Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.

Truss vs Sunak: verdict on their first head to head

18 min listen

Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls give their analysis and snap reaction to Monday evening’s first head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Was Rishi Sunak too aggressive? Or did Liz Truss’s economic pledges get skewered? And ultimately, will this have changed any Conservative party member’s mind? Produced by Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls

Can the Tories come back together?

11 min listen

The Tory leadership contest is entering its third week, and becoming more bitter. Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, today mocked Rishi Sunak for wearing a bespoke suit and Prada shoes while his rival Liz Truss would be travelling to the north of England wearing £4.50 earrings from Claire’s Accessories. ‘FFS Nadine! Muted.’ replied Tory MP

Katy Balls

It’s crunch week for Truss and Sunak

The next 48 hours have the potential to be decisive when it comes to the outcome of the Tory leadership contest. This evening, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head in a BBC primetime debate – followed by a second clash on Tuesday hosted by TalkTV. Depending on who you speak to, these debates

Anatomy of a downfall: with Victoria Atkins

25 min listen

Until July 6, Victoria Atkins was the Minister of State for Refugees and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation. But as dozens of her colleagues quit in the wake of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid’s resignations (which themselves followed No. 10’s messy handling of the Chris Pincher affair), Atkins resigned too, writing that ‘values

Rishi Sunak has a mountain to climb to beat Liz Truss

It’s day one of the national campaign of the Tory leadership campaign – and Rishi Sunak has a mountain to climb. The former chancellor has already admitted that he is the underdog in the race, with the majority of membership polling indicating Liz Truss will be selected as the next prime minister. A YouGov poll released today

Katy Balls

Can Rishi catch up?

14 min listen

So far, most polls of Tory members show that they’d prefer Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak when it comes to the next Conservative party leader. With ballots for the membership phase going out at the beginning of August, it’s vitally important for Sunak to break through to members as soon as possible. Can he catch

Liz Truss vs Rishi Sunak: will the next phase be less rancorous?

11 min listen

Conservative MPs have chosen the final two candidates to be presented to the Tory membership in the final round of this leadership contest. Over the rest of the summer, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will be travelling around the country to attend dozens of hustings with Tory members. Will this phase be less rancorous? Or

Katy Balls

Will it be a Truss vs Sunak final?

The last stage of the parliamentary rounds of the leadership contest is here. This afternoon, MPs will vote to decide which two out of Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak progresses to the final round, in which they are whittled down to one by the party membership. The new leader will be announced at

Kemi out – are Tory MPs lending votes?

11 min listen

There has been another elimination in the Tory leadership race. Break-out star Kemi Badenoch is out, with three remaining candidates left until tomorrow’s vote. Who will be the final two in the race? And are there signs of Tory MPs lending votes to manipulate the results?James Forsyth is joined by Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.

Katy Balls

Is Kemi Badenoch on the way out?

It’s the day of the penultimate ballot in the parliamentary stage of the Tory leadership contest. The four candidates left in the contest are Rishi Sunak, 115 votes, Penny Mordaunt, 82 votes, Liz Truss, 71 votes, and Kemi Badenoch, 58 votes. Voting to whittle the four to three begins this afternoon with the result announced

Can Truss catch up with Mordaunt?

11 min listen

Tom Tugendhat has been knocked out of the Tory leadership race. With Rishi Sunak leading the pack, and Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch in a cluster behind, who will come out on top? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Katy Balls

What’s behind the leadership debate boycott?

15 min listen

This morning, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss pulled out of the Sky News leadership debate, scheduled for tomorrow evening. What does this say for public scrutiny in Britain? ‘I’m afraid to say if you want to be Prime Minister you need to be able to fight anywhere, any place, anytime’ – Fraser Nelson. This evening,

Katy Balls

The volatility of the Tory leadership race

In just a few days, the Conservative leadership race will be down to the final two candidates. But what happens after that is unclear. This afternoon, the ConservativeHome website released another round of polling. This time it is on how the candidates would fare against one another in the run-offs if they made it to the final

Tory leadership debate: who won?

16 min listen

In the first televised Tory leadership debate, the five remaining candidates set out their stalls on trust in politics, tax cuts and the NHS ahead of the next round of voting on Monday. How did each candidate fare tonight? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Katy Balls

Penny Mordaunt’s biggest problem isn’t ‘dark op’ attacks

How many promises should a candidate make in a leadership contest? If you’re Penny Mordaunt, the answer appears to be very few. The trade minister has upset her leadership rivals by becoming the surprise bookies’ favourite in the contest. It means the knives are out when it comes to her efforts – with figures such

Katy Balls

How many MPs can Truss take from Braverman?

10 min listen

The ERG’s favoured candidate, Suella Braverman, dropped out of the Tory leadership race last night. This morning, ERG chair Mark Francois said that he wanted the 60-strong group to now back Liz Truss. Will they? And looking ahead to tonight’s Channel 4 debate, why does the format most benefit Kemi Badenoch? Cindy Yu speaks to

Truss pitches herself as continuity Boris

Can Liz Truss gather momentum behind her leadership bid? That’s the challenge facing the Foreign Secretary today ahead of the second round of voting in the contest. Truss is vying for votes among the right of the party along with Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch. Of the three, she came out on top in the

Hunt and Zahawi out: who will mop up their supporters?

11 min listen

The first ballot of the Tory leadership contest is now over, with Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi knocked out as they weren’t able to meet the 30 votes required in this round (on 18 votes, Hunt actually lost two supporters from yesterday’s nomination round). The question of who their supporters fold in behind next is

Katy Balls

Can Penny Mordaunt win it?

12 min listen

Today all candidates need 30 nominations to make it through to the next round. One dark horse in the race is Penny Mordaunt who is seen as Labour’s greatest threat. This morning she held her official campaign launch in at Westminster’s Cinnamon Club – promising to ‘fix a broken Whitehall’. But will she be able