James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
12 min listen
Nadine Dorries has hit out on various platforms saying that ‘sinister forces’ stopped her from receiving her peerage, as promised to her by former prime minister Boris Johnson. This has been met by a strong rebuke from Number 10, but do Boris and Dorries have grounds to feel aggrieved? Also on the podcast, tomorrow we
12 min listen
This morning Rishi Sunak has delivered a direct rebuke of Boris Johnson over the resignation honours row, during an interview at London Tech Week. Is this the Prime Minister going into fighting mode? Do his comments go some way towards heading off a Johnson-led rebellion? Also on the podcast, Nicola Sturgeon was released from custody
Talk about the end of the peer show. Boris Johnson’s allies have spent the past two days spitting blood and crying betrayal, accusing Rishi Sunak of ‘deceit’ over the alleged removal of several nominees from the honours list. But tonight No. 10 has hit back, telling the Sunday Times that such claims are ‘categorically untrue’
Another day, another episode in the ongoing Johnson-Sunak psychodrama. Following clashes over the Stormont brake and the Covid inquiry, Rishi Sunak is now prepared to wave through his predecessor’s honours list – nine months after his resignation. The ongoing delay in the publication of the list has been a source of tension between the pair.
13 min listen
It was prime ministers questions today and while Rishi Sunak is away in the US Oliver Dowden stood in. The Covid inquiry was a hot topic of debate. Rishi Sunak says he is not worried about being embarrassed by messages seen by the inquiry, but is he right to be so calm? Also on the
12 min listen
The Prime Minister will be flying stateside tonight to visit Joe Biden. Top of the agenda will be AI regulation and Britain’s role in it (they may also talk about Ben Wallace’s bid to become the next Secretary General of Nato). It’s a tricky issue and famously fast moving, so can the two leaders crack
11 min listen
James Heale is joined by Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls to discuss Rishi Sunak’s visit to Dover in a bid to tackle small boats. Also, following a clash between Keir Starmer and members on the left of the party, how much of a problem has Andy Burnham become for the Labour leader?
14 min listen
James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Lord Stewart Jackson, regional chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organisation. On the podcast they discuss Labour and the Conservative’s candidates selection process and the politics behind it.
14 min listen
The Cabinet Office has officially triggered a judicial review against the Covid Inquiry – but is this a misstep, if eventually they will lose their legal case against it? On the episode, James Heale talks to Katy Balls and the Institute for Government’s Catherine Haddon. Produced by Cindy Yu.
The Cabinet Office has tonight launched a last-ditch legal effort to avoid handing over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApps to the official Covid public inquiry. Officials released a strongly-worded statement confirming the department has requested a judicial review of the inquiry’s demands for material, having missed the revised 4 p.m deadline to pass on Johnson’s messages. Baroness Hallett,
11 min listen
Natasha Feroze speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale about Geraint Davies, a Labour MP who has been suspended from the party amid allegations of sexual harassment. Another Pestminster scandal to add to the list, how many more could be out there? Also on the podcast, as Rishi Sunak meets European leaders in Moldova to
8 min listen
Boris Johnson’s team today suggested that they would be happy to hand over his WhatsApp messages from during the pandemic to help the Covid enquiry. Why has the civil service got itself in such a muddle over this, and why have the Tories failed to reform Whitehall? Max Jeffery speaks to James Heale and Kate
Most prime ministers fall out with the civil service at some point. David Cameron attacked the ‘enemies of enterprise’; Tony Blair spoke of ‘the scars on my back’ from battling the public sector. But the premiership of Boris Johnson brought relations to a new low, with prorogation and partygate fuelling paranoia on both sides. Under
Natasha Feroze is joined by James Heale and Fraser Nelson to discuss the Covid inquiry’s requested release of Boris Johnson’s unredacted Whatsapp messages and diary entries. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has spent the day in Kent looking at ways to clamp down unsafe vaping. But he won’t go as far as other countries who intend to
13 min listen
James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews about the news that borrowing costs are back to being the highest since last Autumn. What could this mean for the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt?
James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Robert Colvile from the Centre for Policy Studies about today’s migration figures, which hit a record high yet still came in lower than expected.
15 min listen
Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home joins Katy Balls and James Heale to discuss the most recent victims accused of breaching the ministerial code. The code covers things like telling the truth in Parliament, keeping cabinet discussions secret and not allowing conflicts to arise between public duties and private interests. But is it fit for
Once it was David Gauke, then it was Michael Ellis. Now it is Jeremy Quin who bears the honorary title of ‘minister for sticky wickets’. The Paymaster General was called upon to answer an Urgent Question in the House this lunchtime on – what else? – the allegations about Suella Braverman’s speeding fine. He confirmed
A new week brings with it a new backbench group. The New Conservatives are a dozen MPs who are drawn from the 2017 and 2019 intakes. They want a fundamental realignment of the party so it better reflects the interests of voters in the Midlands and across the red wall in the north. Prominent members
14 min listen
James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman about how Suella Braverman’s speeding scandal might unravel; and what to expect from Keir Starmer’s vision to build and NHS fit for the future.
