Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Monday

Katy Balls

How much trouble is Keir Starmer in?

From our UK edition

Ahead of Thursday's local elections, there had been talk among MPs that it could serve as a referendum on partygate and lead to questions about Boris Johnson's future as leader. Instead, it's Keir Starmer who is facing questions about Covid breaches and how long he will stay in post. After Durham Police announced on Friday that they would investigate the so-called Beergate event – when he was pictured drinking a beer indoors in Durham with Labour staff last April while the rest of England was under stage 2 Covid rules – new details have come to light.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Could Boris win another election?

From our UK edition

10 min listen

Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman delve into the 2022 local election results and discuss how the Conservatives will adapt their strategy to remain in power.

Friday

Katy Balls

Can the Lib Dem’s declare victory?

From our UK edition

14 min listen

We've had more election results in and it looks like the Lib Dems will be celebrating tonight, encroaching on many Tory seats around the country. But is this Liberal passion from voters or disaffection with the two major parties? Katy Balls talks with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about all the latest results.

Katy Balls

What Durham police’s ‘beergate’ investigation means for Starmer

From our UK edition

It's Boris Johnson's lucky day. Keir Starmer had hoped to spend Friday talking up Labour's results in the local election – with a particular focus on the party's successes over the London Tories in Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster. Instead, the Labour leader and his team will spend the afternoon talking about 'beergate' after the Telegraph broke the news that Durham Police will investigate the alleged lockdown breach. This all relates to an event in April last year when Starmer was photographed drinking beer with colleagues in Durham at a 'work event' involving a takeaway curry. When evidence of the event first emerged earlier this year, it gained little traction.

Katy Balls

Who are the ‘winners’ in the local elections?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

The results are coming in! While the Tories seem to have done quite badly in the capital, Labour has not made the gains in the rest of the country that many predicted they would. The Lib Dems and the Greens have had a good showing so far but we won't know just how good until the full tally of results come in. Isabel Hardman talks with Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Katy Balls

Is Starmer falling short?

From our UK edition

As the local election results trickle in, Labour has plenty to shout about when it comes to London. The party has taken Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet from the Tories, in a blow to the Conservatives. Given these are high-profile victories – Wandsworth was Thatcher's favourite council and Westminster has never been Labour – it's understandable that the results are leading the news. But outside of London, with 73 out of 146 councils counted, Labour is actually looking at a net loss of seats (down six) with not much signs of winning back the 'red wall'. So what's the wider picture for Starmer?

Thursday

Katy Balls

Is the UK headed towards recession?

From our UK edition

10 min listen

The Monetary Policy Committee has just raised interest rates again. This is the fourth consecutive rise, the first time this has happened within a quarter of a century. Economically the future is looking pretty bleak and not just in the UK, this looks like it may be a global problem caused by several factors. China's no Covid policies, US inflation, the Eurozone trying to wean itself off Russia's oil and gas, etc.Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Kate Andrews about the state of the global economy.

Katy Balls

‘Whitehall was horrified by Brexit’: an interview with Australia’s departing high commissioner

From our UK edition

When Britain voted for Brexit, Tony Abbott, the former prime minister of Australia, had an idea. How about striking a new free trade deal between Australia and the UK to celebrate escaping the statism and bureaucracy of Brussels? The deal needed to be only one page long, he argued, because the two countries were already so similar. ‘If a car is fit to be sold in Britain, it’s fit to be sold in Australia,’ he said. ‘If a doctor is fit to practise in Australia, he or she is fit to practise in the UK.’ In the end, things proved more complicated. An agreement was eventually signed last December, but it ran to 430 pages. Free trade was to be phased in very slowly – over 15 years in all – on the grounds that British farmers needed time to adjust.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Could Labour overtake the Tories in Scotland?

From our UK edition

9 min listen

A new poll from ComRes has shown Scottish Labour taking second place in tomorrow's local elections, overtaking the Scottish Conservatives. On the podcast, James Forsyth explains the torrid flip-flop that Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Tories, has made over partygate, first calling for Boris Johnson to resign before rowing back ('He thought that the 54 letters triggering a vote of no confidence were on their way in').Katy Balls also talks to Isabel Hardman about the Environment Secretary George Eustice's suggestion that people might buy from cheaper supermarkets in order to deal with the cost-of-living crisis ('The phrase "teaching your grandma to suck eggs" was possibly invented for this piece of advice', Isabel says).

Tuesday

Katy Balls

What does victory look like in the local elections?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

Campaigning in the local elections is entering its final few days. But what are the expectations for the Tories and Labour and can they be met? Both leaders Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer have already put their foot in it to some degree, with the Labour leader getting rather too defensive about his lockdown mid-work beer and Boris seeming out of touch over the cost of living crisis. Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about the state of the race.

