Uk politics

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson

Sajid Javid will give the Treasury a culture shock

Sajid Javid as Chancellor is the latest of a string of encouraging appointments. He knows finance better than almost anyone else in parliament, let alone Cabinet. When Osborne took the the brief, he would confess to people that he didn’t have a clue about economics. In Sajid Javid, we have someone who was vice-president of Chase Manhattan bank aged 25: not because of any family ties but because of his sheer ability. Javid has the knowledge and nerve for a clear no-deal plan, and was always arguing for one in the Cabinet. This will be a bit of a culture shock to HM Treasury, which has been the HQ of

Isabel Hardman

What’s waiting in Priti Patel’s new Home Office in-tray?

Priti Patel is the new Home Secretary. This is likely to attract a fair bit of opprobrium from Boris Johnson’s critics, given she is a supporter of the death penalty. Whether or not she has been given any remit to examine that particular policy issue, she has a big job on her hands. The Home Office is one of the hardest departments to run. Theresa May managed to survive it, largely by micromanaging everyone else into the dust. Her successor Amber Rudd did not, finding that obeying her boss too well led to her being implicated in the Windrush scandal. Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, May’s aides in the Home

James Kirkup

Can the Tory party survive Prime Minister Boris Johnson?

Some thoughts on the arrival in office of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, based on his first speech, his first appointments and some conversations with people in different parts of the Conservative party and Whitehall today.  These are not all my own predictions; some belong to others. But they’re under my name, so I’ll be happy to answer for them when – and if – they’re proven wrong: 1. A no-deal exit from the EU is much more likely than financial markets currently imply, and much more likely to become the de facto object of UK government policy Johnson’s speech gave him very, very little room for manoeuvre over Brexit. As

The Spectator

Watch: Boris Johnson’s first speech as Prime Minister

Boris Johnson has just delivered his first speech as Prime Minister. On the steps of No.10 Downing Street, Boris hit out at ‘doubters…doomsters (and) gloomsters’ as he pledged to take Britain out of the EU by October 31, ‘no ifs no buts’. ‘The buck stops with me,’ he said. Here is the full video: And here is the full text of Boris’s speech: Good afternoon. I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen who has invited me to form a government and I have accepted. I pay tribute to the fortitude and patience of my predecessor and her deep sense of public service but in spite of all

Isabel Hardman

‘Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here’: Boris launches his premiership with domestic focus

Boris Johnson has just given a rather urgent-sounding, fast-paced speech in Downing Street. So fast-paced, in fact, that it almost appeared he was in a hurry to catch a train. He of course promised to deliver Brexit by 31 October, but the bulk of his statement was in fact focused on what he wanted to do on domestic policy. He did so using typically tangible promises, telling voters that ‘my job is to make your street safer’, that ‘my job is to make sure that you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP’ and ‘my job is to make sure your kids get a superb education’. He

Lloyd Evans

Meet the Tories who think Theresa May is Britain’s greatest PM

Forget Churchill. Never mind the Iron Duke. Ignore the claims of Pitt the Younger. The greatest prime minister in British history is Theresa May. That was the message from PMQs today. Tory after Tory stood up to heap praise on their departing chief. Wages are up. Homelessness is falling. Employment is on the rise, thanks to her brilliant captaincy of the nation. We heard about honour, duty, courtesy and public service. It seems that she carried each of these virtues to a pitch that no successor can surpass. ‘Fantastic’ was the only word to describe her policies on mental health. Her domestic violence agenda, we were told, will be an

Isabel Hardman

Theresa May leaves Downing Street with best wishes for Boris

Theresa May’s final statement in Downing Street before she left for Buckingham Palace was very dignified and generous to her successor. She offered her ‘warm congratulations’ to Boris Johnson and wished him ‘every good fortune in the months and years ahead’. As with her performance at Prime Minister’s Questions, May was keen to emphasise her commitment to continuing in public service, saying: ‘I am about to leave Downing Street but I am proud to continue as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead. I will continue to do all I can to serve the national interest.’ It was not an emotional statement, nor was it one in which May really sought

