James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
From our UK edition
During the dying days of Rishi Sunak’s regime, Labour politicians liked to encourage the idea that a change of government would improve industrial relations. Surely, their argument went, a party of labour is better placed to understand, negotiate and resolve questions of labour? But 18 months on, that notion is being tested to breaking point.
From our UK edition
16 min listen
As the world reacts to the attacks on Bondi Beach in Australia, Conservative peer Paul Goodman joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss the failure of successive British governments to properly tackle extremism – especially Islamist extremism – over the past two decades. In the post ‘War On Terror’ era, there was a reluctance
From our UK edition
Today’s liaison committee meeting was not one for the history books. It was a fairly lacklustre affair, with some of the questions asked being so technical that they bordered on the soporific. The likes of Helen Hayes and Bill Esterson sounded more like attendees at a conference panel than the respective chairs of the Education
From our UK edition
13 min listen
It’s nearly Christmas, but there is still lots of excitement to be had in Westminster, including Keir Starmer’s trip to the Liaison Committee. This is where the Prime Minister sits in front of senior MPs and is grilled on various policy areas. Today’s topics included the leaks (Wes Streeting and the OBR) and Keir Starmer’s
From our UK edition
45 min listen
On this week’s special Christmas edition of Spectator Out Loud – part one: James Heale wonders if Keir Starmer will really have a happy new year; Gyles Brandreth discusses Her Majesty The Queen’s love of reading, and reveals which books Her Majesty has personally recommended to give this Christmas; Avi Loeb explains why a comet could be a spaceship;
From our UK edition
13 min listen
The British economy is shrinking. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that GDP fell by 0.1 per cent in the three months to October. The contraction came after growth of 0.1 per cent in the three months to September. On a monthly basis, the economy shrank by 0.1 per cent
From our UK edition
40 min listen
The Spectator’s bumper Christmas issue is a feast for all, with offerings from Nigel Farage, Matthew McConaughey and Andrew Strauss to Dominic Sandbrook, David Deutsch and Bonnie Blue – and even from Her Majesty The Queen. To take us through the Christmas Edition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by deputy political editor James Heale, associate editor Damian
From our UK edition
25 min listen
How does Reform go from political insurgents to a government in waiting? Political editor Tim Shipman gives an insight into his interview with Nigel Farage, which you can read in The Spectator’s Christmas edition. In the background at party headquarters, discussions are under way to work out how Reform would bring sweeping changes to the
From our UK edition
Keir Starmer will start the new year as he means to go on: by attempting to convince his troops that he is still the best man to lead them. The Prime Minister will begin 2026 by hosting Labour MPs at Chequers. The motive behind the outreach is simple. ‘The only question that matters this year,’
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Kemi Badenoch’s good form continues at Prime Minister’s Questions. The Tory leader was once more visibly enjoying herself today as she feasted on Labour misfortune, and she did a good job in covering the breadth of problems in the government. She used her six questions to ask about different departments and how they were faring:
From our UK edition
What will European politics look like in 2029? Nigel Farage is hoping that it resembles something like the pictures he posed for in London today, shaking hands and flashing smiles with Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s National Rally (RN). Both men are part of a pan-continental trend of radical parties challenging their established rivals
From our UK edition
13 min listen
This week Keir Starmer hosted the French President and the German Chancellor in Downing Street as the E3 moved closer to a landmark agreement: seizing around €100 billion in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort. It’s a dramatic shift that has soothed some fears in Kyiv – but it has also reopened long-running
From our UK edition
If you speak to Labour MPs about looming battles in the new year, most are quick to mention the elections in May. But an almighty scrap is shaping up beforehand over David Lammy’s bid to strip back jury trials. There is deep unease about the Justice Secretary’s plan, with dozens of MPs expected to publicly
From our UK edition
12 min listen
This morning Kemi Badenoch has staged a presser setting out the terms for a new (alternative) national grooming gangs inquiry – a move that has reopened wounds for many survivors and intensified criticism of Labour’s handling of the existing process. What will this mean for the government, for survivors, and for the political fight ahead?
From our UK edition
Malcolm Offord has today quit Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives to join Reform UK. The peer was unveiled at a press conference today in Falkirk, as Nigel Farage’s party ramp up their campaigning ahead of the Holyrood elections next year. Offord, a former minister, becomes the second sitting frontbencher to quit the Conservatives in recent months, following
From our UK edition
25 min listen
This weekend’s Coffee House Shots digs into the growing debate over whether Keir Starmer should tack left on the economy as voters peel away to the Greens and Lib Dems – and why some in Labour think its migration stance is now more popular with their own voters than ever. Are Labour tacking left? But
From our UK edition
16 min listen
There has been a flurry of UK-European activity across Britain this week, with the German state visit in London, the Norwegian Prime Minister signing a defence agreement in Scotland and the British-Irish council meeting in Wales today. Perhaps then it’s inevitable that speculation over closer ties between the UK and the EU has re-emerged. Could
From our UK edition
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
From our UK edition
For more than a decade, Westminster has been obsessing about whether Nigel Farage will do a deal with the Tories. First, it was Ukip in 2015; then the Brexit party in 2019. Now, the question is whether some kind of pact should be struck by 2029. This age-old debate has been reopened today. First, the Financial
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Today we’re going to be talking about David Lammy, and his brand new plans to drastically reduce the number of jury trials in the UK in an attempt to address the backlog. With the backlog of cases due to be heard in courts already at 78,000, and heading for 100,000, the Justice Secretary believes that
