Coffee House Shots

After spending his Saturday afternoon watching Everton win at home, Andy Burnham showed up in Kyiv this morning to hand a gift to President Zelenskyy in the form of missile blueprints. To dissect the ...

One month on from Andy Burnham entering Downing Street and a lot has changed at the top of government. Starmer's old guard have been reshuffled or replaced, and Burnham's government have announced doz...

There’s more gloomy economic news for Andy Burnham as unemployment disappoints, inflation rises and the public finances take another hit. With welfare spending and debt interest climbing, how much roo...

It continues – thankfully – to be an interesting summer: there’s devolution news, Reform taking lumps out of each other and Sue Gray has broken her silence.But first, Andy Burnham is shifting the mach...

There was never an expectation that Zack Polanski's alliance between the progressive left, the ecological environmentalists, and the conservative muslim factions of the Green Party would last forever,...

After saying that Zia Yusuf needed to 'become a team player' in an interview on Coffee House yesterday, Reform UK responded, and decided that they would rather Tim Montgomerie were not in their squad ...

Reform UK's Zia Yusuf spent last week putting a few noses out of joint, not least by calling the former Conservative defence secretary, Sir Ben Wallace, a traitor, a tweet Nigel Farage took the unusua...

Almost one year on from his election as leader of the Green Party, has Zack Polanski broadened its appeal? Communications strategist and Green Party insider Russell Warfield joins Noa Hoffman to discu...

Shock horror: Nigel Farage has won the by-election in Calcton. Although you may be shocked by the scale of the victory. The Reform leader received 22,239 votes – 1,000 more than his total at the ...

Politicians are increasingly turning on the journalists who scrutinise them. After investigations into Nigel Farage’s finances, Reform figures have accused reporters of waging a political ‘war’ – whil...

Andy Burnham's summer bonanza continues as he announces plans to empower local councils and hopefully improve Britain's High Streets. The government wants to make it easier for councils to refuse cert...

Nigel Farage is heading back to the polls in Clacton after resigning to trigger a by-election over questions surrounding his £5 million gift. With the main parties refusing to stand, Farage looks set ...

Nigel Farage is trying to seize the summer agenda with a new crackdown on crime and immigration. Reform wants to send foreign national prisoners to countries such as El Salvador, deploy the Navy in th...

Jonathan Ashworth is a former Labour MP and shadow cabinet minister. On today's podcast James Heale and Jonathan discuss Andy's first few weeks as Prime Minister, how he's changed since the Blair-Brow...

Andy Burnham has made it clear that social care is at the top of his agenda, as are pensions. Michael Simmons is joined by James Heale and Spectator contributor James Kirkup to discuss so called 'deat...

Kemi Badenoch found herself in warmer water this week after backing a former neo-Nazi to stand as a local council candidate, before he subsequently pulled out – he has now been appointed as an anti-ex...

The Treasury has plans to kick start the economy with a £9bn borrowing bonanza – something Michael Simmons wrote about in The Spectator in June. Could this reveal something about Burnaham and Healey's...

The government has revised its early prisoner release scheme – now 1000 fewer prisoners with convictions related to rape or child sexual abuse will be let out early. Controversially, PC Harper's kille...

After some weeks on the periphery of British politics, Nigel Farage and Reform UK are back in the spotlight with the debut of 'Operation Fortess' – their plan to deploy the Navy to stop the small boat...

Is Andy Burnham the country's first catholic Prime Minister, and how might it influence his leadership? Despite his faith drawing him to Labour, he doesn’t attend mass and rarely emphasises his religi...

After appearing to have been fired on by the French coastguard, and having objects thrown at him by an alleged people smuggler, the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, sat down with Noa Hoffman to tal...

Continuing his tour across the country, Andy Burnham has been in Barrow-in-Furness backing Starmer's investment plan into nuclear submarines. This ties together with a commitment to reindustrialise Br...

It's Wednesday, which means there's another announcement from Downing Street. Yes, another one. Today, Andy Burnham is talking social care, and this time, he wants to build a 'cross-party consensus' t...

It's a day dedicated to the NEETs (again) with the Prime Minister announcing his plans to prevent swathes of future NEETs coming to the fore. With proposals to widen the participation and provenance o...

A week on from the start of Andy Burnham's premiership, and Westminster is bracing for another innings of announcements from the government. Among them, after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, the PM...

