Politics

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

Sunday

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Rishi outlines Keir Starmer’s five ‘pledges’ in 1922 speech

Rishi Sunak’s first Conservative party conference as prime minister is off to a roaring start. Never one to miss a chance to stick it to his opponents, he marked the occasion by ribbing his opposite number Keir Starmer.  This evening in Manchester Sunak was guest of honour at the 1922 committee and ConservativeHome’s drinks reception. Taking to the podium, the Prime Minister couldn’t resist the opportunity to poke fun at the Labour leader.  Kicking off his speech, he said: It has been a busy year and we are making a difference, making the right long-term decisions to put our country on a better trajectory and delivering on our five priorities

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Tory peer: stop funding the Conservatives

It’s the first night of the Conservative party conference and (so far) the drama is yet to live up to last year’s mini-Budget mayhem. But just down the road from the official venue in Manchester, rebel grassroots’ group the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) tonight threw a black tie gala dinner. Some 300-odd attendees were in attendance, including Nigel Farage and around a dozen Conservative MPs including keynote speaker Priti Patel and deputy chairman Lee Anderson. Hopes of an appearance by Boris Johnson though, were sadly dashed. But while Patel gave a characteristically punchy speech that included lengthy praise of GB News, it was the performance of CDO President Lord Cruddas

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Kemi Badenoch guns for Stonewall – and the charity sector

Kemi Badenoch’s war with Stonewall opened up on a new front this evening. Earlier this year, the business secretary incurred the wrath of the LGBTQ+ charity when she told government officials to withdraw from Stonewall’s top 100 employers’ scheme over the charity’s dubious positions on gender rights. Now, speaking this evening, she has raised the question of whether Stonewall and other charities should be receiving any public money at all. Speaking at an IEA and TaxPayers’ Alliance event at Tory party conference, Badenoch drew attention to the latter’s report on the public subsidies Stonewall receives, and argued that several charities should not be receiving public money to support ‘people’s hobby

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Ministers flirt with ECHR exit

It’s day one of the Conservative party conference and already Tory politicians are being probed on the tough questions. One of the hot topics in Manchester this afternoon was Kemi Badenoch’s declaration that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) needs to be ‘on the table’ as an option for the UK. Among the first to be pressed on the subject today were Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and Security Minister Tom Tugendhat at Onward’s ‘Future of Conservatis’m event. Both ministers intriguingly declined to rule such a move out. Asked if he agreed with Badenoch‘s opinion, Gove went first with a spritely ‘Keep every option open!’. Tugendhat answered more hesitantly,

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

What Tories can learn from Alister Jack

A common complaint from traditional supporters of the Conservatives is that, after 13 years in power, their party has very little to show for it. There has been little roll-back of New Labour era legislation, or the Blair-Brown equalities agenda, or the expansion of the administrative state and taxpayer-funded third-sector organisations committed to progressive policy outcomes. (Not my priorities but what Tories tell me are theirs.) There is a case to be made that the UK is more politically, culturally and fiscally left than it was when David Cameron took over in 2010. Were it not for Brexit and Rishi’s recent rollback on net zero targets, ministers would have had

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Bully XL owners team up with anti-Brexit Steve Bray outside Tory conference

It wouldn’t be a Tory party conference without hundreds of protesters lining the streets. Manchester has not disappointed. From trade unionists, Steve Bray’s die-hard remainers, the Young Communist League, Extinction Rebellion and, of course, Just Stop Oil, anyone with a grievance appears to have made it to the Rainy City. Even Bully XL owners have trudged around Manchester today, chanting “muzzle Rishi, not our dogs!” – although Mr S can gladly report that they’ve left their hounds at home. Beginning their marches an hour late, Mr S isn’t quite sure that the activists managed to capture the attention of the Tory politicians they were denouncing – particularly as most were

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

How a pro-Russia party triumphed in Slovakia’s election

The staunchly pro-Russian Robert Fico is back in power for a third time in Slovakia. Fico’s Smer party clinched at least 23 per cent of the vote – enough to lead a coalition government. His victory comes five years after Fico was forced to resign following mass protests over the murder of a journalist investigation corruption in his government.  Fico has not been shy during campaigning about his views on Russia and Ukraine. His most striking pledge was to immediately end military support for Kyiv, promising to ‘not send a single round’ of ammunition to Ukraine if voted into power; now that he is, Ukraine’s allies are concerned about whether he will

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will Liz Truss ruin Rishi Sunak’s conference?

