Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Sunday

Katy Balls

Tories and Labour go to battle on TikTok

The digital election battle is heating up. Just a few days ago the Labour party joined TikTok, the social media app. Today the Conservatives have followed suit. The Tories have launched on the app this Sunday with a post from Rishi Sunak heralding his new election policy: mandatory national service. In the first video on the app, Sunak said: 'Hi TikTok, sorry to be breaking into your politics-free feed – but I'm making a big announcement today and I'm told that a lot of you already have some views on it. So, first thing, no – I'm not sending everyone to go and join the army. What I am doing is proposing a bold new model of national service for 18-year-olds'.

Katy Balls

Sunak: let’s bring back national service

17 min listen

The first big new policy announcement of the election campaign is in from the Tories, and it’s likely to be a talker. Where Keir Starmer appears to be opting for a ‘ming vase’ strategy – trying not to rock the boat ahead of polling day – the Tories are leaning towards the opposite. At 20 points behind in the polls, aides believe they need headline-grabbing, bold policies in order to get the public’s attention. The first of which is the return of mandatory national service. What's the thinking behind this one?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Why Rishi Sunak wants to introduce national service

The first big new policy announcement of the election campaign is in from the Tories, and it’s likely to be a talker. Where Keir Starmer appears to be opting for a ‘Ming vase’ strategy – trying not to rock the boat ahead of polling day – the Tories are leaning towards the opposite. At 20 points behind in the polls, aides believe they need headline-grabbing, bold policies in order to get the public’s attention. The first of which is the return of mandatory national service.

Katy Balls

How many Tory big beasts will the Lib Dems oust?

It's four days since Rishi Sunak surprised his colleagues and announced a summer election. So far a lot of the commentary has been on how Labour's Keir Starmer could be the big winner from that call – with the party over 20 points ahead in the polls. Yet when it comes to the threat many of the cabinet are most worried about, it is actually the Liberal Democrats. There is much chatter among ministers today over Michael Gove's shock decision to stand down. As Tim Shipman reports in the Sunday Times, Gove was long of the view that he would hold his constituency of Surrey Heath (majority: 18,349) so long as the Tories held onto at least 150 seats. The fact he has decided not to stand after all has led to speculation that Gove may have concluded the Tories could go under that figure.

Katy Balls

What does a July election mean for the SNP?

12 min listen

We have spoken a lot on the podcast this week about how a July election could be disastrous for the Conservatives, but what about the SNP? With arrests, investigations, resignations and a recent leadership change, it looks as though a snap election couldn't come at a worse time for the Scottish nationalists. Katy Balls speaks to Lucy Dunn and Fergus Mutch, former head of communications for the SNP.

Katy Balls

What’s behind the Tory exodus?

11 min listen

It's day four of the election campaign, and Michael Gove has joined the growing Tory exodus and announced he's standing down at the election. What's behind his decision, and how will it affect Rishi Sunak? Megan McElroy speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.  Produced by Megan McElroy.

Friday

Katy Balls

Michael Gove leads the Tory exodus

When Rishi Sunak told cabinet colleagues about his decision to call a general election, Michael Gove sought to raise spirits by declaring ‘who dares, wins!’. But a great many Tory MPs have been making a different calculation: that with Labour 20 points ahead in the polls, it may be better not to dare – and just not fight the next election. This is what Gove has now ended up doing. In a letter released this evening, he’s leaving the once-safe seat of Surrey Heath to someone else and is joining a very long line of other refuseniks who are deciding not to join Sunak in the trenches. So far, 78 MPs have said they will stand down at the election – Andrea Leadsom being the latest – so Sunak has now made history and overtaken the exodus under John Major ahead of the 1997 election.

Katy Balls

Is the Labour lead as big as it seems?

13 min listen

Both major party leaders are hitting the road today and campaigning in Scotland, which will be a major battleground in the coming election. Labour looks comfortably in the lead, but is that number accurate to what's happening on the ground? Cindy Yu and Katy Balls talk to Focaldata's James Kanagasooriam about their latest analysis. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Thursday

Katy Balls

The deluge: Rishi Sunak’s election gamble

53 min listen

It’s a bumper edition of The Edition this week. After Rishi Sunak called a surprise – and perhaps misguided – snap election just a couple of hours after our press deadline, we had to frantically come up with a new digital cover. To take us through a breathless day in Westminster and the fallout of Rishi’s botched announcement, The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls joins the podcast. (01:35) Next: Our print magazine leads on the electric car bust. Ross Clark runs through all the issues facing electric cars today – from China flooding the market with discounted EVs to Rishi Sunak dropping the unrealistic target of banning new petrol car sales by 2030. ‘Could the outlook suddenly improve for British EVs?’ asks Ross. ‘It’s hard to see how.

Katy Balls

Has Sunak’s Farage gamble just paid off?

