Finkelstein shows that moderate, decent, pragmatic, intelligent conservatism is alive and well

His columns from The Times are informed by his experience of what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t work.

Tony Devenish: The Greater London Authority is undermining localism

If the Mayor is incapable of doing his job, the Government will have to call in the inspectors to take charge.

Can Starmer surprise us?

He will have to be more than a kind of North London John Smith if he wants to do more than just profit from the Government’s misfortunes. 

Labour leadership contenders are lurching to the Left to placate Corbynistas

The dismay the electorate showed for them last is being ignored. That makes it much harder for whoever becomes the Leader of the Opposition to establish any credibility.

Will Starmer prove to be the new Kinnock?

After the 1983 defeat, Labour’s electoral progress was slow. This time around the Party will face further decline without a bold change in direction.

Chris Whiteside: A hung parliament with Labour and the SNP able to form a government is still a very real danger

With so many disillusioned with politicians of all parties the role of self-defeating expectations comes into play.

Iain Dale: If Johnson loses, we’ll have a fourth Conservative leader in five years. Goodness knows who that would be.

Plus: Groundhog Day for the NHS. Farage is the dog that hasn’t barked. I will miss Morgan. And: Off to Liverpool.

Nick Hillman: Don’t be swayed by the outrage. Treating EU students like other non-British students makes sense.

There are real problems with the Government’s general approach to international students. But morally and economically, this decision is the right one.

May’s Brexit deal helps to show that British politicians are more honourable and efficient than is claimed

There has been a tendency to suppose that because Britain’s power has declined in relative terms they must have become totally useless.

Citizens from Everywhere

It was May’s best conference speech as Conservative leader. But her One Nation pitch could be too late to save her.

WATCH: Chakrabarti explains why Labour want a ‘bespoke arrangement’ with the EU

“Our economy is very different from Norway”, she explains as she demurs from Lord Kinnock’s proposals.

Thatcher is “full of wonder and freshness”, but at the end starts sobbing

Caroline Slocock says the first woman Prime Minister, whose downfall she witnessed, deserves the admiration rather than the contempt of feminists.

Rosalind Beck: The need for zero tolerance of sexism in politics

We need to make it clear that not just harassment and using prostitutes but sexist jokes and extra-marital affairs are completely unacceptable.

To help win a new generation of young voters, the Conservatives need a new Swinton College – or a modern equivalent

It was the brainchild of Rab Butler, set up to educate Tory members. 54,000 Conservative activists, agents and other students took courses.

Nick Hillman: Students, the election and our poll. More than half say they will vote Labour. And they still want to punish the LibDems.

They are willing to support the Corbyn leadership even though they expect it to break a similar tuition fees promise to that broken by Nick Clegg.