Ancram held role in early 2000s and also served as shadow foreign secretary before entering Lords in 2010
Tributes have been paid to the “stable voice” of the former deputy leader of the Conservative party Michael Ancram, who has died aged 79.
Ancram, known formally as the 13th Marquess of Lothian, held the role under Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard for five years in the early 2000s.
Continue reading...Senior Tories condemn leadership hopeful’s claim UK special forces are killing terrorists over fears that European laws would free detained assailants
Popular Conservatism, or PopCon, has released the results of a survey of party members suggesting more than half of them favour a merger with Reform UK. Some 30% of the respondents said they tended to support the idea, and 23% were strongly in favour. The survey covered 470 members.
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon’s head of communications and a former Brexit party MEP, said:
Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July. It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.
The answer I was often given by people in government at the time was that lockdowns were very popular.
They were getting 60, 70, 80% popularity ratings in the opinion polls. But you mustn’t believe those opinion polls, they’re basically nonsense.
Continue reading...Tory leadership candidate made claim in video calling for UK to leave European convention on human rights
Robert Jenrick is facing condemnation for claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.
In a campaign video launched on X, the Conservative leadership candidate made the statement while listing reasons for leaving the European convention on human rights.
Continue reading...Health secretary is examining case for a comprehensive plan for England to tackle UK’s second-biggest killer
Wes Streeting may revive the use of a dedicated cancer strategy to tackle the UK’s second biggest killer after experts warned the Conservatives’ scrapping of it was “a disaster” for patients.
The health secretary is considering publishing a new comprehensive plan for England, amid record numbers of people being diagnosed with the disease and NHS cancer services struggling to meet demand.
Continue reading...The shadow chancellor said he ‘would have died’ to have had the legacy Rachel Reeves had when he took over
Robert Jenrick has used a campaign rally just outside the Conservative conference to paint the issue of migration in highly stark terms, saying his party will “die” if it does not commit to quitting the European convention on human rights. (See 8.23am.)
Speaking to supporters in a studio theatre at Birmingham Rep, Jenrick repeated his styling of the issue in Brexit terms, saying the choice was between the “leave” of leaving the ECHR or “remain” of staying in it, and that this was a chance to “get migration done”.
This is more than just, ‘leave or amend’ – frankly, our party doesn’t have a future unless we take a stand and fix this problem. It’s leave or die for our party – I’m for leave.
Foreign national offenders in our country,who we have struggled to deport because of our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights – that’s the issue I was raising.
What is the biggest challenge we face as a party?
Our biggest strategic challenge is the fact that the average age above which you are more likely to vote Conservative than Labour is now over 60.
Continue reading...Former chancellor’s solicitor accused of breaching code of conduct by threatening legal action against tax campaigner
Nadhim Zahawi instructed his lawyer to threaten legal action against a tax campaigner who helped reveal that the then chancellor was under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, according to a tribunal document.
Zahawi’s solicitor, Ashley Hurst, is accused of breaching his regulator’s code of conduct by attempting to prevent Dan Neidle from publishing correspondence threatening legal action over the tax expert’s revelations about the then Tory leadership candidate.
Continue reading...With the leadership contenders vying to out-crazy each other, it was Boris – well it would be, wouldn’t it – who outdid them all
See it from the point of view of the Fearless Four. You’ve already seen off the mighty challenge of Priti Patel and Mel Stride, latter-day Tory titans both, so now you’re through to the Birmingham eliminator.
You’ve disappeared through the wormhole into the mephitic swamp where any intelligent life comes to die. Where only the clinically deranged and terminally deluded are to be found. Where the sanest voice is Michael Fabricant’s rug pleading with its owner to be allowed to go home. Welcome to the Tory party conference.
Continue reading...Conservative leadership contenders Jenrick, Cleverly and Tugendhat reject rival’s comments, while Rosie Duffield criticises Keir Starmer
Q: Do you agree with Kemi Badenoch that some cultures are less valid than others?
Jenrick says culture matters. But he says he disagres with Badenoch on immigration numbers. He says he thinks you have to have a cap on numbers. And he also says he believes the UK has to leave the European convention on human rights. He says Badenoch is just talking about developing a plan in a few years time, and that’s “a recipe for infighting and for losing the public’s trust”.
Continue reading...Leadership contender’s team in damage control mode after she is criticised for saying burden on business is ‘excessive’
Kemi Badenoch’s campaign was in damage control mode on the first day of Conservative party conference, as rival candidates criticised comments she made on maternity pay, saying the burden on business was “excessive” and that people should exercise more “personal responsibility”.
Badenoch, the frontrunner among party members in the four-way contest, was forced to twice clarify the comments and emphasise that she “of course” believed in maternity pay. But the comments were seized upon by other candidates, who distanced themselves from Badenoch’s words.
Continue reading...Conservative grandees at the conference in Birmingham fear that none of the candidates can unite the party’s factions
Senior Tories are already predicting that whoever wins the Conservative leadership race is unlikely to survive until the next election, amid criticisms of a “B-list” contest that risks taking the party farther to the right.
Some veteran figures have decided to give this weekend’s conference in Birmingham a miss, fearing the party has learned little from the complete loss of discipline that characterised its final years in government.
