The Staggers in crisis

What's happening at the New Statesman? Despite a handsome, and very expensive, relaunch back in 2006, the magazine's circulation continues to stagnate—in the last round of ABC audits it was even overtaken by some rag called Prospect—and the recent departure of John Kampfner means the magazine has been through seven editors in 20 years.

Yet while the Staggers has, well, staggered, the magazine's counterpart on the right, the Spectator, has flourished, selling almost three times as many copies. Some take this to be a sign that the NS has simply failed to shake off its slightly fusty, Fabiany image and make itself relevant in the modern age. But in a new web exclusive for Prospect, David Herman argues that the flailing fortunes of the Statesman are symptomatic of broader ruptures within the British left, which came to a head over Iraq and continue to define much of the political conversation. Read the piece here.