Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Since the Tories retained Uxbridge in the by-election a fortnight ago by campaigning against Ulez, some Conservative MPs have been questioning whether the party should ditch their climate commitments. Was Uxbridge a one-off? What do British people want? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and Scarlett Maguire, director at polling firm JL Partners.
From our UK edition
9 min listen
The High Court has ruled that Sadiq Khan can expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone, after five Tory councils challenged the proposed policy. Will Keir Starmer be happy that a Labour mayor has won the day? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
From our UK edition
29 min listen
Lucy Frazer is the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Prior to this role in government, Lucy held several ministerial positions from the Department Transport to the Ministry of Justice. On the podcast, Lucy tells Katy about her background working as a barrister which paved the way for a political career; her vision for how the Conservatives could still win the next election; and how she will choose the next chairman of the BBC. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
From our UK edition
36 min listen
In this week’s cover story, The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls writes about Labour’s new paymasters – Keir Starmer’s party now receives more money from private donors than it does from trade unions. What do the new donors want, and what does Starmer want from them? Katy joins Will and Lara alongside the writer and Labour supporter Paul Mason. (01:00) Next up, Webb Keane, from the University of Michigan, and Scott Shapiro, from Yale, write in the magazine this week about the dawn of the godbots – you can now chat online to an artificial intelligence that pretends it’s god. Might people soon start outsourcing their ethics to a chatbot? We're joined by Webb and The Spectator’s commissioning editor Mary Wakefield.
From our UK edition
The battle for the next Labour manifesto is already under way. ‘I will stay up to 2 a.m. if I need to,’ warned one member of the shadow cabinet ahead of last week’s national policy forum meeting in Nottingham. The trade unions and grassroot members were pushing for radicalism, Keir Starmer for moderation. The squeals of the Labour left are seen as useful by Starmer’s team Starmer misses no opportunity to make the point that realism, not revolution, is the path to power. He was quick to blame the party’s narrow defeat in the Uxbridge by-election on Sadiq Khan’s support for the extension of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone. ‘In an election, policy matters,’ he said.
From our UK edition
A week is a long time in politics and a day is a long time in banking. On Tuesday afternoon, NatWest chief Dame Alison Rose admitted that she had 'made a serious error of judgment' and was the BBC source who discussed Nigel Farage's bank details with Simon Jack at a charity dinner. The senior journalist had left the dinner with the impression that the Coutts bank account closure was down to a lack of funds rather than politically motivated. It later transpired through a subject access request by Farage that this was wide of the mark and the bank had been discussing his political views and the 'reputational damage' associated with keeping him as a customer.
From our UK edition
13 min listen
Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson speak to James Heale about Labour's infighting over issues such as ULEZ and the child benefits cap. Whilst not in government yet, is this something Keir Starmer will need to get a grip on in order to become the next Prime Minister? Produced by Natasha Feroze.
From our UK edition
Where do the by-election results leave Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer? The Labour leader had been hoping for a victory parade but his party’s failure to secure Uxbridge – with the Tories clinging on by under 500 votes – has led to Labour unrest. Rather than tour the media studios with a single message that Labour are on the cusp of power following their decisive victory in Selby, both Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner used broadcast interviews to take aim at Sadiq Khan. The pair cited Ulez – ultra low emission zones – as why they lost, and suggested it shows what happens when politicians don’t listen to voters, something of which Khan ought to take note. Ulez became a cost of living issue.
From our UK edition
13 min listen
The dust has settled after yesterday's by-election results. Having narrowly avoided a triple by-election defeat there seems to be little sign of Conservative party in-fighting, despite their poor showing. There is however a war of words brewing between the London Labour Party and Kier Starmer who blames Sadiq Khan's Ulez plan for the failure to snatch Uxbridge and South Ruislip. What lessons will each party take from the by-elections into next year's general election? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and pollster James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
There was something for everyone in the by-elections with each of the three big parties getting a seat. The Tories lost Somerton and Frome to the Lib Dems and Selby and Ainsty to Labour but did narrowly cling on in Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, albeit with a reduced majority of just 495 votes. James Heale unpacks the results with Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
Rishi Sunak has narrowly avoided three by-election losses. Overnight, the Conservatives lost Somerton and Frome to the Liberal Democrats, overturning a majority of 19,213 to lead by 11,008 votes, and Selby and Ainsty to Labour, with Keir Starmer's party overturning its largest ever majority at a by-election in post-war history. However, the Tories managed to narrowly cling on in Boris Johnson's former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, with a reduced majority of just 495 votes. It means today's results are a mixed bag for Starmer and Sunak. As is often the case with by-elections, it is Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey who has the most to be happy about – chalking up another big by-election win following strong results in the local elections.
From our UK edition
What does a prime minister say to his party ahead of three potential by-election defeats? This was the task for Rishi Sunak tonight as he addressed a final meeting of the 1922 committee ahead of the summer recess. The Prime Minister was welcomed into the room with banging on desks (though such stunts often don’t relieve much about the mood). He began his address by listing the achievements of the government over the past eight months in a bid to show progress, insisting there was a strong conservative record to be ‘proud of’. He then claimed that despite the difficulties his five priorities have faced so far, he would stick by them: ‘The public’s priorities are our priorities’.
From our UK edition
15 min listen
Katy Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale about today's inflation figures and the latest news about the Conservative Mayoral candidate for London – Susan Hall.
From our UK edition
Rishi Sunak goes into the summer holidays in the same position he began the year: 20 points behind in the polls. In other ways it feels as if his premiership has gone backwards. Mortgage rates have risen above the levels they were under Liz Truss. The Tory psychodrama of the Boris Johnson era has led to two of the three by-elections taking place this week. Little progress has been made on Sunak’s ‘five priorities’ – the junior doctor strikes show no sign of abating and the Rwanda scheme is held up in the courts. ‘At this point Keir Starmer could probably announce backing for freedom of movement and still scrape in,’ says one downbeat minister.
From our UK edition
Will Rishi Sunak reshuffle his top team in a matter of days if not hours? That's the rumour going around Westminster this evening. As I first reported last month, there have been plans for some time for a summer reshuffle before MPs head home for the long recess. However, this was then complicated by the triple by-election. The original plan was to hold the by-elections last week – 13 July – which would have freed up this week for Sunak to try to move the narrative on with a wide-ranging pre-election reshuffle. The fact that the by-elections are this week instead means that it is now more complicated both politically and logistically. If Sunak loses all three, is it a wise move to go around sacking ministers?
From our UK edition
15 min listen
Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and former Labour advisor John McTernan to discuss the ongoing Labour row over the child benefits limit. Reactions were muted during today's shadow cabinet meeting, but is this a reflection of a looming reshuffle? Produced by Natasha Feroze.
From our UK edition
As the Tories chalk up a rare win with the passing of the Illegal Migration Bill in the Lords, Keir Starmer is facing a revolt in his own party over his insistence that a Labour government would keep the two-child benefit limit. As James Heale reports, MPs from across the party gathered at Monday's parliamentary Labour party meeting to express concerns over Starmer's position on a policy that both he and the majority of his shadow cabinet have heavily criticised in the past. MPs called for the Labour leader to think again but received little in the way of assurances from his deputy Angela Rayner. The question is whether the issue is now raised at this morning's shadow cabinet meeting.
From our UK edition
17 min listen
Keir Starmer has said that Labour will not be reversing the two-child benefits cap, after Angela Rayner said it was ‘obscene and inhumane’. But will he continue to back the policy, which allegedly saves the Treasury £1.3 billion, or change his mind in the face of pressure from his shadow front bench? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced by Max Jeffery.
From our UK edition
Another day, another Keir Starmer U-turn. The Labour leader is facing a backlash from his own side after Starmer used an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg's to say that a Labour government would keep the two-child benefits cap. When asked whether he would scrap the cap – which has been blamed by Labour politicians for pushing families into poverty – Starmer said he was 'not changing that policy'. That is a decision that will upset many in the shadow cabinet, let alone the wider parliamentary party. The current work and pensions secretary John Ashworth has previously described the cap as heinous: 'the idea that this policy helps move people into work is completely offensive nonsense'. Ashworth's predecessor in the role, Jonathan Reynolds, also took a dismal view of it.
From our UK edition
Ben Wallace has announced that he will be leaving frontline politics at the next cabinet reshuffle. In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Defence Secretary confirmed reports in the media that he will be stepping down at the next election – and also bowing out of the a cabinet ahead of polling day: ‘I’m not standing next time’, he says. ‘I went into politics in the Scottish parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years. I’ve spent well over seven years with three phones by my bed’. However, Wallace adds that he will avoid the route chattered by Boris Johnson and not quit prematurely thereby starting a by-election.
