Isabel Hardman

I am so pleased and honoured to announce that Bloomsbury will be publishing my 4th book. Provisionally titled ‘Power Cut’, I’ve wanted to write this exploration of why we don’t learn lessons from scandals for about a decade. bookbrunch.co.uk/page/article-d…

On today's Coffee House Shots podcast: After a turbulent few weeks, Westminster is in limbo. Keir Starmer appears safe – for now – after Wes Streeting’s underwhelming resignation speech, and all eyes are turning to the Makerfield by-election on 18 June. Until then, the drama seems to have temporarily gone out of Labour’s leadership turmoil. Isabel Hardman and Noa Hoffman join Megan McElroy to discuss Starmer’s ‘pompous’ tone at PMQs, what is really going on with Wes Streeting, and the Essex icon causing a storm on Twitter and inside the Department for Education. @IsabelHardman | @hoffman_noa | @meganmcelroyyy Listen | spectator.com/podcast/the-ca…

Keir Starmer probably found it vaguely comforting that today's Prime Minister's Questions at least gave the impression that he is still making decisions in Downing Street – rather than focusing entirely on when he will leave the job. The Prime Minister still has the demeanour of a duck with mobility problems but found himself answering questions about sanctions on Russia when he faced Kemi Badenoch. ✍️ Isabel Hardman Article | spectator.com/article/its-no…

We aren’t going to be done with the political turmoil in Britain until we get a leader who actually wants to answer the big questions - my latest i paper column here. inews.co.uk/opinion/how-br…

Sunday Morning with @adamboultonTABB from 10: 🔴 Culture Secretary @lisanandy 🔵 Conservative Party leader @KemiBadenoch ✊ USDAW General Secretary @JoanneGSUsdaw 💼 Former detective @MaggieOliverUK 📰 @DavidWooding & @IsabelHardman review Join us on @TimesRadio at 10am

@marionmain3 @bbcdebatenight Our readership is v g in Scotland. But also, I live here. This is my home.

@bbcdebatenight What the fuck is a Spectator journalist on a Scottish politics show for? It must sell about 5 copies in Scotland. I defy you to find one Scot that buys its Gove edited shite

“Politicians have become very… frightened of the reaction from the electorate, who do want to hear answers on big questions” The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman says the “answers are difficult” in politics, but Keir Starmer hasn’t developed a “vision” for the UK #bbcdn

@kevverage @bbcdebatenight Absolutely - lovely to see you by the way - also the thing about the social media feedback loop is it is fundamentally untrustworthy as like the Scottish weather it changes constantly and so you shouldn’t base your plans or coat choices on it

@bbcdebatenight @IsabelHardman occurred to me as you were saying this that the rapid feedback loop of social media is part of the problem here - harder to hold your nerve when assailed by the very online massive (but agree we need politicians who *will* hold their nerve)

@sherlockmcewan @bbcdebatenight I live here

@bbcdebatenight “The Spectator” In Scotland? Now I know you’re taking the fucking piss.

Tomorrow, join Debate Night from Haddington On the panel: Paul McLennan, Kim Schmulian, Katherine Sangster, Douglas Lumsden, and Isabel Hardman Weds 13th, 9pm on @BBCScotland and @BBCiPlayer Apply to be in the audience now: bbc.co.uk/send/u39873202 #bbcdn

On the panel this week, The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman #bbcdn

All three of the resignation letters from ministers who have quit government in the past couple of hours will be painful for Keir Starmer, but Jess Phillips’s will hurt the most. The Safeguarding Minister makes a series of accusations against the Prime Minister which he will find personally hard to take. They cut right to the heart of why his premiership has failed. She describes him as a ‘good man fundamentally, who cares about the right things’, with the inevitable criticism following straight after: ‘however I have seen first-hand how that is not enough’. She claims that Starmer stalled on ‘solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves’, and that ‘it has taken me a year to get you to agree to even threaten to legislate in this space. Not legislate, just threaten’. She also claims that ‘real change and direction’ on tackling violence against women and girls ‘usually came from threats made by me in light of catastrophic mistakes’, including after the Mandelson scandal. ✍️ Isabel Hardman Article | spectator.com/article/jess-p…

But if this really had been the make-or-break speech that it has been billed as, it wouldn’t have worked, either. It largely served to highlight Starmer’s weaknesses further. spectator.com/article/its-al…

Presenting the Week in Westminster at 11 on BBC Radio 4. Starmer’s authority, the Golder’s Green attack and the government’s strategy on antisemitism, health inequality and the local elections. Lots to discuss!

In this week's Edition podcast William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons, assistant editor Isabel Hardman and Times columnist and Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips. The panel unpacks Mary Wakefield’s cover story on the rise of shoplifting – and what it reveals about’ shameless Britain’. After a Morrisons manager was reportedly sacked for stopping a thief, they ask whether petty crime, fare-dodging and everyday rule-breaking are eroding the social contract. Listen | spectator.com/podcast/bring-…

The Fight for the Right🥊 Our event last night saw the Conservatives go up against Reform UK to debate which party truly represents the future of the right. @ClaireCoutinho @NJ_Timothy @danny__kruger @GoodwinMJ Chaired by @IsabelHardman It was a strong debate from both sides, but over the course of the event Reform swayed the audience, defeating the Conservatives 49% to 44%. Join us for more events and debates: spectator.com/events

I really enjoyed chairing this.

Some truly awful questions at PMQs yesterday. Very bad. But very good to 🔥 open.substack.com/pub/isabelhard…

The final Prime Minister’s Questions of a parliamentary session is often quite a demob-happy affair with a pantomime atmosphere. Today’s, though, was more important for Keir Starmer, who is now in a daily battle to show that he’s still got enough support to keep going a bit longer. He didn’t have a bad session, but as with many of the events in the Commons this week, it won’t make much difference to his longevity. ✍️ Isabel Hardman Article | spectator.com/article/keir-s…

One thing that’ll be missing from the frantic ring-around of Labour MPs tonight is spectator.com/article/what-i…

Three MPs shamed in today’s Burn Book of pointless questions at PMQs! isabelhardman.substack.com/p/hardmans-par…