James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
From our UK edition
This week: James Heale on Farage's plan to win the left-wing vote, Geoffrey Cain on Trump's visit to China, Rachel Johnson has lost her luggage and Melissa Kite wonders why the French love Cork.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
On today’s Saturday shots, James Heale is joined by former Conservative MP Steve Baker to discuss the fallout from Wes Streeting’s resignation and the ‘orgy of chaos’ that has ensued. Steve takes James inside the dark arts of a Westminster coup: why numbers matter, why you should pay attention to individual grievances, the importance of discipline – and why Labour’s rebels may already be getting it wrong. As Andy Burnham plots his return, do the people of Makerfield really want to be caught up in a by-election that will not be about local issues? And is Burnham as good as he thinks he is? Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
17 min listen
After days of deliberation, Wes Streeting has finally quit Keir Starmer’s government. At the stroke of 1 p.m., the Ilford MP resigned as Health Secretary in a two-page letter that laid out his differences with the Prime Minister. He details, at length, the results the pair have achieved in government and says they offer ‘good reasons for me to remain in post’. But: ‘As you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so.’ So there we go – the starting gun has been fired on the Labour leadership race... or has it? Noa Hoffman, James Heale and Tim Shipman discuss how this carefully worded resignation leaves the door open for Andy Burnham.
After days of deliberation, Wes Streeting has finally quit Keir Starmer’s government. At the stroke of 1 p.m., the Ilford MP resigned as Health Secretary in a two-page letter that laid out his differences with the Prime Minister. He details, at length, the results the pair have achieved in government and says they offer ‘good reasons for me to remain in post’. But: As you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so. It is the opening salvo of a merciless script that goes for Starmer’s jugular. Streeting pins blame for the 'unprecedented' results of last week, which pose 'an existential threat to the future integrity' of the UK on Starmer himself.
From our UK edition
16 min listen
Wes Streeting is/was expected to make his move today for the Labour leadership – but does he have the numbers? There was some frantic briefing last night, with competing claims about who has the required number of MPs and who might be prepared to give up their seat to Andy Burnham. It almost takes us back to the days of Tory infighting. But the big news this morning is that Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC. In an incredibly well-timed judgment, there is now nothing standing in her way from making her own bid for the top job. So where are we on Thursday morning? What should we expect from the next 48 hours? James Heale speaks to Tim Shipman and James Lyons, former director of strategic communications in Number 10. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
The loudest man in politics knows when to keep his silence. Nigel Farage held his tongue on Monday as Keir Starmer’s premiership floundered. Aside from a few PFLs – proper f***ing lunches – to celebrate the local election results, the Reform UK leader was already looking to the next challenge. Like a shark, Farage keeps moving forward, into new waters, hungry for more. One ally sums up his approach to politics in a single word: ‘Momentum’. For the past few months, Farage has had one goal: destroying the Tories. The figure ‘1,453’ was the total of gains proudly pumped out on Reform’s Instagram. For Farage, 7 May was the political equivalent of the fall of Constantinople – the point when the Conservatives ceased to be a national party.
From our UK edition
This King’s Speech will live long in the memory: not for its contents, but for its context. The long-planned state opening of Parliament today was intended to be a fireguard for the Prime Minister after the battering of last week’s local elections. Yet even constitutional screens can only do so much in the face of a forest fire engulfing No. 10. With nearly 100 Labour MPs demanding Keir Starmer resign, today’s events have been overshadowed by the machinations of Wes Streeting. Ahead of the speech, the Health Secretary met Starmer for a 15-minute meeting chat, with confirmation breaking during the speech that he intends to resign tomorrow. That very much set the tone for today’s proceedings.
From our UK edition
13 min listen
The Prime Minister is digging his heels in. Keir Starmer has told his cabinet that he is not going anywhere, despite a growing list of MPs calling for him to go. At 9.30 a.m., Starmer was greeted by his senior ministers, many of whom now believe the game is up. So is this his ‘put up or shut up’ moment? Will anyone move today – and if they do, what happens next? Tim Shipman and James Heale join Noa Hoffman to assess Starmer’s fight for survival, the mood inside Labour, and where we go from here.
This morning’s cabinet meeting was one for the ages. At 9.30 a.m. Keir Starmer was greeted by his senior ministers, almost all of whom think the game is up. Ahead of entering Downing Street today, they will have seen the list of 80 Labour MPs – the magic number needed for a ballot – calling for him to go. Last night, we had junior aides jumping ship; this morning we have the first minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh. She has quit the government and called on Starmer to ‘do the right thing’. When you have David Lammy, Yvette Cooper, John Healey and Shabana Mahmood all telling Downing Street that it is over, you know that the Prime Minister has lost the dressing room.
Things are moving very fast in Westminster this evening. More than 60 Labour MPs are publicly calling on the Prime Minister to announce a date for his departure. The stream of these calls has ebbed and flowed in recent days – but the profile of the MPs has strikingly changed. On Friday night, it was the soft left out for Keir Starmer’s head; this evening it is the Labour right. Junior aides are now quitting the government, and resigning from their positions as parliamentary private secretaries (PPS). Three did so in quick succession this evening: Joe Morris, Sally Jameson and Tom Rutland, the respective PPSs for Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Emma Reynolds. It is, in the words of one MP, ‘all one-way traffic, heading to the exit.
