On this day 50 years ago: How Airey Neave brought Margaret Thatcher the Tory leadership Tuesday, 11 February, 2025 Airey Neave always spoke softly as born conspirators and spies are apt to do. When I worked for him as his political adviser on Northern Ireland during the last two years of his lfe, the ( not very remarkable) speeches I drafted for him were invariably delivered in a muffled voice in the House of Commons. Few bothered to listen. In the late afternoon of Tuesday, 11 February 1975, Neave made his... Articles
Institutional Memory - a profile in The House magazine 12th December 2024 Lord Lexden has been profiled in Parliament's The House magazine this month. “No aged person should be pessimistic,” says Lord Lexden. The Conservative Party’s... Articles
Labour betrays thousands of children with special needs 9th December 2024 Everyone involved in education knows that state schools are struggling to make adequate provision for children with special needs. Many of them lack the... Speeches
The centenary of One-Nation Conservatism 4th December 2024 On 4 December 1924, words that were to become very well-known —one nation—were heard for the first time. They came at the end of a great speech by Stanley... Articles
Tamworth: commemorating the first and most famous election manifesto, 190 years ago 3rd December 2024 On 18 December 1834, Sir Robert Peel, the first leader of the modern Conservative Party, wrote as follows to the electors of his Tamworth constituency in... Recent News
A gay king and his lover 25th November 2024 The book review that follows was published in Parliament’s magazine The House on 25 November. Its editor was kind enough to say that “your review of Buckingham... Articles
The fascists' press baron 22nd November 2024 The following letter was published in The New Statesman on 22 November. Lord Northcliiffe was the greatest press baron of his time, but cannot be censured for... Articles
Archbishop Welby's unprecedented resignation 13th November 2024 At the end of the 17th century an Archbishop of Canterbury resigned because he was unwilling to swear allegiance to the Dutch King William III and his English... Articles
An historic Budget - for the wrong reason 12th November 2024 Alistair Lexden delivered the following speech in the House of Lords during a debate on the Labour Government’s irresponsible tax-raising first budget on 11... Speeches
The Labour Government and Northern Ireland 8th November 2024 Years ago the Labour Party favoured pushing Northern Ireland out of the UK and into a united Ireland. Things are very different today. Labour stand by Northern... Speeches