Melanie Batley

Take a look at the photo on the front page of the The Times this morning and you'll understand why Boris is 12 points ahead of Ken in the race for Mayor of London: That boyish and affable Boris appears to have spontaneously thrown his arm around his rival's neck...

If you haven't read Samantha Brick's columns in the Daily Mail yesterday and today, then you need to.

She says that from experience, being beautiful is a double-edged sword: men will lavish her with attention and praise, but women are so thoroughly threatened they will...

The debate over hitting children was reignited last week when David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, said that the 2004 changes to the law on smacking children were partly to blame for the social disorder during last summer's riots in London. (The Labour changes to the law...

Dear David (none of your close friends call you 'Dave', do they?),

Well, honey, we are all immensely proud of what you did at the European summit and the strategy I recommended seems to be the one you pursued. At the very least, insults from the French president...

Conservatives love a good row about Europe, and according to the polls, it looks like the public wouldn't mind one either.

After all, as recently as six weeks ago, didn't the Tories promise to bring back powers from the EU? Plus they said in their manifesto, "We will be...

A survey out this week by Netmums found that more than three in four women have less sex after they have children and 43% of those surveyed feel that after giving birth, their other half doesn't see them in a romantic light anymore. Half accused their husbands of 'forgetting' who...

An Oxford University study out today reported that first-time mothers that go for a home birth are almost three times more likely to have complications than if they had their baby at the hospital. Plus half of them end up having to be transferred to the hospital during labour.

Today the prime minister launched an attack on 'coasting schools' and announced that the government is committed to increasing the number of free schools.

In other words, he's saying that there are a large number of state schools in this country that aren't particularly horrible but that are...

There is absolutely no doubt that Liam Fox is an excellent Secretary of State and MP. He's been on the front bench for some time, having earned high esteem from colleagues and constituents. But what should we make of Werritty?

Unless you're an opposition MP, most people don't care. And...

When ordinary Britons woke-up yesterday morning to read the headlines that Cameron was instructing them to promptly pay off their credit card bills, the sound of chokes on cornflakes was heard throughout the land. "How dare that little Tory toff tell me off about my Visa bill?", they thought.

In a speech addressing the Conservative Party Conference today, Chancellor George Osborne focused on outlining a number of steps to deal with the country's debt and stimulate growth; the two key messages that he and the Prime Minister have been emphasising during this Conference. But the announcement that will excite...

Welcome to Manchester where the rain is falling and an estimated 30,000 people took to the streets today to protest against the Government's proposed cuts to public services and pensions.

The TUC and an array of left-wingers were out in full force to welcome the Tories as they rolled...

In case middle class mothers didn't have enough insecurity about the quality of their parenting, a childcare expert has warned this week that the propensity to dedicate our energy, time and money giving them stimulation in the form of classes and activities could be counter-productive to their development.