Politics

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

Wednesday

The Spectator

Full text: Theresa May’s final speech as Prime Minister

I am about to go to Buckingham Palace to tender my resignation to Her Majesty the Queen and to advise her to ask Boris Johnson to form a new administration. I repeat my warm congratulations to Boris on winning the Conservative leadership election. I wish him and the Government he will lead every good fortune in the months and years ahead. Their successes will be our country’s successes, and I hope that they will be many. Their achievements will build on the work of nearly a decade of Conservative or Conservative-led government. During that time our economy has been restored, our public services reformed, and our values defended on the

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Meet the Tories who think Theresa May is Britain’s greatest PM

Forget Churchill. Never mind the Iron Duke. Ignore the claims of Pitt the Younger. The greatest prime minister in British history is Theresa May. That was the message from PMQs today. Tory after Tory stood up to heap praise on their departing chief. Wages are up. Homelessness is falling. Employment is on the rise, thanks to her brilliant captaincy of the nation. We heard about honour, duty, courtesy and public service. It seems that she carried each of these virtues to a pitch that no successor can surpass. ‘Fantastic’ was the only word to describe her policies on mental health. Her domestic violence agenda, we were told, will be an

Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller

What do the French elite make of Boris Johnson?

So, what do the French make of Boris Johnson? Ridicule, contempt and inevitable comparisons to President Trump characterise the reaction of the media and political classes here, who are simply incapable of understanding the appeal of a politician operating outside the blob. Le Monde this morning had little to say about Britain’s new prime minister other than that he is known for his ‘eccentricities, flexible positions, narcissism and lies.’ Of course, precisely the same could be said of French president Emmanuel Macron, but you’ll never read this in Le Monde. ‘A liar, egotist, eccentric, obsessed with money,’ declared Libération, in a nearly identical summation of Britain’s new prime minister, laying

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: protestors try to stop Boris meeting the Queen

Boris Johnson may have been elected by Tory members and become leader of the Conservative party, but until he finally meets the Queen in Buckingham Palace he is not, constitutionally, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Which explains why some, clearly still hoping to stave off his premiership, made a desperate bid to stop him from reaching Her Majesty this afternoon. As Boris’s car made its way up The Mall, flanked by police motorcycles, a team of protestors attempted to form a human chain to prevent him from proceeding. The group then unfurled a banner which read ‘Climate Emergency’. Unfortunately for the protestors though, it seemed that the police

Steerpike Steerpike

The danger of the call from Number 10

The appointment of Remain-leaning Mark Spencer to Chief Whip in Boris Johnson’s incoming government has excited Conservative MPs from across the benches. Many will be wondering who else will be chosen to join what could be a broader coalition than had been expected. Perhaps though they should show some caution. Speaking on The Spectator’s Women with Balls, former minister Tracey Crouch MP revealed that when No. 10 staff tried to inform her of her promotion to Under-Secretary of State for Sport in 2015: ‘I actually thought it was a joke! So I genuinely didn’t believe that they were trying to contact me and then I was reassured by an insider that I really

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Theresa May leaves Downing Street with best wishes for Boris

Theresa May’s final statement in Downing Street before she left for Buckingham Palace was very dignified and generous to her successor. She offered her ‘warm congratulations’ to Boris Johnson and wished him ‘every good fortune in the months and years ahead’. As with her performance at Prime Minister’s Questions, May was keen to emphasise her commitment to continuing in public service, saying: ‘I am about to leave Downing Street but I am proud to continue as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead. I will continue to do all I can to serve the national interest.’ It was not an emotional statement, nor was it one in which May really sought

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Theresa May looks back in anger at her final PMQs

Theresa May’s final Prime Minister’s Questions had all the tributes you’d expect for an outgoing leader. Members from across the House praised her commitment to public service and the way in which she has made tackling mental illness, modern slavery and domestic abuse her priority throughout her time in government. She received a standing ovation from her party at the end, with the Liberal Democrats and the DUP joining in from the opposition benches. A few female Labour MPs clapped too. Her final remarks made a dignified end to a premiership beset by failure and procrastination. She told MPs that the Commons was ‘rightly at the centre’ of ‘extraordinary times’

