Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
Boris Johnson’s search for a chief of staff to bring order to 10 Downing Street has proved so difficult that earlier this month civil war erupted in No. 10 after he offered the role to his longstanding director of communications Lee Cain. In the face of a backlash from figures including the Prime Minister’s partner Carrie Symonds
20 min listen
Pandemic finances are different to normal finances, as seen by today’s new figures from the OBR which show that the UK’s economy will not be back to pre-pandemic levels until 2022. In today’s spending review, the Chancellor broke a manifesto pledge by cutting the overseas aid budget. Is this a taste of things to come?
Rishi Sunak’s spending review is already dividing opinion in the Tory party. The Chancellor has confirmed reports that he intends to go back on a Tory manifesto pledge and cut foreign aid from 0.7 per cent of GDP to 0.5 per cent. He insisted this amounted to a one-off cut — the idea being that it will be a
Ministers have been keen to stress that Christmas this year will not be normal. Boris Johnson went so far to say on Monday that it ’tis the season to be ‘jolly careful’. However, as expected, there will be a softening of the current rules. Following a Cobra meeting this afternoon, the UK government and devolved administrations
13 min listen
The Prime Minister announced yesterday that the nationwide lockdown would come to an end on December 2. In the updated tier system, pubs and restaurants will be closed at the highest level of restrictions, but gyms and non-essential shops will remain open. Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about whether Conservative MPs
When Rishi Sunak gets up at the despatch box tomorrow to announce his spending review, the Chancellor is expected to commit to a public sector pay freeze — with NHS workers exempt. Ever since this was first reported in the media, the idea has met heavy opposition from Labour while Tory politicians have had to
Boris Johnson’s statement to the Commons announcing the end of the national lockdown was meant to hit an optimistic note. However, he faced two hurdles when it came to achieving this. Firstly, his internet connection in No. 10 broke down and Johnson was cut off from MPs midway through the session. Secondly, the measures he announced
13 min listen
Oxford University’s vaccine could be up to 90 per cent effective, data from phase III trials shows today. With the UK government ordering 100 million doses of the jab, could it mean a return to normality is on the horizon? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
This week Boris Johnson is expected to announce an end to the national lockdown. However, with a return to normal still far away with the UK to move back into a stricter form of the three tier system, good news remains limited for the time being. That’s also the case with the Chancellor’s spending review. When
13 min listen
Sir Alex Allen, a top civil servant in charge of the report into allegations of bullying at the Home Office, has resigned, but the Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is at the centre of it all, has not. Why is the Prime Minister so keen to ‘stick with Prit’? Fraser Nelson talks to James Forsyth
In the weeks before the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic became clear, Priti Patel was the biggest story in Westminster. In March, her most senior Home Office civil servant, Philip Rutnam, resigned and when doing so read out a statement in which he said he had been subject to a ‘vicious and orchestrated campaign’ against him after
36 min listen
After two of Boris Johnson’s most influential advisers left Downing Street last week, can the PM reset his relationship with the Tory party and find his way again? (00:58) Lara is joined by the Spectator’s deputy political editor, Katy Balls, and former director of communications for David Cameron, Craig Oliver. A coronavirus vaccine seems to
11 min listen
The government has announced a £16.5 billion increase in defence spending, far more generous than previously expected. Will this new budget signal an end to the MoD’s spending blackhole? John Connolly talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
Something strange is going on in Westminster: nearly every minister and Tory MP has a spring in their step. It’s not (just) the vaccine breakthrough, or the magic money tree now bearing such fruit in the back garden of HM Treasury. The liberation-of-Paris feel in locked-down Westminster is inspired by the departure of Boris Johnson’s
18 min listen
Boris Johnson has today announced a raft of new environmental policies, following the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain last week. Will it reset the direction of Number 10, or are more comprehensive changes needed? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
13 min listen
Boris Johnson told northern MPs last night that he thought Scottish devolution had been a ‘disaster’, a comment that was immediately disowned by the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross. Katy Balls talks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
15 min listen
Boris Johnson has been told to self-isolate by contact tracers after meeting with a Covid positive MP last week. It comes just as the PM was expected to reset his premiership following the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain. Gus Carter is joined by Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
After a weekend of torrid headlines over infighting in 10 Downing Street, Boris Johnson had hoped to use this week to prove his critics wrong about the state of the government. Following the departure of his senior aides Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain and amid speculation the Tory party could pivot to a softer form
With Boris Johnson’s senior aides Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain both working from home until they officially leave their roles, attention is turning to what will follow the Downing Street Vote Leave era. Up until now, aides from the Vote Leave campaign have held the balance of power in No. 10. This has seen Johnson successfully re-establish the Tories
24 min listen
Dominic Cummings walked out of No. 10 Downing Street last night – but what did he actually do in there? Katy Balls is joined by Fraser Nelson and Peter Cardwell, a former SpAd and author of The Secret Life of Special Advisers.