James Heale

There is still a fortnight to go until parliament returns – but one Tory contender clearly cannot wait to get back to Westminster. Tom Tugendhat this afternoon gave a speech on a theme and at a venue which suited him perfectly: an address at the RUSI military think tank on security. This speech was billed by Tugendhat's supporters as a chance to show that he is a serious thinker. Yet while there was little here that was truly original, much of it will have had the Tory grassroots nodding along in agreement. 'We need to end the culture of denial', he declared, 'the tendency to move hurriedly on from acts of extreme violence, to obfuscate about the identities and motives of the perpetrators.

When you ask Tory MPs about Richard Fuller, you're likely to get one of two replies. 'Nice guy' from those who know him; 'Who?' from those that don't. It tells you why Rishi Sunak chose him to be Tory chairman, as the party dusts itself off from its electoral drubbing. Fuller, along with Bob Blackman of the 1922, will guide the party through the next three months, as the Conservatives begin the long task of choosing a new leader and rebuilding from the financial ruin of this election. Fuller was chosen for the role after the resignation of his predecessor Richard Holden. Other than a name, the two have little in common: born in the Southern Midlands, Fuller is now in his early 60s and has never been widely identified with one leadership contender's particular camp.

In a month full of parliamentary firsts, we now have another: the formation of the first new Labour caucus. More than 60 MPs have co-signed a letter, as part of the 'Labour Growth Group,' enthusiastically declaring their support for planning reform. 'With such a strong mandate from the country,' they write 'it's imperative that the new government grasps the nettle and goes for growth.' It urges the government to start building the 1.5 million new homes which Labour pledged in its manifesto, including 'prioritising grey belt development.' Very often, MPs claim to back new homes yet object to anything in their own patch. But these co-signatories say that they are willing to have the 'difficult conversations in our own communities about how, not whether we deliver our targets.

Priti Patel has tonight entered the race to be the next Tory leader. The former home secretary sets out her pitch in the Daily Telegraph on why she is best placed to succeed Rishi Sunak. It is framed by the newspaper as being an appeal to the party’s grassroots, with Patel suggesting that she would give party members ‘a much greater voice’ in formulating policies. She writes that the ‘heroic grassroots of the party did ‘nothing wrong’ in this month’s election campaign but were let down by MPs who ‘fell out and fell short.’ Patel becomes the fifth candidate to say she is standing following James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick and Mel Stride.

In the end, the great two-child benefit cap revolt proved to be somewhat underwhelming. The measure was always likely to fail given Labour's mammoth majority of 172, with the government winning the vote by 363 votes to 103. Only seven of Keir Starmer's MPs defied the entreaties of the Labour whips to vote in favour of the SNP's amendment to the King's Speech to scrap the policy. Their names are a handy 'who's who' guide to the Labour left awkward squad: Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long Bailey, Zarah Sultana and ring-leader John McDonnell. All seven have tonight had the whip suspended for six months, before it is then reviewed.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Republican National Committee could not have hoped for a better convention. For three days, the party has exhibited a near-faultless display of unity. It is the first convention in 20 years where polls suggest the Republicans are on course to win the White House, producing an air of expectation and excitement. Activists are enthused and candidates are bullish, all the while Democrats tear themselves apart over Joe Biden's fading re-elections hopes. Less than a week after the assassination attempt which almost took his life, the stage could not have been set for Donald Trump to make his first speech to the Republican faithful.

After all the speculation, it’s now official: JD Vance will be Donald Trump’s running mate in November. The subject has been the obsession of delegates here in Milwaukee on day one of the Republican National Convention. In typical Apprentice style, Trump has allowed speculation to build for weeks, as the media picked over various candidates, before picking his favourite as it reached a climax.  As one of two Senators from Ohio, Vance will be entrusted to carry the swing state’s crucial 17 electoral college votes in four months’ time. He will have been picked for his potential appeal to working-class voters in the critical battleground states of the wider Midwest.