Politics

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

Saturday

James Kirkup James Kirkup

A storm is coming – and none of the leadership candidates are ready

You’ve probably heard the joke about the two hikers facing an angry bear. One changes into his running shoes, telling his confused friend: ‘I don’t need to outrun the bear, I just need to outrun you.’ The gag captures the importance of differentiating between the relative and the absolute. Knowing that a tree is taller than the other trees in the forest doesn’t tell you how tall that tree is – or how big the forest is. Learning that a company is more profitable than others in its market doesn’t tell you if that company is actually doing well – they could all be failing. This is largely how I

Nigel Jones

Do Tory MPs still represent their members?

As the Tory party leadership race enters its next stage this weekend, one thing is becoming very clear: the two candidates that MPs will select for party members to vote on may not be the people that, if it was up to them, the grassroots members would pick themselves. The yawning gulf between Westminster and Tory foot soldiers is nothing new. Ever since her cabinet overthrew Margaret Thatcher, and still more so since David Cameron imposed his A list of diverse and celebrity candidates on local associations – many of them not even nominal conservatives – the gap between central office and ordinary Tories has grown ever wider. Take the

Gus Carter Gus Carter

Boris 2029!

OK, it might sound a little fanciful, but hear me out. I think there could just be a way for Boris to scrape back in to power. Some Johnson loyalists in Westminster think that whoever replaces him will implode, that there could be another leadership race before the 2024 election and that Boris could run and win. That seems like wishful thinking. Instead, I’d suggest he plays the long game. It’s a little convoluted and involves quite a few what-ifs – but if anyone can do it, it’s the great greased piglet himself.  Step one: take over the Evening Standard. The ailing London paper has been in trouble for some time. It

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Liz Truss was the biggest loser of last night’s debate

Enid Blyton made a lot of money out of the Famous Five. Maybe she could have invented a brand called the ‘Infamous Five’ that would have made her even more. But the Unfamous Five is a name that might have struggled to bear box office fruit. Yet the glories of the British constitution are about to deliver one of five little-known people – none of whom has a substantial political following of their own – into the office of prime minister. One out of Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat is about to become the political leader of the nation. Constitutionally, there is no issue

Friday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tory leadership debate: who won?

16 min listen

In the first televised Tory leadership debate, the five remaining candidates set out their stalls on trust in politics, tax cuts and the NHS ahead of the next round of voting on Monday. How did each candidate fare tonight? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Did René Girard understand America?

40 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Geoff Shullenberger, a lecturer at New York University and columnist for Compact Magazine about a range of topics, from the ideas and appeal of philosopher René Girard to transhumanism and transgenderism, and the war in Ukraine.

Coffee House

The Tory leadership debate – as it happened

On Friday night the Tory leadership candidates faced-off in the first televised debate of the contest, hosted on Channel 4. The five contenders – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat – set out their stalls on trust in politics, tax cuts and the NHS ahead of the next round of voting on Monday. A snap poll carried out by Opinion after the debate put Tom Tugendhat in first place, followed by Rishi Sunak, and then Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch. Liz Truss came in last.  Follow the debate as it happened below:  9.21pm – Sunak’s second place will calm nerves Katy Balls writes… The snap poll from tonight’s debate puts Tom

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Penny Mordaunt is more like Boris than you think

As the Tory leadership candidates prepare for tonight’s debate on Channel 4, I find my mind turning back to the Cleggmania that followed Britain’s first televised election debate. As I say in the Times today, Penny Mordaunt’s current momentum feels a bit like things did in 2010: a previously little known politician is shooting to prominence. Only 16 per cent of Tory voters can recognise Mordaunt but she is now in with a serious shot of becoming PM. Mordaunt’s rise is a product of the unique circumstances in today’s Conservative party. She is managing to have her cake and eat it. She has served in the cabinet, but not Boris Johnson’s cabinet. She made clear for

Steerpike Steerpike

Truss and Kemi snub LGBT Tories

As the Tory leadership race unfolds, there’s plenty of votes up for grabs. Both Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch are competing for the Tory right but there’s one group of voters which neither seems especially interested in. LGBT+ Conservatives, one of the biggest groupings within the Tory party, sent out a survey to each candidate this week, asking for their views on related policy areas. Patrons of the group include Ruth Davidson, Andy Street and David Mundell. Unfortunately, while Penny Mordaunt, Tom Tugendhat and Rishi Sunak all chose to respond, neither Badenoch or Truss – both of whom have served as ministers for equalites – chose not to respond, despite

Steerpike Steerpike

Suella’s plea to the ERG: back Truss

Having urged her supporters to back Liz Truss yesterday, Suella Braverman has now been forced to, er, do the same again today. Team Truss are doing their damnedest to try to lock up the right-wing vote by sending out leading figures like Lord Frost and Simon Clarke to urge rival candidates to stand aside. Unfortunately for the Foreign Secretary, thus far the Badenoch camp seem noticeably reluctant to do just that. While not all of her supporters still think she could make the final two, others have their doubts about Truss and her electoral prowess. Braverman’s latest appeal therefore is an attempt to remind right-wingers that, unless they unite sharpish,

