Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Thursday

23 May 2024

Cyclists are the Jeremy Corbyns of the road

Three years ago next month, the journalist Andy Webb put in a Freedom of Information request to the BBC. He asked for material which he believes would expose a new cover-up of the BBC’s behaviour over Martin Bashir’s notorious 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The cover-up in question (there was a much earlier one shortly after the interview first aired) took place, he believes, between September and November 2020, and involved the BBC’s decision to release certain documents, while concealing others. Lord Dyson’s investigation of the saga began shortly afterwards. Some documents which Lord Dyson did see, and published with his report, contain in them clues to

Katy Balls

Inside Labour’s fight with the unions

By the end of the year, Britain may be one of the few countries in the democratic world where the right is losing. In America, Donald Trump is the favourite to win. Ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections, momentum is with Germany’s AfD, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Austria’s Freedom party. Migration is the most pertinent issue pushing Europe rightwards, but many voters are also turning to insurgent right-wing parties as a rebellion against the cost of net-zero policies. Labour sees an electoral benefit in sticking to its green energy plans to stop voters defecting to the Greens In the UK, the future of green scepticism looks somewhat

The Spectator

A summer election is suicide for the Tories

As soon as Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons that ‘there is going to be a general election in the second half of this year’, nervous Tory MPs spotted a problem: that could mean 4 July, which the Prime Minister has now announced will be the election date. Calling an early election is an admission of defeat – and that, on everything from public finances to public services, the worst is yet to come With every opinion poll pointing to a Labour landslide, it’s unclear what Sunak is trying to gain – unless he has given up hope of victory altogether. Calling an early election is an admission of

Katy Balls

The deluge: Rishi Sunak’s election gamble

‘Only a Conservative government, led by me, will not put our hard-earned economic stability at risk,’ said Rishi Sunak as he announced a general election on the steps of Downing Street in the pouring rain. Upon these words, the Labour anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ boomed out from the street. The din made the rest of his speech nearly inaudible. His suit jacket went from wet to soaking. ‘It’s bizarre,’ said one former minister. ‘How are we supposed to trust No. 10’s judgment when no one in the group even knows what an umbrella is?’ Sunak’s gamble is that while he can’t get a hearing in government, he might

Wednesday

22 May 2024

James Heale

Sunak makes security central to his stump speech

Rishi Sunak tonight made his first stump speech, kicking off the Tory election campaign with an appearance at the Excel Centre in the East End of London. The Prime Minister took to the stage after James Cleverly served as his warm-up act, reliving the role he played in the last election as party chairman and Tory cheerleader. The contrast between the two men emphasised the message which Sunak wanted to land. While Cleverly’s speech was relaxed and off the-cuff and relaxed, Sunak stuck to his autocue and talked up the importance of security in this election, using variations of the word eight times in his ten-minute speech to the 100-odd

Steerpike

Watch: Sky journalist thrown out of Tory launch

Oh dear. Not much time has passed since Rishi Sunak’s bombshell general election announcement this afternoon but already tensions are running high. After being kept waiting for the Prime Minister’s electoral update today, journalists are channelling their pent-up energy into providing rolling Rishi coverage — which includes trying to sneak into the Tory party’s official campaign launch event this evening. But one Sky journalist received a rather frosty reception when he attempted to cover tonight’s Conservative campaign event at the ExCeL centre in east London. Although selective media arrangements were in place, the broadcaster decided to try to pop in anyway — much to the irritation of several unimpressed security

Sam Leith

Sunak’s election speech was embarrassingly bad

Let’s be fair. It wasn’t Rishi Sunak’s fault it was raining. But it was, a bit, his fault that as someone who has ‘never been prouder to be British’, and so is presumably familiar with the way weather works in this country, he didn’t take one look at the lead-grey sky and make a contingency plan. That contingency plan could have been waiting 24 hours. It could have been delivering his speech indoors. It could have been – I don’t know – getting someone to stand a few feet away with a brolly, just in case. As an incumbent Prime Minister setting out your stall for re-election, you don’t

Katy Balls

Sunak’s biggest gamble yet: a July election

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak has called a general election on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. Is a summer election a wise decision? Katy Balls and James Heale discuss from parliament. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Patrick O’Flynn

Are Labour really nailed on to win?

What happens when a resistible force collides with a moveable object? Such is the nature of the imminent battle between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak for the keys to No. 10. Given the underwhelming appeal of both men and the extent of public disillusionment with politics in general, it is hardly likely to be a vintage clash. But with expectations for him and his party set so low, just by taking the initiative Sunak may cause some voters to reassess him. It now seems clear that a 4 July election has been the plan for quite some time and the PM’s repeated undertakings that polling day would come ‘in the

Kate Andrews

The general election has ruined prospects of an early rate cut

Would waiting another few months to call a general election have improved the Conservatives’ prospects? Rishi Sunak didn’t touch upon this in his speech today, announcing a general election for 4 July, but it seems likely that their broad assessment was no. One of the big reasons for waiting until the autumn was the possibility of another fiscal statement. Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget left plenty to be desired by many Tory MPs, who wanted income tax cuts and changes to inheritance tax. The hope was that the public finances would improve in the spring and summer, offering up another chance to craft a tax-cutting narrative – and to give more

