Labour criticises ‘unprecedented’ refusal to allow debate time for motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson
A bitter row has broken out between Labour and the government over Keir Starmer’s plan to table a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s government.
Labour reacted with fury after Downing Street refused to allow parliamentary time for a motion it had tabled, expressing no confidence in the government under Boris Johnson.
Continue reading...Chair of 1922 Committee says candidates will now need 20 MP backers to enter, in move to speed up process
Britain’s new prime minister will be announced on 5 September, it has been announced, as the starting gun was fired on a Tory leadership race that will see the hopefuls whittled down to two by Thursday.
With just two contenders so far having the support of the 20 Tory MPs needed to get them on to the ballot, the nine remaining hopefuls were scrambling to shore up support by Tuesday night before knockout votes begin on Wednesday afternoon, with the first results announced later that day.
Continue reading...Ex-chancellor to kick off his Tory leadership campaign as speculation grows over who could back him
Rishi Sunak will kick off his leadership campaign on Tuesday with a promise to grip inflation and lower taxes, as speculation mounted over which candidates could swing in behind the former chancellor.
Sunak will promise “a return to traditional Conservative economic values – and that means honesty and responsibility, not fairytales.”
Continue reading...Latest updates: joint executive secretary of 1922 committee says process of choosing new PM will be announced today
According to Sky News, supporters of Priti Patel, the home secretary, are saying there isa a “strong but not 100% chance” that she will declare herself as a candidate later today.
Starmer says all the Tory candidates making “wild” promises should say how they will fund them: by cuts, or by borrowing, or from the magic money tree?
Continue reading...Tory MPs are ambivalent on the issue and there is uncertainty over what a caretaker government can do
Channel 4’s privatisation could be dropped by the next prime minister, with plans to sell the channel unlikely to be published before September.
Boris Johnson had already signed off on proposals to sell the publicly owned broadcaster, and the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, had been preparing to push the law authorising the change through parliament in the autumn.
Continue reading...English sprinter Jonnie Peacock edited out of promotional content, along with footage of Oscar Pistorius, after complaint
The Paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock is among several public figures who have asked to be removed from the promotional video released by the Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt as she launched her party leadership bid.
On Sunday morning, Mordaunt, the MP for Portsmouth North, posted the video on her Twitter account with the caption “Our leadership has to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship.”
Continue reading...Follow all the political developments as more candidates join the race to succeed Boris Johnson as Tory party leader and prime minister
Sajid Javid, who resigned as health secretary five days ago, is on BBC’s Sunday Morning discussing his leadership bid.
He says he didn’t want to give up the “very important” post and denies that his resignation was a move coordinated with former chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Union organisation criticises Tory ‘litany of failures on workers’ rights’ five years on from Taylor review
The Trades Union Congress has criticised the Conservative party for “a litany of failures on workers’ rights” as it published analysis showing a rise in insecure jobs in the five years since the government pledged to make work in the UK fairer.
At least 3.7 million people in Britain are in insecure jobs, up from 3.6m in 2021, out of a total workforce of 34 million, according to analysis of government data by the TUC. That compares to 3.2 million in late 2016, before the publication of the Taylor review, a landmark government-backed report on work in the UK.
Continue reading...Former foreign and health secretary attempts to broaden his appeal through alliance with McVey
Jeremy Hunt has said he would make Esther McVey his deputy prime minister if he won the Conservative leadership campaign, as a string of contenders reiterated promises to cut taxes, while being largely vague on how this would be financed.
As a series of the hopefuls toured the TV studios for the Sunday broadcast rounds, Hunt, Grant Shapps, Tom Tugendhat and Sajid Javid all repeated promises to cut taxes, saying this could be funded from efficiencies or growing the economy.
Continue reading...Senior Tories say the former chancellor is the main focus of the ousted leader’s anger as bitter infighting breaks out
Senior Tories accused Boris Johnson of trying to torpedo Rishi Sunak’s bid to succeed him as prime minister – and of refusing to leave No 10 with good grace – as the leadership race descended into bitter infighting.
