Conservative Party

An adviser to Boris Johnson has called for the report into allegations of bullying by Priti Patel should be made public. Lord Evans of Weardale, the former head of MI5 and now adviser on standards in public life, said not revealing the report risks undermining voters’ trusts and would suggest the issue was “brushed over”. […]

A group of Conservative MPs have launched a group to resist calls for an extended national lockdown, in a bid to prevent Nigel Farage’s new party gaining influence. Some 32 Conservatives rebelled against the government when the Commons approved the second lockdown for England which lasts until December 2. The prime minister said he expects […]

Brexiteer Tory MPs are hatching a plan to topple Boris Johnson if he does not resign in the spring before local elections. Opponents of Johnson, including Iain Duncan Smith, John Redwood and Esther McVey, have created a Whatsapp group entitled “Lockdown Loons” and are plotting against the government, the Mirror reports. At least one is […]

Under-fire vaccines tsar Kate Bingham is expected to leave her post at the end of the year after amassing a £670,000 bill over a contract for public relations support. Downing Street insisted Boris Johnson had full confidence in Bingham, a venture capitalist married to the Conservative minister Jesse Norman, and praised her work in securing […]

England footballer Marcus Rashford has hailed the power of “kindness and compassion” after reporting that Boris Johnson had U-turned over providing free meals to disadvantaged children during the Christmas holidays. The prime minister personally phoned the Manchester United star on Saturday to alert him to the decision to lay on £170 million of extra funding for […]

The latest voter intention polling by YouGov shows that Labour has jumped five points ahead of the Conservative Party. A survey by YouGov over November 4 and 5 shows Labour holding 40% of the vote compared to the Tory Party’s 35%. Latest Westminster voting intention (fieldwork 4-5 Nov) Lab – 40%Con – 35%Lib Dem – 7%Brexit […]

So what have we learnt this week in the dystopian Covid Brexit land that the UK seems to have become? That forecasts are just that and even a “reasonable worst-case scenario” might start looking optimistic. That you can only disregard the advice of experts, be they scientists or economists, for so long – the facts […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on how the UK government shows contempt of near Trumpian levels. Needless to say, the government’s fabled miscommunications team got itself into all sorts of muddles over its reaction to the Sunday Times’ revelation that the chair of the UK’s ‘vaccine task force’ briefed American venture capitalists on details of which projects the government was […]

Suella Braverman has defended Priti Patel’s attack on “activist lawyers” after reports they have faced physical and verbal attacks following criticism from the government. The attorney general was questioned by MPs about a Home Office video which accused them of epresenting migrants of trying to disrupt the asylum system. Labour’s Andy Slaughter also told the Commons: […]

A Brexiteer has been met with criticism for saying he will be voting against a second lockdown in the House of Commons. Peter Bone said that the government’s scientific and medical advisers had provided “dubious modelling”. There are lies, damned lies & then there are the likes of @PeterBoneUK, whose formal education clearly did not […]

Crispin Odey, one of the best-known UK hedge fund managers, has stepped down as chief executive of the company he founded 29 years ago. The 61-year-old – who donated to Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign – said he will now focus on managing his own funds, handing over the reins of Odey Asset Management to co-chief […]

The UK is on the verge of becoming a “broken kingdom”, a senior Tory has warned in the House of Lords. Lord Cormack said the government underestimated “at its own potential peril, just what dangers surround us” post-Brexit. He said the Westminster parliament could not behave as if it was the only legislative body in […]

Baby accessories and assorted caviar were among a dozen gifts the Cabinet Office has confiscated off Boris Johnson due to anti-corruption regulations. The government releases a list of ministerial gifts on a quarterly basis and just earlier this week dumped a trove of data on the latest presents the prime minister received during April and June this year. […]

A Tory minister has been told that appointing “people of colour to the Cabinet” does not erase the Conservative Party’s race relation issues. Justice minister Chris Philp was told his party had “housework” to do regarding race relations during a row with The New European writer Bonnie Greer on Question Time. Panellists were discussing the damning findings of an EHRC report into […]

Tim Walker on the fractured relationship between the Conservative party and the papers. In another momentous week, the story of how a group of researchers from Cambridge University had found that cold-water bathing may protect the brain from dementia slipped the minds of most of the national editors soon enough. Not, however, on the Daily […]

