London Mayor: Two Tories officially throw their hat in the ring to take on Sadiq Khan May 9, 2023 Ex-Boris Johnson advisor Samuel Kasumu and former City Hall Tory chief Susan Hall have announced they plan to stand as Conservative candidate to run against mayor Sadiq Khan. The news came as the party opened the race to decide its mayoral pick ahead of a July 19 deadline, giving the chosen name 10 months to [...]
Starmer refuses to rule out Lib Dem coalition May 9, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to rule out a coalition with the Liberal Democrats if he does not secure a majority at the next general election. The Labour leader on Tuesday refused to rule out a pact with Sir Ed Davey’s party despite emphatically saying he would not team up with the Scottish National [...]
Local elections: Labour now largest party of local government – but predicted to fall short of outright Westminster majority May 6, 2023 Labour have said the Tories’ dire local election results marked a “clear rejection” of Rishi Sunak as they became the largest party of local government since 2002. Sir Keir Starmer was celebrating wins in key battlegrounds as an indication his party was on course to win the next general election. The prime minister was under [...]
Are the Conservatives on course to lose the next general election? May 5, 2023 Local election results are seen as a crucial test for governments – and oppositions. They provide parties with a sense of momentum; a narrative about the country’s direction; and vital data for political number crunchers to pore over. One particularly key metric we can extrapolate from them is the estimated national vote share. Not all [...]
Local elections analysis: Do results suggest fear of complacency was misplaced? May 5, 2023 Poll leads can be a tricky thing for opposition parties, as Labour has shown in recent weeks. Lean in too far and risk appearing complacent. But downplay it too much, and you could fail to capitalise on a popularity boost. What everyone – from activists to frontbenchers – really want is cold, hard evidence of [...]
Local elections: Tories suffer big losses including commuter belt councils Hertsmere, Brentwood, Windsor and Maidenhead May 5, 2023 The Conservatives have been hit by major losses in the local elections – losing over a third of their council seats so far. Losses include key commuter belt councils Hertsmere, Brentwood and Windsor and Maidenhead – which includes former prime minister Theresa May’s constituency. It was prime minister Rishi Sunak’s first significant electoral test since [...]
Sunak: Politics no longer ‘box set drama’ as local elections open May 4, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said politics is moving away from a “box set drama” style following months of turbulence. His comments came on the eve of local elections across England today (4 May) with requirements for voters to present photo ID at the ballot box coming in for the first time. Sunak is facing [...]
Half of Londoners think Sadiq Khan doing ‘badly’, new poll finds April 27, 2023 Half of Londoners say they think Sadiq Khan is doing “badly” at City Hall, polling has found. Exactly 50 per cent rated him as doing “badly” while almost a third (32 per cent) – think the mayor is doing “very badly”, pollsters at YouGov said. Over a third of Londoners – 35 per cent – [...]
Keir Starmer: Diane Abbott’s racism comments were ‘antisemitic’ April 24, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has condemned Diane Abbott’s comments about racism as “antisemitic” and said they will never be accepted in the party. Abbott had the Labour whip suspended after comments suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”. Sir Keir would not say if Abbott should not [...]
Sunak pledges £100m ‘world leader’ AI boost as firms wooed at business summit April 24, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has insisted his government is undertaking “the most transformative changes to financial services regulations since the Big Bang”. Sunak insisted the Financial Services and Markets Bill was a “very significant piece of legislation”. He pledged that once the law was implemented, Solvency II reforms would “unlock tens of billions of pounds [...]