James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
Boris Johnson’s decision to pull out of the Tory leadership contest averts a nightmare scenario where he had got the support of less than a third of the parliamentary party and was then returned to Downing Street by the member’s vote (though, I think the result of that ballot was becoming less and less certain).
14 min listen
Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss the latest party leader endorsements by MPs and the likelihood that the next Prime Minister will be in 10 Downing Street by tomorrow.
Rishi Sunak has now formally declared that he is running to be Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party. In a statement released online, he says he is running to ‘fix our economy, unite our party and deliver for our country’. With well over 100 backers, Sunak — who I should say I have
16 min listen
James Heale, James Forsyth and Katy Balls discuss whether the Tories are an impossible coalition to preside over.
We have the first declared candidate of this Tory leadership contest. Penny Mordaunt has just taken to Twitter to announce she is running. Given that Mordaunt got more than 100 votes in the final parliamentary round, she has a pretty good chance of making the 100 nominations threshold. Now we wait to see if there
15 min listen
Whilst no candidate has officially declared their candidacy for the Tory leadership race, speculation is rife about a possible Boris Johnson return. Could he get the 100 supporters he needs? Will he extend an olive branch to Rishi Sunak? James Heale speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.
The question on everyone’s lips tonight is whether Boris Johnson can get 100 MP nominations by Monday. This is the bar that the 1922 committee have set. Johnson’s supporters have been coming out tonight at pace: he is up to 20-odd supporters already. But the question of whether he can get to 100 is difficult given
41 min listen
On this week’s podcast: After the markets saw off Kwarteng, Trussonomics and now Truss herself, James Forsyth writes in The Spectator that the markets will be driving British politics for the foreseeable future. He is joined by Britain economics editor at the Economist Soumaya Keynes to discuss the institutions now dictating government policy (00:56). Also this week: Looking ahead
11 min listen
Forty-four days into her premiership, Liz Truss said she was resigning as Prime Minister. There will now be a week-long race to elect a new leader. Who will be the contenders? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
‘Governments don’t control markets,’ the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, likes to say. But there are times when markets control governments. The market, or the fear of how the market might react, is now the driving force in British politics. It explains the dramatic developments of the past week and will determine the new Prime Minister’s
75 min listen
Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss plans to stop spiralling inflation – and a spiralling government.
10 min listen
Suella Braverman has resigned as Home Secretary over a row on immigration measures. Grant Shapps has been selected to replace her. Will more follow? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
Whenever a PMQs is meant to be a crunch moment, it rarely turns out to be. Having sat through pretty much everyone since David Cameron versus Gordon Brown, my experience is that a prime minister under pressure turns up with a series of well-prepared, defensive lines that they fall back on in answer to every
13 min listen
Another day, another u-turn. Liz Truss met with her Cabinet today and is reportedly considering u-turning on the pensions triple lock. Are ministers heading for more ‘lengthy discussions’ on public spending? Should we brace ourselves for resignations? Also on the podcast, as Hunt looks at which departments to cut, what could this mean for the
14 min listen
This afternoon Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt stepped in for Liz Truss to field an urgent questions called by the Leader of the Opposition. What could the Prime Minister have been doing which was so urgent that she couldn’t attend? Also on the podcast, after Jeremy Hunt reverses nearly all of Trussonomics, will there
The safest place for a minister to be in a crisis is at the despatch box of the House of Commons, one old hand used to say. His argument was that at the despatch box you at least had a modicum of control, you could respond to events in your own words. But Liz Truss
18 min listen
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave a statement this morning in which he outlined plans to scrap ‘almost all’ the tax measures announced by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng just four weeks ago. In one of the largest U-turns in history, the markets have become the most important force in British politics. James Forsyth, Katy Balls, Kate Andrews
In a few hours’ time, Liz Truss will have to sit next to Jeremy Hunt as he announces the reversal of all but a handful of measures announced in Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget. It is the biggest and most rapid U-turn in recent British political history. The Prime Minister will sit there as her agenda –
In a sign of how nervous the government still is about the state of the gilts market, the Treasury has just made a pre-market announcement that Jeremy Hunt will bring forward further measures from the ‘Medium Term Fiscal Plan’ today – in other words, more measures from the mini-Budget will be abandoned. The Treasury says
Liz Truss’s gaoler has just done another BBC interview. Jeremy Hunt continued to try and give himself maximum room for manoeuvre, saying ‘I’m not taking anything off the table’. He repeated his message: We are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax. Spending is not going to
