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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Choosing a chancellor of Cambridge is no joke

June 30, 2025

Cambridge must choose a chancellor who enhances its reputation without politicising or making a mockery of the role, and Lord Browne is emerging as the most credible candidate to do so, says Eliot Wilson Our leaders like to speak of the United Kingdom “punching above its weight”. For at least 80 years, it has been [...]
How thriving, free-market Hong Kong came under the boot of communist China

June 26, 2025

What began on this day in 1843 ended in a strange form of decolonisation. The UK handed over a territory to China, not by popular demand, but to abide by international treaties, knowing that to the other side such agreements were worthless, says Eliot Wilson If you have any real memory of the handover of [...]
Blaise Metreweli is a boot in the face for DEI

June 23, 2025

Blaise Metreweli has been appointed as the first female head of MI6 from an all-woman shortlist composed on merit alone. It’s proof that some women don’t need DEI to break glass ceilings, says Eliot Wilson Just over a week ago, it was announced that Blaise Metreweli, a career intelligence officer currently serving as director general [...]
Happy birthday Adam Smith, your ideas are still fresh at 302

June 16, 2025

On the 302nd anniversary of Adam Smith’s baptism, his enduring insights into free trade and the folly of protectionism remain a powerful rebuttal to today’s rising economic nationalism, says Eliot Wilson Three hundred and two years ago today, in 1723, in the Old Kirk in Kirkcaldy, a baby was baptised. His precise date of birth [...]
What does 10 years of Trump mean for the West?

June 16, 2025

It’s a decade since Donald Trump announced his intention to run for President but it’s still no clearer what he stands for or why he does anything he does, says Eliot Wilson Ten years ago today, property entrepreneur and reality television star Donald Trump descended a golden escalator in his palace of vulgarity, Trump Tower, [...]
What a difference a day makes for Russia

June 12, 2025

Today is 38 years since Ronald Reagan’s ‘tear down this wall’ speech, which ushered in the most free and fair election Russia has ever had, says Eliot Wilson There is such a thing as coincidence, and sometimes a specific date arises again and again in the same context. Today’s date, 12 June, was like that [...]
Can populists survive in public office? Ask Geert Wilders…

June 9, 2025

Right-wing firebrand Geert Wilders has withdrawn from government in the Netherlands after discovering that governing is harder than criticising from the fringes. It’s a lesson Nigel Farage may learn too, say Eliot Wilson Last week, greeted by more weary fatalism than surprise, the government of the Netherlands collapsed. On Tuesday, radical nationalist Geert Wilders withdrew [...]
The first Europe referendum proved that the people don’t always know better than politicians

June 5, 2025

50 years ago today, the British public voted decisively to stay in the European Economic Community. The winning side in a referendum always think they have settled the question, but the 1975 vote proves how wrong they are, says Eliot Wilson Fifty years ago today, on Thursday 5 June 1975, British voters did something unheard [...]
Repeat after me: Working from home is NOT an ideology

June 2, 2025

When work from home becomes a question of culture, not practicality, we have completely lost the point, writes Eliot Wilson.
On this day: May 26 1896 — the first Dow Jones Industrial Average is published

May 26, 2025

Charles Dow was a financial journalist with a rare gift. A high school dropout from rural Connecticut, he was able to explain the arcana of investment, stocks and bonds in clear, straightforward terms. In 1882, he and two other journalists, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, founded Dow Jones & Company Inc. in a basement at [...]

Drinking in stands hailed as success as more clubs join WSL pilot scheme

Judge awards McLaren F1 team over $12m in Alex Palou trial

This Soho pub is putting on a ‘problematic’ show about a drunkard

By: Eliot Wilson

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