Rishi Sunak’s election gamble has hit a little turbulence less than 24 hours in. Several members of the cabinet voiced concern over the move to call a summer election, while many Tory MPs are seeing red. Then there was the rain that poured as Sunak tried to address the nation – with loud background music playing out from the street. But at least one rather significant part of the Tory strategy appears to be paying off: Reform. One of the arguments those close to Sunak made for opting for July rather than waiting for an autumn election was that it could stave off a Nigel Farage comeback.

Katy Balls

Inside Labour’s fight with the unions

By the end of the year, Britain may be one of the few countries in the democratic world where the right is losing. In America, Donald Trump is the favourite to win. Ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections, momentum is with Germany’s AfD, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Austria’s Freedom party. Migration is the most pertinent issue pushing Europe rightwards, but many voters are also turning to insurgent right-wing parties as a rebellion against the cost of net-zero policies. Labour sees an electoral benefit in sticking to its green energy plans to stop voters defecting to the Greens In the UK, the future of green scepticism looks somewhat different.

Katy Balls

The deluge: Rishi Sunak’s election gamble

‘Only a Conservative government, led by me, will not put our hard-earned economic stability at risk,’ said Rishi Sunak as he announced a general election on the steps of Downing Street in the pouring rain. Upon these words, the Labour anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ boomed out from the street. The din made the rest of his speech nearly inaudible. His suit jacket went from wet to soaking. ‘It’s bizarre,’ said one former minister. ‘How are we supposed to trust No. 10’s judgment when no one in the group even knows what an umbrella is?

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Sunak’s biggest gamble yet: a July election

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak has called a general election on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. Is a summer election a wise decision? Katy Balls and James Heale discuss from parliament. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Katy Balls

Sunak takes his biggest gamble yet: a July election

Rishi Sunak has chosen to go for a summer election. The Prime Minister has confirmed in an address to the nation this evening that the 2024 general election will be held on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. His announcement comes after speculation since this morning that Sunak was planning to roll the dice and go to the polls in the summer rather than wait for the autumn. Notably, No. 10 chose not to dampen down the speculation – and when asked at lunchtime Sunak repeated his old line that the election would be held in the second half of the year, which included July.

Katy Balls

Is an election about to be called?

11 min listen

Westminster is awash with rumours today that the Prime Minister is about to call an election. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about where this speculation is coming from and how seriously to take them. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls

Is Rishi Sunak about to call an election?

Will Rishi Sunak call an election today? That is the rumour ripping through Westminster. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions this lunchtime, Sunak did little to quell the speculation. When asked by the SNP’s Stephen Flynn whether the rumours were right that a July election announcement was imminent, Sunak replied ‘spoiler alert’, before repeating his usual line that an election will be held in the second half of the year. Of course that does not rule out a July election – nor does it confirm it. This isn't the first time there has been talk of an early election. So, what’s different now? There have been rumours for some time that Sunak could use good news on inflation (which fell to around 2 per cent this morning) to call an election.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Is there finally good news for the government?

11 min listen

The IMF has upgraded the 2024 economic forecast for the UK. What does this mean for the Government and could more good news follow this week? And, with speeches on tax, benefit crackdowns and tackling anti-semitism, what should we make of all this political activity? Will we see the return of 'the hot lectern guy'? Kate Andrews and James Heale join Katy Balls to discuss.

Monday

Katy Balls

Infected blood scandal was ‘no accident’, says report

17 min listen

The Infected Blood Inquiry has finally concluded after a five-year investigation. This lunchtime, the inquiry’s chair Sir Brian Langstaff said thousands of deaths could have been prevented and the ‘worst ever’ NHS scandal, which saw thousands of Britons between 1970 and 1998 become infected by contaminated blood, could ‘largely, though not entirely, have been avoided’. Will the NHS change after change after this latest scandal?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.

Katy Balls

Infected blood scandal was ‘no accident’, says report

The Infected Blood Inquiry has finally concluded after a five-year investigation. This lunchtime, the inquiry’s chair Sir Brian Langstaff said thousands of deaths could have been prevented and the ‘worst ever’ NHS scandal, which saw thousands of Britons between 1970 and 1998 become infected by contaminated blood, could ‘largely, though not entirely, have been avoided’. The 2,527-page report finds that the ‘life shattering’ scandal was made worse by a ‘subtle, pervasive and chilling’ cover-up extending to both the government and NHS: ‘The response of those in authority served to compound people’s suffering.’ Langstaff – a former High Court judge – found that the ‘scale of what happened is horrifying’ with patients ‘betrayed’ by doctors.

Saturday

Katy Balls

The whips’ office and their woes

18 min listen

There have been two recent defections from the Conservatives to Labour. There's lots of chatter in parliament about a potential third defector. In this Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Katy Balls and James Heale hear from Gyles Brandreth, former MP and broadcaster. He takes us back to what it was like working in the whips' office in the 1990s, and ask if he thinks there are more defections to come.  You can read Gyles' diary here. Produced by Megan McElroy.