Why the return of Liz Truss is so fraught for Rishi Sunak
Liz Truss is back — again. It is 436 days since the ex-prime minister broke her brief post-premiership quiet with a 4000-word essay in the Telegraph and a Spectator sit-down interview. And Truss’ media output remains relentless. Intervention after intervention, the former PM has once more established herself as an integral fixture of British politics […]
Rishi Sunak braces for Conservative rebellion over ‘smoke-free generation’ bill
The prime minister is bracing for a significant rebellion from his party over plans to ban young people from smoking. The proposed legislation would ensure that those aged 18 or over can still buy cigarettes without legal repercussions; but it would be an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009. […]
Sunak’s domestic woes deepen
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. Good afternoon and welcome back to Politics@Lunch — returning today alongside the House of Commons, which sits from 2.30 pm after the traditional two-week Easter recess. The main piece of parliamentary business today will be a ministerial statement, delivered […]
Rishi Sunak’s popularity with Conservative Party members at record low, according to survey
Conservative party members are more dissatisfied than ever with Rishi Sunak, according to a survey from the ConservativeHome website. In this month’s ranking of cabinet ministers, the prime minister recorded a net satisfaction rating of -27.7. The only individual to fall below Sunak is illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson — who combines a low public […]
Gordon Brown accuses Sunak of undermining the ‘whole system of international law’
Gordon Brown has accused the prime minister of “systematically undermining” the “whole system of international law” with his threat to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Writing in The Times newspaper, the former Labour prime minister responded to Rishi Sunak’s comments last week in which the prime minister suggested he could leave the […]
Rishi Sunak: I inherited ‘worst hospital pass’ for a new PM in decades
Rishi Sunak has suggested he inherited the “worst hospital pass” of any new prime minister in decades when he took over from predecessor Liz Truss. However, Sunak said he was “entirely confident that there are better times ahead”. The comments came in a podcast interview published by The Times with Lord Hague, the former foreign […]
Sunak gets grilled
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. As I write, prime minister Rishi Sunak is midway through his epic pre-recess questioning session at the hands of the liaison committee. The liaison committee is made up of the chairs of other select committees and nominally “considers the […]
Sunak’s moment of maximum danger may still await — the Reform-Conservative crossover
A bruising few weeks for the government ends, inevitably, with an uneasy truce. Slowly the speculation about Conservative coups, plots and putsches has subsided. Predictably, the rebels’ latest gambit, to tempt party moderates with the prospect of a Penny Mordaunt premiership, melted upon contact with reality. So it was left to Rishi Sunak at the […]
Sunak and Starmer wade into flag row
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. Behold the burgeoning backlash after US sportswear giant Nike changed the colour of the St George’s Cross on a new England football shirt: one by one, senior figures from the Labour and Conservative parties are wading into the row, […]
Starmer tells Sunak to ‘pack up and go home’
The below content first appeared in Politics.co.uk’s Politics@Lunch newsletter, subscribe here and never miss this daily briefing. Prime minister’s questions kicked off today with a friendly planted question from Conservative MP Giles Watling. Surprise, surprise, the prime minister agreed with the position taken by Watling that cutting inflation is indeed the best way to help his […]
