Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Sunday

Katy Balls

‘I don’t think they can win’: Tories mull electoral doom

Conservative party conference in Birmingham has got off to a strange start. MPs and activists aren't in open revolt but few have much that is positive to say about the situation the Tory government finds itself in. As one long-time activist put it to me on arrival:  'I have been voting for the Conservatives for over two decades but now I'm not sure I can' Truss's problems are twofold With a string of polls suggesting that the party would face electoral annihilation were an election held tomorrow, Liz Truss's honeymoon is well and truly over. One particularly downbeat fringe event took place this afternoon, titled: 'Can the Tories win the next election?

Katy Balls

Did Gove just torpedo Truss?

14 min listen

Michael Gove this morning said that Liz Truss's plans to scrap the top 45 per cent tax rate are a 'display of the wrong values'. It comes as Jake Berry, the Tory party chairman, confirmed that MPs who vote against the budget would lose the Conservative whip. Has Gove just ruined Truss's conference?James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.Produced by Max Jeffery.

Katy Balls

Gove torpedoes Truss’s conference

Liz Truss's supporters had hoped this year's Conservative party conference would mark a moment of triumph for the new leader. Instead it opened with her arch-nemesis lobbing a hand grenade in her direction. Step forward, Michael Gove. Appearing on a panel on Laura Kuenssberg's show this morning, Gove voiced his concerns with Truss's economic plan which has spooked the markets. He criticised 'the sheer risk of using borrowed money to fund tax cuts' as well as the the decision to cut the 45p rate for top earners as 'a display of the wrong values'.  When pressed on whether that meant he would not vote for the measures, Gove replied:  So, what is Gove up to?

Katy Balls

Liz Truss insists she’s not for turning

Liz Truss goes into her first Conservative party conference with the latest Opinium polling giving Labour a 19-point-lead and her own approval ratings down at -37 – worse than Boris Johnson's in his final days in office. Yet despite this, the new Prime Minister used her first big sit down interview since the fallout from the not-so-mini Budget to insist that she was not for turning. Truss told Laura Kuenssberg that she stands by all the measures announced last Friday – including abolishing the 45p rate of income tax for the highest earners.

Friday

Katy Balls

Liz Truss’s mea culpa moment

11 min listen

Despite rejecting the Office for Budget Responsibility's offer of a forecast to accompany last week's so-called fiscal event, this morning it appears that the government have u-turned. What can we expect from the OBR's statement ahead of the November budget?Also on the podcast, after last night's YouGov poll put Labour ahead by 33 points, how has the news been received by Conservative MPs? Will Truss row back on her economic plans?Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Labour surge to 33-point lead over Tories

Today Kwasi Kwarteng attempted to calm concerns in his party over the fallout from the not-so-mini Budget – telling MPs: 'We are one team and need to remain focused'.  That message is likely to face some resistance after the latest polling. Tonight the Times has published a new YouGov poll which gives Labour a 33-point lead. Yes, you read that right. It is thought to be the largest poll lead enjoyed by a political party since the late 1990s. It comes after a poll earlier this week gave Labour a 17-point lead. According to the survey, just 37 per cent of 2019 Conservative voters would stick with the party were an election held now. Labour's poll lead is so large that you can expect more talk of letters going in and questions about her longevity in No.

Katy Balls

Could Truss axe Kwarteng?

23 min listen

Liz Truss broke her silence this morning and embarked on a pre-Tory conference media round of regional stations across the UK. In a brutal set of interviews, the Prime Minister faced questions on tax cutting the rich at the expense of the poor, fracking and bankers' bonuses. With conference just three days away, what will be her next moves to take back control of her party, and win back the British public? Could Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng be sacrificed to save her instead?Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

‘We’re so close’: there’s a cautious optimism at Labour conference

When Liz Truss scheduled her mini-Budget for the Friday before Labour conference, there was concern in Keir Starmer’s office. After months of meticulous planning, Starmer’s team feared the new Tory government would use their event to upstage his and distract from the party’s annual gathering in Liverpool. They were right to think that Kwasi Kwarteng’s statement would dominate the headlines; what they didn’t realise was that this would work entirely to their advantage. The market chaos provided the perfect backdrop to Labour conference: it reinforced a belief that, after 12 years in the cold, Labour is finally on the cusp of power. They can now present the Tories as the dangerous, slightly mad radicals and pitch themselves as the sensible option.

Katy Balls

Tory nerves are growing over Truss’s tax cuts

Tory nerves are growing over Liz Truss’s economic plans. As the fallout from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s not-so-mini-budget continues to dominate the news, the Prime Minister has doubled down. In a pool clip this afternoon, Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has rejected calls for the government to row back on Friday’s fiscal event – insisting Truss’s plans are the ‘right plans’ to grow the UK economy. Government sources have also made it clear that Truss has no plans to part ways with her Chancellor. Smith’s call for changes to the growth plan is echoed privately by a growing number of Tory MPs Yet Truss could still be forced to look again. Unease is building on the backbenches over her economic strategy.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Is Starmer ready for No.10?