Continue reading...Former PM says leadership candidates must understand that party lost election because it ‘trashed our brand’
The Conservatives “failed to see the threat from the Liberal Democrats” while focusing too much on the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Theresa May has said.
Writing in the Times on the eve of the party’s annual conference in Birmingham, Lady May said the remaining candidates for the Tory leadership could “play into Reform’s hands” by failing to understand the reasons behind their electoral humiliation.
Continue reading...Demoralised and in opposition, party delegates are showing little enthusiasm for the candidates – or the event itself
On Tuesday, from a conference stage in Birmingham, four candidates will make their pitches to lead the Conservative party. Their immediate challenge after the Tory rout this summer will be to reinvigorate a hugely demoralised set of MPs and members.
Starting on Sunday, the annual gathering of the Tory faithful – the first in 14 years to be held from opposition – is expected to be a low-key affair. The evening schedule, ordinarily packed with corporate receptions, is sparse.
Continue reading...The billionaire owner of X has reportedly not been invited to Labour’s international investment summit next month
Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a thinktank specialising in race and identity issues, says that it is “courageous” for Kemi Badenoch to endorse Elon Musk as enthusiastically as she has done. (See 9.55am.) As he explains, he is using “courageous” in the Yes Minister sense, as a synonym for rash or unwise.
But Katwala is citing polling about the views of Conservative party voters. It is hard to know what Conservative party members think, because they are harder to poll, and so less polling is available, and they are the group that will ultimately elect the next Tory leader. If their views align with the views of Reform UK voters, then her stance on Musk might help her.
Continue reading...Chancellor will confirm inquiries in conference speech as Labour tries to move on from donations scandal
Rachel Reeves will announce on Monday that she has ordered investigations into more than £600m worth of Covid contracts awarded under the Conservatives as Labour struggles to get back on the front foot over questions of ethics.
After days of bruising allegations over donations, the chancellor will confirm that she will refer more than half of contracts for material such as masks to the incoming Covid corruption commissioner, after the previous government recommended dropping any attempt to investigate them.
Continue reading...Officials predict further gains if next Conservative leader focuses on winning back voters from Reform UK
The Liberal Democrats could take dozens more seats from the Conservatives at the next general election if the Tories select a leader who keeps pushing them to the right, Lib Dem officials believe.
The prediction came as Ed Davey prepared to attack the Conservatives in his leader’s speech to the Lib Dem conference, saying he wants his party to supplant them at “the top table of our politics”.
Continue reading...The first study into Tory shake-up of childcare shows staff are overwhelmed
The first major study into the Conservatives’ controversial shake-up of childcare has revealed that nursery staff are often doing more “crowd control” than education, because of the increased number of children they are looking after.
Since September last year, nurseries in England have been allowed to increase child-to-staff ratios, so one adult now looks after five two-year-olds rather than four. The change was intended to help deliver the party’s pledge of 15 hours’ free childcare a week from this month for working parents of children aged from nine months to three years.
Continue reading...Labour still more popular with voters than Conservative party but those saying they view party and leaders unfavourably has risen
The government’s defence review should consider the importance of Britain being able to “wage peace” as well as war, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, told peers.
In a debate in the House of Lords on Sudan this morning, Welby said the strategic defence review (SDR) announced by Labour should include a “peace-building option”, to stop conflict before it happens.
A peace-building option, well developed and acting in areas of fragility, would extend our influence, protect our interests and guard against fresh waves of migration …
In other words, the SDR should be full spectrum, preparing this nation not only to wage war but to wage peace as well. I fear that may not be the case …
No, absolutely not
And let’s just try to quash this now. The budget is on October 30. So, between now and then, you are all going to ask me questions, as you did before the election, ‘will you rule out X, Y, Z?
Continue reading...Party took £5m after Rishi Sunak condemned businessman for saying Abbott made you ‘want to hate all black women’
Diane Abbott has said the Conservatives are “only paying lip service to fighting racism” after it emerged their controversial donor Frank Hester had given a further £5m to the party before the election.
The donation, made by his company the Phoenix Partnership, brings his total funding to the Tories to more than £20m, cementing his status as their single biggest donor.
Continue reading...British steel industry braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks
Some of Keir Starmer’s critics complain that he overdoes the gloom and negativity when talking about the outlook facing the country. A speech he gave in Downing Street in August is remembered as the ‘things can only get worse’ speech, after he told his audience: “Frankly - things will get worse before we get better.”
But he may be revising the message a bit. Yesterday he held a briefing with Scottish lobby journalists in Downing Street, embargoed until today, and, according to the PA Media report, he told them his government offered a “big message of hope”, despite having had to make decisions which “appear gloomy and hard”.
There is massive hope in this, what we want to do, the change we want to bring about is massive.
It is to make sure the economy is not only growing but growing across the whole of the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, which will be measured in living standards rising, people feeling better off in a material way.
Continue reading...Ex-work and pensions secretary becomes second casualty of contest, leaving four MPs vying to succeed Rishi Sunak
Mel Stride has been knocked out of the race to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader after Robert Jenrick topped the poll of MPs for the second time.
The former work and pensions secretary on Tuesday became the second casualty in the extended leadership contest, which is due to culminate in early November.
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