Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
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Emma Gormley is managing director of daytime at ITV studios, where she controls flagship shows on the channel such as Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women. On the episode, she talks to Katy about what got her into broadcast journalism, the pressures of looking after some of the most popular shows on
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Whilst everyone waits for the Sue Gray report, all eyes turn to the next scandal: Pen Farthing’s animal rescue operation out of Afghanistan. It has been revealed that Boris Johnson’s parliamentary private secretary, Trudy Harrison contacted a jet hire company in an attempt to secure a plane to evacuate the pets. The PM has responded
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The view on the Tory benches at the moment seems to be consistently ‘wait for Gray’ before they decide whether or not they will send a letter of no confidence. The 54 letters required is now more likely since the announcement of the police probe into Downing Street parties, but it is still by no
It’s groundhog day in Westminster as once again hacks and ministers ask: when will Sue Gray’s report come out? On Tuesday morning it seemed as though the publication of the investigation would be delayed indefinitely. After the Metropolitan police announced plans to launch a criminal investigation into a number of the alleged parties after the
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The latest in the scandal of Downing Street parties points to the Prime Minister’s own birthday, where a gathering took place in the Cabinet Office. Whilst this has been played off by a Downing Street spokesperson as being on ‘the edges of a work event’. Cressida Dick announced this morning that events at No.10 during
Boris Johnson’s team thought that the biggest problem they would encounter this week was Sue Gray’s report into allegations of parties at Downing Street in breach of Covid restrictions. However, they now also have a police investigation to deal with. This morning, the Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick confirmed that the police will investigate parties
Will Boris Johnson still be Prime Minister in a year’s time? It’s the question that haunts Johnson’s closest allies. After news broke on Monday evening of another lockdown event in the form of a birthday celebration in Downing Street when social gatherings indoors were banned, Johnson is once again on the backfoot. With MPs frustrated by
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Over the weekend the MP Nusrat Ghani accused the government of sacking her because allegedly her Muslim faith was an issue, and they thought she didn’t defend the Conservative party’s charges of Islamophobia more. In the week of the release of the infamous Sue Gray report into Partygate how are the Tories dealing with these
As concerns rise in government over the possibility of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson is facing problems both abroad and domestically. The UK is withdrawing staff from the British embassy in Ukraine while ministers are attempting to manage expectations over how far the government will go in the event of an incursion — with a
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In this week’s episode: Will the Red Wall crush Boris Johnson? In this week’s Spectator, our political editor James Forsyth and our deputy political editor Katy Balls report on the plot to oust the Prime Minister by Red Wall MPs, and No.10’s battle to save Boris. They join the podcast to give their up to
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As the Prime Minister has a stay of execution after the pork pie plot came to nothing, today allegations are flying that Tory whips have been using unsavoury methods to threaten wavering MPs into line. Christian Wakeford, the newly defected Labour MP to Bury South, says that whips threatened to withdraw funding from a local
On Tuesday night, Boris Johnson loyalists were desperately trying to halt a spate of letters of no confidence going to Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbenchers. They had thought there was plenty of time, that no MPs would move until Sue Gray’s report into the ‘partygate’ scandal was published. ‘Wait for
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Last night rumours were flying around Westminster that letters of no confidence from Tory MPs were pouring in and Boris might be leaving sooner rather than later. But with the surprising crossing of the aisle by MP for Bury South, Christian Wakeford, it appears that old party tribalism may have stayed some hands. ‘While a
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To keep Partygate alive, Dominic Cummings has released fresh accusations on his blog about Boris Johnson, who he claims knew about the parties taking place. The former chief advisor to the Prime Minister is prepared to swear under oath on this. As divisions in the Tory party are starting to show, a no confidence motion
Is anger dying down among Conservative MPs over ‘partygate’? That was the suggestion overnight. But in the House of Commons today the opposite appears to be happening: MPs from the 2019 intake have been accused of plotting to oust Boris Johnson. One minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, a ‘pork pie plot’ is underway with Alicia Kearns —
Boris Johnson had hoped to move attention this week from parties — with a series of policy announcements planned as part of ‘Operation Red Meat’, his fightback plan. Nadine Dorries this afternoon told MPs in the Commons of plans to freeze the BBC licence fee for two years while No. 10 plan to bring the military in to tackle
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Tory MPs have just returned from their constituencies after a weekend of persuading voters to support their party in the May local elections. It’s not just the public that is angry, the local associations are equally outraged at the scandals that have marred the first month of 2022. Those around Boris Johnson are planning ‘Operation Red Meat’ which
Tory MPs return from their constituencies today to Westminster after canvassing opinion about the ongoing partygate row. The good news for Boris Johnson is that only one of the party’s MP has come out over the weekend to call for him to resign. Tim Loughton – the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham – said he had received
Boris Johnson has gone into the weekend with his fate in the hands of Tory MPs. Since the Prime Minister apologised in the Commons chamber for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown, there has been a concerted effort to shore up his position. Members of the Cabinet have come out to
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On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Katy Balls on who may take Boris Johnson’s place if he resigns. (00:49) Next, Nicholas Farrell on the potential return of Silvio Berlusconi. (06:21) And finally, And Lisse Garnett on what’s it like to date and influencer. (18:00) Produced and presented by Sam Holmes Subscribe to The Spectator