Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Sunday

Katy Balls

Coffee House Shots live: election aftermath

59 min listen

Join Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews, along with special guest Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, for a live edition of Coffee House Shots recorded earlier this week. A week on from Sir Jacob losing his seat, he declares 'I can speak freely now'. So, why does he think the Conservatives lost the election? The team also answer a range of audience questions, including: how will the Conservatives win voters back? Is Nigel Farage here to stay? And what's their verdict on Labour's first week? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Welcome to Whitehall Watch

14 min listen

What happens to staff in Whitehall when a government changes? In this Saturday edition of the podcast, Katy Balls is joined by Henry Newman, former adviser to Michael Gove. He now runs Whitehall Watch, a project exploring who’s up, who’s out, who’s in and what’s going down across Whitehall, the corridors of power and the Civil Service.

Friday

Katy Balls

Can Labour solve our prisons crisis?

16 min listen

Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has acknowledged that ‘our prisons are on the point of collapse’. She has announced that, from September, most prisoners serving sentences of less than four years will be released 40 per cent of the way through their sentences instead of the halfway point, which is currently the case. The policy will ease pressure on prisons, but the question remains; could this backfire? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Professor Ian Acheson, former prison governor and former Director of Community Safety at the Home Office. You can listen to Shabana Mahmood on Women With Balls here.

Katy Balls

Starmer’s most radical prisons shake-up is still to come

When Keir Starmer gave his first Downing Street press conference last weekend, he warned that ‘tough decisions’ were coming shortly. The first of these is expected later today. The new Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce plans to ease prison overcrowding in England and Wales. That plan is expected to involve prisoners being released early, including some convicted of violent offences. The proposal is that some inmates on fixed sentences will be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentences, rather than the usual 50 per cent. However, there will be some exemptions – with certain crimes meaning that inmates are not eligible for early release. The backdrop to this is the number of prison places currently available: around 700.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Keir’s reformation: Labour’s radical plans

50 min listen

This week: Keir’s reformation. A week on from Labour’s victory in the UK general election, our cover piece looks ahead to the urgent issues facing Keir Starmer. If he acts fast, he can take advantage of having both a large majority and a unified party. The NHS, prisons, planning… the list goes on. But what challenges could he face and how should he manage his party? The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls joins the podcast, alongside Lord Falconer, Labour peer and former cabinet minister under Tony Blair (2:53). Next: have smartphones revolutionised home working for women? Our very own Lara Prendergast writes in the magazine this week about the eclectic ways women are taking advantage of digital technology to make a living at home. What’s driving this trend?

Katy Balls

Starmer must move fast without losing his head

When Keir Starmer’s Labour party gathered on Monday to celebrate their election victory, the difficulty was finding a big enough venue. There were so many MPs that aides had to abandon Labour’s usual meeting room on parliament’s committee corridor, and instead head for Church House, where Tony Blair met his party after the 1997 landslide. Cabinet ministers joked that their biggest problem in government would be learning their colleagues’ names. Later in Strangers’ Bar, the queue for a drink went six rows back. ‘It’s freshers’ week,’ said one newbie. Yet some in the party still felt a sense of unease. ‘This majority is a mile wide and an inch deep,’ said one new MP. ‘Lots of these wins are very slight.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Who will lead the Tories in opposition?

13 min listen

It's been a big 24 hours in Tory-world as the party tries to pick itself up after last week's defeat. We have had the first shadow cabinet meeting and the 1922 committee chairman election. Where do they go from here? And who could lead them?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Monday

Katy Balls

Can Labour deliver economic growth?

13 min listen

This morning, Rachel Reeves made her first speech as chancellor. She announced mandatory housing targets, promising 1.5 million homes over the next five years, as well as an end to the onshore wind ban. What else does she have in store, and can Labour deliver the growth the country needs? James Heale discusses with Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

Katy Balls

Why MPs are braced for an ‘extremely turbulent few years’

Four days on from Keir Starmer’s landslide victory, Westminster is still soaking up the results of the general election. With the Labour leader safely ensconced in 10 Downing Street with a working majority of 181, the Tories are licking their wounds following their worst-ever defeat. The Conservatives' greatest comfort is that they have managed to remain the official opposition – but research from Focaldata on the pattern of voting sets out the challenge ahead: namely, that the Tories lost ‘a huge amount of their middle-aged voters’. The survey of more than 52,000 respondents finds that Tory voters under 40 tended to switch to Labour whereas those over 40 plumped for Nigel Farage’s Reform party.

Saturday

Katy Balls

What ‘tough decisions’ does Starmer have in mind?

How long will Keir Starmer’s honeymoon last? The Prime Minister is basking in election glory after leading his party to a landslide victory. This morning, he chaired his first cabinet – after appointing his team on Friday afternoon. Starmer used the first meeting to tell his new ministers what he expected from them, making clear that he expects high standards in terms of delivery and behaviour. He also repeated past comments that his will be a mission-led government – with mission delivery boards that he will personally chair.

