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Tim Shipman

Tim Shipman

New Statesman

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Politics / Andy Burnham’s deafening silence on the Russian threat isn’t sustainable

It’s hard to keep up with what might kill us first. A week ago, the tech-bros were competing to tell us that AI might wipe out humanity within a...

latest 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Andy Burnham’s deafening silence on the Russian threat isn’t sustainable

It’s hard to keep up with what might kill us first. A week ago, the tech-bros were competing to tell us that AI might wipe out humanity within a...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham’s deafening silence on the Russian threat isn’t sustainable

It’s hard to keep up with what might kill us first. A week ago, the tech-bros were competing to tell us that AI might wipe out humanity within a...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: Ed Miliband ignored MI6’s warnings over Israel sanctions

When Andy Burnham was quizzed at PMQs last week about his and Ed Miliband’s decision to sanction the Israeli government over its handling of Gaza,...

thursday 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

How real is the ‘Burnham bounce’?

We’re still in the dead zone between Reform UK’s conference and the TUC and Lib Dems’ next week, with Labour and the Tories to follow. The main...

12.09.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Meet the most powerful woman in Britain

Some years ago Antonia Romeo, now the Cabinet Secretary, was stuck in a boring meeting about civil service reform. She regarded the plan as inadequate...

10.09.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / The five takeaways from Reform’s conference

Nigel Farage has made his big speech to Reform’s party conference in Birmingham this evening. It was a bravura display which had his army of...

06.09.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Reform UK is a party in crisis

Deputy heads have rolled. Reform UK, in the person of chairman Lee Anderson, announced this morning that Dan Jukes, Nigel Farage’s right hand man,...

05.09.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The five takeaways from Reform’s conference

Nigel Farage has made his big speech to Reform’s party conference in Birmingham this evening. It was a bravura display which had his army of...

05.09.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Reform is a party in crisis

Deputy heads have rolled. Reform UK, in the person of chairman Lee Anderson, announced this morning that Dan Jukes, Nigel Farage’s right hand man,...

04.09.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the feuding at the heart of Reform

If Tolstoy had written about British politics, he might have noted: “Happy parties are all alike; every unhappy party is unhappy in its own way.”...

24.08.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

This year’s silly season has turned sinister

There’s a great scene in The West Wing where the White House is engulfed by a crisis in the Middle East and President Bartlet’s daughter, Ellie,...

21.08.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the feuding at the heart of Reform

If Tolstoy had written about British politics, he might have noted: ‘Happy parties are all alike; every unhappy party is unhappy in its own way.’...

21.08.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the feuding at the heart of Reform

If Tolstoy had written about British politics, he might have noted: ‘Happy parties are all alike; every unhappy party is unhappy in its own way.’...

20.08.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Five things we learned from the Clacton by-election

1) Nigel Farage is king of Clacton The Reform UK leader won the oddest by-election in UK political history. His margin of victory was that usually...

14.08.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Politicians’ contempt for the press is contempt for the public

I was hacked by the Chinese a few years ago. Security at News UK, where I was employed on the Sunday Times, told around 20 journalists that our emails...

13.08.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

A titan / Rod Liddle was one of the finest journalists of his generation

I only met Rod Liddle a few times, though at The Spectator and the Sunday Times I worked alongside him and to a large degree in his shadow. He was...

03.08.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / No election? Don’t bet on it

When Dwight D. Eisenhower had to decide whether to launch the D-Day armada he kept a close eye on the weather. Pick the wrong moment and the entire...

30.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Simply red / Andy Burnham’s centrist act isn’t fooling anyone

When Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood arrived in Downing Street on Monday afternoon, the image of political rivals arm in arm symbolised a new...

30.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham’s centrist act isn’t fooling anyone

When Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood arrived in Downing Street on Monday afternoon, the image of political rivals arm in arm symbolised a new...

25.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Exclusive poll: / Voters are buying what Burnham is selling

We are approaching the end of Andy Burnham’s first week in power. There are as many questions as answers about where he will ultimately plant his...

25.07.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Voters are buying what Burnham is selling

We are approaching the end of Andy Burnham’s first week in power. There are as many questions as answers about where he will ultimately plant his...

24.07.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham’s centrist act isn’t fooling anyone

When Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood arrived in Downing Street on Monday afternoon, the image of political rivals arm in arm symbolised a new...

23.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham can’t afford to please everyone

Andy Burnham thinks his critics need a new joke about him. The old one about a Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynite walking into a bar (‘Hello, Mr...

18.07.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham has a plan – but he won’t tell us what it is yet

When I was covering Barack Obama’s battle with Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, there came a moment when only she...

