Rishi Sunak to meet monarch after Liz Truss chairs her final cabinet meeting at 9am
I’m Helen Sullivan, with for the next while. If you have questions or see news we may have missed, you can get in touch on Twitter here.
We’re expected to hear from Nadhim Zahawi, who made a dizzying U-turn from supporting Johnson to supporting Sunak yesterday, on Sky News at 07.05 this morning.
Continue reading...New Tory leader says he will put an end to party’s psychodrama and focus on ‘policies not personalities’
Rishi Sunak warned the Conservatives it was time to “unite or die” as he prepared to enter No 10 as the first person of colour to become UK prime minister.
He said he would put an end to the Conservative psychodrama and vowed to prioritise “policies not personalities”, starting with a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday . His allies briefed he would reach across the party, in stark contrast to the divisive purges of Liz Truss or Boris Johnson.
Continue reading...Practicals may be sorted, yet Truss will face her most difficult task, carving out role on Tory backbench as former PM
While Liz Truss’s official spokesperson insisted she was still “working from Downing Street” on Monday, in reality she has just one more real task left from what will be precisely 50 days as prime minister: departing from the role.
In a chronology now familiar to UK politics watchers, after chairing a farewell cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, the much used No 10 lectern will be brought outside for Truss to make a final, brief statement, at about 10.15am.
Continue reading...Former chancellor looked finished when he lost to Liz Truss – but out of chaos has come a ‘coronation’
One of the many unlikely knock-on effects of Liz Truss’s ultra-brief time as prime minister is the fact that when her successor walks into No 10, the political obituaries that calmly wrote him off as the nearly man of modern UK politics will be just seven weeks old.
Had Boris Johnson successfully returned it would have been viewed, with reason, as an extraordinary and unprecedented comeback. But in some ways Rishi Sunak’s career resurrection has been just as unlikely.
Continue reading...As Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt drop out, the 1922 Committee manages to dodge a democratic vote
It all panned out about as well as the Conservative party could have hoped. A new leader – the right leader, as far as MPs were concerned – elected in a matter of days. No general election. Heaven forbid. A failed state couldn’t be doing with that level of democracy. Never trust the people you’re intending to govern.
Not even a parochial, controlled election of the Conservative gerontocratic membership. That hadn’t worked out so well the last time they had tried it. No, now was the time to reduce the electorate from 180,000 down to 357 MPs. That was the way to govern the UK. Men and women who could be trusted to put the interests of themselves and their party ahead of those of the country. A higher calling than simple patriotism.
Continue reading...Indians react to news UK will have its first Hindu PM and consider how it will affect bilateral ties
As Rishi Sunak prepares to become the UK’s next prime minister at the start of the festival of Diwali – when Hindus pray to the goddess Lakshmi for prosperity and success – in India some Hindus celebrated the fact that someone sharing their religion had reached such high office in the UK.
“To have a Hindu inside 10 Downing Street is something astonishing and of great joy, and that too on Diwali,” said Satish Verma, a supermarket owner in Delhi. “Although he is British, it will make us Hindus proud that one of us made it so big.”
Continue reading...Guy Hands says Conservatives are putting country ‘on a path to be sick man of Europe’
The billionaire businessman Guy Hands has accused the Conservatives of putting the UK “on a path to be the sick man of Europe”, as he issued a series of stark predictions about what could lie ahead for the post-Brexit economy, including higher taxes and interest rates and fewer social services.
The founder and chair of the private equity firm Terra Firma, a longtime Tory supporter, called for the government to renegotiate Brexit, stating that otherwise the British economy was “frankly doomed”.
Continue reading...The UK newspaper front pages cover the latest in twist in the Tory leadership battle
Boris Johnson’s sudden exit from the Tory leadership race fills the UK front pages on Monday.
The Guardian goes with, “‘Not the right time’: Johnson out of race to lead the Tories”. The paper writes that the “Former PM struggled for backing” and that his “withdrawal leaves Sunak as frontrunner in battle for No 10”.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson dropped out of the race, and Rishi Sunak has secured at least 165 supporters
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has ended his bid to return to power within months of being ousted, claiming that although he had the numbers, he would not run to replace Liz Truss, who resigned as Conservative party leader on Thursday after just 45 days in office. Johnson claimed to have won the support of 102 colleagues – two clear of the threshold needed – but only about 60 had publicly stated their support for him.
Johnson said he reached the decision reluctantly after recognising he would not lead “a united party in parliament”. He said, “In the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do,” and, “You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak praised Johnson on Twitter late on Sunday, noting Johnson “delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out” and “led our country through some of the toughest challenges we have ever faced”. Britain would “always be grateful to him for that”, he wrote, adding, “I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”
Sunak appears set to become party leader and prime minister. He ended Sunday with more than 165 supporters ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline. Sunak came second in the race against Truss over the summer.
The chances of a general election have risen, according to some estimations. Johnson supporter Nadine Dorries has said an election was now “impossible to avoid”. Labour, which has opened up huge poll leads, is demanding an election. Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, said: “The Tories are about to hand the keys of the country to Rishi Sunak without him saying a single word about how he would govern. No one voted for this. Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago, he was trounced by Liz Truss.”
Contender Penny Mordaunt, who missed out on the last contest’s run-off by just eight votes, will now come under pressure to concede rather than force the contest to a vote of members. However a source on the Mordaunt campaign insisted her campaign was continuing and that she wanted to get on the ballot so party members could decide the result.
Johnson and Sunak held talks late into Saturday night, according to reports. The ex-leader also reportedly spoke on Sunday to Mordaunt, who was said to have rebuffed his calls to back him, noting her supporters were likely to split more for Sunak.
