Neil Kinnock
Why wealth taxes don’t work
The nation owes the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock an eternal debt for losing the 1992 general election when he…
Tony Benn, bogeyman to some, beacon of hope and light to many
A collection of speeches and articles reminds us that ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’ was thoughtful, kind, entertaining and one of the most appealing politicians of the postwar period – writes a Conservative MP
Is protest counterproductive?
If I had my life again and was asked to choose a superpower, I’d like to come back as one…
Biden’s speech impediment
Does Joe Biden write his own speeches? Surely not. Yet his campaign says Biden was his own speechwriter for the address he made…
Is Labour heading for another Kinnock moment?
‘You end in the grotesque chaos of a Labour council – a Labour council – hiring taxis to scuttle round…
Take note, Peloton: sweaty blokes make safer marketing
You’ll have had enough of politics and punditry, so let me introduce a non-political City debate (even if rather a…
Diary
The best reason for visiting party conferences is to sniff the air. It’s fragments of conversation drifting through a bar,…
Long life
It is hardly uncommon for politicians to lie, especially when their careers are threatened by a sexual transgression — John…
Margaret Thatcher’s most surprising virtue: imagination
Margaret Thatcher’s second administration saw bitter divisions at home, but abroad the breakthrough in Anglo-Soviet relations really did change history, says Philip Hensher
Speak human
The next Labour leader will have to be able to speak human, said a piece in the Observer. This, it…
Come on you blues. Or, er, reds
Here’s an election-winning idea for Dave: forget about Aston Villa (or West Ham) and become a full-on Bournemouth fan. They…
Death by politics
Dead Sheep is a curious dramatic half-breed that examines Geoffrey Howe’s troubled relationship with Margaret Thatcher. Structurally it’s a Mexican…
Back to the future
Ed Miliband is set to unleash a radical, Old Labour political agenda
A champion of liberal reform
Roy Jenkins may have been snobbish and self-indulgent, but he was also a visionary and man of principle who would have made a good prime minister, says Philip Ziegler
