Spectator, The

Firstly I'll just quickly explain what the Spectator is, what you can expect from it and where you can get it before segueing gracefully into unabashed polemic. The Spectator is a political magazine that has been going since 1828. Whilst there is no strict party line that contributors have to adhere to they are generally of right wing persuasion. The writing is fiercely argued and cuts against the grain. Whilst this can be refreshing on occasions, when the positions in a debate have gone particularly stale (Europe for example) it can seem that they seek controversy for its own sake. It is, in short, like most magazines; with some good things, some bad things ...

While the other current opinion on this places the Spectator "to the right of the BNP", I don't think that's fair. It is of course the case that someone thinking it was an objective journal would gain a skewed view of British politics, but nonetheless it carries pieces from the liberal right as much as from the conservative right, and frequent writers from other viewpoints. Where the Spectator falls down is in pitching itself too high, and attempting to be two things at once. Ultimately it doesn't appeal to the hardcore intellectual market, as there are publications of pure thinking material which will always beat it there. ...

The Spectator is a weekly magazine which contains commentary on news and current affairs, book reviews, film reviews and other things in a similar vein. The Spectator itself is a Tory magazine (it is owned by the owner of the Telegraph group), and this is refected in its editorial line (its editor is the excellent Boris Johnson), and the views of its regular columnists, however the bulk of the news comment is written by guest journalists and politicians and is a lot more varied. The articles are well researched, and well written, and if controversal will usually be replied to on the letters page. To those of a Tory disposition, there really is no reason not to ...