Mordaunt could yet win over any former Johnson supporters who want to stop Sunak. Each needs to submit nominations by 2pm on Monday. If both get more than 100 nominations, 150,000 Tory members will be asked to decide the result.
Sunak launched his official campaign with a declaration that “fixing the economy” was his priority, but he gave no media interviews or formal manifesto. If Sunak succeeds on Monday he will become Britain’s first non-white PM, and as a Hindu, his victory will be sealed on Diwali.
Mordaunt spoke to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, telling her she would be a “halfway house” between Sunak and Johnson but refused to be drawn on any economic policies or decisions on tax and spending.
A survey by Conservative pollster James Johnson still found all three Tory candidates had negative favourability. The survey found that Johnson was on -24, Mordaunt -15 and Sunak -2.
Continue reading...More than 165 MPs declare for ex-chancellor after Johnson said he would not run despite claiming he had 102 supporters
Boris Johnson has withdrawn from the race to be Conservative leader, leaving Rishi Sunak within touching distance of becoming prime minister.
After senior Tories warned a Johnson comeback would lead to chaos by the end of the week, the former prime minister admitted he did not have the backing of enough MPs to lead a united party.
Continue reading...However much the ex-PM blew his own trumpet he knew he did not have enough MPs on side to get back to No 10
For all Boris Johnson’s habitually coy language about his leadership ambitions, one thing is abundantly clear: he only withdraws from a political race if he thinks he cannot win it. And so it was on Sunday night.
The former prime minister’s statement confirming his decision to not stand was a classic of this Johnson genre: equal parts bullish insistence about his own ability to triumph, and a pretend modesty that he is choosing another path for the sake of unity.
Continue reading...Heaton-Harris says he doesn’t have any details about the talks between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson last night.
“I was really pleased that they had talks, but I don’t know what transpired from them. I will be speaking to Boris shortly. It’s really important that the party comes together and unifies and shows we are serious about governing.
Continue reading...Ex-chancellor announces candidacy for Tory leadership contest as allies of Boris Johnson say he is planning to run
Rishi Sunak has won the backing of former rival Suella Braverman as he formally declared he would stand to be Conservative leader, while allies of Boris Johnson said he was still planning to run.
The former chancellor announced his candidacy on Twitter, after coming second in the previous contest against Liz Truss.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak hold talks as deadline for nominations approaches on Monday
Senior Tories are engaged in a frantic campaign to stop Boris Johnson staging a dramatic return to Downing Street, with claims he would cause further economic damage and risk “the end of the Conservative party”.
Johnson’s team was claiming on Saturday night that he had privately secured the support of the 100 MPs necessary for entering the race, despite only 55 backing him in public. The assertion was immediately disputed by MPs and rival leadership campaign sources. Johnson released a photo of himself lobbying an MP on the phone, but his allies on Saturday night could not confirm he would officially enter the contest to win back the leadership he was deposed from just months ago.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson arrives back in UK from Dominican Republic but Penny Mordaunt so far only confirmed runner to succeed Liz Truss
The Conservative former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab said he was “confident” Rishi Sunak would run and was the “standout candidate” in the field.
He said Sunak had been “consistently right” on the economy in the face of the “fundamental” economic challenges the country faces as well as the “crisis of confidence and trust” in the government. Raab told Sky News:
I think again he is the best-placed candidate to restore that trust, get a government of all the talents across the Conservative party and get the government focused relentlessly on going forward on the priorities of the British people.
Continue reading...Former PM Johnson and ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak dominate front pages as the contest for the Conservative party’s top job intensifies
The Conservative party leadership race fills newspaper front pages with a focus on the possible return of Boris Johnson to the top job.
Rishi Sunak, whose backers claim he has passed the threshold of 100 MPs needed to get on the ballot paper, also featured prominently as the contest intensified.
Continue reading...Former health secretary backs former chancellor for PM; Cop26 president backs ex-PM; leader of the Commons announces candidacy
Meanwhile, two out of five maternity units in England are providing substandard care to mothers and babies, the NHS watchdog has warned.
“The quality of maternity care is not good enough,” the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said in its annual assessment of how health and social care services are performing.
Continue reading...Number of publicly declared MPs is growing as three candidates emerge as favourites in the race
The number of publicly declared MPs who are backing potential candidates for the Conservative leadership is growing, with three key figures emerging: the former chancellor Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, and Penny Mordaunt, the current leader of the House of Commons. Each candidate will need at least 100 signatures to make it to the first round of voting on Monday.
As of 2:10pm on Sunday, Sunak was leading the field having received 135 public nominations.
Continue reading...The mood among backbench Conservatives after PM’s resignation seems to be overwhelmingly one of relief
There are countless indignities in becoming the briefest-serving UK prime minister of all time, and a new one arrived on Friday morning when a No 10 official was able to confirm that Liz Truss had moved into the Downing Street flat – but not whether she had had enough time to fully unpack.
Truss is spending the weekend at another prime ministerial residence, the country retreat of Chequers, where she will presumably reflect on the month and a half of chaos she visited on herself and the nation, a headily compressed incumbency that ended with Thursday’s 89-second resignation speech.
Continue reading...As Starmer calls for general election, candidates scrabble to win nominations from at least 100 MPs to join race
Liz Truss announced on Thursday she was quitting No 10 after a calamitous 45 days in office, triggering a Tory leadership contest, with Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson battling it out to become Britain’s next prime minister.
At a lectern outside Downing Street during another tumultuous day, Truss admitted that she could not deliver the radical economic mandate on which she was elected by Conservative members.
Continue reading...