Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
Who is the biggest winner in the UK from Donald Trump’s victory across the pond? The answer may be Nigel Farage. While Labour ministers have so far rejected the Reform party leader’s offer to act as an intermediary, the MP for Clacton can boast to have a direct line to the so-called leader of the
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Shivani Raja holds two Parliamentary honours: the youngest Tory MP and, in Leicester East, the only Conservative gain at the recent election; she is also the first of the new 2024 intake to appear on Women With Balls. With a background in science and business, not politics, she fought a whirlwind election campaign – not
18 min listen
The post–mortem has begun on the US election with the Democrats desperately trying to figure out what just happened. To make sense of the result, Katy Balls is joined by Kate Andrews and James Kanagasooriam, chief research officer at Focaldata. On the podcast they discuss: how an election that seemed to be on a knife–edge
At her first shadow cabinet as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch walked into the room and declared that there were ‘still too many people’. Various advisers hastily left. It was an indication of how she plans to do things differently. Even the invitation list for politicians has been slimmed down – the shadow attorney will not
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It’s happened. The scenario Labour politicians hoped would not come to pass is now a reality: Donald Trump is heading back to the White House. The official line from Labour is that everything is fine – they will work with whoever hold the office of president. That was the message from Keir Starmer at Prime
It’s happened. The scenario Labour politicians hoped would not come to pass is now a reality: Donald Trump is heading back to the White House. The official line from Labour is that everything is fine – they will work with whoever hold the office of president. That was the message from Keir Starmer at Prime
14 min listen
Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet continues to take shape: Chris Philp has been appointed shadow Home Secretary, with the biggest news being Robert Jenrick’s decision to accept the position of shadow Justice Secretary. Jenrick’s proposal to leave the ECHR was one policy disagreement with Badenoch, could this cause the Conservatives problems in the future? And what
In approximately 12 hours, all UK news will take a back seat as the world looks to the United States and the election of a new American president. Until then, the new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is trying to drum up as much momentum as possible following her election on Saturday. This morning, Badenoch met
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Kemi Badenoch is the new leader of the opposition, and we have an early indication of who will make up her shadow cabinet. She has already chosen her chief whip in loyalist Rebecca Harris; Nigel Huddleston and Dominic Johnson will be party chairman; Laura Trott will be shadow education secretary; Neil O’Brien will be shadow
For a long time — even before the contest was officially called — she was seen as the one to beat
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Kemi Badenoch has won the Tory leadership election. She beat Robert Jenrick in a tight race, winning 53,806 votes against his 41,318. What will a Badenoch opposition look like? What are her strengths? Her weaknesses? Cindy Yu speaks to Michael Gove and Katy Balls.
The results of the Conservative leadership contest are in. Almost four months after the Tory party suffered its worst general defeat in its history, Kemi Badenoch has been crowned as the party’s new leader. Badenoch won 53,806 votes to Robert Jenrick on 41,388 – the turnout was 72.8 per cent, down on the 2022 contest
14 min listen
The fallout from Labour’s Budget continues. On the media round this morning, Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, admitted that it will hit working people, and the cost of government borrowing has only risen since Rachel Reeves delivered her speech to Parliament. Katy Balls, Kate Andrews and James Heale take us through the reaction
Rachel Reeves has spent the morning out on the media round trying to sell her first Budget to the public. The Chancellor woke to a critical reception from the media – with headlines including ‘Halloween Horror Show’, ‘Nightmare on Downing Street’ and ‘Return of tax and spend’. Meanwhile, she is facing a backlash from the
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Kate Andrews is joined by Katy Balls and the OBR’s Prof David Miles to discuss the day two reactions to Rachel Reeves’s Budget. Who were the losers, and is it too early to say who the winners are? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Cindy Yu.
There were no civil servants present when ministers gathered for their weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The reason? It was time to talk politics. On the eve of Labour’s first Budget for 14 years, Keir Starmer tried to rally his ministers around a common message: blame the Tories! He spoke of the so-called fiscal black
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Rachel Reeves has announced that taxes will rise by £40 billion in Labour’s first Budget for 14 years. The headlines include: an increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions from April to 15 per cent, raising £25 billion; that the freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds will not be extended past 2028; that the
It’s Budget day in Westminster. The question being asked by Labour MPs: can Rachel Reeves pull it off? This lunchtime, the Chancellor will stand at the despatch box and pitch Labour’s first Budget for 14 years as necessary tough choices to ‘fix the foundations’ while also ensuring ‘working people don’t face higher taxes in their
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It’s Budget week (finally)! How this week goes will set the tone for Labour’s first year in office. It’s fair to say that expectations are relatively low – with the Prime Minister himself warning of ‘painful decisions’ ahead. We know a lot of what will likely be included and Treasury sources are keen to play
It’s Budget week in Westminster. Over three months after Keir Starmer triumphed in the general election, his Chancellor Rachel Reeves will this week set out the direction of the Labour government for the coming years in her first ever Budget. It’s fair to say that expectations are relatively low – with the Prime Minister himself