The wrong Miliband, p12

The people in charge of the Republican party, p22

Portrait of the artist as a housewife superstar, p38

THE WEEK

5 Leading article 9 Portrait of the Week 11 Diary Nick Clegg 12 Politics Fraser Nelson 13 The Spectator’s Notes 16 Mind your language 18 Rod Liddle 20 Barometer 24 HugoRifkind 26 James Delingpole 28 Letters 31 Any other business Martin VanderWeyer

14 Cameron’s newmodelarmy Winning over the voters who could win it for the Tories James Forsyth 16 Find yourself in Thurso Self-realisation begins at home

— if you have any sense Melanie McDonagh 20 Back off, baby-kissers We know far too much about politicians’ dogs and children Tanya Gold 22 AnAmerican revolution Whatever happens to Congress, the

Tea Party has remade Republicanism W. James Antle III 25 The great and the good Baroness Warnock is a liberal, but she is also unfashionably rigorous Sholto Byrnes 30 Weneedyourvote The starting gun is fired for

Parliamentarian of the Year Peter Hoskin

BOOKS & ARTS

Books 34 Ferdinand Mount State of Emergency,

by Dominic Sandbrook 36 Robert Stewart Image Wars,

by Kevin Sharpe 37 Alan Judd Heartstone,

by C. J. Sansom Simon Curtis ‘Mechanical Nightclub Bronco’:

a poem 38 Paul Routledge Decline & Fall,

by Chris Mullin Patrick Skene Catling Handling Edna,

by Barry Humphries 40 Ian Thomson Chasing the Devil,

by Tim Butcher 41 Peter Hoskin Walking to Hollywood,

byWill Self Melissa Kite Bookends

Cover by Simon Farr. Drawings by Ian Tovey, Michael Heath, Castro, Adam Singleton, Nick Newman, Geoff Thompson, Bernie, Holland, Robert Thompson, K.J. Lamb, Mazurke, Alexander and Nick Downes www.spectator.co.uk To subscribe to The Spectator for £104 a year, turn to page 66 Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0250, Email: editor@spectator.co.uk (editorial); letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0219 Advertising fax: 020 7961 0020 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne ME9 8GU;Tel: 01795 592886 Fax: 0870 220 0290; Email: spectator@servicehelpline.co.uk Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7961 0057, Email: dstam@pressholdings.com Distributor COMAG Specialist, Tavistock Works, Tavistock Road,West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QX Vol 314; no 9501 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson

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the spectator | 2 October 2010 | www.spectator.co.uk Britain: the rubbish years, p34

Faust goes nuclear, p56

How to paint a vanished coast, p42

Fine ArtsSpecial 42 On the edge of the cliff Julian Perry’s art of erosion

Andrew Lambirth 44 Culture notes Andrew Petrie 46 Exhibitions Victor Willing:A Retrospective

John McEwen 49 Art fairs

Is France losing ground? Susan Moore 50 Sculpture

Arte Sella sculpture park Roderick Conway Morris 53 Cinema Made in Dagenham

Deborah Ross 54 Olden but golden Charles Spencer 55 Theatre Yes, Prime Minister;The Big Fellah

Lloyd Evans 56 Opera The Makropoulos Case; Faust

Michael Tanner 57 Radio Kate Chisholm 58 Television James Delingpole

LIFE

63 High life Taki Low life Jeremy Clarke 65 Real life Melissa Kite 66 The turf Robin Oakley 67 Mini-bar Simon Hoggart Bridge Susanna Gross

Andfinaly . . . 68 Chess Raymond Keene 69 Competition; Crossword 70Status anxiety Toby Young Dave Michael Heath 71 Sport Roger Alton Yourproblemssolved Mary Killen

Some say it’s good to call the PM Dave. Nah. AChristian name doesn’t mean you care Tanya Gold, p20

Barry Humphries wonders how he could ever have allowed Dame Edna to ruin his life Patrick Skene Catling, p38

You don’t need to be grand to land an invitation to one of the great houses. Just interesting. Or funny. Or beautiful. Or soundly right-wing James Delingpole, p58

Contributors

Nick Clegg (Diary, p11) is the Deputy Prime Minister. Melanie McDonagh (‘Find yourself in Thurso’, p16) is a columnist and leader writer for the London Evening Standard.

W. James Antle III (‘It’s their party’, p22) is associate editor of the American Spectator.

Paul Routledge (Books, p38) is a columnist on the Daily Mirror and has written a biography of Gordon Brown.

Ian Thomson (Books, p40) won the Royal Society of Literature’s 2010 Ondaatje Prize for The Dead Yard (Faber).

the spectator | 2 October 2010 | www.spectator.co.uk

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