Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Friday

Katy Balls

The Justine Greening Edition

33 min listen

Justine Greening was born in Rotherham, the daughter of a steel worker and first in her family to go to university. Campaigning for the Conservatives, she won back a Tory stronghold from Labour in the 2005 general election becoming MP for Putney. She began politics in opposition, but became a Cabinet Secretary in David Cameron’s government, and remained there for Theresa May’s premiership as Education Secretary. Now having left Parliament, Justine is never far from politics – she founded the Social Mobility Pledge and now even runs her own podcast.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Inside the plot to take down Rishi Sunak

42 min listen

Welcome to a slightly new format for the Edition podcast! Each week will be talking about the magazine – as per usual – but trying to give a little more insight into the process behind putting The Spectator to bed each week.  On the podcast: The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls writes our cover story this week about 'the plot' to oust Rishi Sunak. When former culture secretary Nadine Dorries made the claim in her book that a secret cabal of advisors were responsible for taking down prime ministers, she was laughed at. But with shadowy backroom fixers assembling to try and take down the prime minister, did she have a point? Katy joins the podcast alongside the Financial Times' Stephen Bush to discuss what makes a successful 'plot'.

Katy Balls

Inside the plot to take down Rishi Sunak

Westminster and its drinking holes have always been a fertile ground for conspirators. There was the dead sheep coup against Margaret Thatcher, the curry house conspiracy against Tony Blair, the great goose plot against Gordon Brown and the pork pie putsch to oust Boris Johnson. Now that Rishi Sunak has the worst approval ratings of any prime minister in an election year, it’s inevitable he should be the target of a new plot. The Tories have become the party of regicide. The dispatching of Liz Truss was carried out with record-breaking speed. When things get bad, the Tories change leader. It’s the party’s natural reflex. ‘If you are working on a plot, you don’t go around telling everyone. That’s plotting 101’ For many, the idea of removing Sunak is mad.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Is the prime minister gaffe-prone?

14 min listen

It has been a gaffe-filled week for Rishi Sunak. At PMQs today the prime minister was chastised by his opposite number for an ill-judged comment about transgender people with the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey in parliament. This comes after being pictured embracing Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill and then making a wager with Piers Morgan over his pledge to stop the boats. Is this a prime minister ready to fight a general election?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Stephen Bush, associate editor of the Financial Times.  Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

Starmer’s green spending problem is getting bigger

Once again Labour’s internal debate over its £28 billion green spending pledge is playing out publicly. On Friday there was some talk of clarity following a report that the headline figure would be ditched – with the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones then going out on the media where he appeared to confirm it. Jones said Labour would decide how much to spend on environmental programmes once in government, adding that ‘the number will move around just as a matter of fact’. But then Keir Starmer popped up on Monday to declare in an interview with Times Radio that the £28 billion a year on green spending is ‘desperately needed’. Starmer said: We’re going to need investment, that’s where the £28 billion comes in.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

What Liz Truss’s PopCon launch was really about

11 min listen

Liz Truss is back! This time with a conference called 'Popular Conservatism', bringing together voices in the Conservative party and aiming to 'deliver popular conservative policies'. But what does the event really tells us about the state of right wing political thought in the UK today, and why were some of Truss's key allies not there? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Liz Truss Launches 'Popular Conservatives' Movement
Katy Balls

Truss takes aim at left-wing extremists

This morning Kwasi Kwarteng, the former chancellor, announced that he plans to step down at the next election. But there is still at least one senior Trussite who plans to fight on. This lunchtime Liz Truss herself appeared at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster to launch her new outfit, PopCon, a grassroots group to generate new Tory policies.   Truss argued it was time for MPs to find ‘resilience and bravery’ to start making conservative arguments Addressing a packed room, the former prime minister criticised ‘left wing extremists’ as she took aim at Tory MPs pursuing policies that would make them popular at ‘London dinner parties’.

Monday

Katy Balls

Rishi Sunak admits to failing on NHS waitlists

11 min listen

Rishi Sunak is in Belfast to mark the return of Stormont after a two-year deadlock. With Sinn Fein now the leading party, can the government pitch this as a win? Also on the podcast, the Prime Minister admitted he's failed to meet the NHS waitlist targets from his five pledges last year. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.

Friday

Katy Balls

Keir Starmer’s £28 billion problem

Another day, another story about Labour's plans to ditch its pledge to spend £28 billion a year on green investment. The Guardian reports that party sources say the policy is destined for the chopping block – despite Keir Starmer saying on Thursday at the party's business conference that the plan to spend £28 billion a year on green investment in the second half of the parliament remains in place so long as it meets the party's fiscal rules. Notably, his shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was less effusive, refusing to commit to the policy despite being asked ten times in a Sky News interview.

