Steerpike

It's a difficult time for Tory members. Down to barely 123,000 at the last count, the annual conference passed off well, given the circumstances. But while Kemi Badenoch's speech received a thumbs up from the commentariat, those running local groups continue to complain of problems. For a leaked recording has revealed what senior members and councillors really think of their party.   A fortnight ago, Tory group leaders, councillors and activists turned up to speak at a members-only Conservative party conference event titled ‘Local Government Selection Rules – consultation with Association Officers and members of the CCA’.  The quotes offer some classics of the 'disgruntled Tories' genre.

Something of a nightmare is gripping the city of dreaming spires. Over at the Oxford Union – the supposed nursery of our nation's leaders – the new Union president-elect is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Last month, George Abaraonye sparked outrage after appearing to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk. Then, on Saturday he took the rather unusual step of triggering a no-confidence vote in his own leadership. An unorthodox move to say the least... Oxford alumni had planned to launch a no-confidence motion against Abaraonye on Tuesday, so this manoeuvre appears to be a way of beating them to the punch. Perhaps Abaraonye had been reading up on John Major’s 1995 resignation, telling the ‘bastards’ to ‘put up or shut up’.

They say that politics is showbiz for ugly people. But that has not stopped some of parliament's finest swapping the Westminster jungle for the real thing. Over the years, a series of politicians have braved the Australian climate of ITV's reality series I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! Among them are the ex-Scottish Labour MP Kezia Dugdale, former Tory MP Nadine Dorries and Reform's own Nigel Farage. It is fair to say that some coped better than others... And now Mr S hears word that TV bosses are hoping to tempt another politico ahead of the upcoming new series. One name doing the round has been Angela Rayner, now enjoying life on the backbenches. The former Deputy Prime Minister would arguably be the most senior politician to brave the jungle.

To the Cliveden Literary Festival, where Health Secretary Wes Streeting has offered up his support for Sir Keir Starmer's Brexit attack strategy. The Prime Minister is planning to use Brexit – and Nigel Farage's part in the campaign – as a way to both excuse the difficult decisions that will be made in next month's Budget and as a means to take the fight to Reform UK. How interesting… Speaking at a panel event at the festival, Streeting doubled down on the Brexit message, telling his audience about how much Brexit can be blamed for the UK's low productivity and growth: It's part of it. There's no doubt that that's the other problem we're dealing with. I'm glad Brexit is a problem whose name we now dare speak.

Well, well, well. SNP conference has gotten off to a rather, er, interesting start. As one might expect, the subject of independence has dominated the first day of the big meet-up in Aberdeen. The party's strategy as laid out by First Minister John Swinney says that an SNP majority at next year's Holyrood election would be a mandate for a second independence referendum. But party activists aren't happyabout the state of the SNP: both its independence stance and the way the party has conducted itself more generally over the last few years.

It's the SNP's big weekend out as party members and politicians make the painstaking journey to Aberdeen for the nationalists' annual conference. Just seven months away from next year's Scottish parliament elections, the Nats will spend the weekend discussing campaign strategy, devolved policy and – you guessed it – independence. It would appear the talks about separatism are about to get even barmier than usual, however, with SNP members set to face a vote on whether a provisional parliament should be set up north of the border to run alongside Holyrood as part of yet another pro-indy push.

To India, where Keir Starmer has met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the UK-India trade deal and learn more about the country's digital ID scheme. But of course the curious matter of the China spy case collapse came up at today's press conference as questions remain about why the charges against Chris Cash and Christopher Berry were dropped. Quizzed about whether national security adviser Jonathan Powell or any other minister were involved in the decision to drop the case, Starmer was clear: I can be absolutely clear, no ministers were involved in any of the decisions since this government’s been in, in relation to the evidence that’s been put before the court on this issue.

The Conservative party conference may be in full swing in Manchester but Reform UK's politicians are still creating headlines. Deputy leader Richard Tice has given a rather punchy interview to Arabian Business during a trip to Dubai – in which he slated Britain's immigration 'disaster', insisted a decline in the British work ethic was because the 'UK became complacent [and] decadent' and even claimed that Britain is 'going bust'. Then the Reform man turned his attention to some big British names. First he took a swipe at a rather, er, controversial British broadcaster: former England footballer Gary Neville. Taking a pop at the left-wing right back over his patriotism, Tice fumed: Dear Gary Neville, everybody's entitled to their own opinions.

It’s not just Conservative politicians popping up at the Tory party conference this year: Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has appeared at some fringe events to wax lyrical about the successes of devolution, his hopes for a Manchester tourist tax and reform of council tax. But just a week after the Labour Party conference, Burnham didn’t gloss over the rather, er, frosty welcome he received in Liverpool. ‘I’ll probably get a better reception here than I did last week,’ he quipped at the Centre for Cities event.  Burnham wouldn’t rate the performance of the Labour government out of ten – but he did pack a few subtle digs into his discussion about Sir Keir Starmer and his cronies back in London.