Politics

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

Thursday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tories to raise MP threshold for confidence vote

How long will the next Tory leader last? As I write in this week’s issue of The Spectator, it’s the question being asked in the shadow cabinet after no candidate managed to muster more than a third of parliamentary support. ‘It would have been healthier had one of them bombed’, says a shadow minister of the final rounds of the contest. It means parallels are being drawn between the 2024 contest and the 2001 leadership election where Michael Portillo, Iain Duncan Smith and Kenneth Clarke all had support of around a third of the MPs – and Portillo was knocked out by one vote. The eventual winner, Duncan Smith, was

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Jenrick backer suggests Badenoch ‘preoccupied with children’

As the two finalists for the Tory leadership race are preparing to go head-to-head in tonight’s GB News special, more Tory MPs are speaking up for their favoured candidates. In an interesting interview, veteran politician Sir Christopher Chope has revealed who he is backing – and for rather curious reasons. The Christchurch MP told ITV News’s viewers that he was throwing his weight behind Jenrick – before going onto explain exactly why: I myself am supporting Robert Jenrick because I think he’s brought more energy and commitment to the campaign, and being leader of the opposition is a really demanding job. As much as I like Kemi, I think she’s

Debbie Hayton

JK Rowling deserves a peerage

Kemi Badenoch has suggested that JK Rowling deserves a seat in the House of Lords. The Tory leadership contender said in an interview with Talk TV: ‘I don’t know whether she would take it but I certainly would give her a peerage’. Rowling certainly deserves credit for her tireless stand against the transgender madness. For more than four years, she has spoken out courageously, sometimes in the face of dreadful abuse, to say things that we once all knew to be true: that being a woman is far more than an assertion of a supposedly female gender identity. The Harry Potter author has been a key voice in a debate

Andrew Tettenborn

It’s shameful that an army veteran was convicted over a prayer for his dead son

Adam Smith-Connor was this week convicted of a heinous offence, slapped with a conditional discharge and a costs order for £9,000. The actual crime in question? The 51-year-old army veteran was praying silently, on his own, for the soul of a child which he had, now much to his regret, aborted many years earlier. The reason this affair reached Poole Magistrates’ Court was that he had been doing this near a Bournemouth abortion clinic, and that clinic was the subject of a buffer zone order. This episode should worry all of us, pro-life or pro-choice, if we believe in the idea of liberty. The by-law Smith-Connor was convicted under (not

Matthew Lynn

Let’s see if ‘Patriotic Millionaires’ really want more tax

Dubai, Italy or perhaps the Bahamas? Many multi-millionaires are discussing where they should flee to as the Rachel Reeves prepares to raid their bank accounts in the ‘Horror Budget’ scheduled for the end of this month. But not, as it turns out, Patriotic Millionaires, the group that campaigns tirelessly for higher taxes on the rich. Its members want Reeves to take more of their money. The papers are dominated by reports of wealthy entrepreneurs, and the few remaining non-doms, securing a bolt hole somewhere where Reeves will not be able to reach them, but Patriotic Millionaires has a very different message. A report out today, written by IPPR (a think

Steerpike Steerpike

Badenoch: I’d give JK Rowling a peerage

The Tory leadership contest is heating up and, from today, members can vote for their favoured candidate. Just hours before her appearance on tonight’s GB News leadership show, Kemi Badenoch has sparked discussion by declaring that she would give renowned writer and women’s rights campaigner JK Rowling a peerage. Praising the Harry Potter author, Badenoch said, after being asked whether she would make Rowling a peer in an interview with TalkTV, that: ‘I would. I don’t know whether she would take it, but I certainly would give her a peerage.’ The Tory leadership contender blasted those ‘oddballs and bad people’ who campaigned against sex-based rights, before lauding the work of

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ is unlikely to impress Europe

