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.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Boris’s anger over new partygate picture

The takeaway moment from today's PMQs came not in the main exchanges between Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer but later in the session. Labour MP Fabian Hamilton asked about a just-published photo of the Prime Minister with an open bottle of prosecco alongside staff wearing tinsel at a Downing Street Christmas quiz. At the time, social gatherings were banned under lockdown restrictions. One of the many holding lines of days past about this particular event was that it couldn't be a party because there was no alcohol. This changed that. Hamilton demanded that Johnson refer the party — which is not currently the subject of a police investigation — to the Metropolitan Police. Johnson told him that he was 'completely in error'.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

What to make of the mini reshuffle?

15 min listen

A mini reshuffle has happened, but this time nobody has been fired. Is this a sign of Boris Johnson being strategic? Or is it more an advertisement of the little room he has to manoeuvre?Also on the podcast, James and Isabel discuss the NHS backlog. Today the Health Secretary was forced to admit to MPs that the NHS waiting list in England, which already stands at a record 6 million, will keep on growing for another two years.What are the holes in his new plan? All to be discussed as Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth.

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson is running out of options

The No. 10 operation’s decision to double down on the Starmer/Savile row after the Labour leader was accosted in the street by anti-vaxxers shows us how limited the options are for Boris Johnson as he tries to recover from the turmoil of the past few weeks. The line from his allies and aides is that these protesters were shouting all manner of things, including about Savile but also about Julian Assange. In other words, they were wrong’uns before Johnson offered the slur in the Commons last week, and they would have threatened the Labour leader regardless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPl2intEdpk This may or may not be true but as a line of argument it hardly gives Boris Johnson a statesmanlike demeanour.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

Boris’s new No. 10 team can’t save him from himself

Boris Johnson's new No. 10 hires have given him a chance to catch his breath, very briefly, from the turmoil of the past week. But it's worth noting that the plot has always thickened as a result of something the Prime Minister himself has done, rather than the mistakes or otherwise of his team.  Guto Harri, Andrew Griffith and Steve Barclay now have the unenviable and – many Conservative MPs think – impossible task of encouraging the party to feel more forgiving towards the Prime Minister whenever he next makes a mistake. They cannot, though, stop him from making mistakes, and this is why he is still in a great deal of trouble.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Boris is finished — it’s when, not if

This week, Michael Gove's lengthy Levelling Up white paper talked about the ancient city of Jericho. This was largely because of its size and natural irrigation, but perhaps the Biblical story of the city's walls falling might be more fitting given the state of Downing Street. The response in the Conservative party to not one but four senior resignations — for unconnected reasons — is pretty fatalistic. Martin Reynolds and Dan Rosenfield were doomed because of the former’s ‘BYOB’ email and the latter’s unpopularity with Tory MPs. But the Munira Mirza case is stranger: senior staff don't tend to quit. Ministers like to resign in a blaze of glory, but even in the dying days of an administration people tend to want to go down with the ship.

Isabel Hardman

Is Rishi on manoeuvres?

Boris Johnson's day has just got considerably worse after Rishi Sunak distanced himself from the Prime Minister in a Downing Street press conference. The Chancellor pitched himself as the person focusing on the things voters actually worry about — unlike his boss. Sunak's press briefing was on the cost of living crisis and specifically what the government was doing to help families with their energy bills, but naturally he was asked about the resignation of Munira Mirza (broken exclusively by James here) and the Savile smear that sparked it. Sunak was blunt. 'With regard to the comments, being honest, I wouldn't have said it and I'm glad that the Prime Minister clarified what he meant.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Was the levelling up white paper worth the wait?

15 min listen

While Westminster politicians and journalists alike continue to predict exactly how many letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson have been officially filed. Michael Gove's levelling up white paper has finally arrived. A bizarre document that references many ancient cites and how they 'levelled up', but does it propose any tangible solutions on how to achieve its goal in present-day Britain?Isabel Hardman is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls to dissect the document.

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Boris doubles down on Jimmy Savile claims

Today's PMQs suggests that some of the immediate heat has gone the partygate crisis, if only temporarily. Sir Keir Starmer did not make all his questions about parties, instead widening out his attacks to Conservative tax policy. The faces of most of his backbenchers froze as he doubled down, saying that Starmer had apologised for what the CPS had done Starmer did though open by complaining about the behaviour of the Prime Minister in Monday's statement on the Gray report, saying that the leader of the party of Winston Churchill was now repeating the conspiracies of 'violent fascists to try and score cheap political points'.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Have Tory MPs forgiven Boris?

13 min listen

While Boris Johnson's performance in the Common's yesterday was seen broadly as tone deaf – thanks to comments about Jimmy Savile and drug-taking on the Labour front bench – he was given a chance to redeem himself at a private meeting with his party yesterday evening.  'One of my favourite questions was when one 2019 MP asked if they could reschedule the Parliamentary away day. This received a number of groans from politicians.' – Katy Balls.  Today, the Prime Minister leaves the Westminster drama behind him as he embarks on a diplomatic trip to Ukraine.  Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about the mood in the Tory party.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

What does the Gray report mean for Boris?

14 min listen

The long anticipated Sue Gray report was finally published today albeit lacking significant chucks of detail. Following the report, Boris Johnson made a statement in the Commons. Though he apologised at the beginning, his tone did not seem particularly apologetic, which clearly riled a number of MPs across party lines. 'The discomfort among the Tory benches today was striking'- James Forsyth.But what will be the aftermath of the debate? And can Boris Johnson still come back from this?Listen to the full discussion on Sue Gray's report as Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Isabel Hardman

Johnson’s defence deteriorates

That Boris Johnson regards the Gray update as an opportunity to come up for air was very clear from his statement on the report in the Commons. The Prime Minister's opening remarks struck what seemed to be a reasonable balance between apologising, offering some operational changes to No. 10 (to show he was taking the report's recommendations for 'learning' seriously) and trying to buoy up Tory MPs with a reminder of what his government was achieving. Brexit, freeports and the comparatively early end to Covid restrictions all came up. He might have been pleased with himself as he commended his statement to the House, but things went downhill after that. The first deterioration in the situation came as Sir Keir Starmer gave one of his best speeches in parliament to date.

