James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt both took to the BBC Sunday Show this morning. Tugendhat’s appearance came straight after the chief of the defence staff Tony Radakin and Tugendhat immediately went on foreign policy his strongest suit. His answers in this area are crisper than his ones on domestic issues. Tugendhat made much, as he
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In the first televised Tory leadership debate, the five remaining candidates set out their stalls on trust in politics, tax cuts and the NHS ahead of the next round of voting on Monday. How did each candidate fare tonight? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.
As the Tory leadership candidates prepare for tonight’s debate on Channel 4, I find my mind turning back to the Cleggmania that followed Britain’s first televised election debate. As I say in the Times today, Penny Mordaunt’s current momentum feels a bit like things did in 2010: a previously little known politician is shooting to prominence. Only 16 per cent
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The ERG’s favoured candidate, Suella Braverman, dropped out of the Tory leadership race last night. This morning, ERG chair Mark Francois said that he wanted the 60-strong group to now back Liz Truss. Will they? And looking ahead to tonight’s Channel 4 debate, why does the format most benefit Kemi Badenoch? Cindy Yu speaks to
Suella Braverman is now backing Liz Truss, as is Braverman’s campaign wing man Steve Baker. Given the discipline of the ERG whipping operation, this should mean that the bulk of Braverman’s 27 supporters move to Truss. After being knocked out, Braverman had said she would consider Truss’s Remain vote in 2016. But, ultimately, that turned
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The Tory briefing war continues to get underway, with David Frost launching a vicious broadside at Penny Mordaunt on talkRadio this morning. ‘She wasn’t fully accountable or visible. Sometimes I didn’t even know where she was’, Lord Frost said. On the episode, Cindy Yu talks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about the latest round
The hardest thing for any political party to achieve is renewal in government. The Tories have managed it twice since they came to power in 2010. In 2016 and 2019 they changed leader – and tack – to adjust to new political realities. Their effort in 2019 was more successful, winning them their biggest majority
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The first ballot of the Tory leadership contest is now over, with Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi knocked out as they weren’t able to meet the 30 votes required in this round (on 18 votes, Hunt actually lost two supporters from yesterday’s nomination round). The question of who their supporters fold in behind next is
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Today all candidates need 30 nominations to make it through to the next round. One dark horse in the race is Penny Mordaunt who is seen as Labour’s greatest threat. This morning she held her official campaign launch in at Westminster’s Cinnamon Club – promising to ‘fix a broken Whitehall’. But will she be able
Priti Patel is not running for the Tory leadership. The Home Secretary ruled herself out in a statement released minutes ago. Her decision not to stand makes it much more likely that Suella Braverman can get the nominations needed to get on the ballot and the 30 votes required to stay in the contest. Patel
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Appropriately matched to the summer heatwave, the Tory leadership contest is hotting up. Whilst Grant Shapps has pulled out and decided to back Rishi Sunak, candidates must secure nominations from at least 20 MPs by this evening to enter the contest. Who will go through to the next round? And are they ready to be
The news that Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries are backing Liz Truss is significant. That Boris’s two most dedicated Cabinet supporters are backing Truss is a clear sign to other Johnsonites to follow them. It is also, given Rees-Mogg’s ERG pedigree, an attempt to get the party’s right to swing behind Truss. This effort by
Looking at the candidates for the executive of the 1922 Committee, set to be contested in an election this afternoon, it is much easier to predict where they would stand on a rule change to allow a second no confidence vote – the issue at hand when nominations opened – than on the threshold question. For example, Boris
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Liz Truss has today announced her candidacy for the Tory leadership. With Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman already looking to win votes from MPs on the right of the Conservative party, and with Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel also considering a run for the top job, who will become the candidate of the Tory right?
Michael Gove has endorsed Kemi Badenoch for Tory leader. Badenoch, who was one of his junior ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, is described by Gove as ‘Keir Starmer’s worst nightmare’ and she has a ‘focus intellect and no-bulls**t drive’. Gove’s support is a coup for Badenoch. It is not every day that someone throws
A cabinet minister yesterday observed to me that they would scream if they heard another person suggest the Tory leadership race was like the Grand National. Rather defensively, given it is one of my favourite analogies, I asked what they thought would work better. A little while later, they messaged back: demolition derby; a reference
We have seen two Tory Leadership bids this morning that aim to show they can bridge the party divides. Jeremy Hunt, who campaigned for Remain and sits for a Lib Dem facing southern seat, has announced that Esther McVey, Brexiteer and northern seat, will be his deputy PM. As he put it, John Prescott to his Tony
Who will be the candidate of the right in this contest? There is this morning a mighty tussle on to be the standard bearer of the right in this contest. Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, is the preferred choice of many in the ERG. She has the backing of Steve Baker and as a Spartan
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James Forsyth speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls about what Boris Johnson has achieved and if he will leave a significant imprint as a result of his time in office.
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The Tory leadership race has begun. Some candidates, like Steve Baker and Suella Braverman, have already declared that they will be running. Others, like Nadhim Zahawi, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, are expected to announce their candidacy in the coming days. What are their platforms? How many MPs will hopefuls need to have supporting them
