The Spectator

The Spectator is a British centre-right political weekly magazine, the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language, founded in 1828. It has a circulation of approximately 75,000 and a significant digital readership. It is owned by Sir Paul Marshall, who acquired it in 2023, and has been editorially associated with the British centre-right intelligentsia since its founding. The magazine's political positions broadly favour free markets, low taxation and scepticism of EU integration, though it maintains independent editorial lines and has published critical coverage of figures across the right.

During the 2026 election cycle, The Spectator published analysis of the BBC Wales 'Your Voice Live' leaders debate, broadcast on 28 April, reporting that Nigel Farage achieved a net rating of minus 18 in Wales (32% doing well, 50% doing badly), while Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth held a net positive of plus 10. Its coverage of the Welsh debate is notable because it provided the only widely-cited post-debate net rating data for Farage's performance in Wales, a number his opponents used to argue that Reform UK's rise had a ceiling there despite strong national polling.

In July, Spectator columnist Charles Moore argued that Andy Burnham's uncontested route to Downing Street delivered spectacle without a policy platform, questioning what an incoming prime minister chosen without a single Labour member casting a vote actually stood for.