Politics

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

Sunday

Suzanne Moore Suzanne Moore

The Tories are showing Labour how it’s done on diversity

The elephant isn’t just in the room. It is trumpeting loudly but it is greeted with bemusement, denial, or polite silence. I am talking about the Tory leadership race which is full of what the renowned fox-killer now apparently calls ‘brown’ people and those other odd chaps, called women. The Tories can always claim the first ethnic minority PM in Disraeli who was Jewish but they don’t make a song and dance about it. Jollyon Morn has now deleted his so-called anti-racist tweet perhaps because it was in fact a teensy bit racist, was it not, to suggest that all ‘brown’ people must cleave to the political position of his

Steerpike Steerpike

Full text: leaked Tory memo attacking Sunak

The Telegraph has got hold of a zinger of a private memo currently doing the rounds on Tory MPs’ WhatsApp groups. The 421-word dossier, which sums up all of the ex-chancellor’s supposed errors during his two-year tenure, has been published by the paper’s associate editor Camilla Tominey.  The document lays into Sunak, accusing the favourite to replace Boris Johnson of reckless overspending and a commitment to ‘big state’ economic policy. It also claims that he lied about his wife’s non-dom tax status and that he committed ‘schoolboy errors’ that led to widespread fraud of the Covid loan scheme.  ‘There is nothing Conservative about the “big tax and big spend” agenda of Rishi Sunak’ Frontrunner

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tory Grand National or demolition derby?

A cabinet minister yesterday observed to me that they would scream if they heard another person suggest the Tory leadership race was like the Grand National. Rather defensively, given it is one of my favourite analogies, I asked what they thought would work better. A little while later, they messaged back: demolition derby; a reference to the sport where cars drive into each other until only one is left standing. Today this analogy seems rather apt. The Sundays are full of quite extraordinary accusations of dirty tricks, which, if they were included in a TV drama would be thought of as OTT. The Telegraph has published an anti-Rishi Sunak briefing

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Will the Tory hopefuls deliver on their tax promises?

Rather unsurprisingly, the bulk of MPs who have declared their leadership bids so far are promising lower taxes. Also unsurprisingly, very few details are on offer explaining how they’d do it. In Nadhim Zahawi’s early pitch to the public — he is expected to share more tomorrow — he’s asserted that ‘taxes for individuals, families and business need to be lower – and will be on my watch.’ Tom Tugendhat’s ‘clean start’ manifesto made a similar point: ‘Taxes, bluntly, are too high,’ he asserted, ‘and there is an emerging consensus across the party that they must come down.’ Penny Mordant’s leadership pitch today promises ‘new economic vision’ — something we

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tories adopt American-style campaigning

We have seen two Tory Leadership bids this morning that aim to show they can bridge the party divides. Jeremy Hunt, who campaigned for Remain and sits for a Lib Dem facing southern seat, has announced that Esther McVey, Brexiteer and northern seat, will be his deputy PM. As he put it, John Prescott to his Tony Blair. Tom Tugendhat, Remainer, southern seat, never served under Boris Johnson, has announced the backing of Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Brexiteer, northern seat, one of Johnson’s leadership campaign whips and still a member of the government.  This is a very American approach, you balance the ticket with someone who can reach the parts of the party that the

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

The case for Kemi

At the very top end of politics there is a vital distinction that is underappreciated whenever the case for change is being assessed. It is the difference between plausible and compelling. Tony Blair in his pomp was the latter, Gordon Brown never more than the former. Margaret Thatcher had only to be plausible to win the 1979 election against a broken Labour Party. But once she had overseen the liberation of the Falkland Islands in 1982 she became compelling and two further election wins followed, each by a landslide margin. The case for leaving the EU became plausible after the Lisbon Treaty was steamrollered through without a promised referendum to

Matthew Taylor

Sunday show round-up: Boris was ‘too loyal’

Sajid Javid – I gave Boris the benefit of the doubt again and again The starting gun has been fired in the race for the next Prime Minister. Ten Conservatives have already thrown their hat into the ring, with Penny Mordaunt becoming the latest to declare as of this morning. Sophie Raworth spoke to the man who kicked off this process – the now former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who resigned his post on Tuesday, being shortly followed by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak. She asked him if their resignations had been co-ordinated in order to bring the ‘Big Dog’ down: Tax cuts needed to avoid ‘low growth trap’ The interview

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Penny Mordaunt’s embarrassing start

Penny Mordaunt, the second-favourite to be the next Prime Minister, has declared that she’s running – via a video where she barely features. It’s a mush of Tory visual cliches with a Little Britain-style voiceover man talking about service, the future etc with pictures of flags, soldiers, ships and (of course) Thatcher. But it doesn’t really feature her. Her voice comes right at the end saying that ‘our leadership needs to become a little less about the leader’ and more about ‘the ship’. And that seems to be it. On her website (registered, it seems, three years ago) Mordaunt lambasts Boris Johnson for policy that is ‘poorly planned and executed’.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Will the next Tory leader tackle sleaze?

