How leading Liberals spent Christmas in 1885 18th December 2021 The following letter was published under the heading 'Gladstone tidings' in the Christmas issue of The Spectator , dated 18 December. Sir: Boris Johnson's... Articles
A massive Tory rebellion in the Commons 17th December 2021 On December 14, 100 Conservative MPs voted against Boris Johnson’s latest measures to combat Coronavirus. The rebels included all the officers of the backbench... Articles
Thatcher's man in the Lords 9th December 2021 The second Baron Denham, known universally as Bertie, served in the governments of five Conservative Prime Ministers over a period of thirty years, but it was... Articles
Restore the memorials to Bishop Bell 25th November 2021 When Bishop George Bell was wrongly condemned by the Church of England as a child abuser in 2015, his name was removed from a number of buildings in his... Articles
General Sir Thomas Picton: a hero of his time 11th November 2021 Picton was the highest-ranking officer to be killed at Waterloo. For over a century a distinguished portrait of him has hung in the National Museum of Wales. At... Articles
Dom to Dorneywood? 20th October 2021 In early October an unseemly squabble broke out between Dominic Raab and Liz Truss over which of them should occupy Chevening in Kent, the 15-bedroomed stately... Articles
One Nation: Forget Disraeli 15th October 2021 Alistair Lexden has repeatedly pointed out that, contrary to almost universal belief, Disraeli never spoke or wrote of One Nation. His efforts have had little... Articles
Chamberlain and Churchill - as seen by a brilliant diarist 4th October 2021 The diarist was Henry ‘Chips’ Channon, a sharp-eyed Tory MP who chronicled the life of the House of Commons (and his own adventurous sex life) at length from... Articles
The last Earl to be a Cabinet Minister 1st October 2021 The second Earl of Gowrie, who died on 24 September at the age of 81, was a member of Margaret Thatcher’s first two governments between 1979 and 1985. His... Articles