Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

Saturday

Isabel Hardman

Tory Wythenshawe response suggests inertia over blue collar vote

From our UK edition

The Conservatives were never going to win the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election. But the way the party has spun its third place is slightly depressing. The Times today quotes a party source saying: 'This is a safe Labour seat with the largest council estate in Europe. It's not on our marginal list.' Now, this is an understandably pragmatic way of viewing a by-election. It wasn't expected, as it was prompted by the tragic and untimely death of a respected Labour MP, Paul Goggins. So the Conservatives were not embedded in the constituency in the way that they were in Eastleigh, for instance. Labour moved the writ for a short by-election campaign, which also meant that Ukip didn't have as much time to make its case, particularly to postal voters, as it would have liked.

Friday

Isabel Hardman

MP tries to remove the poison from the food debate

From our UK edition

One of the more unpalatable news stories of the week was the survey by West Yorkshire councils that seemingly innocuous food was made up of all sorts of things that either weren't what they claimed to be, or weren't very much like food at all. It's another sign of the food problems that this country faces, on top of food banks and poor diet. Recently, though, the food debate has become as poisoned as vodka made from antifreeze, with politicians using food banks in particular as a political football to prove their own points, rather than bothering to examine the complex problems behind them. But one of the MPs who has spent some time thinking about food in 21st century Britain is now trying to encourage independent study of how to improve the food system in this country.

Isabel Hardman

Boris and ballots: what might happen to the Tory party in 2015

From our UK edition

What are Boris Johnson's real chances of becoming Tory leader? I examine the Mayor of London's standing with Conservative MPs in my Telegraph column today - and it is fascinating how polarised opinion is about the Mayor in the Tory party. His supporters insist he is the only hope for the Conservative party, while those who don't want him to lead really, really don't want him to lead and display a fair bit of personal hatred when talking about the Mayor. But the problem that those in the anti-Boris camp have is that they can't see who else from the current group of well-known leadership hopefuls would enjoy the same sort of cut-through. As for when he might come in, my sources among those who are actively promoting Boris in the Commons are adamant that this is about 'post-Dave'.

Isabel Hardman

Ukip beats Tories in Wythenshawe as Labour hold seat

From our UK edition

So Ukip did come second in the Wythenshawe by-election (and Labour won, of course). David Cameron says the 4,301 votes (17.95% of the vote and a 14.5% swing) that John Bickley won wasn't 'the sort of break through that people were talking about'. The Prime Minister, who saw his own party pushed into third place with 14.5% (3,479 votes), did also say that 'obviously messages are sent, and signals are sent and protests are made and governments should always listen to those things and I always do'. Now, the usual caveat that you can't extrapolate very much from a by-election in one constituency applies. But Ukip can reasonably claim that it is becoming the official opposition in the north when it comes to by-elections at least.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Theresa May turns to deaths in custody after stop-and-search row

From our UK edition

One of the risks for Theresa May in her battle with Number 10 over reform of stop-and-search powers is that the Home Secretary loses some of the capital she has built up with BME voters over the plans. Last summer, black newspaper The Voice ran an edition suggesting that Labour could be losing the black vote and specifically pinpointed May's work on stop-and-search as a sign that the Tories were starting to appeal to groups they'd previously alienated. But this week May is back in The Voice with an op-ed on deaths in custody. You can click on the image to view the article in full. It is significant, though, that the Home Secretary is unable to mention her work on stop-and-search reforms.

Isabel Hardman

Paul Nuttall interview: I don’t want to lead Ukip

From our UK edition

Ukip's autumn conference made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It was supposed to be a showcase of how grown up the party is these days, but it ended up being about Godfrey Bloom calling women 'sluts' and hitting a journalist. In the conference hall, Nigel Farage bounded onto the stage to a strange remix of 1990s dance music and his famous 'who are you' diatribe at Herman van Rompuy. But while Bloom stole the headlines and Farage delivered his usual routine, the most impressive performance of the day came from Paul Nuttall MEP, the party's deputy leader. Nuttall is quite a different Ukipper to his boss. He's a bald Liverpuddlian who sees his main mission as attracting Labour voters to the party.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Boris labels Vince Cable’s comments about London ‘cretinous’ – exclusive details

From our UK edition

Boris Johnson spoke to the 301 group of largely pro-Cameron Tory MPs last night. The meeting was open to all, but I hear that around 48 MPs turned up in the end. One MP present mutters that 'it wasn't a huge turnout. The all-party parliamentary beer group attracts more attendees'. Naturally, Boris was late. My sources tell me that Boris spoke about his achievements as London mayor, including the number of French citizens who have moved to london, crime statistics, air quality, Crossrail, driverless trains, jobs and affordable housing. But he also made the case for London as a powerhouse for the rest of the country, saying that 'what's good for London is good for the whole of the country'. He then called Vince Cable's comments about London being a drain on the rest of Britain 'cretinous'.

