Lucy Dunn

Lucy Dunn

Lucy Dunn is The Spectator's political correspondent. She is a qualified doctor from Glasgow.

Tuesday

Lucy Dunn

Will Trump’s state visit save Starmer?

12 min listen

Keir Starmer has lost another aide, MPs are debating what the Prime Minister knew about Mandelson's links to Epstein and a new poll has Lucy Powell as the favourite to win Labour's deputy leadership race against education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Could things be any worse for Starmer? With US President Donald Trump touching down at London Stansted tonight, the PM will be hoping the state visit provides an opportunity to draw a line under the past few weeks. But Trump is anything but predictable, and he likes a winner – will 'The Donald' sour on Starmer? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Monday

Lucy Dunn

Tories granted emergency debate on Mandelson

Peter Mandelson is no longer US ambassador to the UK, but tough questions remain for Keir Starmer about why he appointed the ‘Prince of Darkness’ in the first place. Downing Street distanced itself from Mandelson last week, with the Prime Minister’s spokesperson claiming that new information had emerged about Mandelson’s relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that put things in a different light. Mandelson was sacked just days after Starmer had defended his man in Washington amid criticism from his backbenchers. Now news has come out that the House of Commons will debate Mandelson’s appointment tomorrow. The backlash continues...

Lucy Dunn

Why Danny Kruger’s defection to Reform matters

13 min listen

The big news in Westminster today is that there has been another defection to Reform. But this time it feels slightly different: a front bench Tory with a CV that spans multiple Tory leaders and a number of books on Conservative thought is now batting for Reform. Danny Kruger, Nigel Farage’s latest defector, served as David Cameron’s speechwriter, Boris Johnson’s political secretary and Robert Jenrick’s campaign manager just last summer. His defection will therefore come as a serious blow to those who argue that the Conservative party stands a better chance than Reform of winning the next election.

Friday

Lucy Dunn

Will Mandelson bring down McSweeney?

20 min listen

The fallout from Lord Mandelson's sacking continues. All eyes are now on Keir Starmer's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney – could he take the fall for Mandelson's appointment? As Whitehall editor of the Sunday Times Gabriel Pogrund tells James Heale and Lucy Dunn, Mandelson and McSweeney's relationship stretches back to New Labour. But, Pogrund warns, as McSweeney lay the foundations for Labour's victory in 2024, losing him would mark a 'revolution in the Starmer project'. Plus: after a slew of bad news for the government, there was one Labour victory this week – at the annual Westminster dog of the year competition. Megan McElroy interviews some of the MPs who took part; we hope their dogs are more loyal than their colleagues... Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Monday

Lucy Dunn

Shabana Mahmood sets out her stall

Shabana Mahmood wasn’t given long in her new gig before facing the media. She became Home Secretary on Friday afternoon, after former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner resigned over an ethics probe into her tax affairs, and this morning set out her stall on immigration. Positioning herself as a ‘whatever it takes’ minister, Mahmood says she is prepared to suspend visas for workers coming to the UK from nations that will not enter into returns deals – bringing Labour into closer alignment with the Conservatives and Reform on its immigration policy.  Mahmood promised she would go ‘further and faster’ than her predecessor Yvette Cooper on the small boats crisis, adding that she was ‘not the sort of person who hangs around’.

Lucy Dunn

Reform MSP: We’ll never have a pro-indy candidate

As of late August, Nigel Farage’s Reform party now has representatives in local government, Westminster, the Welsh Senedd and the Scottish Parliament. The group’s only MSP is Graham Simpson, a frontline Conservative politician for almost ten years, who defected just under a fortnight ago. I caught up with him at the Reform conference – amid deafening tannoy announcements, last-minute timetable shifts and an ongoing government reshuffle – to hear more about the party’s plans for next year’s 2026 Holyrood election.  What exactly attracted Graham Simpson to Reform? ‘I saw the party as something of a blank canvas,’ he explained. The period following his defection was ‘a bit rough’, Simpson told me, visibly uncomfortable on thinking back to the event.

