Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
From our UK edition
There were many potential titles for Liz Truss’s memoir: 49 Days that Shook the World, perhaps, or simply What Happened, like Hillary Clinton’s. Instead, she’s gone for a cri de coeur: Ten Years to Save the West. Westminster has a long history of drawing inspiration from Washington Such swashbuckling language is best suited to an
From our UK edition
11 min listen
Rishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto. What’s behind his equivocation? And, if the triple lock is ditched, will Labour follow suit? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
From our UK edition
Will the pensions triple lock survive the election? That’s the question being asked in Westminster after Rishi Sunak refused to commit to keeping it in the next Conservative manifesto. In a press huddle with hacks on his trip back from India, the Prime Minister said: ‘I’m not going to get into our manifesto now but
From our UK edition
Over the weekend, it was reported that a parliamentary researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The accused has released a statement this morning claiming he is ‘completely innocent’. Katy Balls speaks to Cindy Yu and James Heale about the arrest and what this could mean for Britain’s relationship with China
From our UK edition
8 min listen
James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Lucy Dunn for the latest update on Scottish politics. Humza Yousaf has been on a ‘reset’. But critics claim the Scottish First Minister is simply rehashing Nicola Stugeon’s policies. Also on the podcast, will Labour take the Scotland by-election from the SNP? And what happened at the Holyrood
From our UK edition
24 min listen
Kate Andrews talks crumbly concrete, overcrowded trains, NHS waiting lists, and describes the general air of despair and asks – who broke Britain? (01.15). Katy Balls analyses Keir Starmer’s reshuffle and describes the appearance of a New Labour restoration as the party prepares for power (11.20), and Max Pemberton outlines the worrying increase of Tourettes
From our UK edition
11 min listen
Rishi Sunak has landed in Delhi ahead of the G20 summit this weekend. He will be hoping to smooth the way for a new free trade deal with India. What does a good result look like for the prime minister? Will the new deal result in increased immigration? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and
From our UK edition
Is next year’s London mayoral contest a done deal? When the Tories first started the process of candidate selection, the general sense was that they had little chance of taking the mayoralty from Sadiq Khan. However, as the Labour mayor has faced a voter backlash over his support for Ulez (the ultra low emission zone),
From our UK edition
10 min listen
It was the first PMQs since the summer recess today and Labour were on the attack, comparing the Tory government to ‘cowboy builders’ over the ongoing school concrete debate. Rishi Sunak replied by calling out the leader of the opposition as ‘captain hindsight’. Who came out on top? Also on the podcast, it’s a year
From our UK edition
To understand the political journey of Sir Keir Starmer, look to Liz Kendall. This week the Blairite and one-time leadership contender was put in charge of Labour’s welfare reform policy. Her promotion has upset the party’s left-wingers, who already think Starmer is too right-wing on welfare. ‘She’ll be more hard-line than Jonathan Ashworth,’ says one
From our UK edition
13 min listen
The government is struggling to change the story. After Gillian Keegan yesterday said, about the concrete crisis, that ‘everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing’, the story has continued to dominate the news. How can the government recover? Who should take the blame? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Conservative Home’s
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his shadow cabinet but just who has made it in and who has been moved aside? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and John McTernan. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Linden Kemkaran.
From our UK edition
Who is the big winner so far from Keir Starmer’s reshuffle? The MP with the most to complain about is Lisa Nandy. She has been demoted from Levelling Up secretary to shadow cabinet minister for international development. Given she held the Foreign Office brief in Starmer’s first shadow cabinet, it’s quite a fall from grace.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Parliament is back from recess and the row which will be dominating MPs inboxes is the school concrete crisis, which has disrupted the start of term for over 100 schools. Why didn’t the government act sooner? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
28 min listen
This week Katy Balls asks whether Rishi is a risk taker or whether he’ll choose to play it safe as Conference season approaches (01.17), Owen Matthews explains why America is still Ukraine’s best hope for victory (07.27), Kate Andrews is totally baffled and exasperated by the British refusal to get checked out by a doctor
From our UK edition
Thursday’s cabinet reshuffle may have been minor but the No. 10 shake-up is proving more substantive. Amber de Botton has stepped down as Director of Communications saying ‘it is the right time to move on’. In her statement, the former broadcast journalist describes No. 10 as ‘a demanding and high pressure place to work –
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Rishi Sunak may have shelved his plan for a big reshuffle but we have had some cabinet changes today. Grant Shapps has taken his fifth cabinet position in one year, replacing Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary, and Sunak loyalist Claire Coutinho will take over as Energy Secretary. What does Coutinho’s appointment reveal? James Heale speaks
From our UK edition
Rishi Sunak has completed his very mini reshuffle with the appointment of Claire Coutinho as Energy Secretary, the role left vacant by Grant Shapps’s move to the Ministry of Defence. Coutinho leaves her role as a minister in the Department for Education and becomes the first of the 2019 intake to make it to the
From our UK edition
Grant Shapps is the new Defence Secretary, after Ben Wallace officially resigned this morning. The seasoned cabinet minister moves from energy secretary to the coveted role. As I reported in this week’s politics column for the magazine, the desired criteria in No. 10 for the candidate included ‘efficient, non-flashy, loyal, decent’. Does Shapps fit all
From our UK edition
When prime ministers sense the end is near, they tend to follow a similar pattern. They change senior civil servants and appointees, as Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown did. They avoid consulting their cabinet and instead hide behind special advisers. They declare they don’t like polls, before saying that the only poll that matters is