This time last year there was a notable absence at Tory party conference: Rishi Sunak. Fresh from losing the summer leadership contest, the former chancellor opted to stay away from the annual meet to allow Liz Truss to ‘own the moment’. It didn’t exactly go well for Truss – the then-prime minister faced various rebellions from her own MPs and cabinet. One year on Truss – now on the backbenches – has no plans to return the favour. She will be a prominent figure at this year’s conference. ‘I need her there like I need a hole in the head,’ says one Sunak-sympathetic MP Those close to the former prime minister

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Is a path to victory opening up for Rishi Sunak?

A new Rishi Sunak is being launched at Tory conference and one I saw first hand being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Manchester this morning. This version is more feisty, ignores attempted interruptions and is, in general, spoiling for a fight. The Prime Minister is trying to ditch his timeshare-salesman image and is seeking to become a slayer of dragons but without (so far) any actual dragons. He’s not doing much, but his enemies react so wildly as to exaggerate what he’s actually doing. I was critical of Sunak’s five pledges and still regard them as nonsense. But in this week’s Spectator our leading article is far more positive because

Joe Bedell-Brill

Sunday shows round-up: Sunak vows to ‘do things differently’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg this morning, as the Conservative party conference gets underway in Manchester. With polls currently predicting an election defeat for the Tories, Sunak was noticeably combative in his interview, insisting that he would do what he ‘believes is right’ for the country. When Kuenssberg accused him of shifting away from pledges made in 2019, Sunak acknowledged that people would be critical of him, but said he was ‘prepared to change things’.  Sunak: ‘My job is to deliver for people’ Kuenssberg showed Sunak a word cloud indicating that the public heavily associate him with his wealth. She asked him if he was worried

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Priti Patel accuses Suella Braverman of attention seeking

It’s Tory conference – which means the Conservatives are at each other’s throats once again. This morning, Priti Patel took a pop at Suella Braverman, accusing the Home Secretary of attention seeking. Patel also suggested Braverman was guilty of focusing on words over action. The slap down came a few days after Braverman used a speech in Washington to suggest multiculturalism had failed. In an interview with Sky’s Trevor Phillips, Patel was asked whether Braverman’s comments were helpful to Rishi Sunak. Here’s what Patel had to say: ‘To me, this is very much making interventions, statements, but actually Trevor I think we have to be realistic here to know that

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sunak comes out fighting on net zero in tetchy Kuenssberg clash

Rishi Sunak is in Manchester for what could be the final party conference ahead of next year’s election – and, if that vote goes as many expect, his last as Tory leader. In order to avoid that fate, the Prime Minister hopes to use the annual meet to enter a more pro-active stage of his premiership, in which he will start to change things (such as on net zero) and speak ‘hard truths’ even if it leads to a backlash in parts of his party. Sunak has been offered a small ray of light overnight with a new Opinium poll suggesting Labour’s poll lead has fallen to 10 points. Were

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Why did the Observer bury a poll showing Starmer’s shrinking lead?

