Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Friday

Robert Peal

Why can't Bridget Phillipson admit she's wrong about free schools?

Back when the free school policy was in its infancy, the general secretary of Britain’s largest headteacher union described them as ‘a reckless waste of public money…untried, untested and almost certainly unwanted’. Ten years later, West London Free School, the free school where I am joint headteacher, has been chosen as the Sunday Times‘s state comprehensive school of the year. In the English education system, longevity has often been an indicator of quality. Ancient public schools, grammar schools founded by Tudor monarchs, Victorian pioneers of female education – these have always dominated the league tables. Now they have free schools to contend with. The West London Free School was established in 2011,

Lara Prendergast

Benefits Britain, mental health & what’s the greatest artwork of the 21st Century?

23 min listen

‘Labour is now the party of welfare, not work’ argues Michael Simmons in the Spectator’s cover article this week. The question ‘why should I bother with work?’ is becoming harder to answer, following last week’s Budget which could come to define this Labour government. A smaller and smaller cohort of people are being asked to shoulder the burden – what do our Spectator contributors think of this?  For this week’s Edition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by opinion editor Rupert Hawksley, arts editor Igor Toronyi-Lalic and columnist Matthew Parris. Rupert points out the perceived lack of fairness across the Budget, Matthew thinks we shouldn’t be surprised that a Labour government delivered a Labour

Michael Gove

Q&A: Lockdown ‘sins’ & where Conservatism went wrong

41 min listen

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright. This week on Quite right! Q&A: was lockdown the right call – and what did Britain get catastrophically wrong? Michael and Maddie unravel the ‘sins’ of the Covid era, from criminalising everyday behaviour to the rise of snitch culture. Did Sweden show there was a better way? Then: is conservatism suffering from a crisis of confidence? Michael reflects on 14 years of Tory drift, why the party ‘talked right but governed left’, and how Blairism, wokery and cultural blindspots reshaped British politics. Plus: the odd new tone of modern political interviews – from mawkish breakfast-TV hectoring to the

Thursday

Madeline Grant

There is one impressive thing about Keir Starmer’s government

I am going to shock Spectator readers and say something in praise of the government. There is one area where they are genuinely, consistently impressive, precise even. Received wisdom states that an institution is generally either malign or incompetent. The Starmer ministry time and again hits the absolute sweet spot where it can reasonably be regarded as both by the maximum number of people possible. In the House today we turned to a classic of this genre of cock-up: the cancellation of mayoral elections. As everyone knows, cancelling elections is always a sign of a good and healthy government. If anything, Keir Starmer is too popular; I suspect he’s just

Steerpike

The Spectator's Christmas reception, in pictures

The festive season is well and truly upon us and The Spectator celebrated with a Christmas reception that took place on Wednesday evening. The great and the not-so-good of Westminster descended upon Old Queen Street. After a rather eventful few months in politics, parliamentarians, pundits and professionals were able to let off some steam and enjoy the festivities. Have a look at the photos here… Editor Michael Gove and Head of Spectator TV Natasha Feroze Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice and broadcaster Piers Morgan Labour MP Torcuil Crichton Food from the raclette bar Sir Paul Marshall and Konstantin Kisin Freddie Sayers and Francis Foster The Spectator’s agony aunt, Mary Killen Political editor

Jacob Heilbrunn

Trump is running out of tricks to prop up the American economy

President Donald Trump dozed off during his cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Who could blame him? Listening to Secretary of State Marco Rubio drone on about Russia would prompt souls less hardy than Trump to catch some shuteye. What should be keeping Trump awake, or at least uneasy, is the shaky state of the American economy. The federal government may not be releasing much data, but the payroll processing company ADP is reporting that private employers cut 32,000 jobs last month. The losses were heavily concentrated among small employers who have been slammed by Trump’s capricious tariff policy. The only positive sign has been in the data centre industry, where investments

The Spectator

The Year in Review

From scandals and cabinet chaos to Trumpian theatre and the ‘special’ relationship that some say is anything but, The Spectator presents The Year in Review – a look back at the funniest and most tragic political moments of 2025. The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove, deputy editor Freddy Gray, political editor Tim Shipman, deputy political editor James Heale, parliamentary sketch-writer Madeline Grant and special guests will all share their favourite moments from the past 12 months. This livestream is exclusive to Spectator subscribers.

