Madeline Grant is The Spectator’s assistant editor and parliamentary sketch writer.
David Lammy’s last appearance at PMQs resembled a multi clown-car pile-up: both tragic and hilarious. Indeed, it was such a disaster that one wondered whether Lammy would ever be allowed near PMQs again. However, Sir Keir’s obvious contempt for being in the country even a second longer than he has to had got the better of
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This week: Michael and Maddie ask whether Keir Starmer’s grip on the Labour party is beginning to slip. After the party machine moved to block Andy Burnham from returning to Westminster, is Starmer governing from a position of strength – or fear? Does the decision expose a deeper crisis of authority at the top of
A doe-eyed Andy Burnham has appeared looking sad across media outlets, hurt that he has been politically outmanoeuvred by Sir Keir Starmer. Burnham has positioned himself both as the wronged victim of Starmer’s Stalinist instincts and the only hope for a foundering party to find its popularity again. A cross between Bonnie Prince Charlie and
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On this week’s Q&A: Michael and Maddie ask the question dividing the British right: is Britain really broken? As ‘Broken Britain’ rhetoric surges on the right, they debate whether it clarifies the country’s problems or corrodes national confidence. Should we trust those who stand to benefit from a declinist narrative? And is Nigel Farage too
One of the least successful operas in history received a revival at Westminster this week. ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’ – the woman without a shadow – tells of betrayal, moral weakness and a mad emperor, all taking place around a group of southern islands, and was not a hit for Richard Strauss. Its revival at
It seems counter-intuitive to say that the House of Lords is more representative than the House of Commons. Yet in the extended reading of the assisted suicide bill, it is clear the Upper House is surprisingly reflective of the reality of the nation. Nominally, the bill is being piloted by Lord Falconer, the formerly cuddly
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This week: Michael and Maddie ask whether the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States has finally reached breaking point. As Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland and his reversal on the Chagos Islands unsettle allies, has the British right begun to turn decisively against him? Was the special relationship ever more than a
This government has many faults, but one really cannot fault them on their comic timing. On the very day when the Americans withdrew support for the Chagos ‘deal’, partly on the grounds that it showed weakness in the face of China, the government also gave approval to a massive new Chinese embassy complete with access
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This week: Michael and Maddie examine the rise of the Green party and ask whether it represents a passing protest vote or a genuine realignment on the British left. As Labour’s support continues to leak away and figures once loyal to Jeremy Corbyn drift towards the Greens, are Keir Starmer’s U-turns finally catching up with
Westminster has its faults, but if you’re looking for a good old-fashioned day of mistakes, backbiting, and last-minute drama, there really is nowhere like it. Today it was there in spades: Titus Andronicus by the cast of Rainbow. The Jenrick sacking had everything – apparent incompetence by a junior aide, wild conspiratorial accusations and a
Robert Jenrick arrived late to his own defection. ‘It’s time for the truth,’ he said, before launching into a speech that he would have no doubt preferred to deliver at a more opportune moment. In Nigel Farage’s opening remarks, which he had to pad out as Jenrick failed to arrive at the lectern, he implied
Another week, another U-turn! This time the PM had chosen to make Prime Minister’s Questions even more torturous for himself by beating an ignominious retreat on the issue of compulsory digital ID. The climb-down was inevitable. The government has totalitarian aspirations that would make Brezhnev blush, but is sadly fated to be run by people
For someone who likes to present the general public with the idea that he doesn’t have a personality, Sir Keir ‘I don’t dream’ Starmer has actually provided plenty of insight into who he really is. From his occasional flashes of fury when thwarted in the Commons to his chronic lack of authenticity when out bothering
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This week on Quite right!, Michael and Maddie examine Nadhim Zahawi’s dramatic defection to Reform UK and ask whether it strengthens the party’s insurgent credentials or exposes a deeper strategic mistake. Is Reform becoming a genuine outsider movement, or simply a refuge for disaffected Tories? And what does the pattern of Boris-era defections reveal about
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This week: Michael and Maddie look ahead to a turbulent political year, asking who will rise, who will fall – and whether Keir Starmer can survive the mounting unrest within his own parliamentary party. With Labour backbenchers showing an increasing willingness to defy the leadership, is a full-blown rebellion inevitable? They also discuss the government’s
‘New year, new you’. One can imagine the Prime Minister repeating this most hollow of secular mantras in front of a full length mirror in Downing Street. As the embodiment of vapid and valueless 21st century Britain, the PM probably loves New Year’s resolutions. He is the walking embodiment of Dry January after all. Yet,
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This week: Michael and Maddie dissect Donald Trump’s audacious raid on Venezuela and ask what it reveals about power, national interest and the unravelling of the rules-based order. Was America acting like a rogue state – or simply doing what states do when their interests are at stake? And could Britain learn a thing or
You may recall the cancellation of the Maccabi Tel Aviv-Aston Villa game back in November. What has happened since is that, due to constant scrutiny by Nick Timothy MP, Lord Austin and a small number of journalists, the narrative that West Midlands police spun at the time – that the Israeli fans were too dangerous
I’ve just come back from a short holiday in Venice. The city is an unsurpassable monument to the glories of the Renaissance, but its streets and waterways also bear witness to the absolute non-existence of ‘international rules’. When confronted by Bonaparte’s expansionist aims in 1797, the millennium-old Venetian republic responded as it had always done,
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This is the second of a two-part discussion with Dominic Cummings, in which he reflects on his time in government – what he got right and what he regrets – and what he believes must change for the country to thrive. In part two, Dominic diagnoses the ‘pre-revolutionary’ mood of British politics, marked by voter
