''Total Politics'' is a British political magazine described as "a lifestyle magazine for the political community". It was first published in June 2008, and is distributed freely to all MPs, MEPs, peers, political journalists, members of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies, and all senior

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s down to

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

level as well as being available by subscription and sold on newsstands. The magazine was created by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

journalist

Iain Dale Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...

and the political commentator and author Shane Greer. The two men launched ''Total Politics'' with some financial backing from the then Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Ashcroft, who in return owned a 25% stake in the parent company Biteback Media. The magazine claims to have a fundamental goal of being "unremittingly positive about the political process".. The launch editor was Sarah Mackinlay, daughter of the then Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay. In 2012, Biteback Media was acquired by Dods. As of mid-2022, the totalpolitics.com website and associated twitter account have been inactive since March 11, 2020.

In Conversation Interviews

Each issue of ''Total Politics'' carries a set-piece ‘In Conversation’ interview with a senior figure from British politics. The interviews are presented in a question and answer format, with no interpretation or analysis". In addition, the interviews include a mini-interview called the ‘Quick Fire’ which is published as a box-out and involves more light-hearted questions. Past interviewees have included: * Former Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

MP * Mayor of London

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

* Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...

MP * Former Prime Minister David Cameron MP * Labour Party Leader

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...

MP *Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone *Former Liberal Democrat Leader Lord Ashdown *

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth ...

*Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as ...

Guide to Political Blogging

Each year, ''Total Politics'' publishes the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK, a book which includes a list of every political blog in the UK, lists of the best blogs in each blogging category (called Top Lists) and analysis of the British political blogosphere written by experts in political blogging. The Guide was originally published independently by

, but was taken over by Total Politics when it launched in 2008. The Top Lists categories (as of the 2009/2010 blogging guide) are: *Top 300 UK Political Blogs *Top 100 Left of Centre Blogs *Top 100 Right of Centre Blogs *Top 75 LibDem Blogs *Top 20 Libertarian Blogs *Top 30 Green Blogs *Top 60 Welsh Blogs *Top 50 Scottish Blogs *Top 20 Northern Irish Blogs *Top 30 MP Blogs *Top 40 Councillor Blogs *Top 50 Non-Aligned Blogs *Top 30 Media Blogs The winners in each category are determined by public vote through an email poll. As well as being recognised in the Guide, winners are also provided with digital awards badges to put on their blogs.

Total Politics Ranking

A common theme in Total Politics is the publication of rankings for all things politics. This includes one-off rankings such as the ‘Top 50 Political Myths’, the ‘Top 10 Political Gifts’ and annual rankings such as the ‘Top 100 Political Journalists’ and the ‘Top 100 Public Affairs Professionals’.

Editorial Board

Designed to ensure political neutrality, the editorial board includes the following: – *Former

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

leader Lord Ashdown *Journalist and history professor

Brian Brivati Brian Leopoldo Brivati is a British historian. He was a professor of contemporary history at Kingston University and worked as a director of the John Smith memorial trust from 2008 to 2012. His work has appeared in ''The Guardian'', ''The Time ...

Shami Chakrabarti Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promote ...

, the director of the human rights group

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

*Conservative MP David Davis *Former Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne *Former Labour MPs Andrew MacKinlay and

Denis MacShane Denis MacShane (born Josef Denis Matyjaszek; 21 May 1948) is a British former politician, author and commentator who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and has held most party offices. ...

* Scottish National Party MP

Angus MacNeil Angus Brendan MacNeil ( gd, Aonghas Brianan MacNèill; born 21 July 1970) is the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for covering the Outer Hebrides. Background MacNeil was educated at Castlebay Secondary School on the isla ...

*Former Conservative leader of Westminster City Council, Sir Simon Milton * Lord Trimble, former leader of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

and former

First Minister of Northern Ireland The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of the Northern Ireland Executive and have overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the different titles for the two ...

References

External links

Total Politics
(official site) {{Dods 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2008