Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
That so many people have wanted to say something about how the Queen touched their lives, whether or not they met her, shows quite how powerful her service was. The tributes this afternoon in the House of Commons were moving because they showed the breadth of that service, from the way she carried out her
Today’s energy bills announcement was the first really important moment of Liz Truss’s premiership so far – and may prove to be the most important one of her entire tenure. Kate has a run-down of the details of the policy here, but what the plan to freeze the average energy bill at £2,500 a year
Liz Truss has started to appoint supporters of her leadership campaign rivals to ministerial positions, answering the demand (mostly from said supporters of her leadership campaign rivals) to ‘reach out’ across the party to bring the Conservatives back together. There are Rishi Sunak backers in the latest slew of jobs – Robert Jenrick returns to
Liz Truss’s first Prime Minister’s Questions was well-scripted, both for the new Tory leader and Keir Starmer. They had come along planning to talk about the cost of living crisis: Truss so that she could reassure the public (and her own party) that ‘immediate action to help people with their bills’ was on the way,
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Liz Truss has appointed her cabinet. Allies of Rishi Sunak are out, and the former foreign secretary’s closest allies are in. What does this mean for her government? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. Britain after Boris: Coffee House Shots Live, with Andrew Neil, Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Kate
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Boris Johnson finally departed Downing Street early this morning, but left the door slightly ajar on the prospect of a comeback. What will this mean for Liz Truss? Also on the podcast, as Truss makes her way to Balmoral to meet with the Queen, what will the rest of the day look like for the
Even though Liz Truss won’t start forming her government until after she has seen the Queen at Balmoral, many of the top roles are already nailed down. The latest dead cert is Thérèse Coffey, who will be Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister. The seniority of this role tells us a number of things. One
Keir Starmer tonight told the weekly parliamentary Labour party meeting that ‘we will never underestimate Liz Truss’. The Labour leader added that ‘she is a talented politician who has got to the top through hard work and determination’ and that ‘she will do whatever it takes to keep them in power’. He warned that ‘the
Priti Patel has announced she is standing down as Home Secretary and returning to the backbenches ahead of an expected reshuffle tomorrow. Patel had made her pitch during the leadership campaign to stay in government, saying ‘my record in that time speaks volumes’. But it had become very clear in briefings about Liz Truss’s planned
What does deliver, deliver, deliver mean? Liz Truss had it as her payoff on accepting the leadership of the Conservative party this afternoon, so clearly it means something to her. She told the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre: My friends, we need to show that we will deliver over the next two years. I will deliver
Levelling up is probably not even in the top tier of Liz Truss’s intray for this week, given the pressure to do something big on energy bills, and then to address the multiple other crises including the NHS, the Northern Ireland Protocol and Ukraine. But what she does with her predecessor’s flagship policy is a
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Despite a relatively quiet summer from the government, Boris Johnson has waded finally waded into the energy crisis, announcing £700 million of funding for Sizewell C, the nuclear plant. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about what’s behind this development (and whether it could be anything to do with
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Today rail union leaders announced another round of strikes, this time to coincide with the Labour party conference. Is there a message here that they are trying to send to Kier Starmer? Should we expect similar disruption during the Conservative Party Conference? Also on the podcast, after the death of the last leader of the
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Boris Johnson is on his farewell tour but is remaining coy about the possibility of a political comeback. What problems will this throw up for the next prime minister? Will Boris be friend or foe? Also on the podcast, after Liz Truss pulled out of her BBC interview with Nick Robinson, is she trying to
One of the big priorities for the new Prime Minister is dealing with the situation in Northern Ireland. There’s no time for procrastination as the existing arrangements which suspend checks on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and Great Britain expire on 15 September. Liz Truss has made very clear that she is serious about getting
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Isabel Hardman discusses the latest A level results and the impact on university places, with Fraser Nelson and student Lella Halloum. What more can the government do? Produced by Matt Taylor.
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It seems like Labour has a problem when it comes to the size of its membership. It lost 91,000 members last year and recorded a £4.8 million deficit. Is this the Keir Starmer effect on the Corbyn membership? Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak has gone viral after sharing his McDonald’s breakfast order on This
Why has the greatest patient scandal in the history of the NHS rumbled on for so long before its victims even start to see justice? It shouldn’t have taken 40 years for there to be an answer Today the government awarded £100,000 in interim compensation to around 4,000 survivors of the contaminated blood scandal, as
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The UK inflation rate is now at 10.1 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics. Is there much that the government can do to relieve its effects? Also on the podcast, the leadership contenders are in Belfast for the next hustings: how will the audience respond to the candidate’s position on The Northern Ireland Protocol?
Judging by the show of hands in the auditorium of the Perth Concert Hall tonight, both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak had a fair bit of work to do to win over Scottish Tories. Many put their hands up to say they hadn’t yet decided who to back when asked by the host Colin Mackay.