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Labour frontbench spoil the party at May’s final PMQs

Theresa May’s time at Parliament’s despatch box is up. The Prime Minister has just faced her final session of PMQs, finishing off by telling MPs the ‘duty’ to ‘serve my constituents will remain my greatest motivation’. Here is the video of the moment she said goodbye: Most MPs stood up and applauded the PM as she left the chamber. But Labour’s frontbench stayed firmly in their seats. This marks something of a change from the norm. After all, when Tony Blair said goodbye, Tory MPs joined in the standing ovation… And when David Cameron stepped down, Labour MPs still managed a round of applause. This time around, there was stony

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why Dominic Cummings is Johnson’s most important appointment

The closest analogy to the government Boris Johnson is forming is Blair’s and Brown’s New Labour government of 1997, when they appointed super powerful political advisers – Campbell, Powell, Balls, Whelan – to boss conservative Whitehall. That is what Johnson is doing – in spades – by making former Vote Leave campaign chief Dominic Cummings his de facto chief executive as senior advisor, because Cummings is NEVER a passive adviser. Cummings has an extraordinary sense of purpose and objectives – and pity those who get in his path. Cummings’s mandate is to deliver Brexit in 99 days, and in his spare time he’ll endeavour to reform Whitehall, since one of

Peter Oborne

The case for keeping Chris Grayling in the Cabinet

Fairness is not a concept known to political reporting. That’s not how the lobby works. I used to be a Westminster correspondent. We hunted as a pack. We kicked those who were down and sucked up to the winners.  In this article, far too late, I will try rescue the reputation of one of Theresa May’s and David Cameron’s most loyal and capable ministers. Few politicians have been the object of such sustained and brutal criticism as Transport Secretary Chris ‘Failing’ Grayling. Few have deserved it less.  I will show that a great deal of the criticism has been unfair. I’ll argue that Mr Grayling is paying the price for his

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Hunt’s Cabinet job refusal presents Boris with a dilemma

There are high expectations among Tory MPs today for Boris Johnson’s Cabinet appointments. The problem? He has more supporters who believe they will be promoted than plum jobs to give. It follows that this evening’s first wave of hires for the most senior jobs will undoubtedly lead to disappointment. Johnson has at least got off to a good start. The first appointment of Mark Spencer as Chief Whip has landed well in the Parliamentary party. Although Spencer backed Remain in the EU referendum, he is well liked across the board and the European Research Group members found praise for him after his role was unveiled on Tuesday. Tory Remainers have also

The Spectator

Full list of ministerial resignations

Barring a huge upset, it seems inevitable that Boris Johnson will be walking through the black door of Number 10 in two day’s time. Once there, he is expected to conduct a sweeping reshuffle of government ministers – appointing his allies and removing members of May’s Cabinet who are opposed to his Brexit strategy. So for the various Cabinet members who will not countenance a no-deal Brexit (or are opposed to Boris more generally) these next two days present a golden opportunity: the chance to resign from government, before you’re forced out. Coffee House will be keeping track of the ministerial resignations this week, before Boris Johnson is expected to

Tuesday

Daniel DePetris

Americans are watching Boris Johnson with a morbid interest

Donald Trump didn’t take long to congratulate Boris Johnson on his victory in today’s Tory leadership race. ‘He will be great!’ was Trump’s snap verdict on a man who he described at a rally this afternoon as a ‘really good man’. It’s safe to say Boris has a fan, at least for the time being, in the White House. But what about the rest of America? Boris is, of course, a well-known commodity in Britain; you either think the guy is a brilliant political mastermind with a people’s touch or a dolt who should be nowhere near Downing Street. Across the pond, it’s a little different. In Washington, D.C., there is

Joolz Gale

Could Boris charm the EU in Brexit negotiations?