Katy Balls

Beergate is coming back to bite Starmer

From our UK edition

Labour had planned to continue its offensive on partygate and the cost of living during this week's local elections. In recent weeks, that tactic has been yielding results: Boris Johnson has come under pressure for receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending an event in Downing Street involving birthday cake. Now it's Keir Starmer who is facing the toughest questions about Covid rule breaches. The problem? Beergate.  This all relates to an event last year on 30 April where Starmer was pictured with a bottle of beer in the office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy ahead of the Hartlepool by-election. When it surfaced several months ago, there was an effort by Tory MPs who tried to draw equivalence with this event and the various allegations facing Boris Johnson's No.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Is Pestminster back?

From our UK edition

17 min listen

This has been a bad week for the reputation of the House of Commons. From inappropriate comments toward female MPs, three cabinet ministers facing sexual misconduct claims and one MP accused of watching pornography in the chamber. Can anything be done to change this grotesque culture? And is it Westminster specific or an issue with society at large?Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Katy Balls

Liz Truss’s foreign policy pivot

From our UK edition

How long will the war in Ukraine go on? Speaking last night at Mansion House, Liz Truss suggested that western allies would be in it for the long haul when it comes to supporting Ukraine – suggesting the only acceptable outcome is for Russian forces must be pushed out of ‘the whole of Ukraine’. The Foreign Secretary said western allies needed to ‘double down’ in their support for Ukraine – saying Putin's invasion ‘must fail and be seen to fail’.  Her comments were echoed by the Defence Secretary this morning. Speaking on the morning media round, Ben Wallace agreed that Russia must be pushed out of the whole of Ukraine.

Katy Balls

Nadine Dorries: My vision for the BBC

From our UK edition

When Nadine Dorries was named Culture Secretary last year, it proved to be the most controversial appointment of Boris Johnson’s reshuffle. Her critics weren’t afraid to point to what they saw as her flaws. She was a Scouser and former nurse put in charge of the cultural crown jewels. The only explanation they could come up with: she was intended to embody a two-finger flick, on behalf of the PM, to the BBC, Channel 4 and the arts world in general. The furore, she says, didn’t come as a surprise. ‘There are some men who do have a problem with a woman from my background achieving,’ she says. It also pointed to something else: a fear that she might do what her predecessors had not done. ‘I think they obviously knew that I was going to deliver.

Katy Balls

The Nadine Dorries Edition

From our UK edition

46 min listen

Nadine Dorries is the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sports and MP for Mid Bedfordshire. After leaving school at 16, Dorries went on to become a nurse and an entrepreneur before entering politics at the age of 49. She was a minister in the Department of Health during the pandemic, and in her current role is leading five bills at DCMS through Parliament, including the controversial Online Safety Bill. On the podcast, she talks to Katy Balls about her plans for the BBC and Channel 4, why she believes much of the criticism against her comes from those unable to accept her background, and where her red line would be in sticking up for Boris Johnson, as one of his most loyal allies.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Will MPs be hit by another sleaze scandal?

From our UK edition

14 min listen

The chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris has started an investigation after a female Tory MP reported that she had seen a male colleague watching pornography in the House of Commons. This comes in the wake of the Mail On Sunday's Angela Rayner/Basic Instinct story, and of the Sunday Times's investigation that three current cabinet ministers are under investigation for #MeToo claims. Will more allegations come out of the woodwork in the coming days? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson’s cost of living gamble

From our UK edition

What can the government do to ease the cost of living crisis? The Chancellor drew criticism in his spring statement for not doing enough – yet there are ministers, such as Kit Malthouse, who take the view the government has already spent too much. At a recent cabinet meeting Malthouse suggested Johnson and Sunak reopen the spending review and make cuts in the face of rising inflation. Cost of living is now viewed as the number one issue in government – as deputy chief of staff David Canzini has briefed aides. Today Boris Johnson is attempting to show he is on the front foot by chairing a cabinet in which he has asked ministers to come forward with cost of living solutions.

Katy Balls

Can the Cabinet really solve the ‘cost of living’ crisis?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

Today a pre-briefing on what Boris Johnson plans to say to the Cabinet about the cost of living crisis was released. He wants them to brainstorm ideas to ease the pain felt by the British public in the face of rising prices of food and energy. The catch, is these have to be non-fiscal ways. Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about how effective these plans could be and how they may be received by the voters. To keep up to date with the world of Westminster, sign up for unrivalled insight and analysis with Isabel Hardman’s Evening Blend newsletter, delivered to your inbox every weekday evening. Sign up at spectator.

Monday

Katy Balls

What does Macron’s victory mean for Anglo-French relations?

From our UK edition

12 min listen

French President, Emmanuel Macron secured victory over the weekend. But with the election over, will we see a reset in relations between the UK and France? Apart from support for Ukraine, there has been little the governments on either side of the Channel have agreed on. Katy Balls is joined by Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth to test the temperature of these turbulent political waters, as well as giving a look forward to our own local elections in May.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Why are most Tory MPs so quiet over partygate?

From our UK edition

18 min listen

At the beginning of the year, letters from Conservative MPs looked to be reaching the 54 threshold needed to trigger a no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson. Most would think a fixed penalty notice from the Met would bring us at least back to those levels. And though there have been some full-throated calls of support and condemnation of his leadership from his parliamentary party, the majority have remained conspicuously quiet. James Forsyth asks Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson why?