Conservative Party

The former Prime Minister’s recent attack on his own party was nothing more than an elder statesman’s pre-emptive strike

A former minister for Europe explains why the Europhiles are losing—and why the French still don’t believe Cameron is serious

Two major biographies of Margaret Thatcher — one vivid and concise, the other magisterial — are essential reading for anyone who cares about the Iron Lady

Cameron has failed to detoxify the party and Conservatives are panicking before the reckoning that awaits them in 2015

 On both sides of the Atlantic, the centre-Right has a leadership problem. To paraphrase Dr Johnsonon the widower who, having lost his uncongenial first wife, could not wait to marry again: the re-election of Barack Obama last month was a triumph of the politics of hope over the reality of experience. His wretched record notwithstanding, Americans gritted their teeth and rewarded their president with a second term. Why did they do this? Those who depend on big government—public sector employees, single mothers “married to the state”, and so on—had a positive reason to vote for Obama. The rest did not. What, then, were they voting against?

Critics of the flawed euro project have been vindicated but gloating is premature. They need to set out their own vision

To some in the Conservative Party he is a scheming charlatan with no policies. To others his star power could be worth harnessing

Will the greenest and most glamorous of the new crop of Conservative MPs stay the course?

Michael Gove said he would never stand for the Tory leadership. But Iain Martin wrote, in 2012: “Perhaps he will be able to overcome his fear . . . Those who care about the future of this country should hope so: the Tories need their Iron Laddie and so do we.”