Badenoch: Cut benefits to fund £10bn defence spending package September 2, 2026 Kemi Badenoch has urged the government to cut housing benefits, child benefits and re-route public investment in order to fund a £10bn boost on defence spending every year. The Tory leader, who had previously called for an increase in defence expenditure without laying out full funding plans, said that Chancellor John Healey “should adopt” plans [...]
Burnham refuses to rule out more borrowing and blames Tories for debt crisis September 2, 2026 Andy Burnham has refused to rule out borrowing more and raising taxes to fund his government’s spending plans, as he blamed the UK’s vulnerability to a global bond rout on the Conservatives. Speaking at his first Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham said spiralling debt costs in the UK, which have hit near two-decade highs in recent [...]
Kemi Badenoch’s reshuffle has refreshed the Conservative Party September 1, 2026 Sacking Mel Stride and promoting new faces like Katie Lam – along with appointing a shadow Chancellor who believes in private enterprise, is a signal of intent, says Oliver Dean For roughly two years, Kemi Badenoch had kept the same old team in place. Mel Stride as shadow Chancellor; Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary. [...]
Badenoch bets on experience as Griffith and Tugendhat claim shadow cabinet top spots August 31, 2026 Andrew Griffith has been announced as the new shadow chancellor, replacing Sir Mel Stride in a Conservative Party reshuffle carried out before parliament returns on Tuesday. Griffith, who was the shadow business secretary, will now lead on economic policy for the Tories heading up a new Conservative Economics Unit. Kemi Badenoch’s decision to sack Stride [...]
Cleverly announces bid to run for London mayor August 29, 2026 James Cleverly has quit from Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet in order to launch his bid to run for mayor of London. Cleverly, who was the shadow housing and local government secretary, said he would put himself forward for the Conservatives’ candidacy for London mayor. He said the capital needed someone who “is prepared to fight [...]
Tories say households could save £540 a year by scrapping net zero August 18, 2026 The Conservatives have said that households could save about £540 a year after 2030 if net zero regulations are scrapped with a commitment to make energy as cheap as possible. A report published by centre-right think tank Onward and backed by the Tories said the cost of net zero came to an extra £540 per [...]
The Burnham bounce won’t last unless Brits get better off August 12, 2026 Andy Burnham’s approval ratings are soaring but Labour’s overall vote has only moved moderately. The real test will be the Budget, says Matthew Lesh Andy Burnham has undoubtedly had a significantly stronger start to his premiership than Keir Starmer. Just two years ago, the government got off to a rotten beginning by signalling tax rises [...]
Burnham bounce: PM gets popularity boost – at Farage’s expense August 10, 2026 Andy Burnham scored a sharp boost in popularity ratings in July just as Nigel Farage’s ratings cratered, new polling has found. The latest City AM/Freshwater Strategy poll of UK voters has shown that Burnham’s approval ratings jumped by 12 points in July from a net score of zero, making him the most positively received figure [...]
Has Nigel Farage peaked too soon? July 30, 2026 Whisper it but Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s ascendancy appears to be over, and the next election could be a straight Labour vs Conservatives fight, says Tom Harwood In May last year, when Keir Starmer dragged the nation’s political press along to a glass manufacturing centre in Warrington, everyone was a little baffled. While some [...]
Silly season is upon us but politics will get serious soon enough July 29, 2026 In May, Reform MP Danny Kruger unveiled a substantial piece of work “setting out Reform’s plans for the centre of government, shaped by the research of the Preparation for Government team.” His 5,000 word article went into huge detail about the structural changes his party intends to make to Whitehall and the machinery of government. [...]