Politics

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

Friday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Chaos with Boris Johnson?

The chance of a Boris Johnson comeback has risen dramatically since Liz Truss’s resignation. Over 40 MPs have so far come out to publicly back him while today’s papers are filled with briefings about how the former prime minister would be best placed to save the party from electoral doom. Now it’s no great secret that plenty of Johnson loyalists backed Liz Truss in the last leadership election primarily to stop Rishi Sunak. There were some MPs who always said Johnson should return. Now as MPs consider recent dire polling, factoring it into their own electoral calculus to see whether they would lose their seat, more are beginning to ask whether

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Is Penny Mordaunt the Stop Boris candidate?

Here’s a little mystery: whatever happened to that nice, sensible foursome whom all week we were led to believe were ready to seize the reins of power from Liz Truss: Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and Ben Wallace? If Truss resigned, we were told, the Tory party would behave in the same grown-up fashion that it did when it elected Michael Howard as leader unopposed in 2003. Yet come Truss’s resignation the fab four was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Penny Mordaunt quickly made it plain that she didn’t want to play second fiddle to Sunak and believed that she could run in her own right. There are two

Matthew Goodwin

Boris won’t save the Tory party

In the aftermath of Trussfall, amid the victory of the lettuce, the Conservative party has today crashed to just 14 per cent in the polls. This is the party’s lowest level of support in British polling history. The previous low, 17 per cent, was recorded during the Brexit meltdown in the spring of 2019, amid Theresa May’s resignation and the Brexit party insurgency.  Today’s new low comes amid the resignation of Truss, the complete failure of her project and a governing party that has gone from being one of the most successful parties in the Western world to where it is today – on life support. Here’s what I think happens

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

Why the Lib Dems want Boris back

Suddenly, out of the blue, comes a saviour. The Lib Dems have failed to capitalise on the downfall of Liz Truss. As the Tories’ polling hits record lows, all of the gains are going to Labour. This weekend, Ed Davey and his colleagues will be praying for the return of Boris Johnson. Boris was gold dust for the Lib Dems. In Ed Davey’s coveted Blue Wall seats across southern England, Boris was their greatest asset near the end of his premiership. These seats are traditionally Tory but lean Remain and socially liberal. They are also filled with the type of voters who would respond most warmly to Rishi Sunak’s ‘sensible’

Joanna Williams

Liz Truss was a conviction politician

As an erstwhile Brexit-voting academic, I’m used to being at odds with those around me. But in feeling troubled at the news of Liz Truss’s resignation yesterday, it seems I’m now in a minority of one. Truss had to go, of course. Her failings have been so well documented they hardly need repeating. Her lack of political acumen was perhaps most shocking: Truss utterly failed to read the mood of the Conservative party, the nation and the financial markets on every single one of her 44 days in office. But still, I have a pang of regret that she is on her way out. Truss’s stilted performances failed to inspire

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour MP quits over misconduct claims

Life is pretty good right now for Sir Keir Starmer: his authority is unchallenged, his shadow cabinet is serene and his party is leading by 35 points in the polls. But this morning has seen a (temporary) disruption to all that, following the news that one of his lesser-known backbenches will be quitting parliament after the sleaze watchdog said he should be suspended for ‘serious sexual misconduct.’ The independent panel on MPs’ conduct recommended Christian Matheson be suspended for four weeks following a report into his behaviour. Two allegations of sexual misconduct were upheld by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards against Matheson by a former member of his staff. The

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Penny reign: how Mordaunt could be kingmaker

Tory MPs will likely have three candidates to vote for in Monday’s leadership race: Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak. If Johnson runs, gets to the final two and it goes to the Tory membership, then he’s probably be back in No. 10 within days. Polls of Tory members put Boris ahead by a three-to-two margin in a multi-candidate scenario. To stop Johnson getting in the final two, Tory MPs would need to cast their votes tactically to engineer a Sunak-Mordaunt playoff amongst members, in which Sunak would likely win. Why would she be Sunak’s lobby fodder? But all this assumes Penny Mordaunt plays ball. Why would she be Sunak’s