Isabel Hardman

Theresa May looks back in anger at her final PMQs

Theresa May’s final Prime Minister’s Questions had all the tributes you’d expect for an outgoing leader. Members from across the House praised her commitment to public service and the way in which she has made tackling mental illness, modern slavery and domestic abuse her priority throughout her time in government. She received a standing ovation from her party at the end, with the Liberal Democrats and the DUP joining in from the opposition benches. A few female Labour MPs clapped too. Her final remarks made a dignified end to a premiership beset by failure and procrastination. She told MPs that the Commons was ‘rightly at the centre’ of ‘extraordinary times’

Steerpike

Watch: Labour frontbench spoil the party at May’s final PMQs

Theresa May’s time at Parliament’s despatch box is up. The Prime Minister has just faced her final session of PMQs, finishing off by telling MPs the ‘duty’ to ‘serve my constituents will remain my greatest motivation’. Here is the video of the moment she said goodbye: Most MPs stood up and applauded the PM as she left the chamber. But Labour’s frontbench stayed firmly in their seats. This marks something of a change from the norm. After all, when Tony Blair said goodbye, Tory MPs joined in the standing ovation… And when David Cameron stepped down, Labour MPs still managed a round of applause. This time around, there was stony

Katy Balls

Hunt’s Cabinet job refusal presents Boris with a dilemma

There are high expectations among Tory MPs today for Boris Johnson’s Cabinet appointments. The problem? He has more supporters who believe they will be promoted than plum jobs to give. It follows that this evening’s first wave of hires for the most senior jobs will undoubtedly lead to disappointment. Johnson has at least got off to a good start. The first appointment of Mark Spencer as Chief Whip has landed well in the Parliamentary party. Although Spencer backed Remain in the EU referendum, he is well liked across the board and the European Research Group members found praise for him after his role was unveiled on Tuesday. Tory Remainers have also

Tuesday

Joolz Gale

Could Boris charm the EU in Brexit negotiations?

The penny has finally dropped here in Berlin. After the Brexit party’s success in the European elections – and several missed Brexit deadlines later – most Germans are slowly realising that Brexit will happen. There are some who still hope that the offer of a new Brexit extension – as Ursula von der Leyen has indicated might be on offer – could mean a second referendum, or revocation of Article 50. But fewer now believe either of those remain realistic possibilities. And with Boris Johnson likely to be in Downing Street by tomorrow, these options become harder still to imagine. One leader of the pro-EU movement here – who has been

Robert Peston

Boris Johnson has achieved his dream. Will he mess it up?

When Boris Johnson chants his mantra of delivering Brexit, uniting the country and beating Jeremy Corbyn, it is very much a personal imperative. For the simple reason that if he fails, as many of his colleagues anticipate, he will look like a blithering idiot. The point is that back in the spring of 2016, he faced a nation-defining fork in the road, when he was dithering about whether to stick with the then PM David Cameron and fight to stay in the EU or lead the leave campaign. Cameron will believe till his last breath that Johnson’s defection to Brexit tipped the scales against him. And when Cameron lost, May

Isabel Hardman

Forget Brexit: Boris’s toughest task will be energising his exhausted party

Boris Johnson will now be receiving plenty of unsolicited advice about how to be Prime Minister. As his victory speech a few minutes ago showed, though, he’s not planning to ditch one of the qualities that got him into this job in the first place. Brand Boris isn’t about the typical prime ministerial behaviour, stood squarely behind a lectern and trying to offer gravitas. To try to squeeze Johnson into this mould would be about as successful as Gordon Brown’s attempts to look cheerful. That’s why his speech was based around the acronym ‘DUDE’ – Deliver Brexit, Unite our Country, Defeat Jeremy Corbyn and Energise. He told the hall: ‘I

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson’s risky strategy is to be himself

