Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Monday

Katy Balls

Can Rishi Sunak reduce the Tories’ losses?

Every morning in Conservative Campaign Headquarters, Tory aides kickstart the day by blasting out Elvis Presley’s ‘a little less conversation’ on the speakers. The song – which includes the lyrics ‘A little more bite and a little less bark / A little less fight and a little more spark’ – has quickly become the anthem of the Tory campaign. ‘I know the lyrics off by heart,’ says one sleep deprived staffer. Yet more than halfway into the election, there is little sign that the campaign is cutting through in the way strategists had hoped. The most optimistic one aide working on the campaign can be is 'it has to get better in the next three weeks as it can't bet much worse'.

Saturday

Katy Balls

What could Starmer’s first year in power look like?

19 min listen

Picture the scene: it's July 5th and a triumphant Keir Starmer arrives at Downing Street after achieving a supermajority and the Tories have only narrowly prevented the Lib Dems becoming official party of opposition. Whilst this may sound far fetched, it is the likely result when you take an average of the last week's polls. What would those first 100 days of Labour look like? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and John McTernan, former political secretary to Tony Blair.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson. The Spectator will be hosting a special Live edition of Coffee House Shots in the aftermath of the election.

Friday

Katy Balls

Who is the real opposition to Labour?

14 min listen

Nigel Farage tried to claim at the start of Thursday’s TV debate that Reform was the real threat to Keir Starmer, given it has just passed the Conservatives in the polls (more on that here). Are they the new party of opposition? And what sort of tactics will the Tories use to try and claw back voters they are haemorrhaging to Reform?  Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and Chris Hopkins, director of Savanta.

Katy Balls

The Harriet Harman Edition

30 min listen

The most recent 'mother of the house', Harriet Harman has been an MP for 42 years. She has served in a number of cabinet positions, under six Labour leaders, both during government and opposition. She was also deputy leader of the Labour Party for 8 years. In some ways, her story is emblematic of how women's roles in society have changed: challenging familial stereotypes, dealing with sexual harassment, and as a trailblazing politician. On this episode, Katy Balls talks to Harriet about the influence of her family, why she got into politics, and why Labour hasn't had a female leader yet. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Reform overtakes Tories in new poll

Here we go. This evening the Reform party has overtaken the Tories according to a new YouGov poll. The survey for the Times found that support for Nigel Farage’s party has increased by two points in the past few days to 19 per cent, with the Tories one point behind on 18 per cent. The fieldwork took place after Conservative party released its manifesto on Tuesday – therefore suggesting that the launch failed to improve Tory fortunes. The poll puts Labour on 37 per cent, meaning Keir Starmer is on course for a super majority. So, what will this poll mean for Tory morale? As I wrote in Sunday’s Election Insider email, many Conservative candidates have seen it as a matter of when not if Reform overtook their party after Farage announced his return to frontline politics.

Katy Balls

What wasn’t included in Labour’s manifesto

13 min listen

Keir Starmer launched Labour's manifesto today, but how much did we actually learn about their plans for government? And with no rabbits pulled out of the proverbial hat, how do they plan to achieve growth? Kate Andrews and Starmer's biographer Tom Baldwin joined Katy Balls to discuss. Tom also provided some insight into Angela Rayner's election bus, including a surprising admission about a lettuce...  Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Katy Balls

‘Change’: Starmer unveils manifesto

What would Labour do in power? This is the question Sir Keir Starmer tried to answer this morning as he appeared in Manchester for the launch of his party’s manifesto. Given Labour is currently over 20 points ahead in the polls and on course for a super-majority, this 136-page document (with no less than 33 photos of Starmer) is by far the most important of the manifestos to be published this week. Ahead of Starmer's entrance, a song by Dua Lipa (the pop star is a Labour supporter) played in the background while a string of speakers, from Iceland boss Richard Walker to Nathaniel Dye, who has terminal cancer and blames NHS waiting lists for his illness escalating unnoticed, talked of the need for a Labour government.

Katy Balls

The return of Douglas Alexander

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in Gullane, an affluent seaside town on the Firth of Forth. For political campaigners, golden hour is the perfect time to speak to middle-class locals working from home at the end of the week. A huddle of Labour campaigners go door to door, ticking off names on a clipboard and shouting numbers to one another. ‘Eight,’ says one canvasser, smiling. She’s reporting back an undecided voter’s answer to the question ‘From one to ten, how likely are you to vote Labour on July 4?’ ‘We are getting a lot of“I have always voted SNP but am now voting for you”’ The candidate is Douglas Alexander, a former cabinet minister and one of several veterans of the last Labour government who hopes to return to frontline politics next month.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Why are Tories talking about a Labour Super Majority?

12 min listen

Grant Shapps has been speaking to media this morning and warning that a Labour landslide would be 'very bad news' for the country. Is the acknowledgement that Labour could seriously damage the Tories a slip of the tongue, or a new strategy for the Tories? Elsewhere, the interview that Rishi Sunak left D Day commemorations for is airing tonight. In a controversial moment, when asked what he had to go without as a child, he says Sky TV...  Megan McElroy speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Join the Coffee House Shots team for a live recording on Thursday 11 July. Get tickets at spectator.co.uk/live.

