Boris Johnson

A decision on whether Paul Dacre will become the next head of Ofcom is expected imminently. That it is even being considered is a scandal that reveals much about the current administration There are any number of reasons why Paul Dacre should not be appointed head of Ofcom, the super-regulator that oversees not only our […]

Boris Johnson has been questioned at Prime Minister’s Questions on the UK’s border policy after his former chief adviser branded it a “joke” and “nonsense”. On Monday, Dominic Cummings accused ministers of developing policy “based on nonsense memes” which claim that people in Asian countries, “all do as they’re told… it won’t work here”. Writing on […]

A nurse who looked after Boris Johnson when he was seriously ill with Covid-19 has resigned, citing the government’s 1% pay offer and its lack of respect for the profession. Jenny McGee, who cared for the prime minister in intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, told how she found the prime minister […]

Boris Johnson’s administration is recruiting an external adviser to identify new opportunities following Brexit to demonstrate the benefits of the UK’s departure from the European Union. Almost five years on from the Brexit referendum result, the Tory government continues to struggle to demonstrate the tangible benefits of leaving the EU. It has set former Tory leader […]

The cabinet secretary has defended the prime minister’s role as the ultimate arbitrator of the ministerial code after critics argued the current system means Boris Johnson is able to “mark his own homework”. It comes as the prime minister’s ministerial standards adviser, Lord Geidt, is in the process of undertaking an investigation into how renovations […]

Keir Starmer is set to discuss his childhood, career in law and leading the Labour Party from his spare room in lockdown during an interview with Piers Morgan. The Labour leader will sit down with the broadcaster for an hour-long episode of Life Stories, due to be filmed next month and expected to air on […]

Parliament’s standards watchdog reportedly believes Boris Johnson’s holiday to Mustique was worth more than double the £15,000 he declared in the Commons register. According to the Daily Mail, Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards, said the bill had not been met by Tory donor David Ross as the prime minister has insisted. The revelation will […]

Boris Johnson’s bid to save the Union by splashing the cash won’t be enough. He will need to do a lot more than that.  The ballots cast by Scotland’s voters hadn’t been fully counted when the high-stakes game of constitutional poker between Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson began. As it became clear – to no […]

Northern Ireland’s troubled past and Brexit tensions are likely to dominate discussions between the Irish premier and UK prime minister on Friday. Boris Johnson has been dogged by criticism in recent days over his response to an inquest finding that 10 people killed in shootings involving the Army in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast […]

Boris Johnson no longer has a county court judgment against him after Downing Street sought to strike out a claim for a £535 debt for alleged defamation. No 10 said the claim against the prime minister had been “totally without merit” and “vexatious” and lodged an application to have it struck out. A court official […]

Any donations Boris Johnson received over the controversial refurbishment of his Downing Street flat are expected to be published by the end of the month. His new ministerial standards adviser Lord Geidt said that he is “determined” to publish the long-overdue list of ministers’ interests before May is up. The Crossbench peer told MPs that […]

Former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has criticised government proposals that would force voters to provide photo I.D. before casting their ballot. Davidson branded the proposals “total b*****ks” during an appearance on ITV’s Peston show. She said: “In terms of this particular part of the Queen’s speech, I think it’s total b******ks and I think […]

The government will set up an independent public inquiry with statutory powers into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Johnson has said. The prime minister told MPs the inquiry would be able to take oral evidence under oath and will place “the state’s actions under the microscope”. Johnson told the Commons: “This inquiry must […]

Boris Johnson has been issued with a county court judgment for an unpaid debt of £535. A search of the official database shows the “unsatisfied record” registered to Johnson at “10 Downing Street”. The judgment is dated October 26 2020, a key period concerning questions over the prime minister’s controversial refurbishment to his flat in […]

If Scotland becomes independent during Boris Johnson’s premiership, that will be his lasting legacy, former prime minister Gordon Brown has said. The argument over Scottish independence has intensified in recent days after the SNP’s landslide victory in the Holyrood election, which also produced the largest pro-independence majority in the Parliament in the history of devolution. […]

A “full, proper” public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic could be established within a year, Boris Johnson has said. The prime minister committed to setting up the inquiry within the new session of parliament which started on Tuesday. Although there is no fixed length for a parliamentary session, they typically run […]

