Tory leadership race

Friday

Kate Andrews

Did Rishi Sunak’s interview gamble pay off?

Rishi Sunak took a major risk tonight, agreeing to a one-on-one interview with Andrew Neil on Channel 4 News. As Katy Balls says on our reaction podcast, more often than not politicians come crawling out of Neil’s interviews. At best, they hope to survive them. Tonight Sunak faced the most detailed grilling on his economy agenda since the leadership contest began. There was very limited time for Sunak’s personal stories or the rehearsed slogans that both candidates have taken to repeating on the campaign trail. It was instead a serious scrutiny of Sunak’s plan to stick with tax hikes and fiscal restraint. Neil’s main questions were about timing and priorities:

Coffee House

Andrew Neil’s interview with Rishi Sunak – as it happened

Rishi Sunak was interviewed by Andrew Neil on Channel 4 tonight. He was quizzed on inflation, the NHS backlog and more. Liz Truss, the bookies’ favourite, declined to take part in an interview with Neil. 8.50 p.m. – Did Sunak’s gamble pay off? Kate Andrews writes… Rishi Sunak took a major risk tonight, agreeing to a one-on-one interview with Andrew Neil on Channel 4 news. As Katy Balls says on our reaction podcast, more often than not politicians come crawling out of Neil’s interviews. At best, they hope to survive them. All things considered Sunak did indeed survive tonight’s interview. But is survival enough? He agreed to the grilling in an effort to kickstart his

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Sunak still has it all to do

Tonight’s membership hustings in the Tory leadership contest showed both candidates – but particularly Liz Truss – relaxing and even enjoying themselves a fair bit. But they also underlined what the two of them feel they have to say in order to get a hearing with their selectorate.  Both had to commit to more grammar schools because this is a policy that – in spite of abundant evidence suggesting it does not improve social mobility or educational excellence in the way the two claimed tonight – the membership and indeed many Conservative MPs get misty-eyed about. Both will also have been very aware of quite how angry many members in the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The next PM’s growing to-do list

In theory, the Conservative leadership contest could have stretched to the autumn, but the 1922 Committee and CCHQ decided to crunch the timetable due to the sheer number of crises facing the country. So Tory MPs had only a fortnight to choose the final two candidates, which did perhaps change the course of the race. Given the support that Kemi Badenoch managed to raise in a short period, it is not hard to imagine her being in the last two if she had been given more time to make her case. A longer contest would also have allowed the Tories more time to think about what changes they need to

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Rishi’s mad dash: can he catch up with Truss?

Just a couple of weeks ago, Rishi Sunak was the clear bookies’ favourite in the Tory leadership contest. He had the largest parliamentary support and was set to top every round of MPs’ voting. He had 20,000 volunteers, a well-organised team, a slick launch – and (he thought) all of August to convince party members that he was the real deal. His strength, his supporters argued, was a firmer grasp of policy and better verbal dexterity than his opponents. So the final format – a dozen head-to-head debates – would give him time to win. Then, disaster. The Tories became paranoid that the unions could sabotage the process with a

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Sunak vs Truss, London dodges a blackout and 94st walrus capsizes boats

Home In a television debate between the two contenders for the leadership of the Conservative party (and hence the prime ministership), Rishi Sunak said it would be irresponsible to put the country in even more debt by cutting taxes and Liz Truss said that the tax rises he approved would put Britain into a recession. Mr Sunak was criticised for interrupting. A later proposal he made to cut VAT when the price cap on energy bills rose above £3,000 only brought accusations of a U-turn. He agreed to be interviewed by Andrew Neil on Channel 4, but Ms Truss didn’t. Opinion polls put Ms Truss well ahead among Conservative voters;

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Trimble may prove to be Unionism’s last statesman

David Trimble, who has just died, has rightly been praised for his courage. History may prove him to have been Unionism’s last statesman. But the well-known people who sincerely eulogised him this week – Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Jonathan Powell – all helped end his career. There are many good things to be said for the Belfast Agreement, and no one said them better than David, but it achieved at least one big, bad thing: it undermined moderation in Ulster politics. By persuading Trimble to move so far, Blair and co separated him from his political roots. This broke Trimble’s Unionists and empowered the much more sectarian followers of Ian

