David Cameron

Calls have intensified for an inquiry into David Cameron’s involvement with a scandal-hit banker after allegations surfaced that Lex Greensill was given privileged access to Whitehall departments. An investigation by the Sunday Times alleged that Greensill enriched himself through a government-backed loan scheme he designed after the then prime minister gave him access to 11 […]

A lobbying watchdog has concluded that David Cameron’s activities “do not fall within the criteria” that requires registration on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists. The Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists said that the former prime minister was an employee at Greensill and so not required to register, following an investigation into whether he […]

The UK’s lobbying watchdog has launched an investigation into whether David Cameron persuaded government figures to grant loans to a financial firm he worked for. Cameron reportedly sent a number of texts to the chancellor’s private number requesting financial support for Greensill Capital through the government’s Covid business relief scheme. He is also alleged to have […]

In these exclusive extracts from his diaries, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL describes the aftermath of the Leveson inquiry. Thursday, November 29  The Leveson report is published, saying the press should set up a tough new independent regulator, underpinned by statute. It found: no widespread corruption of police by the press; that politicians and press have been too close; and that press behaviour, […]

Questions are bring raised about David Cameron’s latest lobbying attempt after it emerged he pressured the chancellor in private texts to issue hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of emergency Covid loans to a company he was advising. The Sunday Times reported the former prime minister sent multiple texts to Rishi Sunak’s private phone in April 2020 badgering […]

In these exclusive extracts from his diaries, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL recalls meeting David Cameron’s director of communications Craig Oliver. He felt Ed Miliband was outperforming his man.  Friday, May 18 Met Craig Oliver (Cameron’s communications director). Jeremy Heywood [cabinet secretary] still hadn’t replied to my complaint re. Cameron [Campbell had accused the PM of seeking to deflect criticism over Coulson […]

In these exclusive extracts from his diaries, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL explains why he demanded an apology from Toby Young following his evidence to the Leveson inquiry.

In these exclusive extracts from his diaries, ALASTAIR CAMPBELL takes us back to the autumn of 2011: David Cameron leads a coalition government with Nick Clegg as his deputy; Boris Johnson is the celebrity mayor of London; Barack Obama is in the White House; and Britain is in the EU. While the London Olympics are on the horizon, politics is dominated by […]

TIM WALKER on Nigel Farage’s latest business venture, Michael Gove’s backer, and a royal scam that caught out several veteran palace watchers. Nigel Farage‘s decision to quit as leader of the Reform UK party – he said he was “done” with frontline politics – may be motivated by a desire to spend more time with his […]

Few politicians have fallen quite as far and quite as fast as Nicolas Sarkozy. Nicolas Sarkozy marked his finest political hour in characteristically brash style. The night of his election victory over Socialist rival Ségolène Royal on May 6, 2007, he spent celebrating at a private bash at the exclusive Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées. It was a select gathering […]

Former French ambassador to the UK Sylvie Bermann made recent headlines with her very undiplomatic comments about Boris Johnson. She talks to TIM WALKER about how the country changed in her time here, and what she sees for its future. Almost a month after the EU referendum, the newly-appointed foreign secretary Boris Johnson bounded into the opulent residence […]

Former prime minister David Cameron has claimed that the EU referendum was ‘necessary’ and defended his decision process that led to the vote being held. Cameron defended the vote while speaking to parliament’s National Security Strategy Committee. He explained: “The Brexit referendum was discussed and called in 2013, two years before the general election and three […]

Boris Johnson is “an unrepentant and inveterate liar” who is not subject to the same rules as others, a former French diplomat to the UK has said in her new book. Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador to the UK during the Brexit vote, also claimed Brexiteers were consumed with a hatred for Germany and were […]

Downing Street has dismissed “incorrect” claims from a right-wing think tank that Boris Johnson’s fiancee Carrie Symonds is helping to run the country. The Bow Group has said an inquiry should look at Symonds’ “possible influence” in government hiring and appointments. Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the group, said Symonds “currently holds no official role in […]

RACHEL JOHNSON on her latest TV venture, the Covid restriction that most troubles her and a dawning realisation about Brexit. By the time you read this I will have made kedgeree for Mary Berry on national TV as well as a macaroni cheese for Michelin-starred Angela Hartnett, alongside former shadow chancellor, Ed Balls (Celebrity Best […]

Samantha Cameron has said her fashion label has faced “challenging and difficult” times since Britain left the EU on January 1. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Cameron said her company had experienced “teething issues” in trading with the EU and urged No 10 to speak with small businesses. “[We] definitely deal with having […]

A former MP has claimed that the Essex town of Clacton was responsible for delivering Brexit. Douglas Carswell, who defected from the Tories to UKIP in 2014 before calling a by-election, claims that his win in that vote caused David Cameron to hold the EU referendum shortly after. The Vote Leave politician, recently appointed to […]

Former prime minister David Cameron, who called the referendum on leaving the European Union, has welcomed news of a Brexit deal. He tweeted: “It’s good to end a difficult year with some positive news. Trade deal is very welcome – and a vital step in building a new relationship with the EU as friends, neighbours […]

Former Conservative special advisor BARNABY TOWNS imagines an alternative political universe where the 2016 was never held, or won by Remain.  As Great Britain – England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland – stare down the abyss of casting aside nearly half a century of increasingly integrated trade and security relationships, it is worth […]

Internet pranksters have proposed a blue plaque in memory of David Cameron’s contribution to Brexit in a cheeky dig at the former prime minister’s legacy after it was reported that he had banned the topic from his speaking engagements. The ex-MP for Witney both agreed to the EU referendum in June 2016 before leading the […]

A BBC presenter has attracted a wave of complaints after calling Brexiteers “headbangers, zealots and quislings”. Sue Perkins, a former Great British Bake Off host and well-known comedian, sparked controversy last week when she posted a tweet mocking David Cameron and Brexiteers. Responding to a message by the former Tory prime minister, which slammed the decision […]

An ex-Tory aide has said he had to ‘kill’ plans by George Osborne to appoint David Beckham a peerage and make him sports minister. Then-chancellor Osborne discussed the idea with David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, on the day of a major Cabinet reshuffle in 2013, the Daily Mail has revealed. The Mail published the […]

Dominic Cummings was the adviser who refused to play by the rules of conventional politics and became no stranger to the spotlight. At the start of 2020, he wrote on his blog of wanting to become “much less important – and within a year largely redundant”, with reports suggesting his departure from Downing Street will […]

Former Tory prime minister David Cameron is reportedly trying to block the publication of a new book revealing details of his handling of Brexit, because of concerns it will “damage his reputation”. As The New European reported in August, a biography from the former cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood is set to be published, written by his […]

A major Tory Party donor has been knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Tom Gallagher, a multimillionaire property developer who has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative Party, is honoured for “services to land development and the property business”. The businessman is said to be part of the so-called “Chipping Norton set” […]

Readers have their say on reports of a Tory war on the BBC. Peter York and Liz Gerard are very informative about the battle for the BBC (“The war on the BBC is real and organised”, “Blue sky blogs have BBC in their sights”, TNE #213). However, they did not touch on two aspects of […]

Whatever else might be said about Sasha Swire’s memoirs, they hardly instil confidence in the political classes. This may well be why Rupert Murdoch was willing to splash out no less than £250,000 to serialise them in the Times and Sunday Times. “It’s a jaw-dropping amount of money for a book in these straitened times, […]