The cabinet office yesterday published a written statement into the resignation of Sue Gray, stating that it has given a “confidential assessment” to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) about whether she broke civil service rules in taking up a job from Keir Starmer while still a senior civil servant. » Read More
Bullet point by bullet point, 2023 kicked off with Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer swearing their respective oaths at the altar of pragmatism. Trust them and the economy would grow, NHS waiting lists would shorten and the small boats would stop. It was the prime minister’s emphasis on the latter that drove the greatest
Over recent years and months, British politics has grown accustomed to aberrance. But when the Grimond Room doors were closed for the final time on Wednesday afternoon, the lucky witnesses were in no doubt: something remarkable had just happened. A former prime minister — felled only months ago by his party — was asked to
Yesterday’s evening’s announcements that health secretary Sajid Javid, and chancellor Rishi Sunak quit the cabinet have since been followed by a string of other resignations. As it stands, the total tally of resignations is 18. This includes: Rishi Sunak – chancellor Sajid Javid – health secretary Bin Afolami – vice chair Jo Churchill – health…
Christopher Chope, who yesterday blocked plans to undo Andrea Leadsom’s standards motion, was booed in the House of Commons today for telling a female Conservative MP to “apply her mind”. Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, asked how long the Christchurch MP would like to spend debating the issue, saying: “We’ve had almost four-and-a-half…
Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg announced that the government has u-turned on the controversial standards amendment passed yesterday. Rees-Mogg said: “I fear last night’s debate conflated the individual case with the general concern”, despite last night saying it was important to “do the right thing” even when faced with “a degree of opprobrium”. SNP’s…
MPs have voted to reform the parliamentary committee on standards and review the suspension of Owen Paterson by 248 to 221. The amendment to the bill was led by Conservative backbenchers, including Andrea Leadsom, and reportedly pushed through with a three-line-whip. Paterson, who was found by the independent cross-party standards committee to have used his…
One man has been arrested after MP Sir David Amess was allegedly stabbed in an incident during his constituency surgery in Leigh, according to Sky News. The police say they are not looking for anyone else to arrest. The Conservative MP for Southend West was holding a surgery at the Belfairs Methodist Church, according to…
The fall of New Labour in 2010 coincided with a political oddity in UK politics, the first coalition cabinet since 1945. David Cameron and Nick Clegg formed a government that would lead to exceedingly different political outcomes for their respective parties. Eighteen Conservatives, four Liberal Democrats, can you name the coalition cabinet? The post Can…
In his keynote address to the Conservative party’s annual conference this afternoon in Manchester, the Prime Minister outlined his hope to reform the UK economy by tackling regional inequality and slammed Labour’s policies on drugs, crime and the economy. In his first in-person conference speech since the 2019 general election, he began by paying tribute…