As Conservative conference kicks off, there is a crumb of comfort for the Prime Minister in the latest polling in the Observer – but you’d be hard pressed to actually find it in the newspaper’s write-up. The Opinium survey for the paper of more than 3,000 voters – including over 900 people who voted Tory in 2019 – shows that Labour’s lead has shrunk to just ten points over the Tories. Sunak’s party now has 29 per cent of the vote share, compared to Labour’s 39 per cent. Mr S doesn’t think the Tories should get too excited just yet. But it does mark something of a turnaround in the party’s fortunes,

Robert Tombs

The endless myth of British decline

The former governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, recently compared the British economy with that of Argentina. This was typical of those Remainers who cannot imagine that a country ignoring them could possibly succeed, and who often seem to will it to fail. That Carney’s sneer did not merely provoke laughter is because far from being a random remark, it stems from generations of negativity about Britain. This hangs albatross-like round our collective neck. So deeply has it penetrated our culture that I suggest it accounts for much of the failure to profit from the Leave vote. Over and over again, British policy has been marked by apology,

Coffee House

Day one at Conservative conference 2023: The Spectator guide

It’s the first day of the annual Conservative party conference in Manchester. Grant Shapps, who is making his first major speech since being promoted to Defence Secretary, is the headline act on the main stage. Here are the rest of the highlights: Main agenda – from 14:00: 1400: Greg Hands MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party 1415: Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland  1430: Andrew RT Davies MS, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd  1445: David TC Davies MP, Secretary of State for Wales  1500: Douglas Ross MP, Leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionists  1515: Alister Jack MP, Secretary of State for Scotland  1530:

Richard Kelly

Tory conferences don’t have to be dull

The former Tory MP Christopher Hollis wrote for The Spectator in 1960 that ‘a Conservative conference is, and is intended to be, the dullest thing that ever happened. Party members come not to hear their leaders but to see them. One sometimes wonders if it would be best to cut out the speeches altogether.’ Hollis duly recalled the view of former Tory leader Arthur Balfour, who claimed he would sooner take the advice of his valet than that of a Tory conference. Among academics, the Balfour-Hollis view is generally endorsed. Compared to the annual conference of the Labour party, which officially ‘makes’ Labour policy, the Tories’ own gatherings have generally been

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Paris has become the city of love, rats and bugs  

There are said to be six million rats in Paris. I met one last week when I was retrieving some winter clothes from a bag in my cellar.  Neither of us was particularly keen to make the other’s acquaintance.  Such a brief encounter may not please the Socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. In the summer her office announced the establishment of a committee to study how the city’s three million human inhabitants can learn to ‘cohabit’ with their furry neighbours.    Animal rights’ groups and green politicians expressed their satisfaction that the societal scourge of rat shaming is finally being challenged. Paris councillor Douchka Markovic has said the word ‘rat’

Tim Stanley

What have the Conservatives done for us?

Assuming this is the Conservative party’s last conference in power, I decided to investigate what kind of country they leave behind. Thirteen years on, are we richer, poor, happier or sadder? I started by asking MPs to name their biggest achievement. No one said ‘the economy’; Ukraine and Brexit were popular. Two replied: ‘Kept Labour out’, which, considering Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn ran the opposition, is low hanging bananas. Nevertheless, ‘winning’ is what the Tories have done best. They slipped into office via a coalition, won a majority, then a minority, and finally a historic victory built on Red Wall seats that had backed Labour since the Norman Conquest.

Saturday

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Labour is ‘not the natural party of governance’, says David Lammy

There’s just over a week to go before what might be the Labour party’s last conference before the general election. But while the mood in the wider party might be one of optimism, it seems that caution is the order of the day on Keir Starmer’s front bench.  Appearing on a panel called ‘Is Labour’s election triumph inevitable’ at the Cliveden Literary Festival, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy revealed that during Starmer’s party leadership campaign in the spring of 2020, he had some words of warning for the future leader. ‘I cautioned Keir not to suggest that Labour could win the election in one cycle,’ he said, ‘He didn’t accept

James Heale James Heale

When conferences go wrong

13 min listen

The Conservative party conference begins in Manchester this weekend. Where have conferences gone wrong for previous Tory party leaders, and what will Rishi Sunak want to get out of this one?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Craig Oliver, dormer director of communications in No. 10 under David Cameron.