By: Eliot Wilson

Eliot Wilson is a writer, commentator and contributing editor at Defence On The Brink. He was formerly a clerk in the House of Commons and writes regularly on politics, defence and international security, and Parliament and the constitution, including for The Spectator, The Hill, The i Paper and CapX

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Wanted: A new culture war chair of the watchdog Ofcom. Anyone? Anyone?

January 31, 2022

It’s been a busy time for news, as Russian forces mass on the border of neighbouring Ukraine and the British political establishment grapples with the mental image of being ambushed by a cake. So you may be forgiven for failing to notice that the government is once again advertising the position of chair of Ofcom, [...]
Remote work will free reluctant city dwellers and reinvigorate London

January 24, 2022

London has been the cradle of dreams and ambition for a long time. It is more than 600 years now since Dick Whittington left Gloucestershire to seek his fortune in the capital, rising to become lord mayor for the first time in 1397. Faint echoes of his journey remain with us all today: how many [...]
On The Apprentice: the UK must stop treating its entrepreneurs like clowns

January 17, 2022

It’s sometimes a shock to recall that The Apprentice has been on our screens for more than 15 years. For a decade and a half, Lord Sugar – originally plain old “Suralan”- has been summoning shiny-suited hopefuls to his wobbly prefab boardroom, pointing at them and making leaden witticisms. The show has been a ratings [...]
Turn diversity on its head: inclusion is an opportunity, not an obligation

January 10, 2022

If you search for news stories on diversity and inclusion, you will see a theme running through the reporting. Look at the key words: “inequality”, “victimised”, “discrimination”. We see the issue through the lens of mending our ways, correcting bad practice and attempting to tackle the overarching and structural problems of prejudice—whether on grounds of [...]
You’ve got a like: standing up for social media

January 3, 2022

Last year was not a good one for social media in the reputational stakes. As legislators began to move in on the tribal warlords of Silicon Valley—above all the king of kings Mark Zuckerberg—veteran comedian David Baddiel toured the UK with a comedy show called “Trolls: Not the Dolls” and presented a BBC documentary entitled [...]
As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we need to grit our teeth and learn to live with it

December 28, 2021

It seemed, for a while, as if this year might be better than the last, with the pandemic on the wane, retail and hospitality beginning to reopen and a hint of normality being felt in the public square. The onset of the omicron variant over the past few weeks has been a blow: although it [...]
California dreamin’ of post-Brexit trade deal, with a local twist

December 20, 2021

The political agenda over the last week or two has been rather full, so you could be forgiven for not having noticed that the minister for trade policy, Penny Mordaunt, has been on an epic tour of the United States, one of the longest ministerial visits in recent history. The Portsmouth North MP, who was [...]
Christmas Special: Books of 2021 from Mayhem to Madness

December 17, 2021

Back into the mayhem: Chief of Staff by Gavin Barwell Gavin Barwell was a middle-ranking minister when he lost his Croydon Central seat at the cack-handed 2017 general election. He was 45, bright, personable and loyal, and he had sensed that defeat might come, promising in his concession speech to spend more time with his [...]
Nation-wide metro mayors: A plan for regions to pull their own bootstraps up

December 13, 2021

When the prime minister appointed Michael Gove to head up a rebranded Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in September’s reshuffle, it was a significant statement of intent. Gove is one of Whitehall’s biggest hitters, having run three major government departments, and is brain cell for brain cell one of the cleverest and most [...]
By-elections might be political candy, but tell the seers of Westminster little

December 6, 2021

By-elections are strange events. They can defy political gravity. Sometimes they launch sparkling but short-lived careers, sometimes they are obvious protests against incumbent governments, and sometimes they are signs of genuine shifts in the political landscape, harbingers of greater changes to come. In any event, they stir the pot of political commentary. Hypotheses are built, [...]

London’s heatwave is a boon for Lime bikes

Brentford in talks to host Shakhtar Donetsk Champions League fixtures

New City venue rethinks competitive socialising… again

By: Eliot Wilson

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