Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
From our UK edition
It’s not unusual for a Labour leader to attack the government over the NHS at Prime Minister’s Questions. Neither is it a topic of low salience at the moment, given the size of the backlog. But it was nonetheless Sir Keir Starmer’s subject choice today was curious because it was precisely what Boris Johnson wanted to
From our UK edition
Another day, another ridiculous Boris Johnson statement. This morning, the cabinet discussed whether the NHS was to become like Netflix, and predictably everyone has got very excited. It’s worth having a look at what actually happened at the meeting, though. The official readout is that Sajid Javid — not Johnson ― updated ministers on ‘the
From our UK edition
13 min listen
It is the day after the night before when Boris Johnson narrowly survived a confidence vote. Today he held a meeting with the Cabinet to tell his colleagues it is time to ‘move on’. ‘This looks like a slow Tory suicide to me’ – Fraser Nelson Some critics have pointed to the fact that shortly
From our UK edition
11 min listen
The results are in. 211 Tory MPs expressed confidence in the Prime Minister, while 148 said they had no confidence in Boris Johnson continuing to lead the Conservative party. While this is technically a win, it is a narrower victory than Theresa May (who looked splendid in her ball gown tonight) got in her no-confidence
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson has just insisted that he has had ‘an extremely positive’ and ‘decisive result’ in the vote of confidence in his leadership. He said the government can ‘come together’ and ‘put behind’ it all the rows of the past few months and ‘focus on the stuff that the public actually want us to be
From our UK edition
Now that the confidence vote in Boris Johnson’s leadership is on, Conservative MPs have suddenly become very busy, while senior Tories are breaking cover to declare that they no longer support the Prime Minister either. Jeremy Hunt, currently the favourite to replace Johnson with some bookies, has surprised no one by announcing that ‘today I will
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Boris Johnson will face a confidence vote tonight. Announcing the news this morning, the chair of the 1922 committee Sir Graham Brady said in a statement: ‘The threshold of the 15% of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded.’ Will he win? Katy Balls
From our UK edition
What is Boris Johnson actually accepting responsibility for when he says he is ‘humbled’ by Sue Gray’s report into partygate? Humility isn’t a word often used in connection with Boris Johnson, although it’s hardly valued at all in Westminster, so perhaps he is following a slightly different definition to the rest of us. Or perhaps
From our UK edition
14 min listen
The long-awaited Sue Gray report is finally published today. It included new photographs (including of the birthday bash, though James Forsyth describes the photo as looking more like ‘an enforced office socialising occasion’ than a party), colourful details (one staffer was threw up at one drinks) and some unsavoury revelations (Sue Gray was damning about
From our UK edition
Sir Keir Starmer used Prime Minister’s Questions today to show how hard it is going to be for Boris Johnson to move on from the Sue Gray report. The Labour leader acknowledged as he opened that there was going to be a statement on that inquiry right after this session, and so he was going
From our UK edition
In the past few minutes, Sue Gray’s final report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street has been published. It makes for grim reading. The report is just 37 pages long, along with photos of the events that the senior civil servant was tasked to investigate. The key line is where Gray says that ‘the senior
From our UK edition
11 min listen
Sue Gray’s report into Downing Street parties during lockdown is set to be released on Wednesday morning. The tone Boris Johnson takes will be vital to his political future. What will he say? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.
From our UK edition
13 min listen
It’s finally happening! This is the week the infamous Sue Gray report into partygate will be released. Details are few and far between, although we do know that the Prime Minister will be mentioned by name in the document. Mutterings from Tory HQ are that this is not going to be a good week for
From our UK edition
10 min listen
The Met police have today announced that their investigation into No. 10 parties is now over, and No. 10 have confirmed that neither the Prime Minister nor his wife have received more fines. Is Boris Johnson out of the woods? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. James points out the fortunate timing
From our UK edition
13 min listen
With the cost of living crisis looming large, pressure is on the government to come up with effective solutions. With Labour snapping at their heels for an emergency budget and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, will the Conservatives eventually bend to this pressure? And if they do, will these solutions even work?
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson and his ministers are inching ever closer to U-turning on a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies. Today the Prime Minister refused to rule out such a tax, telling Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that ‘we will look at all the measures’ possible to tackle the cost of living crisis. Starmer
From our UK edition
-20 min listen
Liz Truss made a speech in the House of Commons today laying out the government’s plans to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol. James Forsyth first broke this story in last week’s Spectator magazine. How will the EU react to the news? And could this spark a trade war with the EU? Moving onto the cost
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Boris Johnson is in Belfast today in an attempt to repair relations between the DUP and Sinn Fein. In a 2000 word article for Belfast Telegraph, the Prime Minister laid out his intentions not to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol, but instead to fix it. Can these two polarised parties find a middle ground? Also on
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson is running out of time to produce things the Tories can show the voters at the next election. The theme of his Queen’s Speech – if there was one – was an attempt to fix that. That next election campaign was countered by Keir Starmer in the chamber this afternoon. The main focus was on the
From our UK edition
11 min listen
As pressures mount over claims that Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules, the Labour leader has just pulled out of a keynote speech he is due to give today. How much trouble is he really in? Katy Balls looks at Starmer’s future in a blog on Coffee House today. Also on the podcast, what will be
