Tim Shipman is political editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
15 min listen
Robert Jenrick has sensationally defected to Reform. After a day that started with his sacking from the Conservatives – over plotting to reject – continued with the will-he-won’t-he drama of whether Farage would accept him as a new Reform member this afternoon; it ends with a press conference welcoming him to Farage’s gang. So what
From our UK edition
8 min listen
Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the Tory whip and suspended his party membership. In a video on X she claims, ‘I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible’. The Tories compiled a
From our UK edition
At a Christmas party I witnessed a showdown between two Labour movers and shakers, one a devoted Starmerite, the other an unrepentant Blairite, over whether the Prime Minister can turn things around. They didn’t agree on much – Keir Starmer’s vision or lack of it, Europe, immigration, you name it. When I commented to another
From our UK edition
15 min listen
How many Tories is too many? That’s the question Westminster is asking after the unveiling of Reform’s latest defector. Nadhim Zahawi, Boris Johnson’s brief-lived Chancellor of the Exchequer, is Nigel Farage’s latest recruit. He told journalists that the UK had reached a ‘dark and dangerous’ moment, and that the country needed ‘a glorious revolution’. But
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Britain’s mums are backing Nigel Farage. One in five Mumsnet users intend to vote for Reform at the next general election, the first time a party other than Labour has topped its poll. Having been more negative towards Farage and the right in the past, why are its politically engaged users changing their minds? Are
From our UK edition
Keir Starmer began the year saying that any minute he wasn’t focused on the cost of living would be a minute wasted. Then he spent the first week of the political year engaged in foreign affairs and yet another U-turn. While Downing Street wants to talk about ‘the year of proof’ for its reforms of
From our UK edition
11 min listen
Another year, another U-turn. We expect that the Labour government will be forced to climb down on forthcoming increases to the business rates bills faced by pubs in England. This comes after ferocious industry backlash, spearheaded by figures such as Tom Kerridge, who has been out in the media this week drawing attention to the
From our UK edition
43 min listen
Can Farage plot a route to Number 10, asks Tim Shipman in our cover article this week. He might be flanked by heavyweights – such as his head of policy Zia Yusuf and Conservative Party defector Danny Kruger MP – but he will need a lot more people to pull off his biggest upset for
From our UK edition
18 min listen
2025 was the easy part for Reform. If they win the election, however, how do they actually govern? In The Spectator this week, Tim Shipman writes about the party’s plans to tackle Whitehall bloat, bypass the Lords and restore the authority of the Prime Minister over the various institutions of state. The man tasked with
From our UK edition
16 min listen
It is the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the new year – and Keir Starmer returns to the Commons already under pressure. With major international crises unfolding, Kemi Badenoch used PMQs to question whether the Prime Minister is present, engaged or in control. In response, Starmer just seemed narky. As the exchange descended into rows
From our UK edition
As he made his way to lunch on Monday, Danny Kruger, the former Tory MP who defected to Reform last year, could be seen clutching a well-thumbed copy of John Campbell’s biography of Lord Haldane, one of the forgotten heroes of British politics. Most British politicians in search of heroes look to Churchill or Attlee
From our UK edition
18 min listen
From ‘regime change’ in Venezuela to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Labour government is trying to navigate complicated situations across foreign affairs. Having appeared to weather the domestic reaction to the situation in Venezuela, Keir Starmer is in Paris today to discuss Ukraine alongside Chancellor Merz and Presidents Macron and Zelensky. This is undoubtably important
From our UK edition
20 min listen
It’s our first podcast back in the office of 2026 – and the year has started with a bang, of course, after the successful US operation to remove Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela. He will appear in a Manhattan court later today. This throws up all sorts of problems for Labour and the left more broadly
From our UK edition
Contemplating a new year always raises questions. Was there a Third Protocol? What was wrong with Oral-A? Can Keir Starmer survive 2026 as prime minister? It is the biggest question in politics this year and the fact that it does not have an easy answer illustrates the mess Starmer has got himself into over the
From our UK edition
32 min listen
From scandals and cabinet chaos to Trumpian antics and the ‘special’ relationship that some say is anything but, The Spectator presents The Year in Review – a look back at the funniest and most tragic political moments of 2025. Join The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove, deputy editor Freddy Gray, political editor Tim Shipman, deputy political editor James Heale
From our UK edition
The government has delivered an early Christmas present to farmers by modifying the new rules on inheritance tax. Or that’s one way of looking at it. The other is that it’s a huge political U-turn, the latest of many, after months of digging in and insisting there was nothing to see here. Following talks last
From our UK edition
The theme of British politics in 2025 has been the assertion of the fun fringe over the staid centre. Nigel Farage and Reform have led all year in the polls and maintain a healthy lead over Labour and the Tories as the year comes to a close. In the final quarter of the year, the
From our UK edition
25 min listen
As is fast becoming a tradition on Coffee House Shots at this time of year, James Heale and Tim Shipman are joined by sketch writer Quentin Letts to go through the events of the past 12 months. From sackings to resignations, and Farage to Polanski, it is a year in which the centuries-old consensus has
From our UK edition
After three months of speculation, Keir Starmer has appointed a replacement for Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. The winner is career diplomat Christian Turner, who has, for the last couple of years, been the political director at the Foreign Office. Turner is considered a high-flyer and has been tipped for big roles like this
From our UK edition
33 min listen
Nick Fuentes is a 27-year-old American influencer with a growing following. He believes America has been subverted by rich, powerful Jews. He was recently interviewed by Piers Morgan, where these views were put to him directly. During the exchange, Morgan referenced a video made by Times columnist Danny Finkelstein about his parents – a clip