Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
20 min listen
Five Tory MPs have publicly said that Boris Johnson should resign. After a torrid week in Downing Street, which finished with the Prime Minister having to apologise to the Queen for a party being held on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral, could we soon see a leadership contest? Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson
13 min listen
It’s been revealed that two more parties took place in No. 10 during the pandemic. This time, on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. While the Prime Minister was not at this event, is No. 10’s party culture coming straight from the top? Max Jeffery is joined by Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
24 min listen
Michelle Donelan was elected in 2015 as a Conservative MP for Chippenham. Since then, she has been re-elected twice and has risen in her political roles. Starting as a member of the education select committee and becoming a whip, to then being appointed a minister, first of children and families, and then in the latest
34 min listen
In this week’s episode: Is Boris Johnson done for? In this week’s Spectator cover story, our political editor James Forsyth and our deputy political editor Katy Balls write about Boris Johnson’s perilous position in the aftermath of the Partygate scandal. They join the podcast to predict the Prime Minister’s fate. (00:40) Also this week: Is
10 min listen
After a hard PMQs for Boris Johnson which included multiple MPs calling for his resignation, the cabinet took to the media to show support for their embattled leader… though some took a bit longer than others. ‘Notably, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss took quite some time. I think they both got round to it by
Even Boris Johnson’s longest-standing supporters now think he might be on the way out. His admission that he attended a Downing Street garden party when the rest of the country was living under strict Covid rules has proved the final straw for politicians ground down by months of negative headlines. MPs complain they’ve had enough, and
When Michael Gove addressed Tory MPs on Wednesday evening at a meeting of the 1922 committee, he began with a tribute to Boris Johnson. After a rocky few days for the Prime Minister in which he has apologised to the House for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown and faced calls from his
There has been no good news for Boris Johnson today. After an email leaked on Monday evening showing that the Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary Martin Reynolds invited over 100 staff to a drinks party in the No. 10 garden in May 2020, the Prime Minister has come under fire from his own side. Downing Street has refused
13 min listen
Another day, another party scandal. ‘Bring your own booze’ said Martin Reynolds, the Prime Minister’s private secretary in a leaked email to around 100 staff in May 2020, inviting them to a picnic at 10 Downing Street. At the same time, the rest of the country was limited to socialising within household bubbles or one other
How much trouble is Boris Johnson in over partygate? Since allegations first emerged last year of a number of parties and gatherings in 10 Downing Street when the rest of the country was living under strict Covid restrictions, the Prime Minister has had to launch an investigation (now led by civil servant Sue Gray after cabinet secretary Simon
13 min listen
With some early signs that the Omicron threat is waning, talk has begun around Westminster as to when we can get rid of the remaining Covid restrictions. To help Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman make sense of the latest figures, they are joined by Editor, Fraser Nelson with an update from The Spectator‘s
As Boris Johnson feels he has been vindicated in his resistance to new Covid restrictions, Downing Street had hoped that his party would give him due credit. However, after a tricky few months, the Prime Minister instead finds himself under fire from his own side on a number of fronts. Former cabinet minister and long time
36 min listen
Camilla Tominey is known on both sides of the pond as one of the world’s go-to Royal correspondents. She began her career in journalism at the Hemel Hempstead Gazette before moving to cover the Royals for the Daily Express and is now the associate editor at the Telegraph. On the episode, she talks to Katy
15 min listen
Boris Johnson chaired a Cabinet meeting yesterday to discuss the imposition of new Covid restrictions over Christmas. After three hours, the Prime Minister emerged to announce that no new restrictions had been decided on. These meetings are usually called for the Cabinet to rubber-stamp a decision made by Boris and his advisers, so what’s changed?
When Boris Johnson held a cabinet call on Monday afternoon, the expectation was that an announcement on new restrictions would be imminent. But the meeting dragged on for three hours and the Prime Minister emerged afterwards announcing that nothing has changed. The situation is ‘extremely difficult’ and arguments both for and against restrictions are ‘finely balanced’ so
Who is David Frost’s successor as Brexit minister? That’s the question Boris Johnson has answered this evening following Frost’s surprise resignation — with the Foreign Secretary to takeover as the UK’s lead negotiator with the EU in post-Brexit talks. Liz Truss will retain all her Foreign Office responsibilities — with Chris Heaton Harris also to
19 min listen
Boris Johnson once boasted that you couldn’t hold a cigarette paper between him and David Frost, the man he brought on to take Brexit over the line. Yet this key ally has resigned when the Prime Minister is at his most vulnerable. In his resignation letter, Lord Frost cites his concerns on whether the country
13 min listen
Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and James Johnson, the co-founder of the J. L. Partners polling company, about what the Conservative defeat in North Shropshire means for the Prime Minister’s future.
11 min listen
The Conservative majority of 23,000 was wiped out overnight in North Shropshire, with Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan winning the by-election by nearly 6,000 votes. Tory MPs are already making their frustrations known, with Roger Gale saying Boris Johnson has ‘one more strike and he’s out’, and John Redwood saying it’s ‘Time to listen to Conservatives.’
30 min listen
Tzipi Hotovely is the current Israeli Ambassador to the UK. She was formerly a politician in Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, having climbed the ranks to become deputy foreign minister. On the episode, she talks to Katy about her 2,500 strong wedding reception, campaigning for mother’s rights in Israel and what modern-day anti-Semitism look like. They also