James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
‘Consolidation’ is the word on Lib Dem lips today, as the party mulls its solid, if not spectacular, progress in Thursday’s local elections. Ed Davey’s troops gained more than 100 council seats and added two more authorities to their existing tally of ten. Sir John Curtice, the elections expert, suggests they ‘had only a modest
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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
From Hartlepool in the red wall to true blue Rushmoor, Labour has made gains across the country. But as Keir Stramer chalks up the wins, he also confronts some setbacks. Oldham council has fallen to no overall control due to the election of seven new independents – and the conflict in the Middle East is
It is a thankless morning for Tories on the media round. Faced with the loss of half of their council seats, ministers are resorting to the time-honoured tactic of talking up favourable results as offering useful national lessons. This trick was pioneered by Kenneth Baker, who as Mrs Thatcher’s party chair successfully sold the post-Poll
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Tomorrow, voters go to the polls for the last set of local elections in this parliament, alongside 11 mayoral elections in England, 37 police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales plus the London Assembly elections. Could Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, help turn Rishi Sunak’s fortunes around? You can read James Heale’s assessment
Could Labour really lose London? A new poll out today shows that Sadiq Khan’s lead over Susan Hall is down to just ten points, ahead of the capital’s voters going to the polls tomorrow. The survey from Savanta for the Centre for London gives Khan 42 per cent of the vote, followed by Hall on
Tomorrow, voters go to the polls for the last set of local elections in this parliament. After five tumultuous years, Rishi Sunak and his party look set to suffer big losses – including up to half the 985 council seats which the Tories are trying to hold. Some 2,600 council seats are up for grabs
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As figures now show there are 2.8 million people claiming out-of-work benefits, Rishi Sunak gave a speech looking at welfare reform. But with more and more people off work for mental health related issues, could the Tories’ focus backfire if the public think they’re trivialising mental health? Also on the podcast, a look ahead to
It is fashionable within Westminster to criticise the Rwanda plan. The likes of Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Reform on the right can often be found echoing Labour’s criticisms on the left that the current scheme is both flawed and unworkable. Yet one place where Rwanda is credited with having a deterrent effect is across
British politics in recent years has sometimes resembled a waltz. Both main parties show little compunction in mirroring each other’s plans, stealing their opponents’ popular policies and playing down the differences which characterised the Corbyn years. So it was striking to see Labour’s reticence this week to sign up to Sunak’s much-vaunted plan to increase
Rishi Sunak’s good week in politics just came to an end. Buoyed by a successful defence spending announcement and the passage of the Rwanda Bill, there had been rumours that the run-up to Thursday’s local elections would see the announcement of the general election date. But in a shock move, Tory backbencher Dan Poulter this
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With Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer away, Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner stepped in for PMQs today. Questions quickly turned to the long running row about Rayner’s tax affairs. Did she redeem herself? Also, the prime minister has announced further UK military spending, confirming it will rise to 2.5% of national income by 2030.
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After eight hours of debate on the Rwanda Bill, peers finally threw in the towel shortly after midnight. And with that, the Rwanda Bill became law, pending Royal Assent from the King. The two chambers have been engaged in a mammoth game of ping-pong for the past week, culminating in yesterday’s showdown on two final
After eight hours of debate on the Rwanda Bill, peers finally threw in the towel shortly after midnight. The two chambers have been engaged in a mammoth game of ping-pong for the past week, culminating in yesterday’s showdown on two final amendments. On the first of these – Lord Browne’s exemption for Afghan interpreters –
Chris Cash, the parliamentary aide accused of spying for China, is to be charged with espionage offences, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said today. Nick Price, the head of the CPS special crime and counter-terrorism division, confirmed that it has has now ‘authorised the Metropolitan police to charge two men with espionage offences’. Price said
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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
The Rwanda Bill should become law today – and the government is ready for when it does. That was Rishi Sunak’s message at a No. 10 press conference this morning, ahead of what could be an all-night showdown of parliamentary ping-pong. The House of Lords last week mounted a tougher-than-expected resistance to Sunak’s flagship legislation,
Better late than never. In Washington, the House of Representatives last night voted to approve £49 billion funding in aid for Ukraine by 311 votes to 112. It came after months of wrangling in the Republican party, with the situation in Kyiv continuing to deteriorate. The extent to which the GOP is split was shown
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Rishi Sunak has returned to one of his pet bugbears: getting the unemployed back into work. His speech to the Centre for Social Justice this morning was peppered with his favourite facts about the post-pandemic welfare crisis embroiling Britain. Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Michael Simmons. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Rishi Sunak has returned to one of his pet bugbears: getting the unemployed back into work. His speech to the Centre for Social Justice this morning was peppered with his favourite facts about the post-pandemic welfare crisis embroiling Britain. The number on long-term sickness benefits has jumped by a third since Covid and now stands