Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
It will take 100 MP nominations to qualify for the next Tory leadership race and the clock is ticking – with Boris Johnson out in front with 51 supporters so far. Rishi Sunak has 44 and Penny Mordaunt 20. It will go to the membership for a swift decision unless the finalists come to a
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Forty-four days into her premiership, Liz Truss said she was resigning as Prime Minister. There will now be a week-long race to elect a new leader. Who will be the contenders? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Liz Truss has just announced that she will be stepping down as Prime Minister. Forty-four days into her premiership, Truss said she was resigning as the leader of the party. Announcing her decision in a short speech outside Downing Street – accompanied by her husband – Truss said that she entered at a time of uncertainty
The government chaos continues. On Wednesday morning, Tory MPs were told that Labour’s motion to force a vote on a bill to ban fracking was a confidence motion in Truss’s government. Whips were determined not to give Labour control of the order paper. There would be no ifs or buts – all Tory MPs had
At the first stage of the Conservative leadership race, when Liz Truss was trying to win MPs’ support, her message was that she was the one who could ‘unite the right’. Now, her plan to survive in No. 10 relies on dividing the Tory left. Regicide is a messy business. ‘It’s very hard to push
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Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss plans to stop spiralling inflation – and a spiralling government.
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Suella Braverman has resigned as Home Secretary over a row on immigration measures. Grant Shapps has been selected to replace her. Will more follow? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
Just as it seemed a brief calm was emerging in the Tory party, the Prime Minister has lost her Home Secretary. Suella Braverman has left her role with Grant Shapps brought in to replace her. The circumstances of her departure are shrouded in mystery for now – but government sources suggest this is not a
Liz Truss will face the music this lunchtime when she speaks in the Chamber for the first time since she sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, hired Jeremy Hunt as his successor –then watched as he junked almost the entirety of the not-so-mini-Budget. When Labour summoned Truss for an Urgent Question on the issue on Monday,
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Another day, another u-turn. Liz Truss met with her Cabinet today and is reportedly considering u-turning on the pensions triple lock. Are ministers heading for more ‘lengthy discussions’ on public spending? Should we brace ourselves for resignations? Also on the podcast, as Hunt looks at which departments to cut, what could this mean for the
When the phrases ‘the Prime Minister is not under a desk’ and ‘I don’t think there has been a coup’ are put forward by a minister tasked with defending their boss, it’s a sign that the parliamentary session has not gone to plan. This was the case this afternoon when Penny Mordaunt was sent to
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave a statement this morning in which he outlined plans to scrap ‘almost all’ the tax measures announced by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng just four weeks ago. In one of the largest U-turns in history, the markets have become the most important force in British politics. James Forsyth, Katy Balls, Kate Andrews
What is the point of Liz Truss’s government? Expect more MPs to ask that question today after Jeremy Hunt’s statement tearing up the not-so-mini Budget. The new chancellor has just announced in an address that he will be scrapping every tax cut in Truss and her then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal event bar the reversal of
How much trouble is Liz Truss in? Just six weeks into her premiership, the Prime Minister’s economic plans are in tatters after she axed her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, reversed on her campaign pledge to scrap the scheduled corporation tax hike and brought in Jeremy Hunt as his successor. Now Hunt is calling the shots on
Liz Truss made two big moves on Friday in a bid to calm the markets and save her premiership. The first was to announce that she was ditching plans to cancel the scheduled corporation tax rise. The second was that she had sacked her chancellor and long standing ally Kwasi Kwarteng – bringing Jeremy Hunt
How does this end? That’s the question being asked by Tory MPs as Liz Truss’s government finds itself in turmoil once again. The Prime Minister’s decision to axe her chancellor and U-turn on a plan to ditch the corporation tax has only added to nerves in the Conservative party as to how sustainable the current
Liz Truss has just confirmed that she is U-turning on another part of her government’s not-so-mini Budget. After sacking her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng this morning, the Prime Minister used a Downing Street press conference to say that she will now keep the increase in corporation tax, despite promising to ditch it. This ought to raise
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Prime Minister Liz Truss has sacked her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt. By removing her closest ideological ally. Can she save herself? Kate Andrews speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
A day is a long time in politics. Just this morning, a No. 10 source told the BBC the Prime Minister believed Kwasi Kwarteng was doing ‘an excellent job’ as chancellor and the pair were ‘in lockstep.’ Only just a few hours on, Liz Truss has sacked her close ally and friend in a bid
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After a day of speculation, the rumours that Liz Truss was about to U-turn on more areas of the mini-budget proved untrue. Conservative MPs had a tense evening in the 1922 Committee meeting last night – are there any good options left for the Prime Minister? Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