Katy Balls

The Gina Miller Edition

32 min listen

Gina Miller was born in Guyana to a political family, but was sent to England for her education. Fleeing dictatorship, she couldn’t receive financial support from her family, and so began finding work in hotels and handing out flyers. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Gina set up her first company in 1987 – a property photographic company. Since then, her CV boasts a myriad of achievements, degrees, the Vanity Fair Challenger Award and financial services. But she is most well known as the woman who set up the first legal challenge to the government’s attempts to trigger article 50 in 2016. Since then, my guest has worked on many anti-Brexit campaigns and in 2021 she launched The True and Fair Party.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Is Labour the party of business?

12 min listen

At the 'Labour Business Conference 2024', shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves wooed business with a pledge that Labour would not raise corporation tax in their first term. Instead, she told the audience of FTSE 100 chief execs that a Labour government would keep the current cap at 25 per cent. How convincing is Reeves' big pitch to business? Also on the podcast, the big news this week has been the Northern Ireland negotiations. What's happened in parliament today? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and James Heale.  Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

Labour woos business with a corporation tax pledge

One of the big changes in the Labour party since Keir Starmer took over from Jeremy Corbyn is the approach to business. Rachel Reeves, Starmer’s shadow chancellor, made wooing the business community a top priority. Today, Starmer and Reeves went further with the ‘Labour Business Conference 2024’ held at The Oval, where Reeves said that a Labour government would not raise corporation tax in its first term. Instead, she told the audience of FTSE 100 chief executives that a Labour government would keep the current cap of 25 per cent. This, she said, would provide certainty to business.

Katy Balls

Inside the fight over Labour’s green spending plans

Who’s afraid of the Green party? Within Labour, the answer varies depending on which member of the shadow cabinet you speak to. Some laugh off the idea that the Greens present an electoral threat from the left, because of the two-party system. As one party veteran puts it: ‘Labour has two opponents. In England, it’s the Tories. In Scotland, it’s the SNP. It’s that simple.’ The prevailing view among many of Keir Starmer’s disciples is that left-wing voters – Green or not – will be so desperate to oust the Tories that they will vote for Labour no matter what.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Sturgeon paints herself as perfect at Covid Inquiry

10 min listen

Nicola Sturgeon became emotional during her evidence at the Covid inquiry today – a highly anticipated part of the inquiry given the issue of deleted Whatsapp messages. How did the former first minister come across today? And what else can the evidence tell us about how the Scottish government operated? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and Michael Simmons.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

The return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland is not a done deal

Is power-sharing about to finally return to Northern Ireland? That's the expectation in Westminster and Stormont after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) endorsed a new deal with the UK government. On Monday evening, the DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson held a tense five-hour meeting with his party's executive. In a sign of the high stakes nature of the discussion, one DUP executive member has been accused of wearing a wire – so Donaldson's speech could be leaked to a loyalist activist who shared the details in real time on social media. But despite the commotion, the DUP leader emerged in the early hours of Tuesday morning to declare that after two years of deadlock, he was pleased to report that the 'party executive has now endorsed the proposals that I have put to the party'.

Monday

Katy Balls

Why Sunak wants to ban vapes

11 min listen

Rishi Sunak has outlined plans to ban disposable vapes, and is hoping to change vape packaging to make it less appealing to children. Why? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

Katy Balls

The Tory cigarette rebellion will likely go up in smoke

Back when Rishi Sunak was trying to pitch himself as the change candidate, he used his party conference speech in October to announce three big policies: the scrapping of HS2, a 'new Baccalaureate-style qualification' to replace A-levels and a plan to create the first smoke free generation. The latter idea was inspired by a similar policy introduced in New Zealand by the Labour party that has since been scrapped after the conservative National party triumphed in the recent election. Despite this, Sunak plans to press on and today on a visit to a school will announce further measures to 'protect children's health' when it comes to vapes. The government plans to ban disposable vapes for everyone, following a consultation looking at the number of children taking up vaping.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Would Trump and Starmer get on?

12 min listen

Donald Trump seems to have the Republican primaries wrapped up. He’ll almost certainly be up against Joe Biden on 5 November in the general election. If Trump wins, and in Britain’s own elections in the second half of 2024, Starmer wins, the two will make an odd pair. Will they get on? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Freddy Gray, The Spectator’s deputy editor and host of the Americano podcast.

Thursday

Katy Balls

The Plot: part II

14 min listen

Rishi Sunak seems to be facing his own 'plot'. But unlike in Nadine Dorries' now infamous book, it's not a secret cabal orchestrated by Dougie Smith hoping to depose him, but a mysterious rebel group, backed by Tory donors, who have been funding the polling we've seen in the Telegraph recently. The news today is that they have added Will Dry – Rishi Sunak's former pollster – to their ranks. Is this plot a serious and organised threat to Rishi's premiership? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.