Andrew Gimson
Underrated: Shiva Naipaul
A warm and witty writer with a mordant eye for the bad and the bogus
How can Theresa May survive Brexit?
The Prime Minister now looks dreadfully weak, but like all her predecessors she is a scapegoat, at the mercy of party and people
Sex, politics and the new blasphemy
Westminster is scandalised by sexual harassment that would once have been treated as a joke. But does the nation take it quite so seriously?
Underrated: Frank Field
The independent-minded Labour parliamentarian would have made an excellent Speaker
Britain Is A Free Country — Thanks To The Queen
The paradox of British democracy is that our unelected monarch safeguards our liberties better than an elected politician ever could
Campaign Diary
“The Chief Whip stormed the moral high ground and dug himself in. So why did I feel unable to follow Michael Gove over the top, as it were?”
Memorable Memoirs
‘The best political memoirs are shot through with a kind of candour’
In Search of the Incomparable Max
I discovered Max Beerbohm as an undergraduate. Rereading his work today has been just as enjoyable
United the Coalition Stands, Divided it Falls
Badmouthing each other is not a path to electoral success. Clegg and Cameron must defend what they have achieved together
Underrated: David Cameron
Our Prime Minister’s Anglican attitudes are as valuable to the Conservative party as they are to the nation
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal