James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
10 min listen
Keir Stamer took centre stage for his speech at the Labour party conference today. Unlike last year, there were several standing ovations and loud cheers from the audience. Was his speech one to remember in Labour’s history? And has he secured his position as the man to lead Labour back into government? James Heale speaks
13 min listen
It’s day two of Labour Conference and the party appear upbeat and confident of their chances at the next election. But are they being too reactionary in their narrative? What do they have to offer other than not being the Conservative party?From Liverpool, James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
‘Loyalty’ remarked Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe is ‘the Tory party’s secret weapon.’ The near constant blue-on-blue attacks of the last six years have made a mockery of this aphorism. But Liz Truss’s first cabinet has demonstrated the importance which she places on loyalty when it comes to selecting her top team. Some 31 names are now
16 min listen
Boris Johnson has released legal advice that he received from Lord Pannick about the Commons investigation into partygate, where the lawyer said the investigation in its current form would be ‘unlawful’ if it were taking place in the courts. Can Boris really get off the hook? Max Jeffery speaks to James Forsyth and James Heale.
A glittering TV career, an MBE, various honorary degrees, tens of thousands of TikTok followers and the only person to win the (now cancelled) Rear of the Year award multiple times. There are many accolades that Carol Vorderman has been afforded during her 40-year career, yet few mean more to her than her claim to
It was the endorsement that they were all after. Ben Wallace, the most popular member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet has finally named his preferred candidate to be Britain’s next Prime Minister: Liz Truss. The current Defence Secretary, who has won plaudits for his handling of the Ukraine crisis, has given an interview to the Sun
From our US edition
One loves Silicon Valley, the other is a reformed Remainer. Who will win?
Ahead of tonight’s Channel 4 debate, the five remaining Tory leadership candidates appeared on Zoom for the first public hustings, hosted by the ConservativeHome website. But none really secured a knockout blow, owing in part to the format of the debate – and the reluctance of each to launch into out and out attacks. Instead,
There were three leadership launches in Westminster this morning. Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner, spoke at the QEII Centre; Kemi Badenoch, the rising star, pitched to Policy Exchange. But what of Tom Tugendhat, the longtime backbencher, kicking off his campaign at the BBC’s Westminster studios? How best to describe his place in the Tory leadership race?
The big winner from yesterday’s drama was Nadhim Zahawi. Just ten months ago he was a junior minister: now he holds the second most powerful position in government. The newly-appointed Chancellor has today done his first round of interviews, appearing across a range of outlets to outline his plans for the Treasury. As Kate Andrews
41 min listen
In this week’s episode:Can Russia turn off Germany’s gas?Wolfgang Münchau and Katja Hoyer discuss Germany’s looming energy crisis (0.51).Also this week:What are relations like between Boris Johnson and Prince Charles? The Spectator’s diary editor, James Heale joins Camilla Tominey from the Telegraph talk about the growing tensions between the Prime Minister and future King (19.56).And
Boris Johnson is the kind of prime minister who believes that rules are there to be broken. This certainly seems to apply to his relations with the Crown. Conversation between the government and the monarchy is, by convention, kept strictly confidential. But when Prince Charles privately described the government’s Rwanda deportation policy as ‘appalling’ within
Boris Johnson has left the country – but that hasn’t stopped him from annoying his backbenchers. The Prime Minister is visiting Ukraine today to meet with President Zelensky. He’s announced that the UK will expand its training capacity for Ukrainian forces to process up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days. That ought to be a
16 min listen
On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Katy Balls on Boris Johnson’s plans to divide and conquer (0.33).After that, James Heale on the broadcast battle obsessing British media (6.20).And to finish, Melissa Kite on the politics of horse muck (11.16).Produced by Natasha FerozeEntries for this year’s Innovator Awards, sponsored by Investec, are now open. To
It’s hard to step outside nowadays without being confronted with a massive picture of Piers Morgan. In the adverts for his new TalkTV show he can be seen crushing the House of Commons in his hands or pointing to an address for the channel’s complaints department. ‘Love him or hate him,’ the adverts declare, ‘you
A Conservative MP has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault offences. According to the Sun, which broke the story today, the unnamed male Tory currently remains in custody, after being arrested for alleged sexual offences committed between 2002 and 2009 in London. Police first received a report of the allegations in January 2020 and have
24 min listen
On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Melissa Kite on the ambitions of Ben Wallace. (00:48) After, Mary Wakefield on our misplaced faith in forensics. (09:35) And, to finish, and James Heale on Eton’s great ‘awokening’. (16:33) Produced and Presented by Sam Holmes Entries for this year’s Innovator Awards, sponsored by Investec, are now open.
40 min listen
In this week’s episode: Is Boris Johnson planning to tear up Britain’s deal with the EU? James Forsyth says in his Spectator cover story this week that Boris Johnson plans to reignite the Brexit voter base by taking on the EU again over Northern Ireland. He joins the podcast along with Denis Staunton, the London
Speak to Tory ministers of a certain background and the question of succession soon arises. But the position they’re talking about is in Windsor, not Westminster – and it has nothing to do with skipping a generation of the monarchy. Pretty soon there will be a new Provost of Eton and, thanks to a quirk
It’s polling day across the United Kingdom. Elections are being held for all London borough councils and every local authority in Wales and Scotland. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2018 and in Scotland and Wales in 2017. Elsewhere in Northern Ireland, there are assembly elections, with Sinn Féin poised to become the largest