Tom Goodenough

Boris Johnson has just released a statement in response to the terrorist attack at London Bridge this afternoon. Several people were stabbed before a man wearing a fake suicide vest was shot dead by police. The Prime Minister, who returned to Downing Street from his constituency following the incident, said his message to terrorists is that 'this country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack'. Here is his full statement: ‘I’ve just been briefed by the commissioner and assistant commissioner of the metropolitan police about the events at London Bridge this afternoon. While this is an ongoing investigation, the police can confirm that this was a terrorist incident.

Voters dislike Jo Swinson the more they see her. That was the verdict of a poll this week revealing that even Remain voters are turning away from the Lib Dem leader, despite the party's fervent anti-Brexit pitch. In the summer, those asked about Swinson were apathetic: they didn’t know who she was. Now that she is more familiar, people are not impressed. For those who want Britain to stay in the EU – and even for the public generally – Swinson is not as popular as her party. It’s a brave move then for the Lib Dems to put Swinson front and centre of their general election campaign. The party’s battle bus is emblazoned with a big picture of Swinson alongside the caption: ‘Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats’.

Croydon Central’s last Tory MP wrote the book on how to win a marginal constituency. At the 2017 election, Gavin Barwell subsequently lost his seat. Now Barwell’s ex-Downing Street colleague is determined to win it back. So what went wrong last time? And will things really be different for the Tories two years on? Mario Creatura says the mistakes at the last snap election were made in SW1, not CR0 and he is optimistic there won't be a repeat. While the election night result came as a surprise to many, Creatura says the warning signs emerged in the fortnight before Britain went to the polls: ‘There was a clear turning point about two weeks before polling day.

Alun Cairns has resigned as Wales Secretary following claims he knew about a former aide's role in the collapse of a rape trial. Cairns said he made the decision to quit 'in light of continued speculation' over what he called a 'sensitive matter'. Cairns' former advisor Ross England was condemned by a judge after making claims in court about a rape victim's sexual history. His remarks led to the trial's collapse in April 2018. Cairns said he did not know about the case but BBC Wales subsequently reported that the Tory MP was sent an email last year making reference to the trial.

Will the Tories' election gamble pay off? Or will Boris Johnson follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and regret his decision to call a snap poll? Win or lose, the Boris's fortunes are likely to be decided in a handful of marginal seats up and down the country. If the Conservatives can win back Brexit party voters – and also stave off a challenge from the Lib Dems – then PM Boris could enjoy the kind of healthy majority which eluded Theresa May. But if he loses, Britain could wake up to Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10 on 13 December. These are the seats which will determine who wins: 1: North East Fife If one voter had stayed at home at the June 2017 snap election, North East Fife could have had a different MP.

Britain is heading for an election on 12 December. MPs are currently voting to confirm the Government's preferred date for a snap poll after the Commons rejected Jeremy Corbyn's bid to shift the polling date to 9 December. Earlier today Jeremy Corbyn confirmed Labour would back Boris Johnson's plan for a snap poll. The Labour leader told the shadow cabinet this morning that he would vote in favour of calling an election now that the party's condition of 'taking no deal off the table has now been met'. Corbyn said: 'We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen'.

Boris Johnson has suffered defeat in a key Commons vote after MPs voted down his bid to fast track his Brexit bill through Parliament. MPs voted 322 to 308 not to push the legislation through Parliament in three days. The Prime Minister's bill initially cleared its first hurdle in the Commons after MPs backed the withdrawal bill. MPs voted for a second reading of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill by 329 votes to 299, a majority of 30. But the victory was reversed in a subsequent vote to approve the PM's programme motion. Defeat means that the UK is now highly unlikely to leave the EU on 31 October.

The government has been defeated in the Commons after MPs backed the Letwin amendment by 322 to 306. The vote means Brexit could be delayed until the withdrawal bill and all relevant legislation has come into force. Ten ex-Tory rebels, including Philip Hammond, Dominic Grieve and Amber Rudd, voted against the government. The Prime Minister responded to the defeat by saying the 'opportunity to have a meaningful vote has been passed up'. Boris Johnson also insisted he would not negotiate a delay to Brexit with the European Union. The PM told the Commons: 'I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law require me to do so,' Oliver Letwin reacted to the vote by insisting that he still wanted Britain to leave the EU on 31 October.