Boris Johnson is the new leader of the Conservative party. He has defeated Jeremy Hunt by a two to one margin, 66 to 34 per cent. This gives him a mandate and will boost his political authority—a boost that he desperately needs given how small his working majority will be, even in combination with the DUP. Boris Johnson’s speech was clearly a holding exercise, his team want to reserve their main messages for tomorrow when he actually becomes prime minister. It wouldn’t be a good look for him to be setting out his plans for the country to his Tory colleagues rather than the country as a whole. But perhaps

Tom Goodenough

Boris Johnson wins the Tory leadership race

Boris Johnson will be Britain’s new prime minister after winning the Tory leadership race. Boris picked up 92,153 votes, or 66.4 per cent. His rival Jeremy Hunt won 46,656 votes, or 33.6 per cent. Turnout in the leadership race was 87.4 per cent. Boris Johnson paid tribute to Jeremy Hunt after his win was announced. He said Hunt had been ‘friendly’ and ‘goodnatured’ on the campaign trail. Boris also thanked Theresa May: ‘Above all, I want to thank our outgoing leader for her extraordinary service,’ he told an audience at the QEII centre. Donald Trump congratulated Boris on his election, saying that the new Tory leader ‘will be great’.

Douglas Murray

Roger Scruton gets his job back

Roger Scruton has been reappointed as head of a government housing body after he was sacked in April following a magazine interview in which his views were misrepresented. The letter from housing secretary James Brokenshire, who fired Scruton, is published below: Dear Sir Roger, Thank you so much for our conversation about the next steps on the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission.  As we both recognise, the publication of the Commission’s Interim Report provides an opportunity to consider next steps in finalising recommendations to Government to promote quality and beauty in the built environment.  You have already been so influential in advancing this vision and I hope you will be able to

Monday

Katy Balls

Jo Swinson sets her sights on Boris in Lib Dem victory speech

Jo Swinson has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats. Succeeding Sir Vince Cable in the role, Swinson, the first woman to hold the position, beat her rival Ed Davey – winning 47,997 votes against 28,02 with 63 per cent of the vote. In her victory speech, Swinson said that on joining the party at 17, she had ‘never imagined that I would one day have the honour of leading our great party’. So, how will she lead it? Swinson – who served as a business minister in the coalition – used her speech to cast the Liberal Democrats as the party of liberalism. She tried to

Isabel Hardman

Alan Duncan’s resignation just adds to the chaos in the Foreign Office

Sir Alan Duncan’s resignation will only leave a hole in the Foreign Office for a couple of days before the new prime minister replaces him. But he’s not the only missing minister in that department: Mark Field is suspended while the incident at Mansion House is investigated. Duncan had been covering some of Field’s responsibilities over the past few weeks, and now he is off too, just as the crisis in relations with Iran deepens. Jeremy Hunt, meanwhile, has been busy conducting a leadership campaign, all of which gives the Foreign Office, normally the most composed and regal part of Whitehall, a slightly chaotic, neglected feel. This may change mid-week

Tom Goodenough

Tory MP Charlie Elphicke charged with sexual assault

Tory MP Charlie Elphicke has been charged with sexually assaulting two women. Elphicke, who represents Dover, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 6 September. The allegations relate to three incidents in 2007 and 2016. Elphicke, 49, was suspended from the Conservative party in November 2017. In December last year, the MP had the whip restored ahead of a no-confidence vote in Theresa May. The Crown Prosecution Service released the following statement this morning: ‘The Crown Prosecution Service has today charged Charles Elphicke, MP for Dover, with three charges of sexual assault against two women. The CPS made the decision to charge Mr Elphicke after reviewing a file of evidence

Lloyd Evans

Boris Johnson will soon be the most popular leader in the world

Only one person in Britain now believes that Boris might deprive us of a Jeremy Hunt premiership. That person is Jeremy Hunt. The rest of us expect the ‘Blonde Ambition’ project to reach fruition and for Boris to enter Number 10. This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows him. Nature always marked him out. Even as a first-year Balliol student, aged 18, he was weirdly conspicuous – the ruddy jowls, the stooped bullish stance, the booming Duke of Wellington voice, and the freakish white bob crowning his head like a heavenly spotlight. He was always one to watch. People say he can’t ‘do detail’. But nobody spends