All work and no play makes the Westminster politicos dull. So why not combine both and socialise on the job? The power parties of Westminster are a legendary and intrinsic part of its scene. None are more prestigious than the Spectator magazine’s summer bash, which took place last week.
The Spectator leans Tory but tends to eschew the sort of bawdy tribal witterings that have crept into many other sections of the British press. The magazine retains its highbrow air and its political coverage is widely admired. It makes sense that invites to its political-themed parties are coveted by the elite, and anyone else who can wangle their way in.
This year’s summer party was originally meant to take place on Wednesday July 3rd, but former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a snap election for the next day scuppered it. The party was rescheduled for the following Tuesday in the garden behind the magazine’s offices, across the square from the houses of parliament.
Five days after the Tories suffered one of the worst defeats in British history, you would have thought that a Tory-leaning magazine’s party would have been funereal. It was anything but. The dynamics around the garden also reflected the political machinations of Westminster, as newly-ensconced Labour governmental bigwigs took centre stage while Tory leadership hopefuls jostled for position.
The Spectator’s summer bash is the power party of Westminster and its fuel is champagne
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Spectator parties are famous for their bottomless lakes of bubbly and from early the Pol Roger flowed with ease. By the end of the night, it seemed as if everyone must have been drinking from the champagne version of the Magic Porridge Pot.
Former prime minister Liz Truss may have lost her seat in the recent general election, but she retains a sense of status in Westminster and was one of the more prominent guests at the party. It was her first public outing since she was ousted from South West Norfolk by Labour.
Prime ministers, especially Tory ones, would normally be expected to attend but the new Labour premier, Keir Starmer, had to fly off to a Nato summit in Washington. It may also have been a blessing for Starmer – the son of a toolmaker, in case you hadn’t heard – to not be photographed with a glass of champagne less than a week after winning an election by appealing to Britain’s working class.
There were still several cabinet members present including the education secretary Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting, the health secretary. As a symbol of the transfer of political power, it was striking how the television cameras outside the party trained their gaze on the Labour arrivals.
Peter Mandelson, the Blairite former cabinet member who once helped to mould New Labour’s image, must have been proud as he observed the shift in power dynamics playing out before him.
While Tory leadership contenders such as Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel and James Cleverly worked the crowd, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, whose party helped to damn the Tories to defeat, was content to stay mostly in the same spot. Farage doesn’t move through the crowd. It moves through him. A steady stream of people marched up to congratulate him on his election. As the party was outside he was also allowed to smoke. No wonder he looked so happy.
Every good bash needs a dash of celebrity. London’s media glitterati were out in force as heavyweights such as Piers Morgan, Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel flitted around. Angsty academic Jordan Peterson could also be seen posing for selfies with his admirers. Paul McGuinness, the former long-time manager of U2, was good company as he chatted on a bench at the back of the garden.
As the night wore on, the relentless flow of champagne began to tell and the giddiness kicked in. One former Tory cabinet member almost came bouncing down the steps after misplacing their step. Current and former MPs and their various hangers on began filtering out, although an exalted few stayed behind for drinks in the office of Fraser Nelson, the magazine’s editor.
Parliament goes into recess this month and when it returns, the focus shifts on to the party conferences that take place around the country – the Tories this year will be in Birmingham while Labour returns to Liverpool.
But where the Westminster merry-go-round goes, so does the Westminster power party. The Spectator’s champagne party is the main fringe event of the Tory conference, while the Daily Mirror tends to fill that slot at the Labour conference. The Spectator, however, now also runs a party at the Labour gathering. Where the power goes, the politicos must follow.