Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

The Tory cadets who want a shot at the top

When Conservative prime ministers face a problem of logistics – from ambulance-driver shortages to border-force failures – there is a solution they like to fall back on: send in the military. When Boris Johnson was London mayor, he welcomed David Cameron’s decision to invite the army to help with the Olympics after the security firm

Did Boris Johnson survive PMQs?

10 min listen

Boris Johnson was surrounded by opposition at the despatch box when he faced the Labour leader at PMQs today. Did Keir Starmer make the most of his opportunity to score points against the Prime Minister’s disappointing result in the confidence vote the night before? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Katy Balls

Rishi Sunak promises more tax cuts… just not yet

After Boris Johnson faced a confidence vote by his own MPs, the Prime Minister has come under pressure to bring in changes to his government. This ranges from talk of a reshuffle to shaking up the No. 10 operation yet again. But the issue which has the broadest support among MPs calling for change is

What will the Tory rebels do next?

13 min listen

It is the day after the night before when Boris Johnson narrowly survived a confidence vote. Today he held a meeting with the Cabinet to tell his colleagues it is time to ‘move on’.  ‘This looks like a slow Tory suicide to me’ – Fraser Nelson Some critics have pointed to the fact that shortly

Is Boris Johnson finished?

11 min listen

The results are in. 211 Tory MPs expressed confidence in the Prime Minister, while 148 said they had no confidence in Boris Johnson continuing to lead the Conservative party. While this is technically a win, it is a narrower victory than Theresa May (who looked splendid in her ball gown tonight) got in her no-confidence

Katy Balls

Can Boris bounce back?

How does Boris Johnson bounce back from 148 members of his own party expressing no confidence in him? The Prime Minister is claiming the fact he won the result means he can now move on and focus on the government’s priorities. But privately Boris Johnson’s allies concede the result is worse than they anticipated. ‘He’s

Katy Balls

Boris to face confidence vote tonight

14 min listen

Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote tonight. Announcing the news this morning, the chair of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady said in a statement: ‘The threshold of the 15% of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded.’ Will he win? Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Boris to face confidence vote tonight

After months of anonymous threats and speculation, Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote by Tory MPs this evening. Announcing the news this morning, the chair of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady said in a statement: ‘The threshold of the 15% of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of

Have the Tories lost their way?

19 min listen

Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, and Kate Andrews about Rishi Sunak’s latest support package to aid with the cost of living, including the windfall tax on energy companies.

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson’s biggest problem

When the Sue Gray report was published on Wednesday, the most noticeable response was the silence among many Tory MPs. While a handful of Tories came out to criticise the Prime Minister and several came out to back Boris Johnson, the majority kept their powder dry. Since then, there hasn’t been a mass backlash against

Will Rishi’s stimulus backfire?

13 min listen

There have been mixed opinions following Rishi Sunak’s announcements in the House of Commons yesterday. The £15 billion budget is targeted to help the whole country with a particular emphasis on those most in need – but has it gone far enough? Or will we pay the price for the Chancellor’s handouts in the future?

Katy Balls

The Frances Haugen Edition

39 min listen

Frances Haugen is an American data scientist, most well known for her whistleblowing of Facebook’s failures at controlling misinformation. Her insider knowledge allowed the Wall Street Journal to publish a series of exposés about the social media platform, which became known as ‘The Facebook Files’. She has testified before the US Congress, the European Parliament

Is a windfall tax justified?

11 min listen

Rishi Sunak has announced a new tranche of economic measures designed to help ease the cost of living crisis in the UK. The new payments will be funded by a windfall tax on energy companies, which comes as the government U-turns on its previous opposition to the policy. On the episode, Katy Balls talks to

Inside Boris Johnson’s crunch meeting with Tory MPs

Just as Boris Johnson got up to address his party at a meeting of the 1922 committee, one more Tory MP called on social media for him to go: Julian Sturdy, the MP for York Outer, said in the wake of the Sue Gray report that it is in the public interest for the Prime Minister to resign. Johnson

Katy Balls

Did the Sue Gray report move the dial?

14 min listen

The long-awaited Sue Gray report is finally published today. It included new photographs (including of the birthday bash, though James Forsyth describes the photo as looking more like ‘an enforced office socialising occasion’ than a party), colourful details (one staffer was threw up at one drinks) and some unsavoury revelations (Sue Gray was damning about

Katy Balls

Boris’s new ‘masochism strategy’

How humbled is Boris Johnson by the publication of Sue Gray’s report into partygate? Speaking in the Commons chamber, the Prime Minister attempted to strike a solemn tone at the first of three events today which have been dubbed a ‘masochism strategy’ of taking pain in the chamber, a press conference and then appearing before

How will Boris Johnson respond to the Gray report?

11 min listen

Sue Gray’s report into Downing Street parties during lockdown is set to be released on Wednesday morning. The tone Boris Johnson takes will be vital to his political future. What will he say? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Partygate’s final chapter could be the most damaging yet

There was relief in Downing Street last week when the police concluded their investigation into Covid rule breaches across government. Despite being investigated for several alleged incidents, the Prime Minister only received one fine – for an event involving birthday cake in the middle of the day. Boris Johnson was not fined in relation to

Katy Balls

What do we know about the Sue Gray report?

13 min listen

It’s finally happening! This is the week the infamous Sue Gray report into partygate will be released. Details are few and far between, although we do know that the Prime Minister will be mentioned by name in the document. Mutterings from Tory HQ are that this is not going to be a good week for