Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.

The only winner from the Cabinet briefing war is Jeremy Corbyn

Last month, David Davis warned that a Tory leadership contest would be ‘catastrophic’ for the Brexit negotiations. But as the Brexit secretary heads to Brussels for the second instalment of talks, the jostling among MPs to be the next party leader is well underway. The weekend papers have been filled with Cabinet members briefing against one

Theresa May finally shows her human side

It’s exactly one year to the day since Theresa May became Prime Minister. To mark the occasion, she has given a lengthy interview to Radio 5Live’s Emma Barnett. Unfortunately for May, it wasn’t the interview she would have envisaged giving a year ago when she entered No 10. Rather than talk of the achievements so

The real test of Theresa May’s longevity will be on Brexit

Despite Theresa May’s plea to opposition parties to contribute to policy, there is little sign of co-operation so far. Following the launch of the Taylor Report on employment practices, the SNP have said the findings ‘fall shamefully short’, while Jeremy Corbyn has called it a ‘huge missed opportunity’ to tackle insecure employment. As Isabel notes, Taylor could be

Katy Balls

Why Theresa May isn’t ‘dead in the water’ just yet

It’s two weeks until the summer recess and judging by today’s papers, that’s two weeks too late. Despite Theresa May’s positive trip to the G20 summit, the Sundays are filled with tales of leadership plotting and planned Conservative rebellions. Although Philip Hammond was heralded as a caretaker PM a few weeks ago, it’s now David Davis

Katy Balls

Tory members don’t rate May any more – so who do they like?

While the Cabinet bicker among themselves – in meetings, media briefings and the FT letters’ page – about policy, behind the scenes chatter remains over who will be the next Tory leader. Handily, Conservative Home has today released its Cabinet League Table which shows where the various ministers lie when it comes to the party membership.

Katy Balls

Philip Hammond holds his nerve on public sector pay

Oh to be a fly-on-the-wall at today’s Cabinet meeting. After growing calls from ministers for Theresa May to ditch the public sector pay cap, last night the Chancellor put his foot down. In a speech to the CBI, Philip Hammond said that while the public are naturally ‘weary’ after seven years of austerity, now is not

Jeremy Corbyn is talking uneducated nonsense about tuition fees

Over the weekend, the Conservatives appeared to suffer a crisis of confidence. As calls for Theresa May to scrap the public sector pay cap grew, many Tories appeared to give up on the long term economic plan altogether. Damian Green called for a ‘public debate’ on tuition fees and Justine Greening ‘demanded’ £1bn to protect school

How do you solve a problem like the Conservative youth vote?

How do you solve a problem like the dwindling Conservative youth vote? That’s the question Tories have been grappling with today at the Bright Blue conference. As party members gathered at the liberal Conservative think tank event, one remarked that what the party needed was a Tory version of Momentum – ‘we’ll only be fine

Why Theresa May is about to start drinking in Parliament’s bars

Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech cleared Parliament with every amendment defeated. This shows that Theresa May’s £1bn deal with the DUP is working when it comes to votes on key legislation. However, as Isabel notes, while it can govern in a technical sense, it cannot guarantee that it will get what it wants in the Commons. In

Queen’s Speech clears the Commons

After a difficult few weeks, Theresa May can today breath a sigh of relief – the Queen’s Speech has passed. MPs voted for the government’s legislative programme by 323 votes to 309 – a majority of 14. The government successfully defeated each amendment put to the House. Labour’s official Brexit amendment was defeated by a majority of 26. Meanwhile Chuka

Katy Balls

The abortion amendment is the first proper ambush for this government

The first proper government ambush of this Parliament is upon us. The Speaker has announced which amendments to the Queen’s Speech will be put to a vote this evening. Along with the official Labour Brexit amendment calling on the government to negotiate an outcome that prioritises jobs and the economy, there are two amendments from Labour MPs

Conservatives defeat Labour’s amendment to Queen’s Speech

After much confusion today over the Conservative position on whether the party ought to lift the cap on public sector pay, tonight MPs voted to reject Labour’s proposal to the Queen’s Speech to end the pay cap. The government won by 323 votes to 309. While Jeremy Corbyn has since complained that ministers missed an

Katy Balls

Why Philip Hammond will spend the Autumn down the back of the sofa

The government is considering lifting the 1pc public sector pay cap in the autumn Budget. In the post PMQs briefing, a No 10 spokesman said they had ‘heard the message’ from the ‘weary’ electorate and would look at recommendations from review bodies on the issue. However, just hours later at the afternoon lobby briefing, hacks were given

Sturgeon won’t give up on IndyRef2

Unionists hoping Nicola Sturgeon would use her statement today to call off her plans for IndyRef2 have been left disappointed. Instead, the First Minister simply said she would ‘re-set’ her proposal in light of her party’s disastrous election result, which saw the SNP lose 21 seats and half a million votes. Sturgeon’s concession is simply

Queen’s Speech: Theresa May bins her manifesto

Today’s Queen’s Speech is notable not for what’s in it, but for what’s been left out. With no Tory majority and no agreement with the DUP, Theresa May has had to gut her 2017 Conservative Manifesto. The fact that the legislation ‘trailed’ on the eve of the speech included plans to tackle nuisance whiplash compensation