10 min listen

Keir Stamer took centre stage for his speech at the Labour party conference today. Unlike last year, there were several standing ovations and loud cheers from the audience. Was his speech one to remember in Labour's history? And has he secured his position as the man to lead Labour back into government?James Heale speaks to Katy Ball and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Katy Balls

The message behind Starmer’s Labour conference speech

As market volatility in response to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng's Budget on Friday continues to dominate the news, Keir Starmer will try to use his conference leader's speech to pitch his party as the safe choice on the economy. When Starmer takes to the conference hall stage this afternoon, he will say it is now the Labour party that stands for 'sound money' – as he attempts to capitalise on the fallout of Friday's fiscal event. Starmer wants to position Labour as the 'party of the centre-ground' The Labour leader will accuse the Tories of having 'lost control of the British economy' and for bringing in 'tax cuts for the richest one per cent in the country'.

Monday

Katy Balls

Is Labour on the cusp of victory?

13 min listen

It's day two of Labour Conference and the party appear upbeat and confident of their chances at the next election. But are they being too reactionary in their narrative? What do they have to offer other than not being the Conservative party?From Liverpool, James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

How worrying is the falling pound?

19 min listen

Following Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng's 'mini' budget, the pound has fallen to a record low against the dollar, fueling speculation that the Bank of England will hike interest rates. How worrying are these figures?'I think the pound falling is a bit of a distraction from the real problem' - James ForsythKaty Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and James Forsyth.Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Sunday

Katy Balls

Andy Burnham: ‘Where is the fight?’

Keir Starmer is having a pretty good Labour conference so far. His decision to kick off the annual meet with a rendition of 'God Save the King' went off without hitch. There are few tricky motions or crunch votes heading to the conference floor. A new ComRes poll says the party is on course to win a majority of 56 in the next election. Yet there is still an internal row brewing: how should Labour fight the Tories? Labour's prince across the water in Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has been touring the studios and fringe events to share his thoughts on exactly this.

Katy Balls

Starmer sets himself apart from Truss

One of the reasons members of Liz Truss's team remain upbeat despite the onslaught of criticism towards government's tax-cutting budget is that they think it pushes Labour into uncomfortable territory. Will Keir Starmer respond to a Tory programme of mass tax cuts with tax rises? This morning, he offered a partial answer. Starmer repeatedly accused Truss's government of having the wrong priorities and helping the rich over the poorest in society Appearing on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg from Liverpool for Labour party conference, Starmer was pressed on what he would keep and what he would reverse if Labour take power at the next election.

Friday

Katy Balls

Kwarteng’s audacious budget

17 min listen

Kwasi Kwarteng has today announced what has been dubbed as his mini-Budget, but looking at the scale of the package it is far from small. The Coffee House Shots team take us through what has been revealed. Who are the winners and who are the losers?Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Kate Andrews.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

The Louise Perry Edition

30 min listen

Louise Perry is a journalist, campaigner and author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution. It offers a new guide to sex in the 21st century – rather than herald sex positivity as a good thing for women, she argues it has had negative consequences. Her work has been published in multiple news outlets including The Spectator, Daily Mail and the New Statesman. As a campaigner, Louise began her career working in a rape crisis centre and most recently, co-founded the think tank, The Other Half, a non-partisan organisation that champions the voices of women and families not heard in Westminster.

Thursday

Katy Balls

NI rise scrapped: how much further will Kwasi go?

16 min listen

With hours to go till the Chancellor's fiscal statement, we've heard today that the National Insurance hike will be scrapped, as promised during Liz Truss's leadership campaign. This comes as the Bank of England increases the base rate to 2.25 per cent. How much further will Kwasi Kwarteng go, and just how willing is the Truss government to be unpopular? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls

‘The strategy is do everything now’: Truss’s big mini-Budget

Liz Truss is in a race against time. It's not just the prospect of an election in two years. It's the political problems – from party management to events outside of one's control – that quickly clog up a prime minister's in-tray. It's why for all the efforts to play down Friday's fiscal event as a mini-Budget, it is likely to be anything but small. Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng plan to push through as much as possible while their stock is highest. The official budget – complete with a long-awaited OBR forecast – will come later this winter, but, inside government, Friday is viewed as the bigger event. Given it is all about tax cuts and growth, Friday’s fiscal event may be the more significant in terms of government actions.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

What’s behind Putin’s mobilisation?

15 min listen

Vladimir Putin warned the West that, if pushed, Russia would use a nuclear weapon. How seriously should we take his threat? And reports emerged overnight that Liz Truss will cut stamp duty to increase demand for housing. But will that help more people get onto the housing ladder? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Max Jeffery.