Sunday

Lucy Dunn

Starmer clears out Home Office in reshuffle

On Friday, former Deputy Prime Minister and housing minister Angela Rayner resigned after an ethics probe into her tax affairs was published. The move prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to begin a mass reshuffle of his government, with his new cabinet appointments here. Starmer's timing made it a rather coincidental coup, with the news overshadowing the first day of Nigel Farage's Reform UK conference in Birmingham. And if Farage thought day two of his conference would pass uninterrupted, he was mistaken. Today the PM is reshuffling his junior ministers and the first set of appointments have just been published.

Saturday

Lucy Dunn

The red reshuffle overshadows Reform

14 min listen

Lucy Dunn catches up with Tim Shipman at Reform's party conference, taking place in Birmingham, to get his reaction to Labour's reshuffle. The reshuffle took place following Angela Rayner's resignation from government. Tim argues that it's clear the reshuffle centred around getting Shabana Mahmood into the Home Office, where she can tackle some of the biggest issues for Labour – small boats and asylum hotels. They also round up the goings on at Reform including leader Nigel Farage's speech, who claimed Labour's reshuffle proved an election could be sooner than we think... Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Friday

Lucy Dunn

Starmer completes post-Rayner cabinet reshuffle

Keir Starmer is carrying out a far-reaching reshuffle this afternoon after Angela Rayner resigned from her three roles (Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Minister and deputy Labour leader) following a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. The writing was on the wall for Starmer’s former second-in-command after her own lawyers put out a statement on Thursday in which they claimed to have been scapegoated over the whole ordeal. Now Rayner will move to the backbenches while Starmer galvanises his premiership with a cabinet reshuffle.  There have been significant moves among the most senior ranks of the cabinet. David Lammy is now Deputy Prime Minister. He is also Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor.

Lucy Dunn

Reaction from Reform as Rayner resigns

17 min listen

Angela Rayner has resigned following the ethics probe into her tax affairs. What impact will this have on Starmer's government? And does this hinder her chances of succeeding Starmer one day? The Coffee House Shots team react live from day one of the Reform party conference, which is taking place in Birmingham. What's the mood in the conference hall? And, after Nadine Dorries joined Reform last night, could more former Conservatives follow? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Lucy Dunn

Angela Rayner quits over stamp duty scandal

Angela Rayner has resigned as Deputy Prime Minister after a probe into her tax affairs by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser. Rayner was investigated after it emerged she had underpaid stamp duty when purchasing a seaside apartment in Hove, East Sussex. Sir Keir Starmer hinted on Thursday that he would move to sack Rayner pending the results of the investigation, but Rayner has jumped before she was pushed. Her departure has triggered a cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to take place today. The announcement comes as Nigel Farage kicks off Reform UK’s annual party conference. Rayner's resignation – and the looming cabinet reshuffle – casts a large shadow over Farage's big day.

Thursday

Lucy Dunn

Bell Hotel asylum seeker found guilty of sexually assaulting teenager

Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia who was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, has been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, inciting a child into sexual activity, and harassment without violence. Kebatu did not react as he was found guilty at Chelmsford magistrates’ court of all five counts he was charged with, keeping his hand held to his face. During the proceedings, the court heard that the 38-year-old asylum seeker had approached a group of teenagers and asked a girl back to his room at the hotel to ‘make babies’. The judge told Kebatu the evidence against him was ‘clear and consistent’ and that there was no evidence any of the child witnesses ‘fabricated’ their accounts.

Wednesday

Lucy Dunn

PMQs: Rayner defended as Badenoch flops

17 min listen

Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch faced off in the first Prime Minister’s Questions following summer recess. With the date of the Budget announced that morning, the economy was expected to dominate – which it did, to the surprise of most MPs, who expected Badenoch to attack over the Angela Rayner tax row. The deputy prime minister had admitted that morning she underpaid stamp duty on her flat in Hove. The leader of the opposition did question Starmer on it initially, but as political editor Tim Shipman says she more than missed an open goal. Tim joins Isabel Hardman and Lucy Dunn to discuss how damaging the row is for Rayner – and how damaging PMQs was for Badenoch. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Tuesday

Lucy Dunn

Asylum reform: is Labour bold enough?