Katy Balls

The Tories are going public with their ‘Dunkirk strategy’

The Tories managed to avoid any major own goals or gaffes during the launch of their manifesto. Given some of the problems over the last few weeks on the Tory campaign that is a cause of relief for Rishi Sunak’s team. As for the contents of the manifesto – which pledged £17 billion of tax cuts – Labour have chosen to attack it as fiscally irresponsible while Tory candidates on the right complain it has not gone far enough in giving their base a reason to go out and vote. The Tory party has started running adverts suggesting it could be reduced to 57 MPs on election night Sunak’s team take issue with both critiques. But they seem to have found a new reason they think could get voters out and ticking the Conservative box on 4 July: fear of a Labour super majority.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Is Sunak’s cautious manifesto a mistake?

13 min listen

Conservatives hoping to turn their fortunes around with the publication of the party's manifesto have been disappointed. The document contained little by way of surprises or rabbits, and despite Sunak's pledge that the Conservatives are the party of tax cutting, the new costings show that the tax burden will continue to rise. Katy Balls talks to James Heale and Kate Andrews. Join the Coffee House Shots team for a live recording on Thursday 11 July. Get tickets at spectator.co.uk/live. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Monday

Katy Balls

Fighting over the Tory manifesto begins a day early

On Tuesday morning, Rishi Sunak will unveil the Conservative party’s 2024 manifesto. So far, there is talk of tax cuts, welfare reform and the need to reform the ECHR. But some on the conservative side are already voicing alarm that the 76-page draft document is playing it too safe on tax and borders – and lacks big ideas. As one figure privy to the document puts it: 'It could flop'. While Tory candidates pray there is a rabbit in the hat to be unveiled tomorrow, Labour are busy getting their own attack lines in. This afternoon Jonathan Ashworth – the shadow cabinet office minister with the unofficial title of ‘minister for the Today programme’ – held a press conference to get the press in the mood to scrutinise Tory spending plans.

Katy Balls

Why has Douglas Ross resigned as Scottish Tory leader?

11 min listen

Just when you thought this election campaign couldn’t get any more tumultuous, Douglas Ross has announced he will resign as Scottish Conservative leader. He had lost the support of his colleagues – particularly those in Holyrood – following his decision to effectively take over a Westminster colleague’s constituency when that MP was seriously ill in hospital. Why now?  Michael Simmons speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls. The Spectator will be hosting a special Live edition of Coffee House Shots in the aftermath of the election. Taking place on Thursday the 11th July - a week after the election - at 7pm here in Westminster, you can join Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews as they try to dissect the election results, a new government, and what comes next.

Katy Balls

Can Sunak get his election campaign back on track?

As a general rule, you know your election campaign has gone off track when politicians are being asked on the broadcast round whether their leader will quit before polling day. This is what Tory minister Mel Stride encountered over the weekend on Sky News following the backlash over Rishi Sunak’s decision to miss part of the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations on Thursday, instead returning to the UK. Stride insisted that Sunak would ‘absolutely’ lead the party until polling day – and said how sorry the ‘patriotic’ Prime Minister was for misjudging the situation.

Saturday

Friday

Katy Balls

The Nickie Aiken Edition

37 min listen

Nickie Aiken has been an elected public servant for 18 years. An MP since 2019, she has served as a deputy chairman and a vice-chair of the Conservative Party. She was also a councillor in Westminster for 16 years including as leader of the council and previously worked in public relations.  On the episode, Katy Balls talks to Nickie about how she got into politics, why the tea room is the most useful part of Parliament, and the scourge of pedicabs in London. Not seeking re-election at this general election, Nickie also reflects on the politics of the past few years and on what the future might hold for the Tories. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

Backlash grows over Sunak’s D-Day mistake

When Rishi Sunak’s team were mapping out this week, Wednesday and Thursday were viewed to be non-political days as the Prime Minister and most UK political leaders would be focusing on the D-Day commemorations. Yet somehow Sunak has found himself facing the biggest backlash of his campaign to date over his attendance at the anniversary. His decision to leave Normandy in the afternoon and therefore miss a ceremony on Omaha beach that world leaders – including Joe Biden – attended has been met with bafflement and anger by his own side. As Isabel reports here, Sunak has this morning issued an apology for leaving early – ‘on reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise’.

Katy Balls

Why did Sunak leave the D-Day commemorations early?

13 min listen

It's yet another gaffe for Rishi Sunak. At yesterday’s D Day anniversary celebrations when it came time for official photographs with Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, it was Lord Cameron, not Rishi Sunak, who did the honours for Britain. With the prime minister reportedly leaving early to do a pre-recorded political interview with ITV. He has since apologised, but can he bounce back from this one?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Thursday

Katy Balls

The Farage factor

45 min listen

This week: The Farage factor. Our cover piece looks at the biggest news from this week of the general election campaign, Nigel Farage’s decision to stand again for Parliament. Farage appealed to voters in the seaside town of Clacton to send him to Westminster to be a ‘nuisance’. Indeed, how much of a nuisance will he be to Rishi Sunak in this campaign? Will this boost Reform’s ratings across Britain? And could it be eighth time lucky for Nigel? The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls joins the podcast to discuss, alongside former Clacton and UKIP MP, Douglas Carswell (2:32).Then: Gavin Mortimer reports from France ahead of the European and local elections this weekend, where the country is moving to the right.