Tom Goodenough is online editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
Amber Rudd didn’t pull her punches during the referendum campaign when she aimed her fire at Boris Johnson. During a heated ITV debate, she said this about Boris: ‘Boris? Well, he’s the life and soul of the party but he’s not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening. This
From our UK edition
Angela Eagle’s leadership launch has so far been characterised by one thing: her terrible timing. When she announced her bid to run against Jeremy Corbyn on Monday, journalists abandoned her speech after Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the Tory race at the same moment – leaving Eagle desperately trying to find anyone left in the
From our UK edition
David Cameron’s final PMQs brought out the best of the House of Commons. There was a good balance of wit, wisdom, jokes and also accountability as the PM and Corbyn traded off for the final time over the despatch box. The SNP did their best to spoil the party by bringing Cameron crashing back to
From our UK edition
Owen Smith has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the Labour leadership contest. But the question on many people’s lips is: who is he? A recent poll of Welsh Labour voters showed that 69 per cent had no idea who Smith was. So whilst Angela Eagle’s leadership bid launch might have been overshadowed
From our UK edition
On the day Theresa May takes control at No.10 in a comparatively seemly transition, the Labour party is in the midst of the biggest crisis in its history. Jeremy Corbyn will be on the ballot paper in what looks set to be a messy and fractious leadership contest. He also looks likely to win: in
From our UK edition
Signing a petition calling for a referendum re-run might seem rather futile after the Brexit vote was done and dusted. But it seems that the four million people who did just that and put pen to paper haven’t completely wasted their time after all. The petition, which said that the Government should hold a re-run
From our UK edition
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Mark Carney’s clash at this morning’s Treasury Committee was a masterclass in passive aggressiveness veiled in pleases and thankyous. From the words being said, it wasn’t clear there was any enmity in the room. But Carney’s expressions couldn’t have made things clearer: there is certainly no love lost between these two. Before
From our UK edition
There were no great bombshells being dropped elsewhere or dramas unfolding in the Tory leadership race to distract attention away from Angela Eagle during her interview this morning on Today. But the Labour leadership hopeful might have been wishing there had been. It’s a big day for Eagle, with the party’s NEC deciding today whether
From our UK edition
David Cameron is now in in his last full day in Downing Street and already all eyes are on the woman who will replace him. Theresa May is on the front of every newspaper this morning as she prepares to take over at No.10. Here’s how the papers have greeted Britain’s new PM-in-waiting: The Daily
From our UK edition
Theresa May’s speech outside Parliament was all about conciliation: she made a point of paying tribute to Andrea Leadsom and David Cameron before giving a brief summary of what May’s Britain will look like. She said her focus was on uniting Britain and, once again, she spelt out that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ – a phrase she has used again and
From our UK edition
David Cameron has given his backing to Theresa May and he’s also confirmed that by Wednesday evening, he’ll be out of Downing Street for good. The Prime Minister said that tomorrow he’ll chair his last Cabinet and that Wednesday’s PMQs will be his final appearance at the despatch box. During his brief statement just now,
From our UK edition
As leadership launches go, the timing could not have been worse for Angela Eagle. Moments before she was due to set out her pitch, rumours started to circulate that Andrea Leadsom was dropping out of the race for the Tory leadership. By the time Eagle had actually started speaking, Leadsom was elsewhere reading a statement confirming
From our UK edition
Andrea Leadsom initially tried to go on the attack following the row over her motherhood comments sparked by an article in the Times on Saturday. Today, the Tory leadership candidate appears to be attempting a different technique to put out this fire for good. At first, she was ‘disgusted’ by the presentation of the piece
From our UK edition
Just when it looked as though Britain’s vacuum Government had enough on its plate, the junior doctors row – which many had hoped had finished – will now bubble on. BMA members have just voted to reject the Government’s contract offer by 58 per cent to 42 per cent. The margin was convincing enough that
From our UK edition
Stephen Crabb is one of the least experienced candidates in this Tory leadership contest and that was on show during his interview on the Today programme just now. To his credit, Crabb – unlike Theresa May – has made it clear that he doesn’t want EU citizens living in the UK to be ‘negotiating chips’
From our UK edition
Voting kicks off today amongst Tory MPs in the first round of ballots to decide who will be Prime Minister. Little seems certain about the outcome of a leadership election which has already offered up much drama in the first week. But based on the large support of Conservative MPs gathering behind Theresa May, it
From our UK edition
Nigel Farage has joined the growing list of politicians to resign after stepping aside as Ukip leader this morning. It was a surprise move, which Farage said was brought about by him feeling that he had ‘done his bit’ following the Brexit vote last month. In a speech, the Ukip leader said that he wanted
From our UK edition
Andrea Leadsom is the last of the five candidates to launch her bid for the Tory leadership. But if the bookies odds are anything to go on, she is rapidly emerging as a potential frontrunner in this race. Many will view Leadsom as one of the ‘Brexit candidates’ in this fight. Somewhat refreshingly, though, she
From our UK edition
Nigel Farage has resigned as Ukip leader. Farage announced his decision to stand aside as the party’s leader in a speech this morning. In a surprise move, Farage said that the Brexit vote meant that his ‘political ambition has been achieved’ and that he was calling time on his leadership of the party. He said:
From our UK edition
Dropping out of the Tory leadership race does mean one good thing for Boris: he can now go back to throwing rocks from the sidelines. Having landed himself in hot water last week with his Telegraph column in which he appeared to offer both freedom of movement for Brits abroad whilst introducing a much stricter