James Heale

Starmer pitches stability

Within 20 minutes of Rishi Sunak announcing plans for a July election, Keir Starmer was up delivering his response. The Labour leader’s first pitch of the campaign could be summed up in six words: stop the chaos, vote for change. It is a neat encapsulation of Starmer’s four-year-mission as Leader of the Opposition – making his party electable again by fashioning it as the safe, reliable, respectable mainstream of British politics. Central to Labour’s election campaign will be contrasting Sir Keir’s leadership with the three Tory premiers he has faced across the despatch box. Over the next six weeks, he and his shadow cabinet will hammer home to voters the

Steerpike

Might Sunak actually win? A history of election miracles

Is it madness to call a general election when you’re 20 points behind in the polls? That depends on whether the pollsters and pundits are any more reliable now than when they promised us that Brexit would flop, that Hillary would win and that David Cameron had a 0.5 per cent chance of winning the general election. The last ten years have seen a stream of against-all-odds election victories — and Rishi Sunak’s only hope is that he can pull off one of these miracles. Here are four that he might have in mind… 1. David Cameron’s 2015 majority Such is the hubris of the pollsters that in 2015 they

Keir Starmer

With this election we can stop the chaos

The Prime Minister has finally announced the next general election. A moment the country needs and has been waiting for. And where, by the force of our democracy, power returns to you. A chance to change for the better. Your future, your community, your country. Now it will feel like a long campaign, I’m sure of that. But no matter what else is said and done, that opportunity for change is what this election is about. Over the course of the last four years, we’ve changed. The Labour party returned once more to the service of working people. All we ask now, humbly, is to do exactly the same for

James Hanson

Why didn’t Rishi wait?

So there we have it. Westminster’s favourite parlour game has finally concluded. We now know the date of the general election, 4 July. As his political capital continues to seep away, Rishi Sunak has decided to play one of his last remaining jokers – the right to call an election before he’s constitutionally obliged. But given the Conservatives remain more than 20 points behind Labour in the polls, the question remains: why didn’t Rishi wait? Much as Boris had a ‘countdown to Brexit’ clock installed in CCHQ in 2019, Sunak might as well install a ‘countdown to California’ clock in No. 10 Let’s be blunt. Barring some kind of miracle,

Rishi Sunak

Why I’m calling a general election

In the last five years, our country has fought through the most challenging times since the second world war. As I stand here as your Prime Minister, I can’t help but reflect that my first proper introduction to you was just over four years ago. I stood behind one of the podiums upstairs in the building behind me. I told you that we faced a generation defining moment and that we as a society, could not be judged by some government action, but by the small acts of kindness that we showed one another. You met that challenge and then some, and I have never been prouder to be British.

Katy Balls

Sunak takes his biggest gamble yet: a July election

Rishi Sunak has chosen to go for a summer election. The Prime Minister has confirmed in an address to the nation this evening that the 2024 general election will be held on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. His announcement comes after speculation since this morning that Sunak was planning to roll the dice and go to the polls in the summer rather than wait for the autumn. Notably, No. 10 chose not to dampen down the speculation – and when asked at lunchtime Sunak repeated his old line that the election would be held in

Stephen Daisley

Stop children from suffering when their parents go to jail

Writing about the impact on children of having a parent in prison, you always hit the same brick wall: no one knows how many children have a parent in prison, including the Ministry of Justice. The MoJ estimates that ‘approximately 200,000 children’ have a parent in or heading to prison. Ministers have commissioned a review which is due to provide an updated figure on 13 June. The charity Prison Advice and Care Trust, pulling together various strands of MoJ statistics, suggested something in the ballpark of 100,000, though they only counted male prisoners. Meanwhile, Crest Advisory, a criminal justice consultancy, puts the figure much higher, at 312,000. If this lack of reliable data makes it difficult

Steerpike

Cameron snubs Albania for impromptu cabinet meeting

Dear oh dear. Rishi Sunak failed to quash election speculation in this afternoon’s Prime Minister’s Questions and now lobby hacks are desperately trying to figure out whether a big announcement really is looming. In their hunt for clues, a number of journalists have drawn attention to the cancellation of two rather high profile events as Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps hurry back to Westminster for an impromptu cabinet meeting this afternoon. Shapps has delayed a political visit to Eastern Europe for this afternoon’s meeting – which sources have told the Guardian is rather unusual given ministers are able to request a pass not to attend. But if political

Cindy Yu

Is an election about to be called?

11 min listen

Westminster is awash with rumours today that the Prime Minister is about to call an election. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about where this speculation is coming from and how seriously to take them. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Lloyd Evans

PMQs: we saw a glimpse of Labour in power

The party leaders conformed to type at PMQs. Rishi Sunak declared that Britain is experiencing an economic boom. ‘Inflation is back to normal,’ he announced about six times. It felt like about 60. Sir Keir Starmer reminded us that he used to run the CPS which is one of his favourite boasts. But it was odd to hear it wedged into a formal statement about the infected blood scandal – an astonishing piece of forensic acrobatics. Worthy of an award. That was the end of the gloomy bit. Then came the note of joy. ‘This country is waiting for a Labour government to bring down NHS waiting-lists’ Sir Ed Davey