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Although elder siblings are often claimed to be natural leaders and second children natural rebels, none of the last seven prime ministers have been eldest siblings. Although elder siblings are often claimed to be natural leaders and second children natural rebels, none of the last seven prime ministers have been eldest siblings. —David
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Family politics Although elder siblings are often claimed to be natural leaders and second children natural rebels, none of the last seven prime ministers have been eldest siblings. Family politics Although elder siblings are often claimed to be natural leaders and second children natural rebels, none of the last seven prime ministers have been eldest
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Who knows who in the world of Westminster Click to see this feature
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Here is a selection of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson groans as David Cameron resuscitates the Big Society, and urges George Osborne to go even further on middle class benefits. James Forsyth denies that the Tories have committed their ‘10p tax mistake’, and awaits the end of universal benefit.
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Here are the results in full: Cooper 232 Healey 192 Balls 179 Burnham 165 Angela Eagle 165 Johnson 163 Alexander 160 Murphy 160 Jowell 152 Flint 139 Denham 129 Benn 128 Khan 128 Creagh 119 McKechin 117 Maria Eagle 107 Hillier 106 Lewis 104 Byrne 100
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Here is a selection of the blogosphere’s reaction to Cameron’s speech. Fraser Nelson notes that Cameron has resuscitated the Big Society. James Forsyth urges Cameron to concentrate on people power. Peter Hoskin ponders a peculiar speech from the Prime Minister. David Blackburn wonders what to make of Cameron’s disavowal of laissez-faire. Alex Massie asks if
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Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
From our UK edition
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson says Cameron will seek to de-Toryfy the Tory conference, and praises the coalition’s welfare reform. James Forsyth wonders how many Lib Dems are to the right of their Tory colleagues, and speculates that Ken Clarke is in the firing line. Peter
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Among the quango; Labour leadership; Power source; Gay population Among the quangos The government is to axe 177 quangos. Here are some of the most obscure, and their stated purposes: Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committees 16 regional bodies which hear disputes over tied housing on farms Commission for the Compact Aids partnership between the government
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Spectator readers respond to recent articles Darwinian faith Sir: I am always amazed at how little Darwin’s devotees seem to know about his theory of how evolution came about. In addressing the familiar riddle of why the fossil record does not show ‘intermediate forms’ between one species and another, Mr Lewin (Letters, 25 September) caustically claims that
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Liam Fox has certainly given the Tories something to talk about as they gather for the party conference this weekend. Liam Fox has certainly given the Tories something to talk about as they gather for the party conference this weekend. Everything that he wrote in his leaked letter to David Cameron is true: the Conservatives
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The Spectator’s portrait of the week Home Ed Miliband, aged 40, was elected leader of the Labour party by 50.65 per cent of the vote, to 49.35 per cent for his brother David, aged 45. Ed Miliband had gained 15.522 per cent from MPs, 15.198 from party members — both lower figures than his brother,
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The Spectator on Emma Thompson and contemporary English Was Emma Thompson right to berate a group of schoolgirls this week for saying ‘like’ and ‘innit’? Many Spectator readers would, we imagine, have cheered her on. It is annoying the way today’s teenagers pepper their speech with ‘like’ and put ‘innit?’ at the end of each
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Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson sees the penny drop at the Labour conference, and is sure that Liam Fox did not leak that infamous letter. James Forsyth watches Ed Miliband produce the bare minimum, and notes that the IMF has upset Labour’s plans. Peter Hoskin
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It is 25 years since The Spectator first began to recognise our better politicians with the annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. The inaugural winner of our main prize, the Parliamentarian of the Year award itself, was David Owen. Since then, the roll call of victors has grown to include John Smith, Nigel Lawson, Robin
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Here is a selection of the blogosphere’s reaction to Ed Miliband’s speech. James Forsyth thinks Miliband did what he had to do. Peter Hoskin watches a Janus act from the Leader of the Opposition. David Blackburn sees Red Ed turn into a social conservative. Mary Riddell thinks that Ed’s speech has frozen out David. Tim
From our UK edition
Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
From our UK edition
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend Fraser Nelson asks if Ed Miliband will face facts. James Forsyth praises the dignity of David Miliband, and urges the right not to underestimate Ed Miliband. Peter Hoskin examines the Whelan factor, and observes the start of the Ed Miliband de-toxification process. David
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India has given a good impression of a country that views the Commonwealth as an embarrassment. It should be an honour to host the commonwealth Games. We hoped that India would use the event to show the world that it is not just an emerging superpower with nuclear weapons and a space programme, but a
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Party conferences • Public-sector pay • Who we blame for the deficit • British mammals Party conferences When the Liberal party and SDP merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats, diehards of both parties went on alone. — Not even David Owen’s attempt finally to wind up the SDP in 1990 prevented some carrying