James Heale

Sir Keir Starmer is now the Black Knight of British politics. Like the mutilated pugilist of Monty Python, he stumbles around the Westminster battlefield, blustering and boasting while desperately trying not to totter over. Starmer and his team have spent most of the day trying to defend their decision to hand a peerage to Matthew Doyle,

Keir Starmer has this morning lost a second key aide in less than 24 hours. Tim Allan, No. 10’s communications director, has quit his post after barely five months in the role. In a short statement, Allan said: ‘I have decided to stand down to allow a new No. 10 team to be built. I

It is not just in Washington that the Epstein files continue to dominate. In Westminster, the political reverberations of the Department of Justice’s investigation are threatening to bring down the British government. At the center of the drama is Peter Mandelson: a former Tony Blair aide who served, until recently, as Our Man in DC.

There is a sulphurous mood in the House of Commons today. Peter Mandelson hangs over Westminster, amid ongoing revelations about his contact with Jeffrey Epstein. At PMQs, Kemi Badenoch gave another impressive performance. She forced Keir Starmer to admit that he knew at the time of Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador that he had remained

Keir Starmer has this morning arrived in Shanghai after two days in Beijing. He is expected to spend much of today talking up the ‘wins’ he has secured from his China trip. Yet it is striking how much of the briefing from ministers is around future deals to come, rather than actual deals secured to

After three defections in ten days, what exactly can Kemi Badenoch do to get back on the front foot? This morning, we got our answer. The Tory leader sought to use her big press conference to laugh off the loss of Messers Jenrick, Rosindell and Braverman, in a 20-minute speech which blended levity with gravity.

Another one bites the dust. Suella Braverman this morning was unveiled as the latest defector to Reform UK. The former home secretary told 600 attendees at the launch of ‘Veterans for Reform’ that she finally felt she had ‘come home’ by switching parties. Beaming on stage, she declared passionately that, ‘I believe with my heart

Andy Burnham has been blocked from standing in the Gorton and Denton by-election. The vote this morning by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) was not even close, with the ten-man panel voting eight to one against allowing him to stand. Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, was the only to vote for him; Shabana Mahmood,

Andy Burnham has tonight confirmed that he wants to be a candidate in the forthcoming Gorton and Denton byelection. The Greater Manchester mayor submitted an application before the 5pm deadline. Ten officers on Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) will tell Burnham by tomorrow what decision they reach. ‘The Gorton and Denton by-election looks to

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has tonight been forced to stall the Bill which would hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius. The legislation enabling the deal was expected to be debated in the House of Lords on Monday. But this evening, it was revealed that the votes have been delayed amid parliamentary ping-pong and

To committee room 14, where many of the remaining 117 Tory MPs crammed in tonight to hear from their leader. Kemi Badenoch was welcomed with 25 seconds of prolonged banging from her colleagues, after a week in which, first Robert Jenrick, and then Andrew Rosindell chose to defect to Reform. Having addressed both the right-wing

There used to be a sign up in No. 10 which quoted Gilbert and Sullivan. ‘Quiet calm deliberation disentangles every knot,’ read the plaque, installed by Harold Macmillan. It is advice that Keir Starmer has taken to heart, as Donald Trump seemingly tries to tie Nato in as many twists and bows as possible. The

Reform UK has gained its seventh MP after Andrew Rosindell switched sides on Sunday night. The longtime Member for Romford was unveiled after a rapid series of talks earlier today. In a statement Nigel Farage said that ‘Andrew is a great patriot. The Tories’ lies and hypocrisy over the Chagos Islands betrayal has tipped him

Robert Jenrick has rounded off an extraordinary day on the British right by formally joining Reform. Sacked by Kemi Badenoch at 11 a.m., he was in Milbank Tower announcing his defection at 4:30 p.m. A grinning Nigel Farage gave him a brief introduction – only for there to be an awkward 30-second pause before Jenrick

It used to be said that Keir Starmer had a magic lamp, such was his fortune in opposition. If this genie did exist, it has long since crossed the floor. The U-turn on digital ID last night gave Kemi Badenoch yet another stick with which to beat Starmer at today’s session of PMQs. The Tory

The Sopranos is not an obvious starting point when discussing the Liberal Democrats. But a TV programme about mafia, murder and manicotti offers a useful analogy for comparing Ed Davey’s strategy to that of Reform UK. David Chase, the Sopranos creator, recalls once meeting a TV exec who wanted LOP – ‘Least Offensive Programming’, the idea