Conservative party

Friday

Tom Goodenough

A nasty Tory leadership battle favours one person: Theresa May

Even by the standards of Westminster politics, yesterday’s developments will be remembered for a long time. But meanwhile, in the short-term, Michael Gove’s decision to launch his own campaign – and Boris’ subsequent move to drop out – favours only one person in the Tory leadership race: Theresa May. The Home Secretary made her pitch as the quieter candidate who would just get on with the job. Amidst the noise of what looks set to be a nasty leadership campaign, that strategy already seems to be paying off. This morning, May has won the backing of the Daily Mail. The paper described yesterday as one of the most ‘unedifying days

Thursday

Anthony Horowitz

I always defended Michael Gove. Then I met him | 30 June 2016

This piece first appeared in The Spectator on 15 March 2014.  A few weeks ago, I was a guest at a huge tea party for children’s authors, publishers and commentators at the South Bank, but the atmosphere, over the cupcakes and finger sandwiches, was decidedly frosty. There were three keynote speakers and their speeches all targeted a man so vile and destructive that the audience visibly recoiled every time his name was mentioned. He was, of course, Michael Gove — and I wasn’t sure I should tell anyone that I had always rather admired him and, moreover, was about to interview him for this magazine. It might be better to keep

James Forsyth

Why did Michael Gove suddenly withdraw his support from Boris Johnson?

So, what happened? As late as yesterday afternoon, Michael Gove was trying to persuade fellow Cabinet Ministers to back Boris Johnson. This morning, he announced that not only that he was running but that ‘Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead’. Hours later, Boris – reeling from this blow – announced that he would not be running. Well, one aspect of all this appears to be Gove’s frustration with the way Boris operated. The referendum campaign had led Gove to revise his opinion of Boris, to see him as someone who could be a good Prime Minister. But Gove backers say that, when removed

Freddy Gray

This must be what happens when you put journalists in charge

Are we learning, rather painfully, what happens when you let journalists take over? Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are political hacks, by instinct and experience, so perhaps it is not surprising that Brexit is starting to look and feel like a post-modern sequel to the novel Scoop.  Deadlines, panic, laziness, brilliance, incompetence, disaster, highs, lows, sheer bloody madness — this is the new politics. Triumph snatched from the jaws of disaster, and then days later the reverse. It makes for great copy, and is (go on, you can admit it) very funny. But is it any way to run a country? What sort of professional other than a journalist would pull off a great political coup, put himself on the

Isabel Hardman

The official candidates to be Tory leader and their pitches to the party

The 1922 Committee has announced the final line-up in the Tory leadership race, after an extremely dramatic morning. The official contenders are as follows: Stephen Crabb Liam Fox Michael Gove Andrea Leadsom Theresa May Conservative contest rules mean that MPs only need two nominees at this stage, and there will be tectonic shifts taking place in the party as supporters of Boris Johnson move, either to Michael Gove or other candidates. It is fair to say after talking to a number of Boris supporters that some of them are currently so white hot with fury at what Gove has done in turning on his colleague at the last minute that

The Spectator

Boris Johnson: I will not be the next Tory leader

Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the Tory leadership race. Here is his full speech: Last week the people of this country voted to take a new path and a new direction for Britain in a decision that I passionately support. And it is vital now to see this moment for what it is. This is not a time to quail, it is not a crisis, nor should we see it as an excuse for wobbling or self doubt. But as a moment for hope and ambition for Britain. A time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson: Next Tory leader 'cannot be me'

‘My friends, you have waited for the punchline of this speech’ said Boris Johnson after 11 minutes of what sounded very much like a leadership speech. ‘That having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament I have concluded that person cannot be me.’ Theresa May has been slightly ahead of Boris in the surveys of Tory members and voters so far. Now she is the front runner. But it is worth remembering that Gove always receives a rapt reception at party conference and many Conservatives went into mourning when he was moved from the education brief. Gove has also been the key driver in government of the

Emily Hill

Why Michael Gove is the leader shy Tories need

In February The Spectator’s Emily Hill explained why Michael Gove was the leader the Leave campaign needed – and why he is the right leader for shy Tories. Here’s her article: Lately, people only have to look at me to splurge their deepest, darkest secret. Last May, they did a terrible thing. They voted Tory. Now they’re contemplating greater deviance: voting to leave the EU — if only, they say, the campaign was fronted by someone they could believe in. And who do they want? The answer surprised me. Theresa is no temptation, as it turns out, nor even Boris. No, it’s Michael Gove they fancy. Westminster types might read this and

The Spectator

'I'm Theresa May and I'm the best person to be Prime Minister'

‘My pitch is very simple, I’m Theresa May and I think I’m the best person to be Prime Minister’, she said. here’s the rest of the speech: I want to start by paying tribute to the Prime Minister. It’s easy to forget how far the Conservative Party and our country have come since David Cameron was first elected leader in 2005. Thanks to David we were elected into government for the first time in 18 years, we won a majority in the House of Commons for the first time in 23 years and in difficult times we stabilised the economy, reduced the deficit and helped more people into work than

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May launches her Conservative leadership bid

Theresa May has launched her Conservative leadership bid this morning. Her scheduled announcement came just moments after Michael Gove announced that he was also entering the race in a surprise move, having broken ranks with Boris Johnson’s own campaign. In her speech, which you can read in full here, the Home Secretary said: ‘My pitch is very simple. I’m Theresa May and I think I’m the best person to be Prime Minister of this country’ May spoke at length of her reasoning for wanting the top job during her 16-minute speech. On Brexit, she said the country had emerged from a ‘bruising and divisive campaign’. Admitting she called for Britain to ‘Remain’,