Could the EU ride to Boris Johnson’s rescue over the coming weeks, not by offering a new Brexit deal but by ruling out an extension altogether? It would certainly be one way for the government to get around the Benn Act, which requires the Prime Minister to request an extension if he doesn’t get a deal by 19 October but doesn’t dictate what the EU will say in response. The Prime Minister suggested this morning that a refusal to grant an extension could be what the government is hoping for, telling the EU on the Today programme: ‘I think it would be a mistake to keep the UK bound in beyond the time people want to come out’. A similar view was put forward by Jacob Rees-Mogg at a Politeia Brexit fringe event last night at Tory conference.

Brexit is seen by some as the Conservative curse. The theory goes that David Cameron called the referendum to resolve the EU problem once and for all, only for this to blow up in his – and his party’s – face. Where this was once a Tory issue, now it is everyone’s problem. But might that view be wrong? And might Brexit actually be a big opportunity, rather than a hindrance, for the Conservatives to win over supporters who would never in their wildest dreams have even thought about voting Tory? That’s the view put forward by Esther McVey, who spoke of her experiences on the doorstep, and how she thought Brexit has changed what people now say about her party.

Boris Johnson will be Britain's new prime minister after winning the Tory leadership race. Boris picked up 92,153 votes, or 66.4 per cent. His rival Jeremy Hunt won 46,656 votes, or 33.6 per cent. Turnout in the leadership race was 87.4 per cent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTASH_xM9qw Boris Johnson paid tribute to Jeremy Hunt after his win was announced. He said Hunt had been 'friendly' and 'goodnatured' on the campaign trail. Boris also thanked Theresa May: 'Above all, I want to thank our outgoing leader for her extraordinary service,' he told an audience at the QEII centre. Donald Trump congratulated Boris on his election, saying that the new Tory leader 'will be great'. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1153628242529722369?

Boris Johnson has undergone a makeover and no, it’s got nothing to do with his tidier hair and vanishing paunch. While Boris's girlfriend Carrie Symonds has been busy transforming his appearance, journalists are now doing their bit to rebrand Boris too. I’m talking of course about Boris becoming Mr Johnson. A ‘request’ from Channel 4’s Louisa Compton is doing the rounds telling reporters to ‘STOP referring to Boris Johnson as just ‘Boris’. She says: ‘He’s a politician - we shouldn’t use first names for politicians - doing so is over-familiar and gives the impression they’re our mates, or much loved comedy characters’.

Boris Johnson won a landslide victory in the first round of the Tory leadership contest. The frontrunner picked up 114 votes – 71 more than his nearest rival, Jeremy Hunt. Andrea Leadsom, Mark Harper and Esther McVey were eliminated from the contest after the trio all failed to reach the threshold of 17 votes that they needed to make it through to the next round. Michael Gove came third with 37 votes and Dominic Raab fourth with 27. Sajid Javid came fifth with 23 votes. Matt Hancock came seventh with 20 votes. And Rory Stewart scrapped through to the next round with 19 votes.

As the race to replace Theresa May heats up, Operation Stop Boris is now in full swing. Boris Johnson remains the clear frontrunner to win the Tory leadership contest and his critics are determined to prevent him doing so at any cost. But his detractors should learn an important lesson from the referendum campaign: going after Boris is bound to backfire. Boris’s critics are determined to have another go, with his Tory rivals queuing up to take a pop. Matt Hancock is the latest to hit out with his jibe ‘f**k ‘f**k business’, a reference to Boris’s comments about lobbyists warning of the damage of a no-deal Brexit. Jeremy Hunt has also targeted Boris. So, too, has roaming leadership candidate Rory Stewart.

Has Labour finally got the message on Brexit? Since the referendum, the party has attempted to be all things to all people: keeping Brexiteers happy while doing its best not to alienate remainers. But in the wake of the party’s disastrous performance in the European elections overnight, it seems that the fence-sitting might now finally be over. Labour came third, with its share of the vote falling by 11 per cent to just 14 per cent – a message from voters that has this morning led John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, to apparently come out in favour of a second referendum: https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1132911401750679552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw This looks like the clearest indication yet that Labour will back another vote on Brexit.

The Tories have lost over 1000 seats as both major parties were hit by a Brexit backlash in the local elections overnight. The Conservatives are down 1323 councillors, while Labour lost 77 representatives compared to 2015. Theresa May said voters had sent the 'simple message' that her party had to 'get on' with delivering Brexit. Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the results were a clear sign of voter dissatisfaction over Brexit: https://twitter.com/johnmcdonnellMP/status/1124210656146862080?