from Labour’s front-bench. So food for thought here for Ed Miliband, who topped the poll, despite his poor personal poll ra...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 24: Not a Week I'd Care to Repeat
- 27 Sep 2013
Well, it’s been quite a week. And not one I’d care to repeat. If you missed what shall now forever be referred to as “the incident” I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ve declined all interviews about it and would love to send it to hidden depths of my mind, never to be talked about...
Top 50 Liberal Democrats 2013
- 26 Sep 2013
Each year the Telegraph assembles a group of experts to compile a list of the top fifty ranked members of the Liberal Democrats. Meeting this year in the Westminster Intercontinental – the new hangout of choice for politicos – the panel judged the performance of Lib Dem politi...
Statement and Apology
- 26 Sep 2013
Following the incident on Brighton seafront on Tuesday morning, I have today voluntarily attended Brighton police station where I accepted a police caution. The police have informed me they now regard the matter as closed. I want to thank them for the fair and courteous way th...
How Newspaper Book Serialisations Work
- 22 Sep 2013
Many people don’t seem to understand how newspaper book serialisations work, so let me try to explode a few of the hoary old myths that have been regurgitated in the last few days. Even journalists from newspapers which bid for the Damian McBride serialisation don’t seem to ge...
Why Is Alastair Campbell so Keen to Trash Damian McBride's Book?
- 21 Sep 2013
You know, the most amusing thing about the last 48 hours or so has been the emergence of Alastair Campbell as spinner-in-chief against Damian McBride. It’s most odd because most of the things Damian writes about in his book confirm all the things that Alastair says in his diar...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 23: Bonking LibDems & Their Leaks
- 20 Sep 2013
The poor old LibDems suffered from two rather embarrassing email incidents during their conference. The first was when a press officer sent their entire “Lines to Take” to the media instead of their MPs. MPs and ministers were given a checklist of five things to mention in eve...
Damian McBride, Me and His Brilliant Book
- 20 Sep 2013
Four years ago I appeared on the Today Programme talking about Carol Thatcher and her use of the word ‘gollywog’. She had just been fired from the ‘One Show’ for having the temerity to liken someone’s hair to that of a ‘gollywog’. This is what I wrote on my blog at the time… ...
The Revenge of the Orange Bookers
- 17 Sep 2013
Each year the Telegraph assembles a group of experts to compile a list of the top 50 ranked members of the Liberal Democrats. Meeting this year in the Westminster Intercontinental – the new hangout of choice for politicos – the panel judged the performance of Lib Dem politicia...
ConservativeHome Diary Week 22: Why I'm Supporting my Friend Nigel Evans
- 14 Sep 2013
It’s difficult to say much about the Nigel Evans case without prejudicing his trial, but one thing is for certain. Over the last few months he has found out who his real friends are. And that will be even more the case over the months leading up to his trial. I know several pe...
It Shouldn't Happen to a Radio Presenter 13: "Should You Have Gone to Specsavers, Prime Minister?"
- 12 Sep 2013
Here’s the interview I did for my LBC Drivetime show today with the Prime Minister – who, before we went on air, urged me to blog more! Anyway, we covered the new scheme he was launching today to encourage new business start-ups, the row with Jose Manuel Barrosso (he expre...