Steerpike

Liz Truss launches 'The Liz Truss show'

Ping! An email lands in Mr Steerpike’s inbox. An exciting new project launches tomorrow. Liz Truss is starting her own programme on YouTube. Billed as ‘a bold new programme in a media landscape dominated by groupthink and timid consensus’, The Liz Truss Show, promises to bring ‘unapologetic debate, fierce defence of Western values, and straight-talking discussions about the future of Britain and the free world.’ Someone get the popcorn… It is the latest sally by Britain’s shortest-serving premier, 18 months after losing her seat. Truss is aiming to go Transatlantic by partnering with John Solomon’s Just the News network in the United State. Episodes will be released each week across

Oscar Edmondson

The murky world of political donations

15 min listen

Reform are in the money. This morning the Electoral Commission has dropped the latest figures on political donations, and Reform are streets ahead. Former Tory donor Christopher Harborne has handed Nigel Farage £9 million, what we believe to be a record amount from a single donor. How much impact will this have on Reform’s chances of electoral success? How much influence do political donors have over how their money is spent? Elsewhere, Reform are conducting a press conference later this afternoon where they will be sticking it to Labour over its decision to postpone more local elections. Without new mayoral elections in four more areas, where are Reform going to

Lisa Haseldine

Putin ‘morally responsible’ for Salisbury novichok poisoning

Vladimir Putin is ‘morally responsible’ for the death of Dawn Sturgess, a public inquiry today has concluded. The mother of three died in Salisbury in June 2018 after unknowingly spraying herself with the nerve agent novichok, which had been discarded three months earlier by two Kremlin agents sent to kill the former spy Sergei Skripal. The operation was so sensitive that it ‘must have been authorised at the highest level by President Putin’ as a ‘demonstration of Russian power’, the inquiry’s chair Lord Hughes said. Keir Starmer condemned the Kremlin’s ‘disregard for innocent lives’ Lord Hughes said that disguising the novichok in a perfume bottle ‘dramatically magnified’ the risk of

Robert Taylor

No tap water has left all of Tunbridge Wells disgusted

I’ve lived in Tunbridge Wells for 20 years, and have never met anyone disgusted. Until this week. Yup, we’re all disgusted now. As you would be if you couldn’t flush your loo for days on end, nor take a shower, nor wash your hands, nor drink a glass of water without schlepping to a communal bottle station and waiting in a long queue. The Royal bit in our town’s name has never felt more inappropriate. The Royal bit in our town’s name has never felt more inappropriate What on earth happened? Well, it all started on Saturday, when thousands of us noticed the water pressure in our taps was weak

Steerpike

Reform blasts Labour for delaying mayoral elections

Well, well, well. Labour’s decision to cancel four mayoral elections by two years is not going down well, to put it lightly. The government has pushed back elections due to take place in May – in Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk – until 2028. Sir Keir Starmer’s crowd has blamed the delay on local authorities needing more time to merge, in a bid to give regions more power. But the government’s opponents are rather unhappy about the palaver… Reform UK has called an emergency press conference today to discuss the changes, with leader Nigel Farage saying: ‘The whole local government reorganisation is a

Tom Slater

Does Paloma Faith know what 'far right' means?

