Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Saturday

Nigel Jones

Reform needs ex-Labour people too

Back in July I wrote in these pages that if too many Tories joined Reform, Nigel Farage’s party would risk looking like a rescue raft for rats leaving the sinking Conservative ship. Since then, the trend for repentant or redundant Tories to desert their old party – so comprehensively rejected by the voters – and flee to the rising Reform rebels has only accelerated. Recent Reform recruits include the former Conservative party chairman Jake Berry, former Tory Welsh secretary David Jones, and senior former Tory MP Adam Holloway. Ex-Tory minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns is now Reform’s mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, and Reform’s latest MP, Sarah Pochin, who won the Runcorn

Paul Goodman

The problem with Reform’s Lords plan

Not so long ago, an MP was free to earn whatever he liked however he liked, push off without impediment to work for businesses that he’d been responsible for regulating, and could hold his seat comfortably for the best part of 50 years. No longer. One might have thought that the stock of MPs would therefore have risen. But it hasn’t: the more ethically we compel them to behave, the more unpopular they seem to become. So congratulations to Zia Yusuf, Reform’s former party chairman – and one of Nigel Farage’s closest colleagues – for taking our detestation of MPs to its logical conclusion: namely, stopping them governing us altogether.

Freddy Gray

How worried are Americans about Britain?

20 min listen

In Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, Britain has a double-edged sword: one of the most anglophile U.S. administrations of all time – but a greater awareness of UK domestic politics. From Lucy Connolly to the recent arrest of Graham Linehan at Heathrow airport, there is much chatter in America about free speech in Britain and whether it is under threat, especially from the American right. Author Ed West and Spectator World contributor Lee Cohen join Freddy Gray to discuss how much this is cutting through with Americans, what this means for UK-US relations and the new dynamic caused by Reform UK’s success. Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons.

Tim Shipman

The red reshuffle overshadows Reform

14 min listen

Lucy Dunn catches up with Tim Shipman at Reform’s party conference, taking place in Birmingham, to get his reaction to Labour’s reshuffle. The reshuffle took place following Angela Rayner’s resignation from government. Tim argues that it’s clear the reshuffle centred around getting Shabana Mahmood into the Home Office, where she can tackle some of the biggest issues for Labour – small boats and asylum hotels. They also round up the goings on at Reform including leader Nigel Farage’s speech, who claimed Labour’s reshuffle proved an election could be sooner than we think… Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Alex Klaushofer

Solar farms are taking over Britain's countryside

This summer I spent an afternoon, as I do every year, sitting with old friends in their garden a few miles from the Gloucestershire village where we grew up. Their garden adjoins fields, affording a clear view of the Malvern Hills. But this year, the view was different. We watched as trucks crawled across the land three fields ahead, shunting between concrete blocks. Little constructions had appeared between the trees and hedges. I was witnessing the construction of the UK’s largest solar farm in a rural residential area. Some 26 fields, comprising 271 acres of farmland near the village of Highleadon are being turned into a photovoltaic power station with

Gareth Roberts

Why Gay Times hit the buffers

Gay Times, the longstanding monthly magazine formerly aimed at gay men – but now repurposed as an ‘LGBTQ+’ title – is in trouble: it has lost 80 per cent of its advertisers in the last year, and £5 million in advertising revenue as a result. ‘Good old-fashioned discrimination’ is to blame, according to its chief executive Tag Warner. The real reason is rather more straightforward: Gay Times‘s troubles show, once again, that if you go woke, you risk going broke. Gay Times‘s troubles show, once again, that if you go woke, you risk going broke. The Guardian suggests instead that Donald Trump might be to blame. ‘There has been a

Iram Ramzan

Do Druze Lives Matter?

It’s not even 10am, but already the Galilee sun is prickling the back of my neck. I’m standing outside a war room set up in the community centre of the village of Julis, watching a delegation of 200 Druze men arrive. One by one, they make their way up the steep path – most dressed in their trademark black robes, baggy trousers, and white hats. They’ve come from across northern Israel to plead for their people on the other side of the border, where a quiet massacre has been unfolding in southern Syria. ‘Tomorrow it could be Europe or the US. These extremists will get stronger, and they will murder each and

Friday

Madeline Grant

Nadine Dorries was a low point in Reform's Campest Show On Earth

Reform had clearly planned the Campest Show On Earth for their conference this year. Sparklers, club anthems and strobe lights: imagine Sir Keith Joseph was in charge of your primary school disco and you get a sense of the vibe. Unfortunately for the budding impresarios of Reform, they were upstaged. Just as their conference was starting, the inevitable happened and Big Ange called it a day. In many ways, the Deputy Prime Minister and Reform have a lot in common: a working-class support base, an obvious contempt for the smoking ban and finances which are best left, er, unscrutinised. Still there was room for only one headline and the reshuffle

Lucy Dunn

Starmer completes post-Rayner cabinet reshuffle

Keir Starmer is carrying out a far-reaching reshuffle this afternoon after Angela Rayner resigned from her three roles (Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Minister and deputy Labour leader) following a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. The writing was on the wall for Starmer’s former second-in-command after her own lawyers put out a statement on Thursday in which they claimed to have been scapegoated over the whole ordeal. Now Rayner will move to the backbenches while Starmer galvanises his premiership with a cabinet reshuffle.  There have been significant moves among the most senior ranks of the cabinet. David Lammy is now Deputy Prime

Steerpike

Zia Yusuf awarded yet another Reform role

Senior Reform figure Zia Yusuf has been on quite the journey within the party. The businessman first came to prominence as party chairman after taking over from now-deputy Richard Tice MP, promising to professionalise the growing party. Then, three months ago to the day, Yusuf shocked party colleagues and members by announcing his resignation from the role, posting on X that: ‘I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.’ He returned less than 48 hours later, however, to take on an Elon Musk-style role as Reform UK’s Head of DOGE. And now, during Nigel Farage’s

