Katy Balls

Finally some good news for Theresa May. After a tawdry few weeks in which Conservative MPs have taken to Twitter, newspapers and the airwaves to criticise the Prime Minister, May’s premiership looks on shaky ground. Reports on the number of letters calling for a confidence vote in May are said to be getting perilously close

How much trouble is Theresa May in? Just three weeks ago, it looked as though the Prime Minister was at her strongest point since the disastrous snap election. Now, the BBC 10 o’clock news is leading on questions about her survival – with reports of irrepairable drift, Brexit rifts. The Sunday papers are filled with a

A row is underway in the Conservative party over the Brexit transition period. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the all-powerful European Research Group (the Brexit wing of the Tory party), has said he would rather extend Article 50 than have a transition period in which the UK is a rule-taker from the EU. Despite this,

Brexit doom-mongers step aside. After weeks of speculation, the relationship that exists between Britain and the US has just been upgraded from ‘special’ to ‘very special’. Speaking at a joint press conference, Theresa May and Donald Trump were at pains to prove they had not fallen out –as recent reports had suggested following Trump’s decision

During the government’s crunch negotiations with Brussels to get ‘sufficient progress’ before Christmas, nervous Brexiteers began to worry that Theresa May was about to give too much away. Jacob Rees-Mogg used a question at PMQs to warn the Prime Minister that her Brexit red lines were ‘beginning to look a little bit pink’. He urged

The UK government has today announced plans to establish a new unit to counter ‘fake news’. This will serve as a ‘dedicated national security communications unit’ which aims to combat ‘disinformation by state actors and others’. Announcing the move, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘we are living in an era of fake news and competing

It’s the end of the week and it’s hard to say what the government has actually achieved. Whether it’s deciding not to launch a judicial inquiry in the John Worboys case or not to tackle the growing pressures on the NHS, the government appears to be in a state of drift. Unfortunately for Theresa May

Last night the EU withdrawal bill cleared the House of Commons after MPs approved the bill, which transposes EU law into UK law, by 324 to 295.  With Labour’s Brexit position as confusing as ever (just watch Jeremy Corbyn’s Peston interview on the/a customs union), readers will be interested to know that the party opposed the bill’s third

Although Jacob Rees-Mogg missed out on a promotion in last week’s reshuffle, the Moggster has at least got a new string to add to his bow. The Conservative backbencher has been appointed chairman of the all-powerful ‘European Research Group’ – replacing Suella Fernandes. The group has been described by the Times as the ‘most powerful opposition

The election of three Momentum candidates – including key Corbyn ally Jon Lansman – on Monday to Labour’s national executive committee was reluctantly accepted by moderates for want of a better option. Several Labour MPs anonymously complained to the press that they would go independent should the party try to bring in trigger ballots –

After Theresa May’s underwhelming and chaotic Cabinet reshuffle on Monday and Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn has followed suit and carried out a minor reshuffle of his front bench. With loyal Corbynista Chris Williamson resigning from the shadow cabinet on Thursday following his call to double council tax for large properties, there was speculation that the Leader’s

Ben Bradley had an inkling that his first week back at work wasn’t going to be an ordinary one when he received a text at 7am on Monday. The MP for Mansfield was summoned to 10 Downing Street for 11.30am with no explanation as to why. Given that this was the day Theresa May was

With Theresa May’s reshuffle now complete, a consensus is forming that it’s been a rather underwhelming rearranging of the deck chairs. All the big beasts remain in place and some junior ministers appear to have been moved from their briefs just for the sake of moving them. Matters weren’t helped by a shambolic roll out

On Monday morning, Theresa May’s reshuffle looked as though it was shaping up to be the day of the blunt knives. Some clumsy social media use saw CCHQ falsely crown Chris Grayling as the new Conservative Party Chairman – before it was announced as Brandon Lewis. Since then, things have slowed down considerably. As the

Theresa May is expected to reshuffle her Cabinet early next week. Unfortunately for Theresa May, she’s been expected to do this since before Christmas – after she refrained from appointing a new First Secretary of State in light of Damian Green’s forced resignation/sacking. This means the reshuffle has dominated the news agenda for several weeks

We’re four days into 2018 and Tony Blair has kindly graced the nation with his first Brexit intervention of the new year. Proving old habits die hard, the former Prime Minister has written a blog criticising the government’s handling of Brexit. Blair claims Theresa May is on course to negotiate a deal that is the

Although the Boxing Day hunt is one of the biggest events of the year for the hunting community, it’s safe to presume that the Christmas cheer at yesterday’s hunt was dampened by reports the Prime Minister is expected to abandon all plans for a free vote to overturn the fox hunting ban. After having to bin the manifesto