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The Special Adviser

46 0
13.09.2026

Marcus remembers the exact moment when he knew he was going into politics. He was 14, delicately poised between the arrival of the spots and the dropping of the voice and testicles. He’d always been a Tory; growing up in Great Missenden, there was no real alternative. But he had never known why he was a Tory. His grandfather might get misty-eyed while talking about Mrs T; he might have had a tender fascination with Princess Anne at a young age. Then he read The Blog.  

The Bayeux Tapestry must never be returned to France

The pathetic pearl clutching over Reform’s donations

What The Uprising gets wrong about the Peasants’ Revolt

The Blog was magnificent. The Blog explained how Clement Attlee had ruined Britain. The Blog explained why the NHS was an international disgrace and the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 a noose around our necks. Soon, he was hooked. And the Blog led to other blogs – your ConHomes, and Coffee Houses, and CapXs. In short, it led to politics.  

Since then, events have not entirely developed to Marcus’s advantage. Oxford were not quite as keen on his going as he was. But he made it there on his third attempt, once he realised he was far more interested in Theology than he was in Politics, Philosophy or Economics. He made a few half-decent speeches at the Union........

© The Spectator