Conservative Party

A senior Tory MP has criticised the “very blokey mentality” of Boris Johnson’s government.  Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee, also said there were some “serious questions about the calibre of the women” invited into top positions. She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “I think it’s still a very […]

Tory peer Lord Freud has agreed to apologise after being found to have breached the Code of Conduct by seeking to interfere in a legal decision. The Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, found there was “an inherent dishonour in Lord Freud choosing to leverage his position as a parliamentarian to seek to influence the […]

Remembering the group of Conservative MPs that their own leader dubbed the ‘Glamour Boys’ and threatened with deselection. In the 1920s and 1930s of buttoned-up Britain, homosexuality was an illicit act, and would remain that way until 1967 when the law changed in England and Wales. Even though gay culture was vibrant, it existed mostly underground, its […]

Cronyism concerns have led to Labour urging companies with Conservative Party links to disclose their pandemic profits. Research by the Opposition suggests the value of contracts awarded to firms with connections to the Tories amounts to almost £2 billion. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal she has written to the top […]

Former de facto deputy prime minister Sir David Lidington tells MATT WITHERS about how he will continue campaigning for the Conservatives to be a pro-European party. The night before I speak to former de facto deputy prime minister Sir David Lidington, the organisation he chairs changed its name. Goodbye Conservative Group for Europe, hello Conservative […]

Number 10’s adviser on ethnic minorities considered resigning over fears the Conservative Party was pursuing a “politics steeped in division”. Samuel Kasumu reportedly retracted his resignation letter – in which he said tensions in government were at times “unbearable” – on Thursday after talks with vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi. The BBC said he wrote: “I […]

A Tory MP who refused to apologise for misleading comments about Covid-19 may still face disciplinary action by his party, Michael Gove has hinted. Sir Desmond Swayne wrongly told a group of vaccine sceptics that some Covid-19 data had been “manipulated” while encouraging them to “persist” with their campaign against lockdown restrictions. Gove, a cabinet minister, said […]

Former chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is to become a full-time banker. Osborne will step down from his roles as editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard newspaper and senior adviser at investment firm Blackrock at the end of March to join financial consultants Robey Warshaw. Robey Warshaw, founded in 2013, said the former Tory MP would […]

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross has accused Nicola Sturgeon of putting her party before the pandemic by planning for a “reckless and irresponsible” second independence referendum. Ross will outline his criticism of the First Minister in a speech on Monday responding to the SNP’s roadmap for a second vote on independence. The roadmap states a […]

Tory Brexiteer Sir Desmond Swayne has been accused of spreading “dangerous misinformation” about the coronavirus after he reportedly said that the infection and mortality figures had been “manipulated”. In comments reportedly made in November, the lockdown-sceptic Tory MP told the group Save Our Rights UK that the UK was “bouncing round at the typical level of […]

A Tory former minister broke the ministerial code when he began working for a PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) firm shortly after leaving government, the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog has said. George Freeman MP, who was a former health minister and member of Boris Johnson and David Cameron’s government, failed to register with the watchdog before accepting a […]

The Conservative Party’s collection of the personal data of 10 million voters around their ethnicity and religion was illegal, the Information Commissioner has told MPs. Elizabeth Denham said the Conservatives had deleted the data following a recommendation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in a report last year. Speaking to MPs on the Digital, Culture, […]

Labour has reported the Conservative London mayoral candidate to the Crown Prosecution Service over claims he “repeatedly attempted to mislead” voters with campaign leaflets. Shaun Bailey, who is seeking to topple Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan during the upcoming May election, used “City Hall” branded paper to warn Londoners of an alleged “21.2%” council tax increase. […]

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has launched an attack on Rishi Sunak’s handling of the pandemic, claiming his policies have costs job and left the UK with the highest death toll in Europe. Dodds has accused her Tory opposite number of repeatedly taking the wrong policy options, with the government setting up a “false choice” between protecting public […]

Boris Johnson has declared “there’s nothing wrong with being woke”. The prime minister was asked if he considered Biden to be woke – defined as being alert to societal injustices – after Labour’s Lisa Nandy praised Joe Biden as a “woke guy” who is a possible model for electoral success for the Labour Party. “I can’t […]

These are the 356 Tory MPs who failed to vote against a £20-a-week cut in the Universal Credit for families during the coronavirus pandemic. Aaron BellAdam AfriyieAdam HollowayAlan MakAlberto CostaAlec ShelbrookeAlex BurghartAlex ChalkAlexander StaffordAlicia KearnsAlister JackAlok SharmaAlun CairnsAmanda MillingAmanda SollowayAndrea JenkynsAndrea LeadsomAndrew BowieAndrew BridgenAndrew GriffithAndrew JonesAndrew LewerAndrew MitchellAndrew MurrisonAndrew PercyAndrew RosindellAndrew SelousAndrew StephensonAndy CarterAngela RichardsonAnne-Marie […]

