James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The overnight results in the local elections are bad, but not disastrous for the Tories. They do not presage a 1997 style wipe-out. And they do not suggest that the public is yearning for a Labour government with Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. In normal times, the Tories could regard them as fairly standard mid-term
The results in the local elections so far provide further evidence of the fractured nature of British politics. The Tories have done badly in London. They lost Barnet, which was widely expected. And they have also suffered defeats in Wandsworth and Westminster. Labour have had some good results, taking Southampton from the Tories. But it is
The polls have now closed in this year’s local and devolved elections. The parties – and their leaders – face a nervous wait for the results. For Boris Johnson, this is the first electoral test since he was fined by the police for breaking his own Covid rules. Tory MPs will be watching nervously to
10 min listen
The Monetary Policy Committee has just raised interest rates again. This is the fourth consecutive rise, the first time this has happened within a quarter of a century. Economically the future is looking pretty bleak and not just in the UK, this looks like it may be a global problem caused by several factors. China’s
40 min listen
In this week’s episode: Is Boris Johnson planning to tear up Britain’s deal with the EU? James Forsyth says in his Spectator cover story this week that Boris Johnson plans to reignite the Brexit voter base by taking on the EU again over Northern Ireland. He joins the podcast along with Denis Staunton, the London
In next week’s Queen’s Speech, a remarkably controversial bill will be announced in the most anodyne language. The government will legislate to protect the Belfast Good Friday agreement in its entirety. These words will be a coded threat to the European Union that the UK is prepared to unilaterally tear up parts of the Brexit
9 min listen
A new poll from ComRes has shown Scottish Labour taking second place in tomorrow’s local elections, overtaking the Scottish Conservatives. On the podcast, James Forsyth explains the torrid flip-flop that Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Tories, has made over partygate, first calling for Boris Johnson to resign before rowing back (‘He thought that the
13 min listen
Campaigning in the local elections is entering its final few days. But what are the expectations for the Tories and Labour and can they be met? Both leaders Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer have already put their foot in it to some degree, with the Labour leader getting rather too defensive about his lockdown mid-work
Just 48 hours out from polling day and in Tory circles the expectations are that the local election results will be OK in some places and disastrous in others; there are predictions of ‘carnage in Surrey and Oxfordshire’. ‘Things are particularly bad in Scotland, bad in London, not great in the South West, but in
20 min listen
A big congratulations to Linda Nelson who has just become a British citizen. Fraser details the long and taxing journey it took for his wife to reach this point in his Telegraph column this week and asks why as an immigrant nation do we make becoming British so challenging for new arrivals? On the podcast,
19 min listen
Labour has admitted that deputy leader Angela Rayner, was also at an event where Keir Starmer was pictured drinking a beer. Could the pair be fined? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Kate Andrews
No. 10 will be waiting nervously at 10pm on Thursday. Will the end of voting in the local elections bring forward more Tory MPs calling for Boris Johnson to go? At the moment, that seems unlikely: there is a sense among the plotters against the Prime Minister that Thursday is not the right time. So Johnson
17 min listen
This has been a bad week for the reputation of the House of Commons. From inappropriate comments toward female MPs, three cabinet ministers facing sexual misconduct claims and one MP accused of watching pornography in the chamber. Can anything be done to change this grotesque culture? And is it Westminster specific or an issue with
In the past few months, relations between the UK and the EU have been the best they have been since Brexit. Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine reminded the two sides of the need for the world’s democracies to co-operate. It is tempting to hope that relations could continue to improve, especially now that the French
In the past few months, relations between the UK and the EU have been the best they have been since Brexit. Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine reminded the two sides of the need for the world’s democracies to co-operate. Disputes over fishing rights could wait. It is tempting to hope that relations could continue to
14 min listen
The chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris has started an investigation after a female Tory MP reported that she had seen a male colleague watching pornography in the House of Commons. This comes in the wake of the Mail On Sunday‘s Angela Rayner/Basic Instinct story, and of the Sunday Times’s investigation that three current cabinet ministers are
13 min listen
Today a pre-briefing on what Boris Johnson plans to say to the Cabinet about the cost of living crisis was released. He wants them to brainstorm ideas to ease the pain felt by the British public in the face of rising prices of food and energy. The catch, is these have to be non-fiscal ways.
12 min listen
French President, Emmanuel Macron secured victory over the weekend. But with the election over, will we see a reset in relations between the UK and France? Apart from support for Ukraine, there has been little the governments on either side of the Channel have agreed on. Katy Balls is joined by Isabel Hardman and James
18 min listen
At the beginning of the year, letters from Conservative MPs looked to be reaching the 54 threshold needed to trigger a no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson. Most would think a fixed penalty notice from the Met would bring us at least back to those levels. And though there have been some full-throated calls of support
9 min listen
Boris Johnson has met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to discuss defence, energy and trade ties. Will he be able to secure a trade deal with India?Meanwhile back at home, Boris Johnson faces an investigation by the Commons Committee of Privileges over claims he misled Parliament on partygate. All to be discussed as Katy Balls