Tim Shipman is joined by Sir Nick Clegg, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, as part of The Spectator's new event series, Tim Shipman Meets the Party Leaders. Tim cha...

In the magazine this week, James Heale writes that Kemi Badenoch was in an upbeat mood when she addressed her troops last week. ‘This time last year,’ she told the 1922 Committee, ‘people said Jenrick...

It is day three of Andy Burnham’s premiership, and we have had a tranche of policy announcements and funding commitments. A VAT cut for energy bills, £2 bus fares, and today a business rate cut for pu...

In a busy week for British politics, LBC’s Iain Dale joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss his new book, Have I Said Too Much? Iain speaks frankly about standing as a Conservative candidate at ...

Appointment into Andy Burnham's new cabinet went late into the evening: Wes Streeting to defence, plus the comeback queens – Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Angela Rayner all into senior posts in govern...

Andy Burnham has continued to announce his new cabinet: John Healey as Chancellor, Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary and Shabana Mahmood remains in the Home Office. Now ten of Starmer's most trusted mi...

As Andy Burnham unveils his first Cabinet, join Tim Shipman and James Heale for a special live edition of Coffee House. Who’s in, who’s out? What do the appointments reveal about Burnham’s priorities,...

Andy Burnham has promised to turn the whips’ office into an ‘HR department’ – but the former chief whip Simon Hart warns that the approach is ‘naive’ and could leave the new prime minister unable to c...

Andy Burnham will today be crowned Labour leader, before entering Downing Street on Monday. His first speech is expected to argue that Labour has lost touch with the working-class communities it was f...

Rachel Reeves has delivered what is likely to be her valedictory Mansion House speech, defending her record on growth, borrowing and the public finances. But with businesses counting the cost of highe...

Keir Starmer has delivered his final PMQs. It was a more cordial occasion compared to most weeks, with Kemi Badenoch exchanging jokes with the outgoing Prime Minister over their previous clashes amid ...

Kemi Badenoch has declared war on the Tory wets, removing the whip from Gavin Barwell after Theresa May’s former chief of staff criticised her leadership and opposed the party’s positions on net zero ...

The murder of Ann Widdecombe has sent shockwaves through Westminster and reignited the debate over politicians’ security. But with questions still unanswered about the motive for the attack, Reform’s ...

The Tories will not stand a candidate against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election – and on today’s podcast Conservative party chairman Kevin Hollinrake explains why.Hollinrake also reveals what is...

Everyone in Westminster is trying desperately to peer inside Andy Burnham’s head and work out what ‘Manchesterism’ really is – and in the magazine this week, Tali Fraser offers the definitive take. Ra...

Nominations openned today for the next Labour leader and – spoiler alert – it looks as though Andy Burnham might clinch it. We strongly suspect he will be the only person to put his name forward, afte...

Nigel Farage’s Clacton by-election gamble has not gone quite to plan: the major parties have called his bluff and refused to stand. Is this now a Potemkin by-election – or has Farage still succeeded i...

Nigel Farage has resigned as an MP to force a by-election in Clacton, where he intends to stand again.It comes as scrutiny mounts over Reform UK’s funding, the £5 million gift Farage received from the...

Nigel Farage is facing fresh questions over his finances, after reports about George Cottrell – ‘Posh George’ – and his role in funding staff and security for Reform before the 2024 election. The part...

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Nigel Farage is in the spotlight again over his finances. And Labour back Andy Burnham to deliver change.Become a Spectator sub...

As Americans mark the 250th anniversary of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Anthony Scaramucci joins the Spectator to provide his assessment of the health of the nation. As we approach the halfwa...

A scoop by The Spectator’s news editor has taken Westminster by storm this week, after it emerged that the Treasury had ditched the numerical reasoning test for its high-flying graduate scheme. Oscar ...

Boris is (sort of) on manoeuvres, as Tim Shipman reports in this week’s magazine. There are signs that the former Conservative prime minister and one-time editor of this magazine could emerge from his...

As the nation holds its breath to see if England will be progressing in the World Cup, the bottles of Pol Roger are on ice for the post-match after party: the Spectator's summer party, taking place th...

The Defence Investment Plan is published today in Parliament. All eyes are on how much Dan Jarvis managed to secure (£15 billion), given the dramatic resignations of Al Cairns and John Healey over fun...