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Who’s backing whom? Tory leadership race begins

Nominations are now open for candidates to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader. To qualify for the first round of voting in September, each candidate will require a proposer, seconder and eight further nominations. This means that a maximum of 11 candidates are possible. Two candidates – James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – have formally

The complete guide to Labour’s cabinet

Keir Starmer has appointed his cabinet, but who are the men and women who will be running Britain? The Spectator‘s writers, including Katy Balls, Kate Andrews and James Heale give the run down on Labour’s top team: Chancellor: Rachel Reeves Kate Andrews: It is not strictly true to say that the government is out of money.

Who won the general election? Results in maps and charts

Labour has won an historic landslide in yesterday’s general election. The latest forecasts expect Keir Starmer to come to power with 410 seats, with the Tories reduced to a rump of 131. North of the border the SNP have faced disaster and are predicted to retain just six seats. Perhaps the story of the night,

As it happened: Starmer appoints cabinet after landslide win

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed his cabinet after winning a landslide in the general election. Rachel Reeves has been announced as the first ever female Chancellor and Angela Rayner is deputy prime minister. With one seat left to count, Labour has won 412 seats, and the Tories 121. Starmer will enter government on a

As it happened: Mordaunt clashes with Rayner in BBC election debate

Nigel Farage traded blows with Labour’s Angela Rayner and the Tories’ Penny Mordaunt in tonight’s seven-way BBC election debate. Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations in France early was also a big talking point in the debate which involved Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, the SNP’s Stephen Flynn, Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru and

Local elections 2024: Labour win over 730 seats

Labour has won the Blackpool by-election as the Tory party also performed badly in local election results overnight, losing 280 seats so far. Here are the results: Labour: 736 seats (+115) Tories: 283 seats (-280) Liberal Democrats: 242 seats (+43) Green: 77 seats (+35) Reform: 0 seats Some Tories will be breathing a sigh of relief

Read: Humza Yousaf’s resignation speech in full

Last week I stood here to announce the ending of the cooperation agreement between the SNP and the Greens: the Bute House Agreement, and that the SNP would seek to govern as a minority government. I made that decision as leader of the SNP because I believed the Bute House Agreement was the right one

Full list: every MP who voted against Sunak’s smoking ban

Tonight saw the second reading of the Sunak administration’s flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill. As expected the government easily won the vote by 383 votes to 67, thanks to Labour’s support of the legislation. However some 59 Tories chose to cast a vote of protest against plans to introduce a generational ban on smoking, with

Kate reveals cancer diagnosis

The Princess of Wales this evening revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer, and that she is being treated with chemotherapy. Read her full video message here: I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering

Jeremy Hunt cuts National Insurance in Budget

Jeremy Hunt’s Budget was short on surprises. The Chancellor cut National Insurance for workers by another 2p in a bid to address the Tories’ poll slide ahead of the upcoming general election. Hunt also announced a shake-up to child benefit charges, said that ‘non-dom’ tax status would be scrapped and said that alcohol and fuel

Which MPs have no confidence in the Speaker?

It’s not looking good for Lindsay Hoyle, with MPs continuing to sign Will Wragg’s Early Day Motion of no-confidence in the Speaker. The current number now stands at 93 signatories – more than one in eight MPs who sit in the House of 650 Members. Among them are 47 Tories, 42 SNP, three Plaid Cymru and

Full list: Tory MPs prepared to vote against Rwanda Bill

The Rwanda Bill tomorrow gets its Third Reading in the House of Commons. But before that comes the committee stage, with MPs on the right of the Conservative MPs putting down amendments to the Bill. Some are warning that unless the Bill is amended to make it tougher today then they will either abstain or

Which Tory seats would survive a Labour landslide?

According to the polls, the Conservative party are heading for a landslide defeat at the next election. The Daily Telegraph this week published a mammoth YouGov survey of 14,000 people which forecasts that the Tories will retain just 169 seats, while Labour will sweep to power with 385 – giving Sir Keir Starmer a 120-seat majority. This

Full list: Liz Truss’s resignation honours

Fourteen months after Liz Truss left Downing Street, her list of resignation honours has today finally been finally published. It contains eleven names, three of whom receive peerages and will take up seats in the House of Lords. Four of the recipients are, like Truss, sitting Conservative MPs in the House of Commons. Here is