Isabel Hardman

A Graywash? Downing Street party report is merely an ‘update’

Sue Gray’s report on the lockdown partying in Downing Street is short. Just 11 pages. Early on, it makes clear that the police are investigating all but four of them, which makes this an ‘update’. Gray avoids making a judgement on whether the gatherings were a breach of the regulations and guidance in place at the time because of the police inquiry. Instead, her conclusion is that ‘a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place’ and that the ‘significant learning’ that needs to take place across Government ‘does not need to wait for the police investigation to be concluded’.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Who authorised Pen Farthing’s animal rescue operation?

16 min listen

Whilst everyone waits for the Sue Gray report, all eyes turn to the next scandal: Pen Farthing's animal rescue operation out of Afghanistan. It has been revealed that Boris Johnson's parliamentary private secretary, Trudy Harrison contacted a jet hire company in an attempt to secure a plane to evacuate the pets. The PM has responded to these allegations saying they are 'total rhubarb' - but what does that mean?'You don’t seem to get the impression that Downing Street feels as if they are under pressure about this' - Katy BallsAlso on the podcast, is Boris Johnson planning a shake-up of his staff at No.10? And if so, who might go? Martin Reynolds? Dan Rosenfield?All to be discussed as Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

A rather pointless PMQs lets Boris off the hook

Given the extraordinarily low expectations, Prime Minister's Questions went reasonably well for Boris Johnson today. That is partly because it was a pointless session: everyone is waiting for the publication of the Sue Gray report, so most likely it will be forgotten very quickly and will make no difference to the main event (whenever that comes). Most likely it will be forgotten very quickly Johnson decided to make a forceful argument that he and the government were focused on more important things than cakes and parties. He lectured Keir Starmer for raising the matter at all when he was busy bringing the west together to threaten Russia with the toughest package of sanctions.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

What does the police probe mean for Boris?

16 min listen

The latest in the scandal of Downing Street parties points to the Prime Minister’s own birthday, where a gathering took place in the Cabinet Office. Whilst this has been played off by a Downing Street spokesperson as being on ‘the edges of a work event’. Cressida Dick announced this morning that events at No.10 during lockdown have now been deemed serious enough to deserve a police investigation. How long does this now go on for? It could make the May election results terrible for the Tories, prompting more MPs to write a letter of no confidence.'Someone close to Boris Johnson said to me that this idea to 'delay to Gray' is wrong.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

Cold water swimming

From our US edition

The woman on the path has come to a dead stop. She’d been shuffling along in that bunched-up posture we all developed when we bought smartphones, a two-fingered salute to the millennia of evolution that managed to pull humans into an upright position. Now she’s staring, open-mouthed, at her surroundings. I rather enjoy the shocked faces of passersby who catch sight of us swimmers at the Serpentine Pond in Hyde Park in our flimsy suits as we lower ourselves into the cold water each morning. I look still more shocking when I get out. My skin turns from its normal skimmed-milk color to bright neon, as though it has been slapped. And it has in a way: when you first enter water thats barely above freezing, you do get a shock.

swimmers

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Did Tory whips blackmail Red Wall MPs?

9 min listen

As the Prime Minister has a stay of execution after the pork pie plot came to nothing, today allegations are flying that Tory whips have been using unsavoury methods to threaten wavering MPs into line. Christian Wakeford, the newly defected Labour MP to Bury South, says that whips threatened to withdraw funding from a local school; while William Wragg claims that MPs have been blackmailed with information about their private lives. But how much of this is true, and how much, as some in SW1 are saying today, is this just a part of being a whip?

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Is Boris safe for now?

14 min listen

Last night rumours were flying around Westminster that letters of no confidence from Tory MPs were pouring in and Boris might be leaving sooner rather than later. But with the surprising crossing of the aisle by MP for Bury South, Christian Wakeford, it appears that old party tribalism may have stayed some hands. 'While a coup against a leader is one thing defecting is quite another.' - James ForsythKaty Balls talks with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about all of today's political drama, from Keir Starmer's 'very good' jokes to David Davis's public call for Johnson to 'in the name of God go!' Subscribe to The Spectator's Evening Blend email, from Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls, for analysis of the day's political news and a summary of the best pieces from our website. Go to spectator.

Isabel Hardman

The curious timing of Boris Johnson’s Covid announcement

You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist who mutters regularly about 'sheeple' to find the timing of Boris Johnson's latest Covid update rather suspicious. This afternoon, he followed his dramatic Prime Minister's Questions session with an announcement about the end of restrictions which had been introduced to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. They include an end to a number of measures, including compulsory mask-wearing in public places and guidance to work from home. The short-lived but controversial vaccine certification scheme has also been shelved.

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Johnson comes out fighting

Today's PMQs was as dramatic as you might expect. It began with the spectacle of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford being cheered as he crossed the floor to the Labour benches. Sir Keir Starmer was in a joyful mood, as you might also expect. What was striking was how energised Boris Johnson was in his responses. Johnson will have had a couple of minutes to prepare for a session about the shock defection of one of his own Red Wall MPs, and he clearly had decided that the best way to deal with this was to fight his way through the session rather than appearing sorrowful. He shouted across the chamber that Bury South had gone Conservative for the first time in a generation under his premiership and that it would return to the Tories at the next election too.