From our UK edition
23 min listen
Keir Starmer has given what was billed as a make-or-break having spent the weekend under fire from his own party. He tried to strike a more urgent tone, promising bigger arguments, closer ties with Europe (which is basically already happening) and action on British Steel (subject to consultation). But with Labour still haemorrhaging votes on all sides, is this enough to steady his leadership – or has the party already begun to look beyond him? Tim Shipman and James Heale discuss Starmer’s speech, the Labour figures waiting in the wings – from Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner to Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband – and what Reform, the Tory party, the Lib Dems, the SNP and the Green party do next after a dramatic set of local elections. Produced by Megan McElroy.
From our UK edition
By inclination, tradition and design, the Labour Party is much less prone to toppling leaders than their Conservative counterparts. There is no equivalent to the 1922, Sir Graham Brady’s grin and the usual excited talk of ‘letters going in’. Perhaps an equivalent shorthand must now been coined for the process which is going on in the government ranks. The steady drip-drip-drip of MPs calling for Keir Starmer to quit has continued unabated for the past 48 hours. Now we are up to 36 names, with the latest perhaps being the most intriguing of all. ‘A sudden rush for a contest, encouraged by the soft left, could, inadvertently, end up putting the Blairite crown prince into No. 10.
From our UK edition
In the aftermath of Thursday’s shellacking, a steady stream of Labour MPs have been coming out and calling on Keir Starmer to quit. Their tone has varied: some are much more coded than others. On Cofffee House, we have a rolling list that now stands at more than 30. A key tell is those arguing for ‘an orderly transition' – the subtext for which is ‘enough time until Andy Burnham can get into parliament’. The Mayor of Great Manchester would need months, not weeks, to fight and win a by-election that would allow him to return to parliament and thus claim the leadership. The precarious route by which that would happen has been enough to sew doubts in the minds of much of the Parliamentary Labour party (PLP).
From our UK edition
11 min listen
As the full picture of the local elections emerges, Labour faces a dilemma: stick with Keir Starmer, or put forward an alternative. Calls for Starmer to resign have intensified, and we are braced for MPs to stick their heads above the parapet this weekend. The message from the Prime Minister is that he ‘will not go’ and will not set out a path for his resignation either. So where does Labour go from here? Lord Glasman joins Tim and James to discuss the battle for the soul of the Labour party. Should they return to their traditions, or continue to ‘limp along in a state of paralysis’?
From our UK edition
After a century of hegemony, Welsh Labour is set for an historic wipe out tonight. Results for the 96-man Senedd are still coming in but all signs point to the natural party of Welsh government being consigned to a distant third place. Both Plaid Cymru and Reform have been effective in recent weeks in squeezing the Labour vote by framing the Welsh elections as a two-horse race. Much as we saw in the Caerphilly by-election, it looks like Labour has been squeezed out of the contest. That means a very bad evening looms for Eluned Morgan, first minister since 2024. She has lost in Ceredigion Penfro and thus become the first sitting head of government in the United Kingdom in modern times to lose her seat.
From our UK edition
10 min listen
This is your evening local elections update delivered by James Heale, Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman – all in just 10 minutes. As results come in across the country, they take each party in turn. Have the Greens done as well as we all thought they would? Is this proof that Reform have not reached their peak? Can Labour recover from this total drubbing? And should the Tories be – quietly – pleased with themselves?
From our UK edition
Results are pouring in from across the country, in what Nigel Farage is calling ‘the British midterms’. Swathes of council seats across England have turned teal, from Newcastle-under-Lyme to Essex. Both the Liberal Democrats and Greens have made modest gains, with few rays of light outside the capital for the Conservatives. Yet the main action is still to come with results expected later today for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. Reform UK is expected to make the biggest gains in both while Plaid Cymru and the SNP are confident of taking the respective First Ministerships in Cardiff and Edinburgh. Discussing all of this on SpectatorTV are Tim Shipman, Noa Hoffman and special guests Lord Glasman, pollsters Scarlett Maguire and Luke Tryl plus STV star Lucy Dunn.
From our UK edition
There are numerous election stories playing out today. But one that unites both Labour and the Conservatives is the disappearance of their supposed heartlands. Across the north of England, long-held Labour seats are going teal – a trend we can expect to see repeated in the south of Wales later today. The Tories, meanwhile, have had some patches of success in areas of London – but are getting absolutely hammered on the fringes in Havering and in Essex. During the election campaign, Nigel Farage was keen to talk up the importance of Essex. It was the only area he visited twice on the campaign trail: an indication that he saw it as ground zero in the battle to destroy the Conservatives.
From our UK edition
33 min listen
It’s results day, and Nigel Farage is the local elections winner – again. A wave of teal has swept the country, stealing Labour seats from Hartlepool to Havering. This election was sold by insurgent parties as a referendum on Keir Starmer and the story of Labour’s election so far is that they’re haemorrhaging votes on all sides – including to the Tories in Westminster. So what can we interpret so far? Will Starmer get the message and will the herd move against him? Michael Gove speaks to Tim Shipman, James Heale and Charlotte Pickles, chief executive of thinktank Re:State, at this morning’s Coffee House Shots breakfast briefing.
From our UK edition
'Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones.' Disraeli's words from 1845 are relevant today when considering the tale of election night 2026. For London has voted very differently to the rest of England, with Reform keen to distinguish between results which include the capital and those that exclude it. A teal tide has swept the country, but much of London remains resistant: a reflection of demographics, social factors and established voting patterns. That is good news for Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives, who have long signalled that London would be where they were focusing much of their efforts in this election campaign.