Katy Balls

The surprises in Starmer’s cabinet

15 min listen

In his first 24 hours as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer has appointed his cabinet and held a cabinet meeting. Most of his frontbench have carried over their shadow briefs, but there were a few surprise appointments too. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Times columnist Patrick Maguire. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Friday

Katy Balls

What Keir Starmer’s first Downing Street speech reveals

Keir Starmer has given his first speech as prime minister. Labour’s seventh leader to make it to 10 Downing Street walked up the pavement to his new home to cheers from supporters and campaigners gathered on the street. He and his wife Victoria made an effort to stop, thank and hug their friends and family on the way up. Given Starmer has won a majority close to Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide, he could be forgiven for striking a slightly triumphalist tone. Instead, Starmer treaded carefully. He said: ‘With respect and humility I invite you all to join this government of service... our work is urgent and we begin it today.

Katy Balls

Labour wins by a landslide

15 min listen

Where to start with an historic election night. Keir Starmer has got his 1997 moment, winning an enormous majority. Elsewhere, eleven cabinet ministers have lost their seats, including: Grant Shapps, Gillian Keegan and Penny Mordaunt. Former prime minister Liz Truss has lost her seat, as have senior Tories Jacob Rees-Mogg and Miriam Cates. The Lib Dems have made massive gains, the SNP were decimated in Scotland and Nigel Farage is the MP for Clacton.  But it's not a clean sweep for Labour. Two Labour frontbenchers have lost their seats and Starmer will enter government on a vote share of 35 per cent, the lowest of any postwar governing party. Will this hinder him in government? And is this landslide down to the Farage effect?

Katy Balls

The Sophie Winkleman Edition

29 min listen

Actress Sophie Winkleman was born in London, educated at Cambridge, and has appeared in television and film roles across both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps best known for her roles as Big Suze in Peep Show and Zoey in Two and a Half Men, she is now patron to several children's charities.  On the episode, Katy Balls talks to Sophie about how she got into acting, whether she has ever dated a Jez or a Mark, and why she believes in the comfort of strangers. Sophie also talks about her campaign to reduce smart phone use and technology exposure for children, which you can read more about here.

Katy Balls

The Tory blame game begins

As Labour declares victory in the general election, Rishi Sunak is on course to preside over the Tories’ worst ever general election result. As the results pour in, the Conservative losses are piling up with Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Chief Whip Simon Hart among the senior members of Sunak’s team to lose their seat. Sunak and Jeremy Hunt may have clung on but the Tory party is losing all over the place – from the north-east and Wales to Surrey and Oxfordshire. The recriminations are well under way On current results, it looks as though Labour has won around 36 per cent of the vote but will have a majority of around 170. Meanwhile, the Tories have won around 22 per cent of the vote – with Reform not far behind on 17 per cent.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Exit poll predicts Labour landslide

12 min listen

The polls have closed and the exit poll is in. The BBC exit poll projects that Labour will win a landslide of 410 MPs and the Conservatives will be left with 131 seats. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats will win 61 seats, the SNP ten seats and Reform 13 seats. This would mean a Labour majority of 170 – and would be the Tories’ worst ever result. Megan McElroy speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

Katy Balls

Labour majority of 170, says exit poll

The polls have closed and the exit poll is in. The BBC exit poll projects that Labour will win a landslide of 410 MPs and the Conservatives will be left with 131 seats. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats will win 61 seats, the SNP ten seats and Reform 13 seats. This would mean a Labour majority of 170 – and would be the Tories’ worst ever result. If this comes to pass, this will be Labour’s largest number of seats, but a slightly smaller majority than the Tony Blair landslide of 179. This seems to be down to the the level of success that Ed Davey’s party has enjoyed (if the poll is right). If correct, the Liberal Democrats have succeeded in conquering the once true blue stronghold of Surrey. However, Labour figures will be nothing short of delighted with this result.

Katy Balls

‘I have to forge my own path’: Rachel Reeves on her plans for the economy

Outside a café on the outskirts of Reading, Rachel Reeves is listening to the concerns of small-business owners. ‘Something that has affected us over the past couple of years is our relationship with Europe,’ says an attendee to nods from the others. ‘We end up not trading because it’s not worth it.’ Reeves sticks to the script that there will be no rejoining the EU (‘We’re not going to go back in, that ship has sailed’) but says that relations can be improved. The shadow chancellor is here to support the Labour candidate Yuan Yang, a former FT journalist. It’s one of the final stops on her campaign tour of the UK, which has ranged from Doncaster and Morecambe to Reading and Chipping Norton.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Last YouGov election poll points to Tory wipeout

The final polls are rolling in ahead of voters going to the polls tomorrow. On Tuesday night, Survation published its last MRP poll of the campaign, suggesting the Tories could be left with a mere 64 Tory MPs – and Labour on 484. So, perhaps by comparison tonight’s YouGov poll will make for plesant reading in Conservative Campaign Headquarters. It has the Tories on their worst ever result – but still triple figures – with 102 MPs. Meanwhile, Labour win 431 seats, the Lib Dems a record 72 and Reform three seats, including Nigel Farage’s seat of Clacton. Taken together, Labour would win a majority of 212 – the biggest for any political party since 1832. Meanwhile, the Tories would suffer their worst ever election result. Who would go?

Katy Balls

Will there be an election upset on Thursday?

12 min listen

Tomorrow, voters will head to the polling booth to cast their vote in the 2024 general election. Will there be any surprises in store? So far, there has been little movement when it comes to the gap in vote share between Labour and the Tories. However, there's still plenty of uncertainty across the parties as to what the exit poll will say at 10 p.m. on Thursday night. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and James Kanagasooriam, chief research officer at Focaldata.