Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

Steerpike

John McDonnell’s crisis of confidence

As the Conservative Party continued to battle this evening over the survival of Theresa May, Her Majesty’s Opposition had the easiest job in the world. All they had to do was watch the carnage unfold without slipping up themselves. But that might have been too much to ask for some this evening. Reacting to the

Steerpike

Watch: Anna Soubry rows with fellow Tory MP

Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence but the Tory party is not a happy place. Anna Soubry and Robert Buckland have just had a very public row on Sky News. It’s safe to say the two Tory MPs did not see eye-to-eye about what should happen next. Buckland told Soubry that it was

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May wins vote of confidence by 200 to 117

Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence in her leadership. Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tory backbench committee, announced the result to cheers from Tory MPs gathered in Parliament. 200 Tory MPs backed the Prime Minister in the vote. But 117 of her own MPs – more than a third of the party

James Forsyth

Theresa May says she will not stand in the next election

Theresa May has time-limited her premiership in an attempt to save it. She told the 1922 Committee this evening that, ‘In my heart I would have liked to lead the party into the next election (partly because of what happened last time). But I realise that the party would like a different leader to take

Lloyd Evans

Corbyn plays into May’s hands at PMQs

Bad 24 hours for Mrs May. A last-minute Christmas shopping-trip to Europe yielded no bargains whatever, even though she had £39bn to splurge on an extension to her premiership. Back home she found a conspiracy of seditious Tories baying for her resignation. The Queen of Narnia is a masochist. She finds punishment stimulating, and perhaps

Brendan O’Neill

Why Theresa May must go

Theresa May has got to go. She has got to go because she has failed British democracy, failed the British people, and reneged on the Conservative Party’s own manifesto promise to leave both the Customs Union and the Single Market. She has got to go because 17.4m Britons, the largest democratic bloc in British history,

Katy Balls

How the Brexiteer rebels’ gamble could backfire

As things stand, the number of MPs who have come out publicly to say they will back Theresa May in a confidence vote is enough to keep her in place. However, given that it is a secret ballot and there are still five hours to go until that vote, plenty could change between now and

James Forsyth

What would be a good result for Theresa May tonight?

The sense in Westminster this morning is that Theresa May will win tonight’s confidence vote. So, as is the way, the conversation has immediately moved on to what would be a good result for her. Cabinet ministers are busy saying that a win is a win, whatever the margin. One points out to me that

Isabel Hardman

How the Tory vote of no confidence in Theresa May will work

Two Tory MPs who are currently suspended from the party whip could be brought back in order to take part in today’s vote of no confidence against Theresa May, 1922 Committee Chair Graham Brady revealed this morning. Briefing journalists on the vote, Brady said he was waiting for confirmation from the Chief Whip of the

Alex Massie

Ditching Theresa May achieves nothing

Theresa May has failed. That is no longer in doubt. Nor is there any prospect of resurrection. Her credibility within the Conservative party, the House of Commons, and the country at large is shot. The only thing propping up her Government is the fear that allowing it to collapse completely would invite Jeremy Corbyn into

Steerpike

Watch: Tory MPs refuse to talk on TV

It’s all out war in the Conservative party today, and as you would expect, things are already getting a little heated between Tory MPs. The rift between colleagues backing Theresa May and those calling for her to go was very apparent on BBC news this morning, where Brexiteer and letter submitter Andrew Bridgen was talking

James Kirkup

Tory MPs need to face reality, and back Theresa May

Tory MPs should vote for Theresa May in tonight’s confidence vote. Keeping her in place will be painful, difficult and lead to any number of awful problems. But it is far, far better than the horrors that will follow if they remove her. Even if you can, like Owen Paterson, blithely gloss over the fact

Katy Balls

Theresa May delivers a message of defiance to her Tory critics

Theresa May has just given a defiant speech outside Downing Street in which she promised to ‘contest’ the confidence vote with ‘everything’ that she’s got. On the news that 48 confidence letters had been received by 1922 committee chairman Graham Brady, the Prime Minister said the only people a Tory leadership contest would benefit right

Steerpike

The next Tory leader: runners and riders

It’s official, 48 letters of no confidence have been submitted to the chairman of the 1922 committee, Graham Brady, triggering a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister this evening. If she loses this, she will be required to stand down and a Conservative leadership election will begin. As James reports on Coffee House,

Katy Balls

Tory MPs talk up a swift Christmas leadership contest

Theresa May will tonight face a confidence vote by her MPs. Conservative MPs will vote on her fate early evening – and the results are expected to be counted immediately. The arrival of 48 letters took government figures by surprise last night. While it was clear May’s decision to shelve the vote on her Brexit

Isabel Hardman

After a day of high drama, nothing has changed

Even before the result of the Tory no confidence vote was announced, the mood in Committee Room 14 was rather jovial. Chief Whip Julian Smith appeared minutes before the result, looking both exhausted and happy. Nerves were sufficiently calm for someone to crack a joke in the pause between Sir Graham Brady arriving and him

Gavin Mortimer

Has Macron done enough to stop the yellow vest protests?

Emmanuel Macron spoke to the French people for thirteen minutes on Monday evening. It was an uncharacteristically sombre address from the president, one in which he admitted he had to take his ‘share of responsibility’ for the anger that provoked the yellow vest movement. As well as conceding he ‘might have hurt people with my

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May gets locked inside her car

Poor old Theresa May. The PM is hopping across Europe in a desperate bid to try and salvage her Brexit deal. But quite predictably things aren’t going well. After arriving in Berlin to meet Angela Merkel, Theresa May got off to a bad start – by getting locked in her car. Mr S is pleased

Steerpike

Watch: John Bercow burns Philip Hammond

John Bercow gave Labour MPs a helping hand in the Commons yesterday by making his thoughts known on the Government’s decision to delay a vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The Speaker said the hold-up was ‘deeply discourteous’. But it seems he hasn’t stopped his mission of making life tricky for the Tories. Philip Hammond

No deal need not be a disaster

Spare a thought for us foreigners. We’re desperately trying to understand the meaning of the Brexit arguments being thrown around in the House of Commons. We all have our own countries too, so we view those arguments through the lens of our homelands. So here are a few reflections on how we react.  Theresa May’s deal

Ross Clark

May’s delay has made a leadership challenge more likely

How painfully clear it is what happens next. Theresa May returns from her European travels with some kind of non legally-binding piece of paper saying that the EU would rather not enact the backstop if it can possibly avoid it, and, some time in January we finally have the crushing Commons defeat that we should