Katy Balls

After a grim few weeks for Theresa May and her government – which has seen the Prime Minister lose two Cabinet ministers, another put under investigation and calls for Boris Johnson to resign – today’s ICM/Guardian poll certainly makes for interesting reading. Rather than the Conservatives falling behind, it shows that Labour and the Tories

This week a Conservative politician managed to get both the SNP and Labour to applaud them in the Chamber. Unfortunately for Theresa May, it wasn’t in response to government policy. Instead it was Europhile – and Tory grandee – Ken Clarke, who took the opportunity to explain why he thinks Nigel Farage is the ‘most

After Michael Fallon resigned as Defence Secretary last night amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour, questions were asked over how damaging this could be for May. As well as the sleaze scandal showing no sign of dying down, the Prime Minister has lost one of her most loyal ministers. This morning, No 10 have tried to

After a week of reports of MPs behaving badly and allegations of sexual assault in politics, the first front bench resignation has occurred. Sir Michael Fallon has resigned as Defence Secretary following allegations of past inappropriate behaviour. His decision comes after a story this week in which he admitted touching a female journalist’s leg at

The Westminster sleaze row shows no signs of dying down with today’s papers filled with more tales of MPs behaving badly. The Telegraph warns that the Parliament sex scandal ‘could be worse than expenses’ – reporting that two female staff stopped working for a minister over claims of inappropriate behaviour. Meanwhile the Sun leads on Michael

As allegations of sexual misconduct in Parliament rise and a spreadsheet of suspected sex pest MPs does the rounds, today the government attempted to take control of the situation. In a statement to the House, Andrea Leadsom promised to get a grip on the issue – as she said Parliament ‘must take action in days

The Women and Equalities Select Committee is a member down today after one of its male intake was forced to resign on Monday over his formerly misogynistic behaviour. However, to the surprise of some feminists, it’s not Philip Davies, the man many have spent the past year calling a misogynist, but Labour’s Jared O’Mara. The MP for

Well, that lasted long. Although Theresa May didn’t get the green light to talk trade on her EU council summit charm offensive last week, there was a general consensus that the mood music had at least improved. The EU27 struck a conciliatory and optimistic tone – agreeing to begin internal trade discussions in anticipation of

Few in Whitehall believed that Theresa May’s trip to the EU Council summit this week would result in Britain being given the green light to move onto the second stage of Brexit talks. Instead, it has all been about setting the tone and planting the seeds so that when the EU27 meet again in December,

Wednesday’s Opposition Day debate calling for the universal credit rollout to be paused offers a lesson in how quickly Theresa May’s minority government can become unstuck. In an attempt to kill off a Tory rebellion on the issue of the ill-fated universal credit roll out, David Gauke kicked off his morning announcing DWP is scrapping

Ever since Labour won over young voters at the last election, the Conservatives have been trying to work out how to do the same. Tory MPs have scrambled around for ideas. Various suggestions have been mooted, ranging from a Tory Glastonbury and a Tory Momentum to lowering taxes for young voters, scrapping historic student debt

For all the talk of a new ‘momentum’ to the Brexit talks since Theresa May’s Florence speech, today’s press conference between Michel Barnier and David Davis certainly had a whiff of déjà vu to it. The EU’s chief negotiator spoke severely of his concerns over a lack of ‘progress’ while the ever-optimistic Brexit secretary played

Theresa May struck a defiant tone this afternoon in her first broadcast interview since her disastrous conference speech. Speaking to Iain Dale on LBC, the Prime Minister re-iterated her old claim that she still wishes to lead the party into the next election – even if the number of MPs in her party who support

After a lacklustre conference and a disastrous speech, Theresa May’s position within her party has never looked more fragile. But she can take heart that her relationship with the public is a different story entirely. In a sign that conference is only a headline event for politicos, it appears May’s shaky performance in Manchester has

Good news in Downing Street: Theresa May has survived the weekend. After the Shapps plot failed to take off, the new consensus is that the beleaguered Prime Minister should re-assert her authority on an increasingly unruly Tory party by reshuffling her Cabinet. Had the speech gone better, there was talk that she could have done

Boris Johnson was the star of the conference today after he gave a morale-boosting speech to a packed out hall. But if there had to be a runner-up, Priti Patel came a close second. The International Development secretary pulled out all the stops as she put in some not so subtle groundwork for the leadership. Making

An insight into the problem the Conservatives face winning over younger voters can be found in this year’s party conference guide. In the listing advert for an event on young people and future jobs,  a speaker is denoted as a ‘young person’ by way of proof that the Tories have actually managed to locate one.

Ukip have just announced their new leader – and it’s not who you would expect. Anne Marie Waters – the far-right anti-Islam candidate – has been beaten to first place by a former Lib Dem candidate named Henry Bolton. Bolton, who won with 30pc of the vote, used his acceptance speech to make clear that

Theresa May’s Florence speech last week certainly prompted a warming of words from Brussels – but so far it has triggered little action. At today’s press conference between Michel Barnier and David Davis to mark the completion of the fourth round of Brexit talks, the EU’s chief negotiator said not enough progress had been made