Cindy Yu is a Times columnist, and formerly both an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast.
From our UK edition
In early results on Sunday evening, the Brexit Party’s dominance in the North East of England, the first region to be counted, could be a sign of things to come. Taking 39 per cent of the vote share, Nigel Farage’s party has secured two MEPs out of the three available in the region, with Labour taking
From our UK edition
Labour’s constructive ambiguity on Brexit has served it well since the 2017 election. But as the country votes in European elections this week, has the party miscalculated in being too ambiguous? Nick Cohen writes in this week’s cover article that Labour should have positioned itself as the party of Remain, and now it faces being
From our UK edition
After a tumultuous premiership, Theresa May has finally announced her resignation. She will step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7. Here is how Tory MPs have been reacting: Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, seen as a Brexiteer favourite, tweeted: Dignified as ever, @theresa_may showed her integrity. She remains a dedicated public
From our UK edition
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Is that man Boris? And if it is, what still stands in his way? In this week’s cover article, James Forsyth writes that Boris is the only one who can save the Tories from Jeremy Corbyn and, more pressingly, Nigel Farage (he’s backed up by the latest polling from
From our UK edition
Can playing brain-training games slow, or even reverse, the brain’s ageing? In this week’s Spectator, Camilla Cavendish suggests that we are far too fatalistic about getting old. She argues that new research suggests it may be possible for our brains to keep developing well into our later years. Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist and contributor
From our UK edition
As the two main parties reel from their local election performances today, are we at the beginning of a golden age for smaller parties? James Forsyth evaluates the chances of the Brexit party – Nigel Farage’s new electoral outfit – in this week’s cover piece. The conclusion isn’t pretty for the Conservative party: the Brexit
From our UK edition
Seven years ago, The Spectator began podcasting. Why? For fun, really. Our writers were always being invited to comment on national broadcast shows, and so we thought, why not create our own? Podcasts gave us a chance to give our own writers their platform – if you don’t know what podcasts are, think radio programmes
From our UK edition
This week, Theresa May finally promised to leave – but only after her Brexit deal passes. Anticipation of her departure has already triggered a leadership race within the Conservative party – who will take after her, and what does Brexit and the country look like after May leaves? On the podcast, Katy Balls talks to
From our UK edition
Last night, the EU27 unanimously rejected Theresa May’s request for a June Brexit extension and told her 22 May at the latest – or 12 April if she couldn’t pass her deal). This pushes the cliff edge back by just a little, and makes nothing easier for her. If her deal doesn’t pass, she would
From our UK edition
In Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory, several clocks are melting away in a surreal desert scene where a distorted horse-like creature fades into the sand, below a ledge where a pocket watch crawls with ants. The bizarre painting is rather reminds one of the surrealism of the Brexit process, especially after this week. The government has
From our UK edition
When did corporate giants like KPMG, Proctor and Gamble, and Accenture become extensions of the campus safe space culture? Rainbow lanyards inspired by the LGBT Pride flag, email sign-offs to say that you are an ‘ally’ of minorities, and so-called unconscious bias training – these are just some of the things that corporations are encouraging
From our UK edition
Shanghai ‘How old are you, young lady?’ A small, curious crowd starts to surround me. ‘How tall are you? What do you work as?’ The parents camping out in Shanghai’s infamous marriage market have no time for small talk. They come here every weekend, rain or shine, seeking a partner for their grown-up son or
From our UK edition
As The Spectator‘s podcast editor, I’m all for spending more money on podcasts. There are now six million adults in the UK who listen to podcasts, every week. If growth continues on that path, podcast listenership will be on par with total Radio 4 listenership in just another five years. With a trajectory like this,
From our UK edition
It was Harold Wilson who said that a week is a long time in politics. How true that is for the times we are living in now. This time last week, The Spectator spoke to Gavin Shuker MP, the ringleader of the newly-formed Independent Group, about the plotting that happened behind the scenes and the ambitions
From our UK edition
This week has been a relief from the usual Brexit conversations. The long talked about rumours of a centrist party have finally materialised, as eight Labour MPs and three Tory MPs defected from their former loyalties. Already, polls are in claiming that the Independent Group is more popular than the Lib Dems. But just how promising
From our UK edition
To split or not to split? Moderates in the Labour party have long agonised over the party’s hard left direction. But this week, things are coming to a head. The anti-Semitism sore has flared up again – Stephen Bush tells us on the podcast that the witch hunt against Luciana Berger has shocked many moderates
From our UK edition
What do you do when a vegan friend comes over for dinner? Panic first, probably. After all, how can you make a meal out of lettuce and carrots? But these days of stress are numbered. Perhaps you’ve already noticed – more and more people are becoming vegan or vegetarian. Supermarket shelves and even the pasty
From our UK edition
The Huawei row is now a full-blown diplomatic incident between China and Canada. Two months ago, on the very same evening that presidents Trump and Xi met to agree a temporary ceasefire in their trade war, Canadian authorities arrested the queen of the Chinese tech world, to be extradited to the US. Meng is the
From our UK edition
Over the next couple of weeks, parliament gears up for another meaningful vote. But can Theresa May win around enough MPs – 116 – to pass the Withdrawal Agreement the second time around? To do so, she may well have to soften her Brexit vision into something that looks more like Norway. But if that’s
From our UK edition
When The Spectator brought together Conservative Party MPs and think tank wonks at Conservative Party Conference earlier this year, kindly sponsored by Barclays, the discussion over how to stimulate regional growth had one key conclusion. The old divide of North vs. South is now over; with the success stories of regional cities like Leeds and
