Ryan Bourne: Thatcher and Cameron made us happier

It really is remarkable. Every self-reported measure of wellbeing has improved near continuously in the past eight years.

Neil O’Brien: Fifty shades of conservatism

It’s a bit like the roof of Parliament’s Westminster Hall: which is held up by a lot of huge, ancient beams all resting on each other.

Ryan Bourne: Greta Thunberg and Prince Harry are wrong. Our ingenuity is the earth’s ultimate resource.

The only sustainable route to reducing carbon emissions will come precisely from the sorts of innovation that drive the “fairytales” that she bemoans.

Johnson bypasses the broadcasters to talk directly to voters

Last night’s policy announcement live on Facebook was a first experiment in new ways for the Government to communicate its message.

Lord Ashcroft: Will voters still give Johnson the benefit of the doubt? We’re about to find out.

Lessons endure from my polling study of our new Prime Minister, carried out six years ago when he was London’s Mayor.

Iain Dale: God help the UK Conservatives (so to speak) if they become religious fanatics – like the American Republicans.

Plus: The good and bad sides of Twitter – all in my week. How it may have helped to save a life. But also saw me slagged off for something I didn’t say.

Gareth Lyon: In Aldershot and North Hampshire, voters have got more receptive. Why? Because Brexit’s out of the news.

So could the Government please try to keep it that way until the local elections are done and dusted next week?

A day to honour George Herbert Walker Bush

This article was originally published on the anniversary of the former President’s election. We re-issue it today as news comes of his death.

Nicky Morgan: We all gain when our politicians have some time and space to think

It is madness to think that our leaders aren’t entitled to go on holiday and gain a bit of perspective.

James Frayne: The most effective case against nationalisation is the one that neither MPs nor businesses want to use

The injection of the truth that it would mean politicians in charge of services is enough to make most people see sense.

North Korea. Trump goes where the sainted Obama could never have gone.

One take on the President is that behind the flamboyant tweeting is a conventional actor, who knows full well that jaw tweet jaw is better than war tweet war.

J.P.Floru: Let’s be Singapore – and prosperous, post-Brexit, beyond our wildest dreams

Basically, we need to undercut the world. We can do so if we slash red tape and tax. Within a very short period there would be a pronounced Laffer Effect.

George Freeman: We need a new Chairman and team at CCHQ to lead a radical programme of Conservative renewal

Let’s have Policy Board outside of the constraints of the Government machine – and a commission on what Britain should look like post-Brexit.

Trump is powerless and May should avoid him

The American President got elected by infuriating the liberals, but is incapable of governing by the same means.

Iain Dale: I never thought I’d compare an American President to a North Korean dictator. But here I go.

Plus: UKIP goes nuts. And: Chapman’s tweets might lead you to believe that he’s taken some sort of personality-changing drug.