Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
It didn’t take long for Nigel Farage to weaponise Sunak’s D-Day debacle. ‘Rishi Sunak pops into Normandy but omits to go to the big international commemoration,’ he says in a pre-debate warmup video. ‘He doesn’t really care about our history. He doesn’t really care, frankly, about our culture…This man is not patriotic. Doesn’t believe in
My colleague Ross Clark has shown how the Tories cooked up that £2,000 figure. They worked out the total cost of what they think Labour will do, using standard HM Treasury costings. Then, they divided that by the number of in-work households (18.4 million). This is a subset of the 21.4 million total UK households, so no
‘Gentlemen, please’, said Julie Etchingham, over and over again, as she chaired this ITV debate. She had given Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer both 45 seconds for answers and both had far more to say. ITV didn’t silence one microphone when the other was speaking so both were able to heckle, further complicating the format. Sunak’s
A quirk of the UK system is that the requirement to tell the truth in adverts does not apply to politicians. This is, in effect, a license to lie – or, at least, to stretch the truth until the elastic snaps. The Conservatives have given some examples in their first campaign video an indication. It
13 min listen
This afternoon a wildcard was thrown into the election – the return of Nigel Farage. He will be standing for the Reform party at Clacton, the one parliamentary seat that Ukip had held. What will this mean for the Conservatives? James Heale talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Cindy
18 min listen
Keir Starmer has began a purge of pre-existing candidates and MPs who risk frustrating their election campaign. There is an ongoing row about whether Diane Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, will be barred from standing. Angela Rayner has now weighed in saying she ‘sees no reason why Diane Abbott can’t stand for Labour’. Could
16 min listen
Keir Starmer set out his first major speech to kick of Labour’s general election campaign. The Labour leader prioritised national security, a strong economy and the borders. But with a ‘policy light’ campaign – has he done enough? Kate Andrews speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.
17 min listen
The first big new policy announcement of the election campaign is in from the Tories, and it’s likely to be a talker. Where Keir Starmer appears to be opting for a ‘ming vase’ strategy – trying not to rock the boat ahead of polling day – the Tories are leaning towards the opposite. At 20
11 min listen
It’s day four of the election campaign, and Michael Gove has joined the growing Tory exodus and announced he’s standing down at the election. What’s behind his decision, and how will it affect Rishi Sunak? Megan McElroy speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced by Megan McElroy.
On the way to work, I pass a Lidl supermarket that has a new school built on top of it. Parents gather with children in uniforms that didn’t exist a few years ago; teachers who didn’t have jobs a few years ago come together in what’s already one of the best primary schools in the
11 min listen
Westminster is awash with rumours today that the Prime Minister is about to call an election. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about where this speculation is coming from and how seriously to take them. Produced by Cindy Yu.
11 min listen
Ronald Reagan famously asked voters: ‘are you better off than you were four years ago?’ At the next election, the Tories face a public thinking over the last fourteen years. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave a speech today defending the UK’s record tax levels and attacking Labour’s economic plans. But who should we trust more on
12 min listen
Rishi Sunak delivered a pre-election speech this morning setting out the dividing lines at the next election: security with the Tories or risk with Labour. Will it be enough to shift the dial? And is the Natalie Elphicke defection still haunting Keir Starmer? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.
Eden Golan has qualified for the final of tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest and will represent Israel in the world’s most-watched cultural event. How she’ll get there is another issue: the pro-Palestinian crowds outside the venue (including Greta Thunberg) are so formidable that at one point yesterday Golan’s security team said it was not safe for
10 min listen
Rishi Sunak can breathe a (small) sigh of relief. Ben Houchen, the so-called ‘patron saint of the red wall’, has won a third term as Tees Valley mayor. Houchen secured 53.6 per cent of the vote with Labour in second place with 41.3 per cent, despite some polls in advance suggesting it was neck-and-neck between
14 min listen
It’s looking like the worst night for the Conservatives in 40 years. The prediction – that the Tories will lose about half of the council seats they are defending – looks on track so far. Labour comfortably won the Blackpool South by-election with a 26 per cent swing and it has also taken several key
11 min listen
Humza Yousaf faces the biggest crisis of his leadership to date – with his fate in the hands of former SNP leadership rival Ash Regan. Will Humza step down before he is pushed? Or is there a narrow gap through which the First Minister can fight on? Lucy Dunn speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy
15 min listen
After two and a half years in government together, Humza Yousaf has terminated the SNP’s governing pact with the Scottish Greens. The decision was rubber stamped at a hastily arranged meeting of the Scottish cabinet on Thursday morning. It preempts a vote by rank-and-file Green members on whether to walk away from Yousaf’s government after he ditched
12 min listen
This morning Rishi Sunak delivered a press conference making the case that the Rwanda Bill should become law today – and the government is ready for when it does. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about what could be an all-night parliamentary showdown on the Rwanda vote, and whether an early summer
31 min listen
This week: the usual targets First: Trump is on trial again – and America is bored rather than scandalised. This is his 91st criminal charge and his supporters see this as politicised prosecution. As an American, Kate Andrews has seen how the law can be used as a political weapon – so why, she asks,