James Kirkup James Kirkup

‘Bring Back Boris’ means the Conservatives are unleadable

Boris Johnson was finally thrown out of Downing Street because of his handling of sexual misconduct allegations by a political ally. Dozens of ministers quit his government over his lack of integrity. He remains subject to an investigation that could see him suspended from parliament for dishonesty. Dozens of Conservative MPs believe he is the best person to lead their party and Britain. The Bring Back Boris movement confirms that the Conservative party is now unleadable. Whoever ends up as prime minister next week will be unable to command a reliable majority of the party’s MPs. This puts a major question mark over any Conservative government’s ability to deliver the

Steerpike Steerpike

Runners and riders for next Tory PM

Well, that’s that. The disastrous premiership of Liz Truss will come to an end next week after 52 days in office, the shortest tenure in British political history. Who can replace her? Someone with a strong stomach, a glutton for punishment and a taste for sipping from a poisoned chalice. Below Mr S runs his eye over the likely candidates and a few no hopers… Rishi Sunak – The obvious favourite but there’s still a sizeable anti-Sunak caucus in the party. The detractors may call him ‘fishy Rishi’ but his supporters crow that he got the big calls right. Boris Johnson – Can at least claim some kind of mandate, having

Steerpike Steerpike

Who will Ben Wallace back?

‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played, the red crashing game of a fight?’ Jessie Pope’s paean to the glories of war might equally be applicable to the internecine slaughter of the Tory party as its MPs gear up for yet another brutal leadership battle. But in war you can only be killed once; in politics many times. And few know that mantra better than the two leading contenders to become PM: Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak. Both men a thing or two about political mortality: Johnson was forced out in July and Sunak lost to his successor in the subsequent contest. This time though, the leadership contest rules have

Robin Ashenden

The tragedy of Truss’s Thatcherite imitation

Thirty two years ago, on a cold November Thursday, Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister, pushed out of office following 11 years in government. In 2022, after just 44 days, Liz Truss stood outside Downing Street on another Thursday autumn afternoon, to tender her own resignation to the British public. It had taken a cabal of ministers to topple Thatcher, while Truss’s fate was decided by a single MP, Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the 1922 Committee. These final differences aside, Liz Truss cosplayed her heroine Margaret Thatcher to the last. Liz Truss’s emulation of Margaret Thatcher always had a whiff of teenage fantasy or fairytale about it. She was

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

These figures show the enormity of the next PM’s task

Next week we will have a new prime minister (again), but the economic problems facing the country will remain the same. This morning’s update from the Office of National Statistics shows public sector net borrowing was  £20 billion last month: the second-highest borrowing September record and significantly higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s last forecast, which put the figure close to £15 billion. It’s this rapid rise in borrowing that the markets have turned on in recent weeks Economists thought borrowing would rise, but even the consensus (roughly £17 billion) was lower than what the government borrowed in practice. While total borrowing for the financial year is slightly below

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Fleet Street back Boris?

As the man who quite literally wrote the book on Churchill, Boris Johnson will be all too keen to encourage talk of a comeback. There’s much excited talk in the corridors of power about whether the former premier really can mount a comeback, just four months after leaving in disgrace. Lists of MPs are being circulated, with Johnson needing 100 MPs by Monday to get on the ballot. Can the king of the comebacks do it once more? One place where Johnson certainly has his fans is on Fleet Street, where he’s provided more than his fair share of copy over the years. Much of the (still powerful) right wing

Samantha Smith

Lessons have not been learned about child sex abuse

This week, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its long-awaited final report. It describes in harrowing detail the experiences of more than 7,300 victims and highlights the systemic failings of institutions in protecting children and addressing child sexual abuse (CSA) and child sexual exploitation (CSE). However, as with other similar inquiries that preceded it, many survivors fear that the findings and recommendations of the IICSA will be swept under the carpet. Child sexual abuse and exploitation takes many forms: from abuse within the family to group-based sexual exploitation or online grooming. The national crisis in child sexual abuse cannot be overstated. The devastation and harm caused by

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will Boris get the numbers he needs?