Isabel Hardman

Money turns out to be more of an object for floods than Cameron suggested

From our UK edition

This week is offering quite a lesson in how politicians answer difficult questions. Yesterday Philip Hammond said people like him didn't 'do' yes-no questions, and today Patrick McLoughlin, the latest victim of the floods rota that sees a new minister trying to make sense of the whole thing each day, showed us how you can say 'no' to a question but using many, many more words. Asked on the Today programme whether David Cameron's claim that 'money is no object' meant new money for transport infrastructure, McLoughlin said: I think what you’ve got to look at is what we’re spending anyway. We’re about to embark on a new five year plan for Network Rail where we will be spending £38bn on the railway infrastructure over the next five years.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron’s clear lines on flooding put essay crisis PM back on top

From our UK edition

We certainly didn't learn much new about David Cameron from his flooding press conference this afternoon. We already knew that his approach to crises is to let things get rather bad for a little while, and then, with his back against the wall, to perform well as a statesman taking control of a messy situation. He did that again today, with a clear line that 'money is no object' as a means of countering the Ukip line on diverting some of the aid budget to flood victims.

Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg: Rob Wilson is as good a wingman as Icarus was

From our UK edition

That Danny Alexander struggles with appearing to have gone native in the Treasury has been well known in Westminster for a long time. He gets on well with George Osborne on a personal level, and I reported in December that he'd been rebuked for accidentally using the Tory term 'global race'. Today Nick Clegg was asked about some rather amusing quotes by George Osborne's PPS Rob Wilson (who described himself as the Chancellor's 'wingman' in an event with party members last night) that the Deputy Prime Minister himself thinks that Alexander has gone native. The Huffington post has the full report here but here's the key quote: 'I think Nick Clegg complains quite often that Danny Alexander has gone native in the Treasury.

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron has set a precedent on smoking in cars with children

From our UK edition

What next after Luciana Berger's victory from the opposition benches on smoking in cars with children? Yesterday MPs were making all sorts of dire warnings in the House of Commons about what might happen next and supporters of the ban are dismissing them as trying to find a slippery slope when this is just a sensible public health issue. But a precedent has been set here of the Prime Minister initially saying he's 'nervous' about what passing laws on what people do in a private space, then being forced to fold when legislation is thrust upon him by a member of the opposition. He made last night's vote a free vote, and it passed. What if Berger or one of her colleagues decides to push for a ban on smoking in a house where children are present? Or indeed, when they aren't?

Isabel Hardman

Philip Hammond: Politicians don’t do yes-no questions

From our UK edition

In Westminster this morning, Cabinet ministers are looking nervously at their diaries. They're wondering whether they'll be the next to get the call asking them to try to smooth down the comms mess the government has made of the floods. Eric Pickles didn't make a great go of it this weekend. Philip Hammond has just managed to tell the Today programme that politicians don't 'do' yes-no questions in an attempt to avoid saying whether or not he backs Lord Smith (presumably because whatever he says, Number 10 will change its mind on the line a few minutes later). Perhaps tomorrow we'll have Francis Maude dodging questions on the Environment Agency by giving flooded homeowners tips on sandbags. And after that William Hague being vague.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

MPs back smoking ban – but Justice Secretary opposes ‘unenforceable’ law

From our UK edition

So is the ban on smoking in cars with children, backed by MPs this evening by 376 votes to 107 against, a good idea? As James observed earlier, it is fascinating to see how quickly opinions have shifted even in the past few weeks. The PA division lists have 100 Conservative MPs voting against, and only four Liberal Democrats opposing a ban that their own leader described as 'illiberal'. But it is worth reflecting that the Cabinet ministers who voted against it included Theresa May and Chris Grayling (the others were Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers). Grayling was voting reluctantly on the basis that the ban was unenforceable. Which given he's the Justice Secretary, doesn't inspire great confidence about the legislation, regardless of the principle.