Michael Gove

Michael Gove: why I'm standing for the Tory leadership

The British people voted for change last Thursday. They sent us a clear instruction that they want Britain to leave the European Union and end the supremacy of EU law. They told us to restore democratic control of immigration policy and to spend their money on national priorities such as health, education and science instead of giving it to Brussels. They rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country. There are huge challenges ahead for this country but also huge opportunities. We can make this country stronger and fairer. We have a unique chance to heal divisions, give everyone

Rory Sutherland

A game of chicken with the electorate

I have worked in advertising for 28 years. In that time I have seen many briefs for communication campaigns, but none contained the line ‘It is important to insult the target audience, or at least treat them with barely disguised disdain.’ So I wonder whether the referendum result might have gone the other way had Remain supporters refrained from using social media in the days before the vote. Impossible to enforce, of course. The problem with the self-righteous is that they are so eager to virtue-signal to each other that they will go on doing it even when it is completely counterproductive. One American expert has written a blog post

James Forsyth

So will it be Boris?

The Tory party is in a deeply emotional state. Remain-supporting MPs cry tears of rage when they discuss the referendum. Bitter emails and text messages have been exchanged. Leave-supporting MPs have been accused of unleashing dark forces that they cannot control, of putting immigrants in Britain at risk. Yet the leadership candidates who have so far emerged seem strangely united in their vision for post-Brexit Britain. All want to heal the divide between rich and poor that the referendum has exposed. It is tempting to concentrate only on the division in the party, the fear that David Cameron’s resignation has injected even more poison into the Tory system than either

Emily Hill

Why I lie about voting Leave

There are lies, damned lies and pretending to back Remain. I lie because I am a coward. I hug friends who burst into tears, petrified by life without the European Union. I sympathise with strangers, who act like Lady Di just died and there’s nowhere to lay flowers. I obfuscate, I mutter, I am evasive. And I am not alone. There are hordes of us who’ll not admit we voted Leave to our best friends, our next of kin. We learned to keep schtum a long time ago — thanks to social media — since they’d defriend us if said we’d vote to leave. Now they are outraged, deeply confused

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Three questions Stephen Crabb will have to address in his leadership campaign

Stephen Crabb is the first Tory leadership contender to formally declare his candidacy for the job, with a rousing speech about his working class Conservative values this morning. The Work and Pensions Secretary pitched himself as the candidate who not only understands the people who ‘are really struggling, who look at us all in Westminster and […] see nothing to believe’, but who also understands how to hold the Union together – both of which are rather big claims. He used his now-famous (in Westminster, anyway) backstory as someone born in Scotland and brought up in Wales in a working class household to argue that he was uniquely placed to

Tom Goodenough

Tory leadership race: Who is backing who?

The race to be the next Tory leader is underway. Conservative Party members will decide between Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom after Michael Gove was knocked out in the second round of voting. But which Conservative MPs are backing who? Theresa May (160): Michael Fallon Patrick McLoughlin Chris Grayling Nicholas Soames Guto Bebb Alan Mak Gavin Williamson George Hollingbery James Brokenshire Michael Ellis Julian Smith Mike Penning Mel Stride John Howell Sarah Wollaston Justine Greening Alan Duncan Brandon Lewis Margot James Phillip Lee Paul Beresford Steve Barclay James Cartlidge Flick Drummond Simon Kirby Alec Shelbrooke Dominic Grieve Julian Knight Chris Philp Sam Gyimah David Mundell Nicola Blackwood Maria Miller Therese Coffey

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Tory leadership contest: the state of the race

Westminster is at its fastest-moving and most unstable for years. Portcullis House and the tea rooms are buzzing with MPs discussing the demise of their leader and who they’ll back in the contest to replace him: and that goes for both main parties, though of course the golden rule of politics still applies, which is that no matter how colossal the Tory mess is, Labour’s will always be gargantuan in comparison. Today the Conservatives decided to move back the date by which their leader must be confirmed to 9 September, which will come as a relief to those Tories who were grumbling about being hauled back from the Mediterranean a

Tom Goodenough

George Osborne rules himself out of Tory leadership race

George Osborne has ruled himself out of the Tory party leadership contest. The Chancellor said that whilst he accepted the outcome of the referendum, ‘I am not the person to provide the unity my party needs at this time’. Osborne went on to say that: ‘As for my ow future, I will not be a candidate in the Conservative leadership election to come’ Osborne’s decision is hardly a surprise. He had become the face of a ‘Remain’ campaign which angered many Tory MPs. In particular, his ‘punishment Brexit budget’ – which he suggested would be implemented in the event of a vote for ‘Out’ – had a large group within

Monday

James Forsyth

Jo Johnson backs Boris

Jo Johnson has declared his support for his brother’s leadership bid. In a statement to The Spectator, the minister for universities and science says: ‘Boris and I were on different side of a hard fought referendum campaign. But it is time to move on, time to unite and time to deliver. I have known my brother for longer than anyone in parliament. He is the great communicator—and I have no doubt at all that he is the person best placed not just to secure a new settlement for Britain in Europe but also to provide the optimistic, confident and outward-looking leadership we will need in months and years to come.’

Isabel Hardman

New Tory leader in place by 2 September

Senior Tories have decided that their new party leader will be confirmed by 2 September, which means that the timetable for the leadership contest will be very short indeed. The decision was taken for a short, sharp battle so that there was as little uncertainty about the government as possible. This means that nominations for the race will close at noon on Thursday, which gives the candidates very little time to get their bids together. Votes will take place every Tuesday and Thursday until the party produces the two candidates that will be taken to the party membership, which means that Conservatives will be voting on who their new Prime Minister is