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Tim Shipman

Tim Shipman

New Statesman

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Local elections / The most significant local elections for a generation

These feel like the most significant local elections for a generation. It was a potentially historic day for Reform and Plaid Cymru, with a few...

latest 7

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Today was seismic for the reorientation of British politics

These feel like the most significant local elections for a generation. It was a potentially historic day for Reform and Plaid Cymru, with a few...

yesterday 8

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / 18 ways to save your political career

Dear wannabe leaders of Britain. What a lot of you there are! I’ve been writing about leadership and the craft of politics for 25 years and I’m...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Seven things to look out for as Britain heads to the polls

Keir Starmer has now been Prime Minister for one year and 300 days, which puts him 43rd in the list of Britain’s longest-serving prime ministers....

03.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Seven things to look out for as Britain heads to the polls

Keir Starmer has now been Prime Minister for one year and 300 days, which puts him 43rd in the list of Britain’s longest-serving prime ministers....

01.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Is the country ready for Chancellor Ed Miliband?

When Morgan McSweeney concluded his evidence on Tuesday to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee about the Mandelson affair, a senior Labour figure...

30.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Is the country ready for Chancellor Ed Miliband?

When Morgan McSweeney concluded his evidence on Tuesday to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee about the Mandelson affair, a senior Labour figure...

30.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

It’s over for Keir Starmer

Politics has calmed down again after a week of rare frenzy, even by the standards of the past decade. Next week promises a few more dramas before MPs...

24.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘It’s worse than during the worst of Boris’: how the civil service turned against Starmer

Somewhere in the vast array of documents the Cabinet Office has gathered on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador in Washington,...

23.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The National Lottery verdict shows Labour isn’t serious about growth

The government keeps telling us that they are desperate for economic growth and keen to attract overseas investment in UK plc. But a case at the High...

20.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Mandelson ally: Robbins sacking was ‘egregious’

I have just been contacted by a source who knows much more about what happened with Peter Mandelson’s vetting. It supports the case that I made in...

19.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Britain’s ‘drone gap’ makes it vulnerable

When John Healey was asked, on stage at the London Defence Conference, whether the armed forces were ‘ready’ for war, the Defence Secretary...

19.04.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

How Peter Mandelson became Britain’s ambassador to the US – despite failing vetting

I have just been contacted by a source who knows much more about what happened with Peter Mandelson’s vetting. It supports the case that I made in...

19.04.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Mandelson ally: Robbins sacking was ‘egregious’

I have just been contacted by a source who knows much more about what happened with Peter Mandelson’s vetting. It supports the case that I made in...

18.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The latest twist of the Mandelson scandal has badly damaged Starmer

The sacking of Sir Oliver Robbins over the vetting of Peter Mandelson is a complicated affair, so I’ll try to break down what we know, what we...

17.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Britain’s ‘drone gap’ makes us vulnerable

When John Healey was asked, on stage at the London Defence Conference, whether the armed forces were ‘ready’ for war, the Defence Secretary...

16.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

What if the UK hadn’t voted for Brexit?

Someone in Brussels has a sense of humour. One of the euro elves let it be known this week that the deal which the UK hoped to sign this summer has...

03.04.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / What if the UK hadn’t voted for Brexit?

Someone in Brussels has a sense of humour. One of the euro elves let it be known this week that the deal which the UK hoped to sign this summer has...

02.04.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Ten ways Trump is controlling us all

Donald Trump is very likely the most consequential US President for the world and for British politics since Ronald Reagan, and arguably since Harry...

27.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / ‘We’re into 1973 territory now’: How bad could the energy price crisis get?

The energy price surge caused by war in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through Westminster. It has pushed up inflation and the cost of borrowing,...

26.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: Keir Starmer’s new plan to get closer to the EU

A Labour MP, reflecting on the problems the Prime Minister faces over the war in Iran, observed this week: ‘Keir got it right, but things keep going...