All the candidates in this Tory leadership contest will have to pay tribute to the importance of standards in public life, given what did for Boris Johnson. For some of them, this will probably be as meaningful as posting a #bekind meme on social media. But if there isn’t a wider reckoning over standards and particularly sexual harassment, then the Conservatives –  and all the other parties –  are just setting themselves up for more scandals. This should matter particularly to the Tories given their general belief in preserving and strengthening institutions: parliament as a whole has been seriously damaged by the scandals of the past few months, and so

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The battle for the Tory right

Who will be the candidate of the right in this contest? There is this morning a mighty tussle on to be the standard bearer of the right in this contest. Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, is the preferred choice of many in the ERG. She has the backing of Steve Baker and as a Spartan has the battle honours too. She is offering the full spectrum of scrapping net zero, tax cuts, protocol and anti-wokery. She also stole a march by coming out early on Wednesday. Then, there is Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, who is expected to jump into the race shortly. She holds a great office of state

Steerpike Steerpike

Penny Mordaunt changes tack on trans rights

Penny Mordaunt has had a good start to the leadership race, storming into second place with 16 names, even though she is yet to declare. But is the Portsmouth MP worried about her past views coming back to haunt her? Mr S was surprised to see Mordaunt fire off a late-night ten-part Twitter thread shortly after midnight, in which the Royal Navy reservist tried desperately to prove that she really isn’t woke. Having complained that she wants to talk about ‘how we get our economy growing’, Mordaunt then shared a graphic captioned ‘Do I know what a woman is?’ Taking a sideswipe at the Times for using an image of

Coffee House

Latest: Hunt says he would make McVey his deputy

It’s day three of the Tory leadership race. As things stand there are nine declared candidates: Rishi Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Sajid Javid, Tom Tugendhat, Jeremy Hunt, Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt. All eyes are on Liz Truss to see whether she will choose to launch today or tomorrow, ahead of the crucial Monday meeting of Tory MPs. Thus far a quarter of Tory MPs have made endorsements with more than 100 going public, according to our Coffee House list here. Keep track of the latest developments below: 6.30 p.m. – Zahawi kicks back at tax ‘smears’ Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has called stories about his finances ‘inaccurate,

Saturday

Nadhim Zahawi

My plan to fix Britain

Thanks to Brexit, we are now a free nation. But let’s not just talk about the opportunities that follow: let’s take them. If a young boy who came here aged 11 without a word of English, can serve at the highest levels of Her Majesty’s Government and run to be the next Prime Minister, anything is possible. The burden of tax is simply too high. As an entrepreneur and businessman, I know that lower taxes are how we create a thriving and dynamic economy. Taxes for individuals, families and business need to be lower – and will be on my watch. Having been born in Iraq and fled the dangers

Coffee House

Latest: Zahawi, Javid & Hunt declare, Wallace out

Nadhim Zahawi, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt have declared their candidacy this evening. Ben Wallace, who had topped the poll among Tory activists, has announced that he won’t be standing in the Tory leadership race. Rishi Sunak is now leading the field in both MPs’ endorsement – he has 24 – and bookmaker’s odds (below). Sajid Javid has announced his candidacy and Liz Truss will on Monday. Trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is backing Tom Tugendhat and Justin Tomlinson has quit as deputy chairman to support Kemi Badenoch. Keep track of the latest developments below: 10:10 p.m. Sajid Javid declares his candidacy in Sunday Telegraph interview  Fraser Nelson writes… ‘We cannot afford not to have

Francis Pike

Shinzo Abe and the long history of Japanese political violence

Shinzo Abe, perhaps the most significant Japanese politician of the last 50 years, has been assassinated. The killing was carried out by Tetsuya Yamagamu, a youngish and apparently disgruntled former employee of the Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force.  It was a brutal and sordid end to what was an important if not uncontroversial life. Shinzo Abe was the dominant politician of his era. Forced to give up the prime ministership after just one year in 2007 because of ulcerative colitis, a congenital condition, Abe came back to win landslide elections for the Liberal Democratic Party in 2012, 2014 and 2017. In an era when many Japanese prime ministers have served

Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

Why the Tories should gamble on Kemi Badenoch

There’s only one candidate for prime minister with the guts to dismantle the self-loathing culture of identity politics that is destroying Britain. She’s uniquely qualified to take on the challenge because she’s a black woman raised in Nigeria who studied for her A-levels while working in McDonald’s. And she may succeed because, in addition to a passion for knocking heads together, she has a startlingly clear understanding of how our politics and culture are poisoning each other in a left-liberal suicide pact. As soon as I read Kemi Badenoch’s article in this morning’s Times, I thought: this is a risk worth taking. The last gamble didn’t pay off, but then

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Are the Tories ready for a real contest?

Will this leadership contest provide a debate? The Tories got into this mess because have spent years asking who can bring them power, rather than what they stand for or who has the best ideas for the country. The leadership contest should come in two stages: first discussing what has gone wrong and then next who best to remedy. So far, this is my test for the candidates. Have they said anything that moves beyond platitude and cliche? Do they show any signs of being thoughtful? Do they recognise that there is a fight ahead, and that they are prepared for that fight? I fervently hope the Tory party abstain

Steerpike Steerpike

Jolyon makes a mess of it (again)

Oh dear. It seems that Britain’s favourite kimono-wearing, fox-murdering, bat-wielding loudmouth lawyer has done it again. The Conservative party is shaping up for a leadership contest between the most diverse range of candidates ever, including five MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds (Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch, Rishi Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi and Sajid Javid). There are also four women (Braverman, Badenoch, Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt) –  more than the prospective number of straight white men (Tom Tugendhat, Ben Wallace and Jeremy Hunt). But that’s not enough for Jolyon Maugham, the right-on Remainiac best known for losing cases and killing foxes. The one-man pest control unit – known as the ‘Babe Ruth

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Russia is militarising its economy

The ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine isn’t a war – there’s a law and a possible maximum sentence (though no one seems to have faced it yet) of 15 years in prison to stop you claiming it is in Russia. Yet Russia does seem to be inching towards a wartime economy, for all Vladimir Putin’s recent bullishness. At the recent (if rather sparsely-attended) St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin struck a triumphalist note, crowing that ‘the economic blitzkrieg against Russia never had any chances of success,’ and ‘gloomy predictions about the Russian economy’s future didn’t come true.’ That’s both true and not true. There has been no meltdown, not least