Graham Watts

Rayner’s resignation will save her from one embarrassment

The misjudgement over Stamp Duty which led to Angela Rayner’s resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, may be deeply embarrassing for her (and her party) but it will likely save her from the embarrassment of failing to achieve the government’s target of delivering 1.5 million new homes by 2029. In an interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, back in December 2024, the then DPM vehemently argued that this was her target, and she would be accountable for it. That interview might best be remembered for her inability to respond to Phillips’s assertion – backed up by quoting the government’s own data – that five out of every seven

James Heale

Reaction from Reform as Rayner resigns

17 min listen

Angela Rayner has resigned following the ethics probe into her tax affairs. What impact will this have on Starmer’s government? And does this hinder her chances of succeeding Starmer one day? The Coffee House Shots team react live from day one of the Reform party conference, which is taking place in Birmingham. What’s the mood in the conference hall? And, after Nadine Dorries joined Reform last night, could more former Conservatives follow? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Lucy Dunn

Angela Rayner quits over stamp duty scandal

Angela Rayner has resigned as Deputy Prime Minister after a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. Rayner was investigated after it emerged she had underpaid stamp duty when purchasing a seaside apartment in Hove, East Sussex. Sir Keir Starmer hinted on Thursday that he would move to sack Rayner pending the results of the investigation, but Rayner has jumped before she was pushed. Her departure has triggered a cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to take place today. The announcement comes as Nigel Farage kicks off Reform UK’s annual party conference. Rayner’s resignation – and the looming cabinet reshuffle – casts a large

Tim Shipman

Tim Shipman, Colin Freeman, Rachel Clarke, Michael Gove & Melanie Ferbreach

40 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman interviews shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick (plus – Tim explains the significance of Jenrick’s arguments in a special introduction); Colin Freeman wonders why the defenders of Ukraine have been abandoned; Rachel Clarke reviews Liam Shaw and explains the urgency needed to find new antibiotics; Michael Gove reviews Tom McTague and ponders the path that led to the UK voting to leave the EU; and, Melanie Ferbreach provides her notes on made-up language. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Steerpike

Poll: what do Brits think of Farage?

It is day one of Reform UK’s conference today and thousands are flocking in to the Birmingham NEC. But while those attending today are the true-teal Farage faithful, what do the millions outside the conference hall make of the lifelong Brexiteer? Merlin Strategy has done some polling for The Spectator to dig into what Britain thinks of the man trying to fashion himself as Britain’s next Prime Minister… Asked whether Farage is a ‘racist’, some 44 per cent say he is not, compared to just over a third (34 per cent) who say he is. Among those considering backing the party, this figure drops, with 27 per cent believing the

Tim Shipman

The scale of Nigel Farage’s ambition

When Nigel Farage stands up this afternoon to deliver his speech to Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham he will do so for the first time as a potential prime minister. His message to the 7,000 delegates gathered at the NEC will be that they need to prepare for a general election as early as 2027. One cloud looms over Farage’s funfair today Labour would not have to call an election until 2029, but Farage believes the state of the economy and the emergence of new parties means the government could collapse before that. With Rachel Reeves facing a black hole of anything up to about £40 billion in the

Ross Clark

Angela Rayner is the victim of a convoluted tax system

Here is a rather delightful fact. For 13 years between 2010 and 2023 Britain had a quango called the Office for Tax Simplification. You may never have heard of it, but it really did exist. Its annual report for 2021/22 shows that it was chaired by someone called Kathryn Kearns and had a budget of £1.057 million, £868,000 of which was paid in staff wages. But here’s the thing. In 2010, when it was founded, Tolley’s Tax Guide – the accountant’s bible – ran to 867 pages. The 2023 edition – the year the Office for Tax Simplification was wound up – ran to, er, 1,020 pages. No one should

Stephen Pollard

The truth about the Fabian Society

It’s a strange feeling finding out that you have been part of a revolutionary group that secretly controls Britain and, er…didn’t realise it. For four years in the 1990s, I was the Research Director of the Fabian Society. It was a wonderful job, at a time when Labour under Tony Blair was open to new ideas and policies. As a Labour-affiliated, mildly left-of-centre organisation, the Fabians were very well placed. Earnest thinkers, networkers and youngsters finding their feet in politics all had a space in which they could come together and think about and discuss politics and ideas in an environment where questioning the received wisdom was the point, rather

Lara Brown

What has Hollywood done to Wuthering Heights?

‘Come undone’, the billboard reads. Two hands are clasped together. On another a blonde-haired woman lies prone on a fuzzy peach mattress, her hands tightly gripping the sheets. ‘Drive me mad’, implores the caption. In theatres Valentine’s Day 2026. Despite appearances, this isn’t the latest boilerplate steamy romance for women to drag their boyfriends to in February, but the official marketing for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights. The trailer, released on Thursday, sets the tone for an apparent massacre of Emily Brontë’s magnum opus. It opens with a shot of Aussie heart-throb Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, sucking the fingers of erstwhile Barbie Margot Robbie while her not-insubstantial breasts heave out of an

Mark Galeotti

Putin doesn't want to live forever

‘Rejuvenation is unstoppable, we will prevail,’ blared the editorial in the Chinese newspaper Global Times. The subject was China’s resurgence, but it looked oddly apposite in light of an inadvertently overheard conversation between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Some Western journalists have mistaken this as evidence of Putin’s hubris and his personality cult ‘Biotechnology is continuously developing,’ commented Putin as the two men walked towards the podium in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during the military parade to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War Two. ‘In the past, it used to be rare for someone to be older than 70 and these days they say that at 70 one’s still a