Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
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Thangam Debbonaire was born in Peterborough to an Indian father and English mother. She has been an MP since 2015 but before Parliament spent over 25 years working to end domestic violence. She served under Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Minister for Arts and Heritage and has served in Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet since his leadership
George Galloway is back. The former Labour MP has triumphed in the Rochdale by-election, taking the seat from Starmer’s party with a majority of 5,697. Galloway – standing for the Workers Party of Britain – won comfortably with nearly 40 per cent of the vote at 12,335 votes. The independent candidate David Tully came in
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Today, the long-awaited Home Office-commissioned Angiolini Inquiry into Wayne Couzens has been published. Couzens had kidnapped, raped and murdered 33-year-old Sarah Everard three years ago. The findings were chilling, revealing that numerous opportunities to stop Couzens throughout his policing career were missed. Katy Balls talks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman about where politicians failed
Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump’s former director of communications, has a phrase that sums up his old boss’s effect on political debate: ‘the universe bends towards him’. In the US, discussion about this year’s election is all about Trump. But he is exerting the same gravitational pull in Britain, both on the Tories as they face
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Liz Truss continues to haunt Rishi Sunak. Labour leader Keir Starmer took aim at her recent exploits at CPAC in the US during prime minister’s questions today. Starmer called on the prime minister to remove the whip after Truss claimed that her premiership was sabotaged by the ‘deep state’. What’s Truss up to this time?
In a week’s time, Jeremy Hunt will stand up at the despatch box and unveil the Spring Budget. This event has long been seen by Tory MPs as a key marker ahead of the general election. It is the last big set piece event in the calendar between now and the short campaign. Ministers, too,
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Until recently the government’s independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, David Neal has been in front of the Home Affairs select committee today to hit out at his erstwhile employers. Cindy Yu talks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls on the episode about Neal’s abrupt sacking and just how ‘independent’ an independent inspector can
It’s day five of the Lee Anderson debacle and the row shows no signs of abating. Rishi Sunak is having to defend from both sides his decision to withdraw the whip from the red wall MP – who represents the marginal seat of Ashfield – after Anderson used a GB News appearance to say that ‘Islamists
Rishi Sunak withdrew the whip from Lee Anderson on Saturday over his claim that Sadiq Khan had ‘given our capital away’ to Islamists, who he referred to as Khan’s ‘mates’. Two days on, the row is still dominating the media, with the BBC running a live blog on the issue. This morning, the Prime Minister
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Conservatives are divided over Lee Anderson’s suspension, with some believing that if he apologises for comments made about Sadiq Khan, he should be allowed to return. This has sparked new concerns about the Tory party having a problem with Islamophobia, worsened by Liz Truss appearing at an event with Steve Bannon who has also been
Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative party this afternoon after saying on GB News that Islamists controlled Sadiq Khan. Will Rishi Sunak miss having the Ashfield MP in his party? Will Anderson join reform? Max Jeffery speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative party following comments he made about Sadiq Khan. The former deputy party chairman used an appearance on GB News on Friday to claim the London mayor had ‘given our capital away’ to Islamists, who he referred to as Khan’s ‘mates’. This afternoon a spokesperson for Chief Whip
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In this special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Katy Balls is joined by Tom Baldwin, author of a new authorised biography of Labour leader Keir Starmer. Tom tells Katy why Starmer is such a complex character, his struggle to get the leader of the opposition to open up – particularly about his relationship with
The dust is settling in the House of Commons after an explosive evening in the Chamber on Wednesday night. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to upend tradition and allow a Labour amendment to an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza saw both Conservative and Scottish National party MPs turn on Hoyle. The Speaker
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The Commons descended into farce and chaos last night. The SNP were not able to vote on their own motion on their own Opposition Day debate; the Conservatives walked out of the chamber in protest; and Lindsay Hoyle seemed tearful as he seemed to apologise for how the Gaza debate went down. On the episode,
Nine years ago, when Rishi Sunak was campaigning to be the Conservative candidate for Richmond in Yorkshire, he knew his background wouldn’t work in his favour. Here was a millionaire City slicker – fresh from a spell in Silicon Valley – standing in a rural safe seat against local rivals. William Hague, who was retiring
Ahead of the SNP’s opposition day debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the expectation was that it could herald Keir Starmer’s biggest rebellion to date. Labour MPs – including some frontbenchers – warned that they would back the SNP motion unless Labour moved its position. Instead, the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s
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Sir Keir Starmer can breathe a sigh of relief this afternoon, thanks to Lindsay Hoyle. The Speaker has selected Labour’s amendment on a Gaza ceasefire, which means that a likely mass rebellion from Labour MPs will be averted. SNP and Tory MPs are furious at Hoyle, and say that he has tried to rewrite the
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Today Keir Starmer has moved his party’s position on a ceasefire in Gaza as he seeks to quell what could the biggest rebellion of his leadership. MPs will vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with Labour set to add its own amendment to the SNP motion tomorrow. For the first time, Labour is calling
Keir Starmer has moved his party’s position on a ceasefire as he seeks to quell what could the biggest rebellion of his leadership. Tomorrow MPs will vote on an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. When MPs voted on a similar motion in a similar vote three months ago, 56 Labour MPs