Boris Johnson has mocked Angela Rayner for her new shadow cabinet job titles, claiming the deputy Labour leader will become “hungrier” for more power. Angela Rayner was given greater authority within the shadow cabinet following intense criticism of Keir Starmer’s initial move to strip her of key roles as party chairwoman and campaign co-ordinator following the elections. […]

Long-promised proposals to reform social care will be set out later this year to ensure that every person “receives the dignity and security they deserve”, Boris Johnson has said. Measures to address the long-standing issue of social care funding and reform were not included in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday. The Queen confirmed proposals will […]

Former Commons speaker John Bercow has called Boris Johnson “a liar” and confirmed he no longer considers himself a Conservative. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) ahead of the Queen’s Speech, Bercow said he would list “a number of examples” of the prime minister not telling the truth. The former speaker told the GMB […]

BONNIE GREER on why Boris Johnson’s success shows Britain is fatally addicted to toffs who get away with it One of the nicer things about being an adult when you move and settle in another country is that there is always a bit of you that never quite assimilates.  Your new country is like a […]

It has not even been five months since the end of the Brexit transition period and there have been armed patrol vessels in the Channel. The sad thing is: this is only the latest stage in a development that began with the Brexit referendum and saw a significant decline in Britain’s role on the diplomatic […]

Boris Johnson is being investigated for two possible breaches of Commons rules, the parliamentary commissioner for standards has announced. The prime minister is being probed over his Downing Street flat makeover and a Christmas holiday he took in the Caribbean. Johnson was among a list of MPs under investigation that was kept under wraps during the […]

Financial scandals are never fatal for PMs, but they do lasting damage There is a familiar sequence. Another allegation about the misconduct of Boris Johnson erupts on the front pages. Those that despair of Johnson’s leadership say to themselves or aloud that “surely this one will get him”. A poll is published a day later […]

It would be little surprise if Boris Johnson turned out to be the ‘chatty rat’ the leak inquiry has yet to identify. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have something of an addiction to my phone. Nor is this a new thing. As far back as 1997, journalist John Williams, who was with […]

Boris Johnson met a 30ft inflatable version of himself during a victorious visit to Hartlepool after his party won a historic by-election. The PM said the £2,000 replica reminded him of Superintendent Ted Hastings from Line Of Duty, while a member of the press asked if he thought it looked like TV host Chris Tarrant. […]

Boris Johnson has described the early election results as “very encouraging” after hopes of a Labour revival were dealt a crushing blow when the Conservatives won the Hartlepool by-election. Speaking to reporters in Coventry, the prime minister said: “I know that the results have been coming in since this morning and there’s clearly a lot […]

TIM WALKER on Michael Gove’s reverse Midas touch. Michael Gove – the man who assured British fishermen that Brexit would make them rich – appears not to have lost his reverse Midas touch. Since joining the board of trustees of Dorneywood, Rishi Sunak’s grace and favour country retreat in Buckinghamshire, the value of its investments has plummeted […]

Diplomatic efforts with France will be stepped up to prevent a repeat of the Jersey fishing dispute. The Royal Navy will continue to keep a watch on events but the two vessels deployed to the Channel Island were ordered back to port after the French protest ended. The UK government will now work with France […]

Hopes of a Labour revival under Sir Keir Starmer have suffered a blow after the Conservative Party comfortably won the Hartlepool by-election. The Leave-supporting North East constituency went blue for the first time in its 47-year-old history, as Boris Johnson demolished another brick in Labour’s so-called “red wall”. Voters in the town backed Tory candidate […]

Labour has all but conceded defeat in the Hartlepool by-election after a shadow cabinet member admitted the party was “not close to winning this”. Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon, who led the opposition party’s campaign to hold the North East town, said it looked clear that Labour had not “got over the line”. Such a […]

The prime minister and his fiancee have got it badly wrong over their reported disdain for John Lewis. On contemplating the national orgy of curtain-twitching that’s accompanied Dominic Cummings’s revelations regarding the refurbishment of the prime minister’s flat in Number 11, Downing Street, Oscar Wilde’s valedictory bon mot comes to mind: days before expiring in […]

Boris Johnson has not said whether key social care proposals, as promised when he was elected, will be detailed in next week’s Queen’s Speech. The prime minister said proposals for the long-term reform of the sector and its funding will be brought forward in the “next few months”. Care groups, charities and politicians have been […]