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband tries to answer tricky hospital closure question

From our UK edition

There is one important line in Ed Miliband's Hugo Young lecture which shows the Labour leader is trying to come to terms with some of the difficult questions that he knows he must answer before 2015. Labour knows that it will have to close hospitals to improve services. But it also doesn't really want to say that, because it makes people angry. So tonight's speech, which you can read in full below, includes an announcement that Labour would not close hospitals without involving local people in the decision. Miliband said: 'I am not going to make promises I can’t keep particularly on this issue. No service can stand still.

Isabel Hardman

Government flooded with confusion on line to take on floods

From our UK edition

In the past few days it has become increasingly difficult to tell what the Number 10 strategy is for responding to the floods. As one Tory MP remarked to me earlier, 'there is a whiff of the Hurricane Katrina about Number 10's handling of the floods. It's the inconsistency of government comms and policy. First it was the Environment Agency's fault, then rain, then the EU, then EA again. The the Army were helping, then not, then were. Then Pickles arses it on Sunday and ministers start falling out!' Eric Pickles gave a sarcastic interview to the Mail on Sunday this weekend in which he said Chris Smith 'has to make his own decision' and 'I don't see myself becoming the advocate of the "Save Chris Smith" campaign or printing "Save The Environment Agency One" T-shirts'.

Isabel Hardman

The education big tent is collapsing

From our UK edition

The pegs are definitely coming out of Michael Gove's education big tent, although it's not just the Secretary of State who is pulling them out. Time was when Stephen Twigg could only make strangely consensual-yet-critical humming noises at the despatch box during departmental questions. Now Tristram Hunt is able to find sufficient difference between his education policies and Gove's to go on the attack at these sessions, and Gove can snap back about the quality - rather than complete absence - of Labour's education policy. At today's education questions, Hunt attacked on Ofsted: not just the row about Sir Michael Wilshaw, but on whether academies and free schools should be subject to the same level of inspection as local authority schools.

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband and the state

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband is delivering the Hugo Young lecture tonight, and will focus on 'people-powered public services'. All the briefing so far sets it out to be one of those 'intellectual underpinnings' speeches, rather than something that sets the world on fire (although Miliband does, to his credit, have a habit of pulling impressive speeches out of the bag when we're not expecting it, or boring us all to tears when we've been told to expect something major). The central premise of it is set out in his Guardian article (and for more background, do read Rafael Behr's piece on this): it's about people having more power over their lives. He writes: 'Indeed, it is about much more than the individual acting as a consumer.

Isabel Hardman

Lord Rennard sets out legal threat to Lib Dems

From our UK edition

Just when the Lib Dems thought the Lord Rennard row had calmed down, the peer announces that his lawyers have demanded that he be reinstated as a member by Thursday, or he will take legal action. His spokesman has confirmed that a 'pre-action protocol' has been sent to the party which notifies it that certain individuals will be sued if Rennard's suspension is not lifted. Contrary to some reports, neither party president Tim Farron nor any other individual is named in the letter: it is simply notifying the party that individuals responsible will be sued for costs as the Liberal Democrats cannot be sued as a party. It is highly unlikely that the suspension will be lifted, although the Lib Dems cannot comment as this is now a legal matter.

Isabel Hardman

Why politicians secretly love the Environment Agency

From our UK edition

'I've kept my counsel up to now,' said Chris Smith, loftily, when he appeared on the Today programme. Perhaps by the end of the interview, in which he managed to distance himself from previous policy pronouncements while defending his staff to the hilt, he wished he'd kept his counsel too. Those opening words suggested that the Environment Agency chief was about to unleash some terrible truth against the politicians taking aim at him, when in fact all he could tell listeners was that it was the Treasury's fault… sort of. 'I have to say I’ve kept my counsel up to now about issues like government rules about what the Environment Agency can spend and what it can't spend.

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

How does the Tory party solve its ‘women problem’?

From our UK edition

It's a week since Harriet Harman claimed it was 'raining men' in the Tory party, and yet the debate still rages about whether the Conservatives have a 'women problem'. Tory backbencher Tracey Crouch has written a forceful piece for the Mail on Sunday on why she felt Ed Miliband's intervention at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday was patronising. It's worth a read, not least because she tries to dispel the myth that women are being turned off Parliament just because it's rowdy: 'Some of the loudest and, in some cases, most effective hecklers in Parliament today are women MPs. Even the most unruly Labour men think twice before taking on Conservatives such as Anna Soubry and Claire Perry because they know they will be cut down to size by an even sharper and wittier putdown.