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

All 451 Articles

A call to arms: where will we find tomorrow’s bright Whitehall leaders?

November 14, 2022

It is one of the most common, and pointed, criticisms of government in this country now that we are not finding leaders properly equipped to take the United Kingdom into the middle of the 21st century. For all his sociopathic behaviour and sheer oddness, it was the mission of Dominic Cummings to solve that problem, [...]
The ship of the state is the only vessel that leaks right from the very top

November 7, 2022

In 1947, the Labour chancellor, Hugh Dalton, let slip some details of the Budget to a reporter as he walked into the chamber to deliver his speech and he was forced to resign.
Is Elon Musk a free speech champion or a bombastic fool? Perhaps, he’s both

October 31, 2022

Finally, it has happened. In a story with more drama and grandstanding than Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Elon Musk has bought Twitter for $44bn. The man himself announced the success of his deal in a tweet – of course. He has also dubbed himself “Chief Twit”, with which some may agree for the wrong reasons. There [...]
Rishi Sunak’s ‘City chic’ style is bringing back the suit

October 27, 2022

Rishi Sunak represents many firsts: he is the first prime minister of South Asian origin, the first to hold an MBA, and the first, perhaps, to be wealthier than the sovereign who invited him to form a government. But he is also unusual for a male prime minister in being acutely conscious of style and [...]
Boris Johnson can win elections, but he never knew what to do once he did

October 24, 2022

It also reduces politics to its bones as a mere transaction, with retaining office the only objective.
Peter O’Toole is the style icon, not Harry Styles

October 20, 2022

As a society obsessed with novelty and hyperbole, we seem to anoint a new “style icon” on a weekly basis, more often even than we change chancellors of the exchequer. Recently we have bowed down before Harry Styles, who seems to have slept in his grandmother’s laundry basket; Tom Holland, awkward out of his Spider-Man [...]
All the world’s a circus and Donald Trump front and centre again won’t help us

October 17, 2022

To haul him in to answer questions is to play into Trump’s game.
Truss has just about survived the rhetoric melodrama, now for the work

October 10, 2022

Harold Wilson’s maxim that a week is a long time in politics is in danger of becoming a rule for 2022 too. In the last eight days, we have seen the Conservative Party conference take place in Birmingham, the MPs and activists churn themselves into a maelstrom of high drama, and the government abandon its [...]
Truss has no real choice but to stick to her risky pro-growth proposition

October 3, 2022

No one could say that Liz Truss had started her premiership quietly, after the hiatus of mourning the late queen. The chancellor’s “mini-budget” ten days ago was one of the most significant changes of economic policy in a generation. While Kwasi Kwarteng might have hoped for better reviews of his first major outing, he has [...]
Liz Truss wants winning to be as easy as quick cash in voters’ back pockets

September 26, 2022

We often complain that politicians are unwilling to give straight and unambiguous answers. Last week we saw something different: the government was very clear that Friday’s statement to the House of Commons by the new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, was not—repeat, not—a budget. The name of the so-called fiscal statement, “the Growth Plan”, had a faint [...]

My ride in a helicopter over London as Leonardo expands its UK presence

2026 World Cup: England only attract half as many bets as Norway to lift trophy

Old Pulteney releases 50-year-old whisky for 200th anniversary

By: Eliot Wilson

All 451 Articles