Greens MP Caroline Lucas has accused the Tories of being the “nasty party” after it told backbenchers to abstain from a vote to keep a £20 top-up to Universal Credit. Lucas accused the government of being “perfectly happy” for the price of the pandemic to be paid for by “some of the poorest people who are least able to […]

The Tories are expected to abstain in two key votes on the government’s support for families – which includes scrapping a £1,000 a year cut in Universal Credit and the extension of free school meals – with Boris Johnson claiming the party is “playing politics” with the vote. Johnson will come under intense pressure to […]

Few politicians come with a reputation as controversial or fierce as Priti Patel’s. Ian Birrell talks to insiders to find out what lies behind that uncompromising image. Soon after Tony Blair won his second landslide election victory, the Daily Telegraph interviewed five women to ask why they wanted to become MPs for the stale, male and moribund Tory […]

The Scottish Tories have suspended a Holyrood candidate after he said people who were reliant on food banks were fat. Craig Ross also attacked anti-poverty campaigner and English footballer Marcus Rashford and said people filmed at food banks were “far from starving”, the Daily Record has revealed. Ross was a contender for the seat of Glasgow Pollok […]

Boris Johnson has been told by a senior Tory backbencher that his leadership will be “on the table” if the government does not ease Covid restrictions. Steve Baker of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group has written to members urging them to put pressure on the Tory chief whip over the issue. Baker, who played a […]

Former Commons speaker John Bercow has criticised Theresa May’s eagerness to “pay homage to Donald Trump” during the early days of his controversial presidency. Ex-prime minister May was the first foreign leader to meet the US president in January 2017 when the pair held bilateral discussions in Washington only days after his inauguration. The former […]

A seafood exporter has said the government has been “useless” at providing information to help businesses deal with new regulations caused by Brexit. Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, which represents chilled transport and storage companies, said hauliers were encountering issues at Britain’s borders despite the amount of cross border traffic still being quite […]

Education secretary Gavin Williamson turned down a BT offer of cheap broadband for children, it has been revealed. The broadband giant offered to supply families basic connections to allow access to online learning with schools closed for months during the Coronavirus pandemic. The firm’s chief executive also revealed they had given free wifi vouchers to the […]

A global parcel courier has said it has stopped road deliveries from the UK to the EU – including the Republic of Ireland – because of new “red tape” caused by Brexit. DPD said that as much as 20% of parcels destined for Europe are being returned because as they do not have the correct customs forms required under […]

The UK’s pandemic plight might seem hopeless. But there are some measures which could help alter its course. One of the most frequent complaints levelled at newspaper columnists is that we snipe from the sidelines. Usually, it’s a bit of an unfair one: sniping from the sidelines is, in fact, what columnists are paid to […]

A Tory politician has resigned after claiming A&E departments were full of “fat mums in pot noodle-stained leggings” with their “snot-covered Asbo” children. Constituency Conservative chairman Gareth Baines claimed mothers were were taking their children to hospital “for a day out” to “harvest Facebook likes”. In one message over New Year’s, Baines wrote: “A&Es in […]

A Tory housing minister has come under fire after he suggested Britons purchase a £170 bottle of champagne to ward off the Covid blues. Labour branded Christopher Pincher as “truly out of touch” after he recommended people see off a “rotten” 2020 with a lavish bottle of bubbly, despite more than half a million Britons […]

There is speculation Ann Widdecombe could become the next Brexiteer peer following a “sell out” move in which she supported Boris Johnson’s controversial appointment of a disgraced Tory treasurer to the House of Lords. The Mail on Sunday‘s Anna Mikhailova accused Widdecombe of using her latest newspaper column to defend the prime minister’s ennoblement of Peter […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on how the ‘bastard’ tendency which tormented John Major over the Maastricht Treaty has finally got its way. Have a guess where I was in early December 1991, and again in February 1992. Very well done at home, as mega-selling novelist Richard Osman says to viewers of BBC’s Pointless show, if a Dutch city the […]

A leading Tory Brexiteer has insisted he will continue to fight for Brexit even after Boris Johnson’s deal has passed. Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), vowed to keep fighting for their cause in the House of Commons and said his group would not “just put our feet up”. He told […]

Liz Truss has topped a league table of best-performing cabinet ministers – as voted for by Tory members.  The international trade secretary received an 85% favorability rating in the Conservative Home polling – up ten points compared to a month ago. She is ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak – only 80% of support – and […]