The question on everyone’s lips tonight is whether Boris Johnson can get 100 MP nominations by Monday. This is the bar that the 1922 committee have set. Johnson’s supporters have been coming out tonight at pace: he is up to 20-odd supporters already. But the question of whether he can get to 100 is difficult given the circumstances that led to his departure and the coming privileges committee investigation. Johnson’s advocates, though, think that if he can get that 100 and make it to the member’s round, then he will become the favourite. Rishi Sunak – whom I have been friends with for a long time – and Penny Mordaunt both ran

William Moore William Moore

The lady vanishes

41 min listen

On this week’s podcast:  After the markets saw off Kwarteng, Trussonomics and now Truss herself, James Forsyth writes in The Spectator that the markets will be driving British politics for the foreseeable future. He is joined by Britain economics editor at the Economist Soumaya Keynes to discuss the institutions now dictating government policy (00:56). Also this week: Looking ahead to the American midterms next month, are we heading for a ‘red wave’? Freddy Gray says in his piece for the magazine that the Democrats could be in for a shellacking come November. He is joined by Washington editor at Spectator World, Amber Athey (13:41). And finally: Should the Parthenon Marbles be returned to Athens?

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

A bluffer’s guide to (yet another) Tory leadership race

Here we go again – another leadership contest, another round of intense Westminster blather. Lightweight would-be commentators may feel their energy flagging as they prepare to analyse this next phase of high-level political violence. But alpha bluffers do not fret. We know that there is no such thing as a ‘tired talking point’ – although that is a handy phrase in any serious conversation. Try these ten fresh, handy sentences to keep you sounding shrewd as the Tories commit hara-kiri once more and everything falls apart: 1. Whither the one-nation caucus? Oh yes, you know your ‘Tory tribes’. You understand the complexities of the ‘uncivil war’ within the party. Say ‘whither’

Nigel Jones

Is this the end of the Conservatives?

Nothing, not even the world’s oldest and most successful political party, lasts forever. So could the current crisis convulsing the Conservative party mean its extinction as a significant force in British life? Only three years ago simply posing this question would have seemed ridiculous. Back in December 2019, it was not the Tories who were staring down the barrel of a gun, but Labour. Boris Johnson, promising to get Brexit done, delivered an 80-seat majority for the triumphant Tories, hoovering up working-class votes and seizing seats that had never elected a Conservative before. After suffering their worst defeat since 1935, it was Labour who looked as though they were on

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

The metrics that will decide the next PM’s fate

Gone in a flash, Liz Truss becomes the shortest serving prime minister in British history. As it stands, she’s 75 days short of George Canning, who lasted some 119 days in office before dying from tuberculosis. If Truss’s successor wants to avoid joining her and Canning at the lower ends of the Wikipedia, they’ll need to keep a close eye on these seven metrics: 1. The value of the pound Kwasi Kwarteng’s (and Liz Truss’s) mini-Budget caused the pound to fall to its lowest ever level at just above $1.03. At the time there were fears it may even pass parity with the dollar. Since then it regained its losses and

Richard Luckett

Who was George Canning? (1973)

Until Liz Truss, George Canning was the shortest-serving prime minister. He needn’t be forgotten by pub quizzers, general knowledge collectors and historians alike. In 1973, Richard Luckett reviewed a major biography of Canning’s life for The Spectator. Every schoolboy knows about the duel with Castlereagh; students of that neglected subject, abusive language, remember Brougham’s description of his behaviour over the Catholic question (‘the most incredible specimen of monstrous truckling for the purpose of obtaining office which the whole history of political tergiversation could furnish’); historians recall his reputation as an orator, his part in the decision to bombard Copenhagen, his divisive effect on Tory ministries, his forceful conduct of foreign policy