The fash must be bricking it. Paloma Faith, Fontaines D.C. and Lenny Henry are among the musicians, comedians and celebs who have just launched a new alliance, Together Against The Far Right. They’ve got a statement. And a demonstration planned for March next year. Far-right thugs, meet your match. The luvvies are reclaiming the streets. You probably don’t need me to tell you that this new ‘alliance’ isn’t just railing against what anyone could reasonably call the ‘far right’. You know, the pathetic fringe of racist bottomfeeders who can usually be found crying in Zia Yusuf’s mentions or, much graver still, could be seen smashing windows and screaming slurs in minority areas during last year’s

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Marwan Barghouti isn't the 'Palestinian Mandela'

Some scoffed when Donald Trump thought to tap Tony Blair’s decades of involvement in the Middle East for his future plans in Gaza. Perhaps they were right to. But not to worry: the global search for strategic wisdom has now been resolved. The path to peace lies not through seasoned statesmen or regional experts, but through the collective judgment of Delia Smith, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, and naturally, Gary Lineker. They are joined by Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Simon Pegg and a list of figures known for their contributions to film, fiction, and light entertainment: people with no background or expertise in jihadist Islamic terror movements, counter-extremism, Middle Eastern politics,

Steerpike

Reform double Tory donations

‘Anything you can do, I can do better.’ Throughout 2025, both Reform and the Conservatives have slugged it out, trading blows and scrapping for every inch of territory. With the future of the right at stake, neither party wants to be seen as losing political momentum ahead of 2029. Reform has comfortably led in the polls since April – but one boast that the Tories have always had is that they are significantly better at fundraising. No longer it seems… The latest figures from the Electoral Commission are out covering the third quarter of 2025. They show that Reform bagged £10.3 million in donations in just three months – though that

Sam Olsen

Putin is warning Britain – but we're not listening

When Vladimir Putin declared this week that Russia was ‘ready’ to fight a war in Europe, the remark barely seems to have rippled the surface of Britain’s political consciousness. It should have sent a shockwave. The US delegation that had flown to Moscow in the hope of reviving a peace plan left empty-handed. Putin’s message was not bluster but a statement of intent: Russia is preparing for possible escalation now. Yet Britain continues to behave as though danger is tidily scheduled for years in the future, safely beyond the horizon of any present responsibility. It is a comforting delusion, but a very dangerous one. Britain cannot lead Europe if it

Toby Young

Juries are defenders of free speech

On Tuesday, David Lammy announced in parliament that a bill would be included in the next King’s Speech restricting the right to trial by jury in England and Wales to those accused of serious crimes, such as murder, rape and manslaughter. Lesser crimes, he said, would be dealt with either by magistrates or by a new tier of jury-less courts. The point of the reforms is to address the delays and backlogs in the courts, with the Justice Secretary pointing out that the Crown Courts are facing a backlog of 80,000 cases. I’m opposed to this, obviously, because jury trials have been a bulwark of English liberty for 800 years.

Douglas Murray

Where was my invitation to Your Party?

For perhaps the first time in my life I have experienced ‘fomo’ – fear of missing out. It is strange to feel this teenage sentiment now I am safely in my forties, and even odder that it should occur in relation to a party political conference in Liverpool. Yet as I sat watching videos from Your Party’s first conference this week, there was no way to avoid the feeling that I had missed out on something big – a feeling only intensified by the likelihood that Your Party’s first conference will also be its last. It isn’t often in political life that people actually announce that they are mad It

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: ‘Misleading’ Reeves, trial without jury and Great Yarmouth First

Home What Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told voters about the economy in a special press conference on 4 November was at odds with what the Office for Budget Responsibility had told her, Richard Hughes, its chairman, explained in a letter to the Commons Treasury Committee. Asked directly by Trevor Phillips on Sky if she had lied, Ms Reeves replied: ‘No, of course I didn’t.’ Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: ‘There’s no misleading there.’ Chris Mason, the BBC political editor, concluded: ‘On one specific element of what the Chancellor and the Treasury told us before the Budget, we were misled.’ Mr Hughes then resigned as the

The Spectator

Labour’s dereliction of duty over defence

Last week, our political editor, Tim Shipman, revealed a recent meeting between Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and the three heads of the services to discuss the defence investment plan. This plan governs the day-to-day armed forces’ budgets and follows the recent Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which sets our military aims as a nation. The chiefs agreed to write an unprecedented letter to John Healey, the Defence Secretary, explaining that the SDSR couldn’t be delivered without the requisite funding. That money was not forthcoming in the Budget, so they are forced to contemplate a bleak alternative: immediate cuts to both our