By Bagehot A WHILE back, debate gripped David Cameron’s inner circle, on the subject of how to persuade a sceptical British public to embrace elected city mayors. A rather abstruse…

May 4th 2012 By Bagehot DESPITE stiff competition from local and mayoral election results involving almost 200 local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland, Peter Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet…

May 3rd 2012 By Bagehot MY PRINT column this week reports on William Hague’s recent visit to south-east Asia and what it reveals about the Foreign Secretary’s vision for British…

May 1st 2012 By Bagehot TOM Watson, the Labour MP who has done more than most members of the British Parliament to uncover wrongdoing within the media companies run by…

May 1st 2012 By Bagehot CHARLOTTE Leslie, the thoughtful new Conservative MP for Bristol North West, makes an interesting suggestion in today’s Daily Telegraph. Given that improving the quality of…

By Bagehot BAGEHOT spent today in Singapore on the final leg of a trip watching the British foreign secretary at work in Asia. A future column will discuss Britain’s new…

Apr 25th 2012 By Bagehot “YOU don’t see many white people round here,” said the American lecturer, visibly startled to encounter Bagehot at the Banking Academy of Vietnam, a sprawling…

By Bagehot REPORTING from a summit some years ago, your correspondent found himself following the foreign minister of another country into a press conference. The foreign minister in question, a…

Apr 19th 2012 By Bagehot MY PRINT column this week is from Bristol, one of ten English cities that on May 3rd are holding a referendum on whether to have…

By Bagehot THE BRITISH debate about shale gas extraction has made headlines today, following the publication of a government-commissioned study suggesting that the unconventional drilling technique can safely be tested…