Andrew Bailey’s pessimistic pre-Budget warning
With a week to go until Rachel Reeves’s first Budget, Andrew Bailey has today sounded a note of gloomy caution.…
Inside the race for the Chancellor of Oxford
What do we mean these days when we talk about the British ‘establishment’? When Henry Fairlie coined the term in…
Tories try to hammer Labour on freebies
It seems that one of the great posts in British politics has been filled at last. The title of ‘Minister…
Can Morgan McSweeney reboot the government machine?
The Queen is dead: long live the King. This week brought an end to Downing Street’s unhappy experiment in dyarchy.…
James Cleverly storms into the lead
It’s official: the Tories believe in JC. Following last week’s party conference in Birmingham, James Cleverly has this afternoon topped…
Cleverly gains momentum as Tory MPs prepare to vote
Tory MPs are today preparing to cast their votes in the next round of the party’s leadership contest. The final…
Can Keir Starmer sell carbon capture?
The Prime Minister is in Liverpool today, outlining plans for green investment. Nearly £22billion is pledged for projects to capture…
Tugendhat clashes with Cleverly over Chagos Islands
With less than a week to go until MPs vote in the Tory leadership race, a row has blown up…
Britain could regret handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius
The United Kingdom will shortly be ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of a new…
Robert Jenrick promises a ‘new Conservative party’
The Tory front runner was third up in Birmingham. Throughout this race, Robert Jenrick has sought to position himself as…
Tom Tugendhat fails to rouse the Tories
It is the final day of Tory conference and the event for which we have all been waiting: the four…
Kemi Badenoch comes out fighting
It has been a busy Conservative conference for Kemi Badenoch, whose comments on Sunday about maternity pay have dominated the…
Liz Truss: I would have won more seats than Rishi
There are noticeably fewer people here at Tory conference in Birmingham this week. But one former MP can still reliably…
Rishi Sunak urges unity in farewell as Tory leader
It was a curious farewell for Rishi Sunak this afternoon. The Tory leader has just finished his final speech to…
Inside Labour’s love affair with Lord Alli
As a peer who hates publicity, Lord Alli might have been expected to dodge the Labour conference – given the…
Will ‘flatgate’ damage Keir Starmer?
Labour conference has been and gone and still Lord Alli remains in the headlines. The latest claims regarding the multimillionaire…
Keir Starmer is in the mood to fight
Keir Starmer’s first conference speech as Prime Minister neatly embodied the past three days in Liverpool: patchy, uninspiring, with a…
Ed Davey’s game plan
Ed Davey owes much of his election success to Boris Johnson – and in more ways than one. The slide-loving,…
Two takeaways from Ed Davey’s conference speech
Sir Ed Davey has just finished his conference speech in Brighton. No party is likely to hold a more upbeat…
Labour’s winter fuel woes are a sign of things to come
On paper, the result was a success for Labour. Despite excited reports, government whips managed to keep their party’s great…
The ‘British Muslim patriot’ on a mission to get Farage into No. 10
Few people had heard of Zia Yusuf before he spoke at Reform’s final campaign rally in Birmingham. But after a…
How select committees could cause trouble for Keir Starmer
It’s not just the Tories facing a big vote next week. Across the House of Commons, MPs will be choosing…
Inside the 1922 hustings for Tory leader
This evening Tory MPs filed into parliament’s Committee Room 14 to hear from the six hopefuls aspiring to lead their…
Tom Tugendhat’s pitch: I’m a proper conservative, honest guv
Tom Tugendhat finally launched his leadership campaign today with a big speech in Whitehall – the third he has made…
Farage’s next move in his plan to destroy the Tories
On Tuesday afternoon, a familiar figure pulled up at a Westminster café to plot the Tories’ downfall. Nigel Farage beamed…
