The Spectator

This article is about the British weekly magazine: there are articles on several other magazines called "The Spectator" such as Addison and Steele's influential literary magazine, The Spectator (1711), and the others can be found at The Spectator (disambiguation). See also The American Spectator magazine.

The Spectator is a British | magazine, established in 1828 and published weekly. It is owned by the Barclay brothers, who also own The Daily Telegraph, and claims to be the oldest continuously-published magazine in the English language. Its principal subject area is politics, about which it generally takes a robust and even provocative conservative line. The magazine also has extensive arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews.

Editorship of The Spectator has been a route to high office in the British Conservative Party; past editors include Iain Macleod, Ian Gilmour and Nigel Lawson, all of whom became cabinet ministers. Equally editorship can be a springboard for a greater role in public, as with Boris Johnson (1999 to 2005) who is still a minor celebrity and figure of fun in Britain, despite having moved on to a more serious role as Shadow Minister for Higher Education.

Policy positions

The Spectator has always been nationalistic throughout its lifetime (1828-present), notably in 1904 when it raised concerns about the anti-British and Pan-Asian attitudes prevalent amongst Indian students in Japan.

Like its sister publication The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator is Atlanticist in outlook, favouring close ties with the United States rather than with the European Union, and it is usually supportive of Israel. However, it has expressed strong doubts about the Iraq war, and some of its contributors, such as Matthew Parris and Stuart Reid, express a more Americosceptic, old-school conservative line. Other contributors such as Mark Steyn argue from a neoconservative and usually pro-Bush position. Like much of the British press it is critical of the unilateral extradition treaty that has condemned the Natwest three to extradition without a prima facie case, devoted a leading article to lambast the US Senate (The Spectator July 2006).

Popular culture

Although writing about popular culture is not really a priority for The Spectator, it is one of the few magazines where one can still find, in todays world, a good old fashioned rant against rock music (e.g. "It's all just noise"). Usually for The Spectator popular culture includes gallery openings, new opera productions and other elements of high culture. It does have a television and cinema section, but these are more often given over to personal soliloquys by the writers - for example James Delingpole, the television writer, tends to moan more about how poor and unsuccessful he is than what he enjoyed from the previous weeks television.

Given the conservative target audience and the educated readers the Spectator tends to look at the middle class fashions and culture - sourcing organic food at markets say, or discussing the pros and cons of private education. Certain British cultural establishments are favourably alluded to, such as Oxford (where many contributors have attended), Ascot and clubs like White's

Contributors

The Spectator has always had room for eccentric contributors in its "back of magazine" sections. These have included Jeffrey Bernard and Taki. Joan Collins contributes regularly as Guest Diarist, as does Barry Humphries (who for his cross dressing humour, is actually quite conservative).

Recent times

The magazine has prospered in recent times. Under its editor Boris Johnson apparently clumsy public relations did no harm, and Johnson's Wodehousian aura may have distracted from the political line. He resigned in December 2005, on taking up an appointment as Shadow Minister for Higher Education.

The circulation was not at all hindered by the notoriety the magazine achieved after revalations about Johnson's affair with one of his columnists Petronella Wyatt, the extramarital adventures of its publisher Kimberly Quinn and affair of the associate editor Rod Liddle. The nickname The Sextator has gained some currency.

Editors

Robert Stephen Rintoul 1828, as founder, to 1861 when the position was shared with Hutton
R. H. Hutton 1861–87
John St. Loe Strachey 1887–1925
Evelyn Wrench 1925–32
Wilson Harris 1932–52
Walter Taplin 1953–4
Ian Gilmour 1954–9
Brian Inglis 1959–62
Iain Hamilton 1962–3
Iain Macleod 1963–5
Nigel Lawson 1966–70
George Gale 1970–73
Harold Creighton 1973–75
Alexander Chancellor 1975–84
Charles Moore 1984–90
Dominic Lawson 1990–5
Frank Johnson 1995–9
Boris Johnson 1999–2005
Matthew D'Ancona 2006–

External links

The Spectator official site
Digital edition

Political magazines | British magazines | Weekly magazines