After confidentially briefing it around various Western capitals, President Zelelsnky has unveiled – to a degree – his much-trailed ‘victory plan’ to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament. His statement on the plan came ahead of today’s meeting with the European Council. Along with three additional secret codicils shared only with certain partners, the plan has five main points. In and of themselves, none of them are implausible, and all would certainly strengthen Ukraine’s security. However, they also embody certain assumptions that likely make them unworkable, simply because they are asking from Nato, the EU and the West in general a great deal more than they seem willing to offer. One

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Reeves’s Budget is looking increasingly messy

The tragedy of the coming Budget is that it could have been a great reforming Budget. Instead, it now looks like being an extremely messy one, with the Chancellor buffeted by political winds into coming up with tax changes which are bizarre, punitive and which end up pleasing no-one. The latest symptom of this is the suggestion, reported in the Times today, that Rachel Reeves may increase capital gains tax on shares but not on property. Why should you pay more tax when you sell your shares than when you sell an investment property? Reeves was right the first time, when she hinted that she was going to equalise capital

David Cohen

The strange timing of Jacinda Ardern’s damehood

Jacinda Ardern has been made a dame for her services to politics during the five turbulent years she spent as prime minister of New Zealand. An ‘incredibly honoured and very humbled’ Ardern was officially recognised by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle. This week’s investiture came more than a year after she was first appointed a Dame Grand Companion in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours. That was four or so months after she abruptly stepped down from the position she had held since taking office in 2017 at the still-tender age of 37, later winning plaudits around the world for her leadership during Covid. Ardern’s departure was anything but

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How much trouble is Rachel Reeves in?

The countdown to Labour’s first budget for 14 years continues. Unfortunately for Rachel Reeves, the mood music is not particularly promising. While the Chancellor was offered a ray of light on Wednesday with the news that inflation has fallen to 1.7 per cent (therefore leading to speculation of rate cuts sooner rather than later), Reeves’ party is growing increasingly concerned about what she will say at the despatch box come October 30th. As first reported by Bloomberg, several cabinet ministers have written to Keir Starmer to raise alarm over real term cuts they have had to model for their departments. While last minute wrangling between ministers and the Treasury is

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

The slippery slope of assisted dying

Critics of the Assisted Dying Bill have been warning for a while that it would lead to a ‘slippery slope’. Their fears are looking increasingly legitimate. The bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, had its first reading in the Commons yesterday. In the last few days, some of those with conditions that might not qualify under the proposed legislation are voicing their concern about not being included. Is there already a danger that the scope of the bill will be expanded to include them? The relationship between doctors and patients would change forever Sir Nicholas Mostyn, a retired judge, set up a feisty group of Parkinson’s sufferers who produce

Charlie Falconer and Charles Moore

‘Not all suffering can be relieved’: A debate on assisted dying

As Kim Leadbeater’s private member’s bill comes before the Commons, the former justice secretary Lord Falconer (who introduced a similar bill to the Lords) and The Spectator’s chairman Lord Moore debate assisted dying. ‘When people talk about the moral overreach of the state, they are blind to the fact the state is already there’ CHARLIE FALCONER: The law has effectively broken down. If you assist anybody to take their own life, you’re immediately guilty of an offence, irrespective of motive, and you can be sent to prison for a maximum of 14 years. Even the authorities no longer think that’s enforceable. The Director of Public Prosecutions, the chief prosecutor in

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Weight loss jabs and England’s German manager

Home Neither Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, nor Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, ruled out a rise in employers’ contributions to national insurance in the Budget on 30 October. The annual rate of inflation fell from 2.2 to 1.7 per cent. Starmer backed an idea by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, to give fat unemployed people injections of weight-loss drugs in a scheme involving a £280 million investment from Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that makes the diabetes medication Mounjaro. At the International Investment summit, the Chancellor announced that the UK Infrastructure Bank will become the National Wealth Fund. But the government came up with only £5.8

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The real problem with the Tory leadership contest