Peter Jones

The unflattering truth about the battle for No. 10

The battle to be PM raises the question: in a functioning democracy, how should arguments be won? Surely, by persuasion. But for ancient Greeks, too often it seemed to be by flattery. The Greek for ‘flatterer’ was kolax, and a comedian described a kolax’s lifestyle as follows: he would dress up in his best cloak, hire a slave and head off into town looking for someone rich and stupid, whom he would load with grotesque flattery. With any luck this would result in a dinner invitation, where he would make witty comments, turn the host’s vices into virtues and express delight at being the butt of his jokes. Aristotle described

Wednesday

Steerpike

Liz Truss’s failed Lib Dem bid revealed

She is the current favourite to be our next Prime Minister but Liz Truss hasn’t always been such a staunch Tory. Throughout the current Conservative leadership race, the Foreign Secretary has faced numerous reminders of her student past, back when was a card-carrying Liberal Democrat. There was the footage of a fresh-faced Truss calling for the abolition of the monarchy at the 1994 party conference in front of a watching David Steel. There was the Newsnight package which showed her canvassing Brighton locals that same year. And there have been images of the-then Oxford University Lib Dem president protesting Michael Howard’s Criminal Justice Bill to clamp down on raves that

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

The decline and fall of Rishi Sunak

Ed Balls, the intellectual powerhouse behind the economics of the New Labour era, was once described as having a brain the size of a planet. He was treated with reverence as a result. Yet when he ran for the leadership of his party he came a poor third, losing to goofy Ed Miliband, a guy who had once served as his office junior. Similarly, one of the reasons Rishi Sunak became the candidate of choice in this Tory leadership race was because of his alleged super-smartness. As a product of Winchester – the public school most associated in elite circles with outstanding mathematical and analytical brains – as well as Oxford,

Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

Rishi Sunak’s energy bill u-turn is too little, too late

A tweak to the landfill tax perhaps? A minor adjustment to the airport levy? Rishi Sunak no doubt stayed up late into the night sifting through all the most minor tax cuts he could offer before re-launching his campaign with a dramatic u-turn. In the end, he plumped for axing VAT on energy bills, promising to scrap it for a year. Sunak’s campaign insist it will save the average household an estimated £160 as prices go up. The trouble is, it is too little, too late: if Sunak wanted to cut taxes he needed something far bigger and bolder. Sunak has gone for the most minor tax tweak imaginable, making himself

Tuesday

Coffee House

Truss-Sunak debate suspended early after host faints

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss’s second head-to-head debate was suspended after half an hour due to presenter Kate McCann fainting. TalkTV has confirmed she is OK. Refresh this page for further developments. 7.30 p.m. – Sunak and Truss go home Katy Balls writes… The debate is over. The guests are going home. Rishi Sunak outlasted Liz Truss mingling by about ten minutes, but to be fair to the Foreign Secretary it is her birthday. 7.08 p.m. – Debate presenter fainted TalkTV statement: ‘Kate McCann fainted on air tonight and although she is fine, the medical advice was that we shouldn’t continue with the debate. We apologise to our viewers and listeners.’ 6.56

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Sunak has his work cut out if he is to win over Tory voters

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak barely have time to catch their breath after last night’s scrappy debate: today they’re back on set for a TalkTV hustings. Sunak had hoped to use yesterday’s BBC head-to-head to close the 24-point lead that Truss has with Conservative members, but his tactics have left many wondering if he’s damaged his cause even more. His constant interruptions and refusal to let Truss finish her points might have seemed a good idea in rehearsals, but they have allowed a ‘mansplaining’ narrative about the normally overly polite politician to take hold. In a previous debate, Truss claimed her weakness was that she was too enthusiastic, but last

Damian Reilly Damian Reilly

Are Brits ready for mansplaining Rishi?

