The Primate and the Premier are both facing a tough week
- 6 Feb 2023
This week will see not one but two embattled leaders trying to push their agendas forward, see off rebellions, and push their respective organisations forward. Both leaders preside over internal debates that are increasingly fraught. Both are facing serious rebellions. Both kn...
Royal soap opera is bad news for Sunak and Starmer
- 11 Jan 2023
Over Christmas and the New Year I was writing a chapter on King Edward III for the broadcaster and publisher Iain Dale’s upcoming book on the Kings and Queens of England. Edward had to seize control of the throne from the grasp of his mother and her lover who had led the succe...
Our finest hour is yet to come
- 19 Dec 2022
Rarely, in recent times, has the refrain in the bleak midwinter resonated more. My grandparents used to recall the long freezing winter of 1947, when food rationing was still in force and wartime deprivation remained a grim reality as the worst they experienced. I can, just, r...
Former Prime Ministers should be seen but not heard
- 13 Dec 2022
Britain now has seven living former prime ministers. Two of them still Members of Parliament. Since Mrs Thatcher took the traditional peerage, none of her successors have become members of the House of Lords. Winston Churchill famously remained in the Commons turning down the ...
There’s no doubt about it the King and Queen are doing well
- 8 Dec 2022
It is three months – twelve weeks – since Prince Charles became the King. The late Queen’s death was no great surprise yet somehow it seemed to come about quite suddenly. What followed, her funeral arrangements and the accession of the King, happened faultlessly. Buckingham Pa...
We all have a part to play if we want better politics
- 5 Dec 2022
Donald Trump attacking the validity of the United States constitution is as grisly as it is inevitable. Trump has never accepted he was voted out of the Presidency and facing the fact that he is unlikely to be re-elected is now resorting to trying to destroy the fundamentals o...
Forget the Red Wall: it is Scotland that Labour and the Conservatives must win back
- 28 Nov 2022
In a very short time Rishi Sunak has stabilised the government, launched a new economic strategy and restored national credibility on the world stage. He has achieved much, but there is much more to do. A General Election may well be two years away, but the General Election ca...
Advent – the season the Church of England has forgotten
- 28 Nov 2022
Christmas decorations started appearing back in November and I noticed on the weekly shopping order that seasonal delicacies started to pop up in the ‘would you like’ column too around the same time. Outside the temperature was still hitting the 20s, inside it was yule logs an...
Mrs Thatcher can teach us how to govern effectively
- 23 Nov 2022
It is said that when President Kennedy met Chairman Khrushchev for the first time he found it a very gruelling ordeal. The young President was inexperienced, physically weak and had had a pampered progress to the Presidency. Khrushchev on the other hand was tough, experienced,...
Brexit right or wrong will be a big issue at the next election
- 17 Nov 2022
Amidst the intense interest in the Autumn Statement much other news, political and otherwise, has been squeezed out of the headlines. Fatigue too plays a large part in how close an eye we keep on things. We know catching covid can be serious and unpleasant but we are all fed u...