The penny has finally dropped here in Berlin. After the Brexit party’s success in the European elections – and several missed Brexit deadlines later – most Germans are slowly realising that Brexit will happen. There are some who still hope that the offer of a new Brexit extension – as Ursula von der Leyen has indicated might be on offer – could mean a second referendum, or revocation of Article 50. But fewer now believe either of those remain realistic possibilities. And with Boris Johnson likely to be in Downing Street by tomorrow, these options become harder still to imagine. One leader of the pro-EU movement here – who has been

Steerpike Steerpike

Jared O’Mara’s ‘Comms Team’ spectacularly resigns

Jared O’Mara, the former Labour MP (who was briefly suspended from the party in 2018 over a series of online comments) has been something of an enigma in Westminster of late. Although he promised to fight for his constituents when he left the Labour party to become an independent, the politician has since missed a huge number of key votes in the Commons, leaving the residents of Sheffield Hallam furious, and with no effective representation in parliament. Now it appears though that O’Mara’s staff have had enough of the MP as well. This evening, Gareth Arnold, who claims to be O’Mara’s ‘Comms Team’, took control of the MP’s Twitter page

Steerpike Steerpike

When will Tom Watson break his silence on Carl Beech?

Tom Watson’s face is splashed across the front pages of the newspapers today but unfortunately for the typically publicity-hungry Watson it’s for all the wrong reasons. Labour’s deputy leader is facing calls to quit following the conviction of Carl Beech, a fantasist who was yesterday found guilty of making up claims about a VIP paedophile ring in Westminster. In 2014, Watson met Beech at his office in Westminster to discuss the allegations. Beech later told police that Watson was among a ‘little group supporting me and putting my information out there to encourage other people to come forward’. But while Watson is in the news, he is so far keeping

The Spectator

Full list: Boris Johnson’s ministerial and official appointments

On Wednesday afternoon Boris Johnson will meet with the Queen in Buckingham Palace, will be invited to form a government, and then will stroll through the black door of Number 10 as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. There, he will officially begin the process of appointing his Cabinet, the ministers who will serve in his government, and the advisers who will be crucial in ensuring his term as prime minister is a success. As the official announcements are made public, Coffee House will be keeping track of Prime Minister Johnson’s new administration. Below are all the Cabinet members, ministers, officials and advisers who have agreed to serve

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Get ready for Boris vs the Bank of England

Westminster is, naturally, fixated on Boris Johnson and his first speech since his Conservative leadership victory. But it’s just possible that the most interesting and important speech of the day took place in Scunthorpe. That’s where Andy Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England was delivering a speech called ‘Climbing the Jobs Ladder’. His speech was, nominally, about wage progression and the quality of employment. But about halfway through, the speech becomes something very different, something that looks an awful lot like a warning to a new prime minister: don’t bank on the Bank to bail you out over Brexit. Haldane’s argument is that the major downside risks to

Steerpike Steerpike

Is May’s Islamophobia adviser a parting shot at Boris?

Theresa May has had a busy few weeks, frantically churning out press releases, consultations and policies to build a legacy before she is replaced by her nemesis Boris Johnson. And as one of her final acts as Prime Minister, Theresa May took the unusual step of appointing Imam Qari Asim as a new Islamophobia tsar this morning. According to a government press release the ‘independent adviser has been appointed to provide expert advice on a definition of Islamophobia to the government.’ May’s government also announced that Labour’s John Mann would be appointed as an independent adviser on anti-Semitism. But Mr Steerpike can’t quite help but wonder if the appointment of Qari Asim

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Boris Johnson has achieved his dream. Will he mess it up?

When Boris Johnson chants his mantra of delivering Brexit, uniting the country and beating Jeremy Corbyn, it is very much a personal imperative. For the simple reason that if he fails, as many of his colleagues anticipate, he will look like a blithering idiot. The point is that back in the spring of 2016, he faced a nation-defining fork in the road, when he was dithering about whether to stick with the then PM David Cameron and fight to stay in the EU or lead the leave campaign. Cameron will believe till his last breath that Johnson’s defection to Brexit tipped the scales against him. And when Cameron lost, May