After manspreading Boris, is the UK ready for mansplaining Rishi? At last night’s BBC leadership debate, during which the Chancellor appeared for large sections unable to stop himself leaping ungallantly down Liz Truss’ throat whenever she tried to speak, it seemed this is what we will get if the Tory membership decides he’s their man. Mansplaining might be a ridiculous term – what’s the harm in us sharing our wisdom from time to time, ladies? – but it’s also true that men who do it the way Sunak did last night, at all times wearing a maximally passive-aggressive grin, come across as berks.Does being a berk rule you out of holding

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

Liz Truss is wooden. And it works

Barring a disaster — given her record, that’s not impossible — Liz Truss will soon be the prime minister. She didn’t slip up in last night’s debate. She even surprised observers by showing mental dexterity when being needled by Rishi Sunak. Nevertheless, the adjective most often used to describe her – I’ve seen it in nearly everything I’ve read about her in the last few weeks – is wooden. But is Liz making woodenness her selling point? The loud clap last night after she admitted she lacked presentation skills suggests that she is. We’re all given a demeanour, and for all the spin doctors and image makers we might employ

Monday

Coffee House

Truss and Sunak’s first head-to-head – as it happened

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss took part in their first head-to-head since they were confirmed as the final two candidates in the Tory leadership race, clashing on economic policy, China, clothes and their backgrounds. Refresh this page for further developments after the BBC live debate: 10.20 p.m. – Sunak narrowly beats Truss in post-debate poll, but Tories still prefer Truss Katy Balls writes… Who won? Team Truss are clearly unhappy with how many times Sunak interrupted the foreign secretary. The former chancellor’s tactics have met a mixed reception: some on the BBC focus group suggested they went too far and Truss supporter Therese Coffey implied it amounted to mansplaining. Yet the

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Liz Truss dare to face Andrew Neil?

It’s six weeks to go until voting closes for the Tory leadership and polls suggest that Liz Truss is the firm favourite of the party grassroots – on a two-to-one ratio. Rishi Sunak has to do all he can to make up lost ground, something that has likely motivated the former Chancellor to accept a challenge from one of Britain’s most formidable interviewers. For it has today been announced that Andrew Neil, the longtime bête noire of politicians across the land, will grill Sunak this Friday night on prime-time Channel 4. The move is of course a gamble by Sunak: Neil gave him one of his tougher interviews last year

Katy Balls Katy Balls

It’s crunch week for Truss and Sunak

The next 48 hours have the potential to be decisive when it comes to the outcome of the Tory leadership contest. This evening, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head in a BBC primetime debate – followed by a second clash on Tuesday hosted by TalkTV. Depending on who you speak to, these debates could reset the dial or have no effect at all. But scratch the surface and ultimately both of the campaign teams view them as a moment of risk for their candidate ahead of the ballots going out next week. Depending on who you speak to, these debates could reset the dial or have no effect

Benny Peiser and Andrew Montford

Can the new PM survive the winter?

Climate and energy have been peripheral issues in the Conservative leadership campaign thus far. In the early stages, only Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman indicated a desire for meaningful change, both calling for a serious reassessment or even suspension of net zero targets. Green activists were alarmed. Yet even now, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are only offering a programme of dull continuity with Boris Johnson’s green policies. At most, their ideas amount to some window dressing measures: shifting green levies from energy bills to tax bills, and so on. In a few months’ time, however, Badenoch and Braverman may look rather prescient, because the new prime minister will find themselves

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Why Macron would prefer Rishi Sunak as PM

France and Britain have been bickering again, this time about the chaos at the ferry ports over the weekend. The ‘clown’, as Emmanuel Macron reportedly dubbed Boris Johnson, may be on his way out, but there seems no end in sight to the circus that Anglo-French relations have become. Might that change with a new ringmaster in No. 10? Maybe, if Rishi Sunak wins the contest to become prime minister. Sunak and Macron are similar in many ways beyond their background in finance; presentable and polished but, so say their detractors, ideologically shallow. In this week’s Spectator Douglas Murray describes Sunak as resembling ‘someone who has floated to the top