MPs
Going the wrong way one step at a time
If I were to give you a budget to choose your perfect house, you would quickly have a clear idea…
Why everyone, and almost no one, is Charlie
Je suis Charlie indeed. This is the problem with placards — there is rarely enough room to fit in the caveats,…
Oaths for MPs
Before taking their seats in Parliament, all MPs must swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Mark Durkan, MP…
A third way to war
Jesse Norman was permitted three minutes for his speech to the Commons in last Friday’s debate. But the contribution from…
Could you afford to become an MP?
Mark Simmonds has been in politics long enough to know not to expect much sympathy from his constituents. He resigned…
The high price of public service
I feel some sympathy for Mark Simmonds, the Conservative MP who’s resigned as a minister and is stepping down at…
Barometer
Commons inheritance Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony and niece of Hilary, has won the right to stand for Labour in…
Letters
Private pain Sir: A line in Alec Marsh’s article (‘Britain’s one-child policy’, 1 February) caught my eye; that school fees…
A tireless networker
We critics seldom write our memoirs, perhaps because we skulk away our lives in dark corners, avoiding the public gaze,…
The Spectator’s Notes
MPs are incomparable. This may seem an odd thing to say in the current climate of opinion, but I mean…