17.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Andy Burnham can’t afford to please everyone

Andy Burnham thinks his critics need a new joke about him. The old one about a Blairite, a Brownite and a Corbynite walking into a bar (‘Hello, Mr...

16.07.2026 50

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Westminster reels at Ann Widdecombe murder probe

Westminster is reeling from the news that police believe Ann Widdecombe, the former shadow Home Secretary, was murdered. She was found dead in her...

10.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Will Nigel Farage’s big gamble pay off?

When Reform high command gathered in the boardroom of their Millbank headquarters last Tuesday, the meeting was supposed to be to select candidates in...

10.07.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Will Nigel Farage’s big gamble pay off?

When Reform high command gathered in the boardroom of their Millbank headquarters last Tuesday, the meeting was supposed to be to select candidates in...

09.07.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Can Labour’s Golden Generation deliver?

Andy Burnham is about to do an ‘ask me anything’ Reddit interview, which may shed some light on his plans, but if it’s anything like the...

03.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Reform is right to fear the return of Boris

The man from Reform had barely sat down at our table at the French bistro when he leant forward conspiratorially and asked: ‘What’s Boris up...

02.07.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Can Burnham resist the siren call of the left?

Power, when it is gained and lost, is transferred in stages: the actual, the visual and the constitutional. The latter took place on Tuesday evening...

28.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Five things I’m hearing about the Burnham ascendancy

We are at the phony war/silly season stage of the Andy Burnham ascendancy and there’s a lot of nonsense flying around. A lot of decisions have not...

27.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Five things I’m hearing about the Burnham ascendancy

We are at the phony war/silly season stage of the Andy Burnham ascendancy and there’s a lot of nonsense flying around. A lot of decisions have not...

26.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Can Burnham resist the siren call of the left?

Power, when it is gained and lost, is transferred in stages: the actual, the visual and the constitutional. The latter took place on Tuesday evening...

25.06.2026 50

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The 42 reasons why Keir Starmer failed

Before David Cameron got the job of prime minister, he was asked why he wanted it. ‘Because I’d be good at it,’ he replied. This has always been...

22.06.2026 60

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The nine contenders to be Burnham’s chancellor

Andy Burnham is the new MP for Makerfield and is well on the way to becoming the new prime minister. Much blood may need to flow under the bridge...

19.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘As soon as Andy wins, the world changes’: Burnham’s plans for power

There is no situation room, no wall of flatscreens or a hotline to the White House, just a few chairs patrolled by ‘quite a mad dog’. But a garden...

19.06.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘As soon as Andy wins, the world changes’: Burnham’s plans for power

There is no situation room, no wall of flatscreens or a hotline to the White House, just a few chairs patrolled by ‘quite a mad dog’. But a garden...

18.06.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Starmer is facing the beginning of the end of the end

This is not the end, but it’s well past the beginning of the end, or even the middle of the end. It feels, with six days until the Makerfield...

14.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘I identify with Daenerys Targaryen before she went mad’: an interview with Kemi Badenoch

There was a moment backstage, before I interviewed Kemi Badenoch for a Spectator event, when I felt like John Sergeant with Margaret Thatcher bearing...

13.06.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Starmer is facing the beginning of the end of the end

This is not the end, but it’s well past the beginning of the end, or even the middle of the end. It feels, with six days until the Makerfield...

12.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

DIPping out / John Healey’s resignation is devastating for Keir Starmer

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard two things in recent months. Serving and retired military commanders, ministers and former...

11.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘Rupert Lowe turns up for work, Nigel Farage doesn’t’ / An interview with Kemi Badenoch

There was a moment backstage, before I interviewed Kemi Badenoch for a Spectator event this week, when I felt like John Sergeant with Margaret...

11.06.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / ‘Rupert Lowe turns up for work; Nigel Farage doesn’t’: an interview with Kemi Badenoch

There was a moment backstage, before I interviewed Kemi Badenoch for a Spectator event this week, when I felt like John Sergeant with Margaret...

11.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Makerfield / The three faces of Andy Burnham

When he appeared on Question Time yesterday evening, Andy Burnham said the quiet bit out loud – he does intend to run for the Labour leadership,...

06.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Makerfield / The three faces of Andy Burnham

When he appeared on Question Time yesterday evening, Andy Burnham said the quiet bit out loud – he does intend to run for the Labour leadership,...

06.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The three faces of Andy Burnham

When he appeared on Question Time yesterday evening, Andy Burnham said the quiet bit out loud – he does intend to run for the Labour leadership,...

05.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the missing Mandelson messages

Darren Jones has become the UK government’s Walter Model, the general known during World War Two as “the Führer’s fireman” for his deployment...

05.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the missing Mandelson messages

Darren Jones has become the government’s Walter Model, the general known during the second world war as ‘the Führer’s fireman’ for his...

05.06.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman