Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
10 min listen
A poll in the i on Friday showed that Rishi Sunak is more trusted with the economy than Keir Starmer. How will Labour break down that support? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Produced by Max Jeffery.
12 min listen
Rishi Sunak has completed ministerial appointments to the Department for Education. Now led by Gillian Keegan, who left school at 16 to become an apprentice, and with old hands such as Robert Halfon and Nick Gibb returning, how ambitious will he be on education reform? Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss on this episode. Produced by Cindy Yu.
35 min listen
Alicia Kearns is the Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton, and the first female chair of the foreign affairs select committee. Alicia built a reputation as a foreign policy powerhouse working in communications and counter-terrorism for the civil service. After leaving, some time was spent in the private sector before Alicia decided to become an MP. In 2019 she was elected in the Conservative safe seat, Rutland and Melton where she now lives with her family. On the podcast, Alicia talks about why she left the civil service and the time she ‘came out’ as a Conservative. She also shares her love for her Rutland and Melton, describing her constituents as ‘her people’.
During the summer leadership race between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, Sunak’s team were braced for a bloodbath if he won. It would have required a major polling error and gone down as one of the biggest political upsets in recent years. ‘If we win, we win by 1 per cent,’ was how one close ally of Sunak put it at the time. If this had played out, it would have come as a nasty surprise to many in the Tory party. With wounds still raw from Boris Johnson’s departure, the deposed former PM’s loyalists would have quickly gone on the offensive – accusing Sunak of being a traitor for resigning in Johnson’s dying days. Supporters of Truss, meanwhile, would have claimed the tiny win meant that he didn’t have a mandate for his fiscal plan and pushed instead for immediate tax cuts.
12 min listen
Rishi Sunak faced up against Keir Starmer in his first Prime Minister's Questions today, and rallied the Conservative backbenches to a more enthusiastic mood than has been seen in, perhaps, months. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about the attack lines that Labour are trying out at the moment (on everything from the appointment of Suella Braverman to Rishi Sunak's comments about diverting money away from 'deprived urban areas').
After Rishi Sunak completed his new look cabinet on Tuesday night, a Downing Street source declared that the shake-up of the front bench 'brings the talents of the party together'. The hope in No. 10 is that by keeping supporters of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in senior roles, Sunak will stand a better chance of achieving party unity. In that vein, James Cleverly – who campaigned for Truss over the summer and Johnson this weekend – stays as Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey – who is Truss's closest political ally – stays in cabinet, moving to Defra. Having Braverman in the role of Home Secretary is viewed as key to keeping the right of the party on side Yet no reshuffle really goes off without a hitch.
12 min listen
Rishi Sunak has spent his first day in office appointing his new Cabinet. As the Prime Minister vowed to fix the 'mistakes' of his predecessor's administration – who's in and who's out? Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
13 min listen
Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss from the rooftop of Parliament the key takeaways from Liz Truss' departure speech. How does she reflect on her time in office?Produced by Natasha Feroze.
14 min listen
We have a new leader of the Conservative party. After Penny Mordaunt dropped out of the race just seconds before the deadline, Rishi Sunak will become the next prime minister. But he inherits a disunited party, war in Ukraine and a huge economic mountain to climb. What comes next?James Forsyth and Katy Balls discuss.Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.
It’s a rather strange leadership contest when the winner reaches the end without having said a single word in public. That’s what has happened in the case of the new Tory leader – and soon-to-be prime minister – Rishi Sunak. After Boris Johnson decided not to enter the race and Penny Mordaunt failed to reach the 100 MP nominations required, Sunak has been crowned the victor. There were a few hints that unity won’t be plain sailing Shortly after the result was announced, he addressed Tory MPs behind closed doors on the committee corridor of parliament. Sunak arrived with his team – which includes 2019 intake MPs Laura Trott, Claire Coutinho and Craig Williams – to loud cheers and the banging of desks.
12 min listen
After Boris pulled out of the leadership race last night, all eyes are on Rishi Sunak who could be Prime Minister by lunchtime. Can Rishi rescue the Conservatives?Kate Andrews speaks to Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson.Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Will Rishi Sunak be prime minister by teatime? After Boris Johnson announced that he would not enter the contest after all, the chances of a coronation have risen. Penny Mordaunt has 25 MPs publicly backing her – a long way short of the 100 required to make it onto the ballot. However, she still has an opportunity to get there. Will Boris Johnson's backers row in behind Mordaunt? Boris Johnson has somewhere in the region of 60 public supporters to play for (and more still if you go by his own figure of 102 backers). There are also just over 100 MPs yet to back anyone. That means there is a path to Mordaunt entering the contest.
18 min listen
Kate Andrews, James Forsyth and Katy Balls discuss the surprise withdrawal of Boris Johnson from the Conservative leadership race.
Boris Johnson has this evening pulled out of the Conservative leadership contest, leaving the field clear for Rishi Sunak. Only this morning his MP supporters had been insisting that the former prime minster had secured the 100 MP nominations required and would definitely run, but Johnson says the opposition to him is such that he will not enter the race - but there were severe doubts about this, with some MPs saying they were being approached by a desperate Boris team that did not have the numbers but had claimed otherwise. Sunak had more than twice as many declared nominations.
14 min listen
Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss the latest party leader endorsements by MPs and the likelihood that the next Prime Minister will be in 10 Downing Street by tomorrow.
Boris Johnson is yet to formally declare that he plans to enter the Tory leadership contest. The former prime minister's meeting with Rishi Sunak last night led to no white smoke or agreement on a joint ticket. His supporters have since been touring the studios this morning insisting he will run and that he has the 100 MP nominations required to make the ballot (even if many are yet to go public). Only there is a growing sense in the party that Johnson's campaign is not going to plan and is losing momentum compared to Sunak's. MPs who have been Johnson loyalists are trying to tell him that this is not his moment Johnson has won the support of one senior cabinet minister today – in the form of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Is the Boris campaign losing momentum? The former prime minister’s supporters had briefed journalists that Johnson has 100 MPs backing him so can enter the race should he wish to. But the number of MPs who have publicly backed Johnson is much lower at 59, vs Rishi Sunak's 131 (and a lonely 24 for Penny Mordaunt). That means either there are a lot of Boris backers who are very shy - or that the claim is inaccurate and he's facing an uphill struggle to hit the threshold. (Lee Anderson/Facebook) If Johnson hits 100 and reaches the membership, his supporters believe the Tory grassroots will back him over Sunak Johnson supporters have been keen to suggest that the bulk of Sunak's support comes from the left of the party – ergo meaning Sunak can’t be a unifier.
16 min listen
James Heale, James Forsyth and Katy Balls discuss whether the Tories are an impossible coalition to preside over.
15 min listen
Whilst no candidate has officially declared their candidacy for the Tory leadership race, speculation is rife about a possible Boris Johnson return. Could he get the 100 supporters he needs? Will he extend an olive branch to Rishi Sunak?James Heale speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.
The chance of a Boris Johnson comeback has risen dramatically since Liz Truss's resignation. Over 40 MPs have so far come out to publicly back him while today's papers are filled with briefings about how the former prime minister would be best placed to save the party from electoral doom. Now it's no great secret that plenty of Johnson loyalists backed Liz Truss in the last leadership election primarily to stop Rishi Sunak. There were some MPs who always said Johnson should return. Now as MPs consider recent dire polling, factoring it into their own electoral calculus to see whether they would lose their seat, more are beginning to ask whether Johnson is worth a gamble. Were he to re-enter No.