18 min listen

Danny Shaw and Tim Shipman join Lucy Dunn for today's Coffee House Shots to talk about the government's reforms to the asylum system. Having worked with Yvette Cooper before, Danny argues that the reforms are a great approach for a long-term solution – but he worries that they are not bold enough for the public mood. Is Labour putting procedure above politics? And, with the migrant hotel issue bubbling under the surface, is the public's patience wearing thin? Plus: as Zack Polanski is elected leader of the Green Party, is Labour about to be out-flanked by two radical populists to its left? The Greens and Jeremy Corbyn's new party could now pose as much of a threat on the left, as Nigel Farage's Reform is doing on the right. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Lucy Dunn

Eco-populist Polanski wins Green leadership race

The Green party leadership contest has finished and the results are in: Zack Polanski is the new leader of the Greens. The insurgent candidate has spent the summer ramping up his social media strategy, pushing his own brand of ‘eco-populism’ and participating in some pretty blistering debates. This has all paid off, with Polanski sailing to victory with 20,411 votes and 85 per cent of the vote. His rivals, former leader co-leadership contender Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, who ran on a joint ticket, receieved just 3,705 votes. Today’s result doesn’t quite mark the end of the Green party’s leadership races, though.

Monday

Lucy Dunn

Yvette Cooper pledges to overhaul Britain’s asylum system

Addressing the Commons today, Yvette Cooper promised the government will overhaul the asylum system. This will include changing the way the appeals system works for asylum claims and the suspension of new family reunion applications. The Home Secretary’s remarks coincide with figures that show the overall number of successful applications for family reunion visas has surged by five times in the last three years. Cooper also hinted that there may be changes to how the ECHR is interpreted. She suggested that Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life, which has been used to help block deportations) may be interpreted differently.

Lucy Dunn

Can Starmer’s No.10 reset save him?

Parliament’s summer recess has just ended and, on his first day back, Sir Keir Starmer has already announced a reset of his Downing Street team. A number of people have moved out – most notably James Lyons, the Prime Minister’s director of communications, who was appointed to the role just last year. It’s only Starmer’s first day back, but it’s certainly not a slow start A selection of new faces will now head to No. 10. The most significant move is Darren Jones, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, whom the PM has poached from Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Jones will oversee Starmer’s day-to-day work, with the new title of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Monday

Lucy Dunn

Can the Lib Dems emulate Reform’s Scottish surge?

19 min listen

Jamie Greene, an MSP for the West of Scotland region, defected earlier this year from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats. Most defections in Scotland – indeed across the UK – seem to be from the Tories to Reform, so what is behind Jamie's motivations to go in a different direction? What are his reflections on the splintering of politics, particularly in Scotland, as we look ahead to next year's Holyrood elections? And does he agree that this is shaping up to be the most consequential Scottish Parliament election of modern times? In Jamie's view, Reform have shown to struggle with power in the areas they've been successful in, but admits that the Liberal Democrats could learn from Reform in some ways. Can the Lib Dems emulate Reform's Scottish surge?

Saturday

Lucy Dunn

Is Britain becoming more sectarian?

22 min listen

Immigration returned to the headlines this week after the High Court granted an injunction forcing the removal of migrants from a hotel in Essex – a ruling that could have wider implications for similar cases across the country. At the same time, the sight of Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses appearing in towns and cities has sparked a debate over whether flag-flying is a symbol of patriotism or a sign of growing division. On today’s Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn is joined by Lord Hannan and trade unionist Paul Embery to ask: what kind of country is Britain becoming? Paul argues that rapid cultural change, combined with economic decline, has left many people feeling disoriented and neglected.

Friday

Lucy Dunn

Tory MSP quits over party’s ‘reactionary politics’

The Scottish Conservatives aren't having the best time of it at the moment. In more bad news for the blues, this morning Jeremy Balfour MSP, the party's social justice spokesperson, has decided to quit over its 'reactionary politics'. In a heartfelt letter to leader Russell Findlay, the Lothian MSP takes aim at his former party for 'no longer [having] a positive platform to offer the people of Scotland' and being uninterested in helping those most in need in society. Balfour has served in the Scottish parliament for almost a decade and held a number of briefs during that time – including on housing, equalities and welfare – and has had his fair share of controversies over abortion buffer zones and benefits for the terminally-ill.