Protesters have targeted the offices and meeting places of 11 more Tory MPs who voted against extending free school meals over the holidays with “empty plate” demonstrations. Demonstrators laid empty plates with messages on them at the headquarters of local Tory MPs in protest against their refusal to provide free meals to pupils over the October half-term and […]

Readers have their say on the furore over the government failure to provide free school meals during the holidays. As many politicians once again demonstrate that they are out of touch with ordinary people by voting against providing free school meals in holidays, is now the time to suggest that all politicians should undertake a […]

Former chancellor George Osborne has said that Marcus Rashford has ensured it is “game over” for the Tories over free school meals, and that a U-Turn is now “inevitable”. The ex-Tory MP said that the Manchester United forward has made ministers look like a “school yard football team, all running in a panic after the […]

A minister has pleaded ignorance after being accused of leaving children going hungry during the school holidays. Environment minister George Eustice said he did not understand the line of questioning after Sky News presenter Kay Burley put to him that it sounded “ridiculous” that the government could only supply free school meals to pupils during […]

A Conservative MP has been criticised for suggesting “chaotic parents” can be to blame for sending their children to school hungry so they are unable to concentrate. John Penrose, a former minister who is married to NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Harding, made the remark in a letter to a constituent as he defended […]

Actor and television presenter Danny Dyer has been praised for his latest criticism of the Tories over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Dyer, whose previously went viral for calling David Cameron a “tw*t over Brexit, appeared on BBC Breakfast to this time slam Boris Johnson’s government. The Eastenders star used his appearance to call for fewer Etonians […]

A Tory MP who signed a letter to Boris Johnson over Covid-19 measures in the north of England said he wants to “keep the prime minister honest” and delivering on his promises. Simon Fell, the MP for Barrow and Furness, was one of 55 Conservative MPs calling for a roadmap for Northern constituencies out of […]

A Tory MP has criticised his party for continually failing to tackle “burning injustices” and “life chances” because “something else always comes along”. Paul Manyard, the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveys, said that the backlash over free school meals should not have been a surprise and that it was no accident. Writing for Conservative […]

Television presenter and campaigner Esther Rantzen has slammed Boris Johnson’s response to the coronavirus, saying the prime minister should not be proud of his support for children in particular. Asked by Julia Hartley-Brewer about the coronavirus support, she said: “In Boris’ place I don’t think I would be proud of my record, I would be […]

Boris Johnson has been warned the Tory majority in parliament will be “wiped out” over his coronavirus strategy in the north of England. The prime minister ignored the wishes of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and other northern officials when they entered the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions without providing adequate financial support. The government […]

Former Tory party chairman James Cleverly has been mocked after tempting to smear Labour by telling people to look at the situation in Wales. The Foreign Office minister saw his name to trend on Twitter as he tried to turn users against Labour by using the example of the Welsh government to prove his own […]

Tory MPs have become the centre of a new protest shaming them for voting against a Labour motion to extend free school meals until Easter 2021. Dozens of empty plates were left outside the office of Southend West MP Sir David Amess, who was one of 322 Tories to vote against the motion last week by […]

Radio presenter James O’Brien has called out the duplicity of Brexiteers – who support the UK leaving the European Union at any cost – now opposing a national lockdown to protect the economy. Speaking on his LBC Radio show, O’Brien told listeners: “The people on the wrong side of history insist we can’t have circuit-breaks […]

When Boris Johnson announced Tier Three restrictions for the Liverpool City Region earlier this week it appeared that one of the longest running battles in British politics had been brutally re-opened: The Tory party versus Merseyside. The Region’s mayor Steve Rotheram rejected the suggestion that he had agreed with government plans to lockdown saying the […]

It has emerged the photographer behind an image of a ballerina encouraged to retrain in cyber security by the UK government was not aware the picture was being used in a “crass” advert. The advert cased controversy at the start of the week after the government was accused of undervaluing the arts by suggesting a dancer’s […]

A Conservative MP has resigned as a ministerial aide over coronavirus restrictions, saying the “attempted cure is worse than the disease”. Chris Green, who represents Bolton West, said the Greater Manchester lockdown had “failed to control the number of positive tests” within his borough. In a letter to prime minister, Green said he was resigning […]

The government’s environment secretary has insisted that protections for food and farming standards are not necessary – because it was in the Conservative Party manifesto. On Monday, MPs voted to overturn measures aimed at protecting UK food standards in future trade deals. But defending the decision of government to vote against such protections, George Eustice […]