Editing The Spectator (section)

===Dominic Lawson and Frank Johnson===
As ''The Spectator'' was bought by the [[Telegraph Group]], Moore resigned the editorship in 1990 to become deputy editor of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. He was replaced by his own deputy editor, [[Dominic Lawson]]—the former editor's son. Shortly after becoming editor, Lawson became responsible for the resignation of a cabinet minister when he interviewed the [[Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]], [[Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale|Nicholas Ridley]]. During the interview, Ridley described the proposed [[Economic and Monetary Union]] as "a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe", and seemed to draw comparisons between the German Chancellor [[Helmut Kohl]] and [[Adolf Hitler]]. The interview appeared in the issue of 14 July 1990, the cover of which showed a cartoon by [[Nicholas Garland]] that showed Ridley painting a crude comb-over and a Hitler moustache onto a poster of Kohl. Ridley resigned from Thatcher's government immediately.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Lawson|first=Dominic|date=14 July 1990|url=https://c59574e9047e61130f13-3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/ADF066927DB5403D9B70493E2B465BFF.pdf|title=Germany Calling|magazine=The Spectator|page=8|access-date=16 March 2024|via=Margaret Thatcher Foundation|archive-date=16 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316030433/https://c59574e9047e61130f13-3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/ADF066927DB5403D9B70493E2B465BFF.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Jonathan |date=22 September 2011 |title=From the archives: Ridley was right |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/from-the-archives-ridley-was-right/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616161744/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/from-the-archives-ridley-was-right/ |archive-date=2024-06-16 |access-date=16 March 2024 |website=The Spectator}}</ref>

''The Spectator'' caused controversy in 1994 when it printed an article entitled "Kings of the Deal" on a claimed Jewish influence in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], written by [[William Cash (journalist)|William Cash]], who at the time was based in Los Angeles and working mainly for ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', which had considered the article too risky to publish. Lawson thought Cash's idea was as old as Hollywood itself and that Lawson's being Jewish would mitigate adverse reactions to publication. There was considerable controversy. Although owner [[Conrad Black]] did not personally rebuke Lawson, [[Max Hastings]], then editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'', wrote with regard to Black, who also owned ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' at the time, "It was one of the few moments in my time with Conrad when I saw him look seriously rattled: 'You don't understand, Max. My entire interests in the United States and internationally could be seriously damaged by this'."<ref>{{cite web|last=Lawson|first=Dominic|date=25 January 2004|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/01/25/do2501.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/01/25/ixopinion.html|url-status=dead|title=If Conrad Black was a bully – I never saw it|website=The Telegraph|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061228204101/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/01/25/do2501.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/01/25/ixopinion.html|archive-date=28 December 2006|access-date=16 March 2024}}</ref>

The article was defended by some conservatives. [[John Derbyshire]], who says he has "complicated and sometimes self-contradictory feelings about Jews", wrote on ''[[National Review Online]]'' regarding what he saw as the Jewish overreaction to the article that "It was a display of arrogance, cruelty, ignorance, stupidity, and sheer bad manners by rich and powerful people towards a harmless, helpless young writer, and the Jews who whipped up this preposterous storm should all be thoroughly ashamed of themselves".<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Derbyshire on NRO |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshireprint041001.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517171236/http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshireprint041001.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=18 April 2008 |website=National Review}}</ref> Lawson left in 1995 to become editor of ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', and was replaced by a deputy editor of the same newspaper, [[Frank Johnson (journalist)|Frank Johnson]]. After the [[1997 United Kingdom general election]], Johnson averted a decline in ''The Spectator''{{'s}} sales by recruiting "[[New Labour]] contributors", and shifting the magazine's direction slightly away from politics. In 1996, the magazine's Christmas issue featured an interview with [[The Spice Girls]], in which the band members gave their "[[Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom|Euro-sceptic]] and generally anti-labour" views on politics. Shortly before her death [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], was depicted on the magazine's cover as the figurehead of [[Mohamed Al-Fayed]]'s boat, The Jonikal.<ref>''The Spectator'', 16 August 1997</ref>