James Heale James Heale

Truss tries to boost her campaign

Ahead of tonight’s Channel 4 debate, the five remaining Tory leadership candidates appeared on Zoom for the first public hustings, hosted by the ConservativeHome website. But none really secured a knockout blow, owing in part to the format of the debate – and the reluctance of each to launch into out and out attacks. Instead, the main fight was on policy, not personality, following some hostile briefings in newspapers over the past 48 hours. And the most ambitious candidate on the policy front was Liz Truss, keen to regain momentum after finishing third behind Penny Mordaunt on the first two ballots. The Truss camp is conscious that Rishi Sunak will

Jack Smith

Mario Draghi is not a normal politician

Is it all over for Mario Draghi’s recovery government? His attempted resignation yesterday – which was rejected by President Sergio Mattarella – opens up a highly uncertain chapter in the most serious crisis the Italian Prime Minister has faced. There’s little desire from anyone to see Draghi leave and usher in new elections, at least at this stage. But there is a high risk of miscalculation, thanks to the overlapping red lines the protagonists in this drama have set themselves. Giuseppe Conte’s Five Star Movement yesterday decided not to support the government on a cost-of-living bill vote in the Senate – by not turning up. That meant that the measure

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

We must believe the SNP when it says it wants independence

What is the most patronising response to Scottish nationalism? Received wisdom among the political, media and academic establishments north and south of the border says it is Unionism. Or rather, the sort of Unionism that says the constitution is reserved, Westminster should keep refusing another referendum, and perhaps should even legislate to inhibit or prohibit secession. I disagree. That sort of Unionism is the only one that respects nationalism. It listens to what the SNP has to say, takes its articles of faith at face value and, being of the opposite point of view, works to defeat the nationalists’ objectives. It is honourable intellectual combat. No, the most condescending response

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Penny Mordaunt’s biggest problem isn’t ‘dark op’ attacks

How many promises should a candidate make in a leadership contest? If you’re Penny Mordaunt, the answer appears to be very few. The trade minister has upset her leadership rivals by becoming the surprise bookies’ favourite in the contest. It means the knives are out when it comes to her efforts – with figures such as Lord Frost criticising Mordaunt and claiming she is not up to the job of prime minister. What was most striking from Mordaunt’s interview was how little detail she had when it came to her grand plans In a bid to silence her critics, Mordaunt has today given her first broadcast interview to Sky News.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Biden puts his foot in it (again)

Oh dear. It seems bumbling ‘Uncle Joe’ has done it again. Fresh from his Holocaust gaffe, President Biden has now decided to offend not one, but two allies, when he gave his thoughts on the Israel-Palestine conflict. On a visit to a hospital in East Jerusalem today, President Biden made remarks that were picked up by the travelling American press. He compared Israel’s contemporary treatment towards Palestine to that of Britain’s historic attitude towards Catholics in Ireland, saying that: …the background of my family is Irish American. And we have a long history not fundamentally unlike the Palestinian people, with Great Britain and their attitude toward Irish Catholics over the

Sam Ashworth-Hayes Sam Ashworth-Hayes

Penny Mordaunt would make a great leader – of the Labour party

The clouds have cleared, the fog has lifted, clarity has arrived. The first reaction to finding out Penny Mordaunt was well ahead in the polls and the favourite to win the leadership contest – ‘who again?’ – has passed. But after reading a little of her work, I am now convinced that Penny Mordaunt would make a great leader – of the Labour party. For the Conservatives, she would be a complete disaster. There is little in Mordaunt’s public record that suggests she is particularly amenable to Conservative views. The core thrust of her book (written with Chris Lewis) is that Britain needs to be ‘modernised’ – a word that

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

How many MPs can Truss take from Braverman?

10 min listen

The ERG’s favoured candidate, Suella Braverman, dropped out of the Tory leadership race last night. This morning, ERG chair Mark Francois said that he wanted the 60-strong group to now back Liz Truss. Will they? And looking ahead to tonight’s Channel 4 debate, why does the format most benefit Kemi Badenoch? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Matthew Lynn

How Sunak can save his stumbling campaign

He has the widest support among MPs. He easily beats any other candidate with the voters, and is the only one consistently ahead of Sir Kier Starmer in the polls. He has experience, a fluent manner on TV, and as his slick campaign has reminded everyone, he is the most professional campaigner among the politicians left in the race. Against an often underwhelming, inexperienced group of rivals, the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak should be a certainty to become leader of the Conservative party, and so Prime Minister, by the autumn. There is just one catch: his stubborn attachment to raising corporation tax – when in truth, ditching that policy would be

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why did Liz Truss change her mind on Brexit?

Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt were both committed Brexiters in the 2016 referendum campaign – and both took career risks to support leaving the EU, against the wishes of the then-Prime Minister David Cameron. By contrast Liz Truss campaigned enthusiastically to stay in the EU (see for example the below forceful speech to the 2016 Food and Drink Industry dinner where she makes a powerful industrial case for staying in the EU). It is striking therefore that Steve Baker and Suella Braverman (supported by the disenfranchised David Frost) prefer the zeal of the after-the-event convert to Brexit, namely Liz Truss, to the other candidates who were always Brexiters. And the