As a trio of cabinet ministers entered the contest last night, senior MPs said the battle now risked inflicting even more damage on the party than the fall of Margaret Thatcher more than three decades ago.
Continue reading...Cabinet trio add names to increasingly crowded field of candidates to replace Boris Johnson
A trio of cabinet ministers declared they were running for the Tory leadership on Saturday night, amid calls to alter party rules to thin out the increasingly crowded field of candidates.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss, chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and transport secretary Grant Shapps all threw their hats into the ring.
Continue reading...String of candidates announced on Saturday including Kemi Badenoch, Liz Truss, Grant Shapps and Nadhim Zahawi
Tory MP Rehman Chishti has confirmed he is “actively considering” running for leader.
The newly appointed Foreign Office minister retweeted quotes attributed to him by the BBC, stating: “We need leaders who best reflect modern Britain and can provide solutions to the challenges our nation is facing now.”
Continue reading...Conservative MPs fear the race to replace Boris Johnson risks becoming a drawn-out, bitter battle
The race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister was already slipping into acrimony on Saturday as Conservative factions briefed against Rishi Sunak, the early favourite, while one senior MP called for “no hope” candidates to drop out.
With four candidates confirmed, but predictions that up to 15 could put themselves forward as the next Conservative leader, Tory MPs expressed concern at the potential timetable for the race, and the prospect of bitter infighting.
Continue reading...Campaigners warn crucial legislation must not be abandoned while the UK government is distracted
Crucial environment legislation must not be allowed to be sidelined or abandoned amid the distraction of a Tory leadership race, campaigners have warned.
Ministers openly admit they do not know what is going on with much of the legislation, but those who remain in government are working with skeleton teams to get bills in shape to be passed.
Continue reading...Former chancellor says it it time to restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country
More now from the 1922 Committee’s Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who says that while in an “ideal world” deputy PM Dominic Raab would have been made caretaker prime minister after Johnson’s speech yesterday, “that ship has sailed”.
I think in an ideal world, Dominic Raab, as deputy prime minister, should have been the caretaker prime minister, but that ship I think has sailed and we must we must now live with the fact that Boris Johnson will be prime minister until a successor can be voted on.
[Johnson] has said very clearly that he won’t be making any major changes during that period. And I think that is a good thing.
Continue reading...Former chancellor throws his hat into the ring in race to succeed Boris Johnson
Rishi Sunak, who resigned as chancellor this week, has formally announced he is standing to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative party leader, joining the race as one of the favourites.
The announcement came in a slickly edited three-minute video posted on Twitter that emphasised the story of his parents, who emigrated to the UK from India.
Continue reading...Analysis: Research indicates party members are over 60, male and white, yet do not like the same candidates
The final decision on the next Tory leader ultimately falls to the party membership, after MPs vote to narrow the candidates down to two.
This means the decision on the identity of Britain’s future prime minister will be voted on by 200,000 people, more or less. And they are not just ordinary members of the public, they are fee-paying members of the party’s grassroots with their own sets of beliefs.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson says all major fiscal decisions will be left to his replacement
Last night Braverman said she would stand in the Tory leadership contest when Boris Johnson goes.
When it was put to her that she did not have enough experience, Braverman did not accept that. She said she had run a government department, the attorney general’s department.
Continue reading...Analysis: Suella Braverman is lone frontbencher to voice leadership plan as Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid and others hang back
Even before Boris Johnson delivered his ill-tempered exit speech, Conservative MPs’ focus had already switched to who might succeed him – and unlike in 2019, when he had been the prince across the water for months, this time there is no obvious successor.
Rishi Sunak, who walked out of the Treasury on Tuesday within minutes of Sajid Javid quitting, had been widely seen as the frontrunner until a series of missteps, including the botched spring statement.
Continue reading...Outgoing PM confirms no big changes of direction, including about taxation, during race to succeed him
Boris Johnson’s government will not try to implement new policies while the Conservatives choose a new leader, the prime minister has told his cabinet, deepening concerns over paralysis in the aftermath of his resignation announcement.
The prime minister, who has pledged to step aside, said he will not introduce “major changes of direction” including tax decisions over the coming weeks as Tory MPs and party members run an election for his replacement.
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