Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
After receiving a boost over his Cabinet rivals at the weekend with the endorsement of Amber Rudd, Jeremy Hunt has today used his official launch to unveil support from a senior Brexiteer. Penny Mordaunt has come out in support of the Foreign Secretary. Speaking at the launch in Westminster, the Defence Secretary said she trusted
Which two candidates will make the final two of the Tory leadership contest? At the moment, the race is Boris Johnson’s to lose with the former foreign secretary on course to make it to the membership ballot. However, the contest for the other place is tight. The make up of the Parliamentary party means there
This week, the Conservative leadership content enters the Parliamentary stage. The various contenders – at the time of writing there are eleven – will be whittled down to two. The remaining pair will then tour the country for membership hustings ahead of a members’ ballot. So, how exactly will it play out? All candidates must
Will Rory Stewart still be in the Tory leadership race come Tuesday? The International Development Secretary is seen as the wildcard of the contest. Regarding at first as having little to no chance of becoming leader owing to his pro-deal position, the undeterred Tory MP has ran a rather creative campaign going on various walks
To prorogue or not to prorogue? That’s the question dividing the Brexiteer candidates today following the One Nation conservative hustings. After Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom and Sajid Javid on Tuesday all ruled out proroguing Parliament in order to achieve a no deal Brexit in the event that MPs tried to block one, Dominic Raab used
When a head of state flies in for a state visit, it’s traditional for the Foreign Secretary to lead the welcoming committee. When Donald Trump landed at Stansted airport in Air Force One, Jeremy Hunt was left waiting on the tarmac for a while. Hunt assumed that a tired Trump was ‘probably just powdering his
What is a one nation Tory? On Tuesday evening, various leadership contenders descended to the committee room corridor to try and convince MPs that they could be described as one. Earlier this year, the One Nation Tory caucus was launched – led by Amber Rudd and Nicky Morgan – and was reported to be aimed
The Tory leadership race officially starts next week when nominations close for the first stage of the contest. Until then, each campaign is doing their bit to show they are not falling behind. Today the Boris Johnson campaign have stepped up a gear with the release of their campaign video. It comes after a series
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Claire Fox, left libertarian thinker, director and founder of the Academy of Ideas, and panellist on the Moral Maze, was this week elected as an MEP for the Brexit Party. In this episode of Women With Balls, she talks to Katy Balls about her disagreements with Nigel Farage, the prejudice she has received in green
For a long time now, there’s been a Stop Boris campaign in operation in Westminster. With the Parliamentary party a lot less keen on the former foreign secretary than the eurosceptic membership, MPs have plotted ways to keep Johnson off the final two in a Tory leadership contest. MPs vote to knock out contenders in
At a dinner in the Irish embassy in London last November, Dominic Raab believed he was on the brink of a Brexit breakthrough. In a meeting with Simon Coveney, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Brexit secretary sought to find a compromise on the issue of the backstop. He explained that parliament would never agree
The Conservative leadership contest doesn’t officially commence until June but that hasn’t stopped the various contenders parading their credentials. With ten candidates now declared, the expectation is that this number will rise to at least fifteen before the nomination period starts. Jeremy Hunt is seen as one of the favourites and has today set the
The Brexit party has emerged as the big winner of the European elections. Nigel Farage’s party, formed just six weeks ago, surged to victory – winning 32pc of the votes and getting 29 of its candidates elected as MEPs. Only Merkel’s CDU has as many MEPs: they’re joint first. Unsurprisingly, Farage has been on a victory
The EU election results are in and it’s bad news for both of the main parties. Labour and the Tories have lost support while the pro-EU Liberal Democrats and Green Party have made significant gains. However, the big winner is the Brexit Party. Ahead of the vote, Nigel Farage’s new outfit was predicted to win
After Theresa May announced that she will step down on Friday 7 June as the leader of the Conservative party, the race to find her successor is due to officially commence the following Monday. Conservative party chairman Brandon Lewis, along with the vice-chairs of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, have issued a joint statement
Theresa May has become the latest Conservative prime minister to be brought down by party divisions on Europe. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister gave a statement in which she confirmed that she will step down on June 7 to pave the way for a leadership contest to find her successor the following
‘Labour are in so much trouble here you can’t even believe it,’ says Nigel Farage as we sit in a parked blue bus in Dudley in the pouring rain. Outside, a group of campaigners in anoraks wave Brexit party banners and sing ‘Bye bye EU’ to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. A mix of
After the 1922 executive of Conservative backbenchers decided this evening to wait until Friday to speak to the Prime Minister about announcing an exit date, there had been a view that Theresa May was safe in her position – at least for 36 hours. That is now in doubt. Andrea Leadsom has tonight announced her
Theresa May has this afternoon had one last roll of the dice in the Brexit saga. In a speech entitled ‘New Brexit Deal’, the Prime Minister threw the kitchen sink at passing her deal on a fourth vote. With May expected to step down if her deal is rejected again after recess, she made an
By what margin will Theresa May’s Brexit deal be defeated when it returns to the Commons after recess? The expectation in government is that it will be voted down for a fourth time – and the loss will be greater than on the third vote. The hope in Downing Street is that a bad result