22.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Five things we learned this week

First of all, it’s farewell to Chuck Norris, the action movie star of such Hollywood classics (Generous – Ed.) as Delta Force II. The man who...

21.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Five things we learned this week

First of all, it’s farewell to Chuck Norris, the action movie star of such Hollywood classics (Generous – Ed.) as Delta Force II. The man who...

20.03.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

UK / Revealed: Keir Starmer’s new plan to get closer to the EU

A Labour MP, reflecting on the problems the Prime Minister faces over the war in Iran, observed this week: ‘Keir got it right, but things keep going...

20.03.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

When Mandelson could bring down Starmer

Another day, another set of embarrassing revelations about Peter Mandelson. A photo has now emerged of Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and...

13.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: Keir Starmer’s new plan to get closer to the EU

A Labour MP, reflecting on the problems the Prime Minister faces over the war in Iran, observed this week: ‘Keir got it right, but things keep going...

12.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Revealed: Britain to get Islamophobia tsar

Britain is to get a new ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’ under plans to be outlined by the government on Monday, which will also include a new...

06.03.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘Whose side are you on?’: How Keir Starmer alienated Britain’s allies over Iran

The American-Israeli attacks on Iran were publicly called Epic Fury, but behind the scenes it is Britain’s handling of the war which provoked that...

05.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Fallout / The winners and losers from the Gorton by-election

So Gorton and Denton has become another of those parliamentary seat names which enters the collective memory of British politics – a name which will...

28.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The winners and losers from the Gorton by-election

So Gorton and Denton has become another of those parliamentary seat names which enters the collective memory of British politics – a name which will...

27.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Is the Trump-Starmer bromance over?

“The Special Relationship only exists when the Americans want something,” a former Downing Street aide observed after Donald Trump rejected the...

27.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Has it all gone wrong between Trump and Starmer?

‘The Special Relationship only exists when the Americans want something,’ a former Downing Street aide observed after Donald Trump rejected the...

26.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Palace ‘terrified’ Andrew shared secrets of defence deals

Keir Starmer has had a pretty torrid couple of months but, as the curtain comes down on another turbulent week, not even Donald Trump attacking the...

20.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The truth about Britain's hollowed-out armed forces

When Keir Starmer was told his pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament was not enough to fund his vision for the...

19.02.2026 150

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The end is Keir / Inside Starmer’s downfall

Years ago, Peter Mandelson shared a key lesson with his protégé Morgan McSweeney. Reminiscing about his involvement in Labour’s 1987 general...

16.02.2026 550

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The end is Keir / ‘Authority is like virginity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone’: Inside Keir Starmer’s downfall

Years ago, Peter Mandelson shared a key lesson with his protégé Morgan McSweeney. Reminiscing about his involvement in Labour’s 1987 general...

16.02.2026 500

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / Twelve things we learned this week

When I started out in Westminster in 2001, the parliamentary lobby was a very hierarchical place and the press gallery still had a dining room. We...

14.02.2026 80

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Twelve things we learned this week

When I started out in Westminster in 2001, the parliamentary lobby was a very hierarchical place and the press gallery still had a dining room. We...

13.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The case for Antonia Romeo

12.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘Authority is like virginity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone’: Inside Keir Starmer’s downfall

12.02.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Morgan McSweeney’s resignation won’t save Starmer 

08.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Coup deferred / Labour has bottled it – what happens next?

07.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Labour has bottled it – what happens next?

06.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Is Keir Starmer prepared for the AI-pocalypse?

05.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Starmer’s Chinese trip changes nothing

31.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

Politics / What is ‘Starmerism’?

29.01.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

‘There’s an awful lot more bile now’: Jonathan Lynn on how politics has changed since Yes Minister

29.01.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The egos have landed / The week that turned politics upside down

24.01.2026 10

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The week that turned politics upside down

24.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Tim Shipman

The second coming of Gordon Brown

18.01.2026 40

The Spectator

Tim Shipman