Katy Balls

Katy Balls is Diary Editor at The Spectator.

Is Boris Johnson opening the way for vaccine passports?

16 February 2021 5:25 am

The government’s position on vaccine passports is a cause of continuing intrigue. Although Downing Street has insisted on several occasions…

Boris hits vaccine target – what happens next?

15 February 2021 3:22 am

The government has good news to shout about this afternoon with ministers reaching their target of offering a first dose vaccine…

Tory nerves are growing over Boris Johnson's Covid strategy

13 February 2021 1:21 am

When the third lockdown was voted on in the House of Commons last month, there was a smaller Tory rebellion than the previous…

Secrets of the Vaccine Taskforce’s success

6 February 2021 9:00 am

How the Vaccine Taskforce did it

Concern grows over South African variant

2 February 2021 6:04 am

Although there’s plenty of positive vaccine news to go around, the latest government press conference offered a sobering reminder of…

The true cost of school closures – an interview with the children's commissioner

30 January 2021 9:00 am

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, on why schools must reopen

Sturgeon has become the real opposition leader

9 January 2021 9:00 am

A few months ago, Tory aides spotted a suspicious pattern. If they agreed on a new Covid policy to be…

Covid sparks a major incident in London

9 January 2021 2:00 am

Is the NHS at risk of being overwhelmed? That’s a question of increasing concern in Westminster as hospital admissions rise. Sadiq Khan…

Johnson's Brexit deal sails through the Commons

31 December 2020 2:20 am

Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has passed the Commons with a majority of 448 at its third reading – with MPs voting…

Tory Brexiteers approve Boris Johnson's deal

30 December 2020 2:57 am

When Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal comes to a vote in the Commons on Wednesday, expect a bigger rebellion on the…

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock suggests Tier 4 could stay until vaccine 'rolled out'

20 December 2020 9:21 pm

As 16.4 million people wake up to the first day of Tier 4 restrictions, many are asking for how long…

Liz Truss's equalities speech is a sign of things to come

18 December 2020 5:13 am

Liz Truss has set the cat among the pigeons today with a speech entitled ‘the new fight for fairness’. The…

Is Boris Johnson braced for a Brexit deal?

16 December 2020 10:45 am

Prime Minister’s Questions may have proved a rather dreary affair this week but there was one reply that has become a source…

Four-nations Christmas Covid truce hangs in balance

16 December 2020 6:16 am

It’s become a regular refrain to hear that Brexit talks have been extended. Now the same applies to negotiations over…

Johnson and von der Leyen agree a new Brexit deadline

10 December 2020 9:42 am

Ahead of Boris Johnson’s dinner with Ursula von der Leyen, the hope in government had been that the discussion would…

Johnson's 'last throw of the dice' in Brexit talks

6 December 2020 11:28 pm

The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost has arrived in Brussels for last-minute talks with the EU’s Michel Barnier. After a phone…

Brexit talks resume despite 'critical issues'

6 December 2020 6:00 am

Brexit talks are back on between the UK and EU after a brief break. After both sides paused talks due…

Brexit negotiations paused ahead of crunch talks

5 December 2020 6:53 am

Those hoping for white smoke in the Brexit negotiations tonight will be left disappointed. After a week of intense negotiations,…

Boris Johnson suffers his biggest Tory revolt since the election

2 December 2020 6:56 am

When Boris Johnson addressed MPs this evening on a Zoom call ahead of the Commons vote on his new tier…

Is a no-deal Brexit underpriced?

30 November 2020 8:15 pm

As Brexit talks enter what is expected to be the last full week of substantive negotiations, opposition leaders are blasting the government…

Meet Boris Johnson’s new chief of staff

27 November 2020 1:28 am

Boris Johnson’s search for a chief of staff to bring order to 10 Downing Street has proved so difficult that…

Boris in a spin: can the PM find his way again?

21 November 2020 9:00 am

With Cummings gone, which way will the PM turn now?

Boris Johnson's 'reset' week gets off to a bad start

16 November 2020 8:29 am

After a weekend of torrid headlines over infighting in 10 Downing Street, Boris Johnson had hoped to use this week…

Dominic Cummings leaves the building

14 November 2020 6:15 am

After a week of infighting in Downing Street which saw the resignation of Director of Communications Lee Cain and senior aide Dominic…

Will Tory MPs back Boris's lockdown plan?

1 November 2020 7:38 am

Boris Johnson did not want to give a Downing Street press conference this evening. The Prime Minister had hoped to present his…