James Cleverly found some unlikely support in parliament on Monday night. Having just been ousted from the Tory leadership contest, he won warm words from the Home Secretary. Yvette Cooper, speaking at a Westminster drinks reception, was sympathetic. She said she knew what it was like to come third in a leadership contest. For her, it was in 2015, when she lost to Jeremy Corbyn and Andy Burnham. For Cleverly, it was this month, when he was defeated by Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick. She wasn’t sure who should feel worse. ‘Yes, sister!’ shouted Cleverly in solidarity. But Cooper wasn’t finished yet. She ended by diagnosing his problem: he couldn’t

Tom Baldwin

Does anyone know what Keir Starmer is thinking?

Even at the best of times, Keir Starmer has remained tantalisingly out of reach for those who crave simple definitions. Before the election, he consistently defied demands to set out a big vision or draw straight dividing lines. He’s always more comfortable with ambiguity and complexity. As he liked to say during the final days of the campaign, ‘There’s always a “but” with me somewhere.’ Now, of course, he really isn’t having the best of times. All those ‘buts’ are piling up. The ill-disciplined briefing battle within his team appeared to elevate office politics above real politics. The Treasury decision to means-test pensioners’ winter fuel allowances was inept. Most damaging

James Heale James Heale

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 1955 – in The Spectator, of course – he defined it as ‘the whole matrix of official and social relations within which power is exercised’. A lot has changed in the past 70 years. The influence of the monarchy has diminished, the class system no longer holds sway, party politics is almost unrecognisable. Yet the idea of the establishment retains its powerful allure and, in the election of the next chancellor of Oxford University, we see how much it still matters to Britain’s 21st-century elite. Dons complain of candidates inviting

Rupert Harrison

Rachel Reeves has backed herself into a corner on the Budget

As a championship chess player, Rachel Reeves must know that the first few moves can be some of the most important of the game. In preparing her Budget, she appears to be starting her tenure as Chancellor from a position of strength. Her background in the Bank of England gives her institutional credibility, and the size of Labour’s majority means she faces little opposition in the Commons. But the truth is that her room for manoeuvre has been dramatically limited by decisions she has already made. Unforced early errors, as well as an election strategy that prematurely took options off the table, have left her with only a handful of

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Science Secretary failed to declare Taylor Swift tickets on time

Dear oh dear. Science Secretary Peter Kyle has certainly had better days in office. Despite Kyle insisting in the Commons today that his party ‘raises standards in public life’, it has now emerged that the Science Secretary, er, failed to declare his own gifted Taylor Swift tickets in time. Talk about hypocrisy… Members of parliament have 28 days to register gifts – yet Kyle registered £584 worth of Eras tour tickets almost 50 days after receiving the extravagant donation. The Science Secretary received the tickets from the Football Association on 15 August, however it took him until 3 October to log the perk. How curious. The revelation marks another bump

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Could the Catholic vote decide the election?

27 min listen

Trump won the Catholic vote in 2016 and Biden won it in 2020. Polling suggests that Trump is on course to win it back this year. With issues such as immigration and abortion high on the agenda for voters, where will the Catholic vote land?  Ryan Girdursky, the Catholic founder of the 1776 Project PAC and the National Populist substack joins Freddy Gray to discuss. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Steerpike Steerpike

Treasury breaks silence over Labour donor hire

If it’s not the freebie fiasco dogging Sir Keir’s Labour party, it’s the cronyism row. Back in August, the curious case of Ian Corfield hit the news after it transpired that the banker had donated more than £20,000 to Labour before bagging a job as a director of investment at the Treasury. Politico revealed the donor’s generous payments were not, in fact, flagged to the civil service watchdog before his appointment was approved, while ‘cash for jobs’ concerns grew after it emerged that Corfield had not been appointed to the role via the ‘open competition’ route. And now the Treasury has broken its silence on Corfield’s appointment with a rather