The Layla Moran Edition
29 min listen
Layla Moran tells Katy Balls about her childhood as a diplomat’s daughter, the social life of an MP, and getting arrested at Lib Dem conference. Presented by Katy Balls.
Katy Balls
Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
Friday
Matt Hancock bows out of the leadership race – where will his supporters go?
Matt Hancock has become the first leadership candidate to bow out of the race following the first secret ballot. In Thursday’s vote, Hancock came sixth – winning 20 votes. Announcing his decision, Hancock said he was ‘hugely grateful’ for the support he had received but had concluded now was not his time as the ‘party
Thursday
Boris Johnson’s clear lead increases the chances of a short contest
Boris Johnson has today confirmed his place as the frontrunner to be the next prime minister. In the first voting round of the Tory leadership contest, the former foreign secretary romped home with 114 votes from MPs. This means that Johnson has already surpassed the magic number of 105 votes – which means a candidate
Is an autumn election inevitable?
There’s a joke going around the various warring tribes in the Tory leadership contest. They might not win this time, they tell each other, but not to worry: ‘We’ll all meet again in November.’ The point is that whoever succeeds Theresa May is doomed: the 31 October deadline will pass not with Britain leaving the
Wednesday
Boring Boris? Johnson opts for risk-averse campaign launch
It was the launch event everyone was waiting for. After weeks of keeping a low profile – a submarine campaign according to critics – with just one newspaper interview, the leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson emerged this morning to officially kickstart his campaign. However, rather than opt for a circus tent, waffle freebies and thinly-veiled attacks
Tuesday
Can Sajid Javid reboot his leadership campaign?
On Thursday, MPs will have their first chance to vote in the secret ballot for their pick for the next leader of the Conservative party. At the moment, the consensus in the Parliamentary party is that the most likely pair to make the final two are Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt – after Michael Gove’s
Monday
Jeremy Hunt reveals Brexiteer backing at campaign launch
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
Sunday
Hunt gains momentum over Gove ahead of crunch week
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
How the Parliamentary stage of the Tory leadership contest works
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
Friday
Rory Stewart campaign point to new polling in bid to win backing of MPs
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
Thursday
How will Raab’s prorogue comments play out with Tory MPs?
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
Operation Hunt
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
Wednesday
Inside the One Nation Tory leadership hustings
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
Monday
Back Boris: Johnson tries to prove his electability in campaign video
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
Friday
The Claire Fox Edition
41 min listen
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
Stop Boris? These days it’s Operation Stop Raab
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
Thursday
Fighting fit
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
Tuesday
What Hunt’s no deal warning reveals about the Tory leadership contest
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
Monday
Nigel Farage: the Brexit party is no1 in Europe. Next stop: Westminster
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
Sunday
Brexit party tops EU poll – as Labour and Tories punished by voters
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
