UK Politics

Boris Johnson is considering a cabinet reshuffle before parliament’s summer recess in a bid to shore up his leadership, according to his allies.The prime minister is facing a renewed challenge from Conservative backbenchers following bruising local election losses, with rebel MPs saying the leadership question must be “brought to a head” soon.By Saturday morning, the Tories had lost almost 500 council seats – including 341 in England, 63 in Scotland, and 86 in Wales – with only a couple of counts to go in England.The Independent understands that Mr Johnson is mulling a reshuffle of his top team within a couple of months, but will not move anytime soon.It follows reports that the prime minister will hold a shake-up before the 21 July recess in a bid to rest his administration and put in place the team that “will take us into the next election”.A government source told the Daily Mail: “There will be a reset moment in the next couple of months. The PM will set out to the public the things they can expect us to concentrate on in the run-up to the next election. You can expect to see the cost of living at the top of that.”Earlier on Saturday, cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi urged Tory MPs not to move against the PM, telling Sky News: “He is an asset, absolutely.” The education secretary added: “If you look at the way that Boris cuts through in places like Nuneaton, places like Newcastle-under-Lyme, other parts of the country as well – Harrow in London.”However, Tory MP Aaron Bell, a public critic of the prime minister, said the issue of his leadership must be “brought to a head” soon.Mr Bell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it was “perfectly reasonable” for colleagues to wait for the publication of senior official Sue Gray’s report, but “we do need to bring this to a head, one way or another, so that we can draw a line under this”.Marcus Fysh – the Tory MP for Yeovil, who has not declared his opposition to Mr Johnson – said a change of direction was needed on the economy, and that colleagues would have to discuss “whether Boris is the right person to do that”.David Simmonds, the Tory MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, has said that “a change of leader” could be one way of restoring public confidence in the government, though he stopped short of calling for the prime minister to go.Sir Roger Gale, who was the first Tory MP to declare his letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson back in December, suggested a challenge could come within as little as three weeks, telling The Independent: “There’s a tide that’s flowing that’s unstoppable. Something has got to happen.”Another senior Tory backbencher told The Independent it was now “clearly very much in the interests of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to keep Boris in place”, adding: “He is clearly leading us down, not up.”There is also growing pressure on the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to provide more support with the cost of living crisis, with senior Tories questioning whether he should continue in his role if taxes are not cut.“My view is there should be an immediate Budget,” one senior Tory figure, who favours cuts to national insurance and VAT on domestic energy bills, told The Independent. “If we don’t fix this, if the judgement on our economic policy stays there for much longer, people will remember we didn’t help them, and that will cause lasting damage. If [Mr Sunak] doesn’t act now, then I think we’ll suffer through the summer and beyond.”Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Times: “The government now has got to literally bite the bullet on this one.”The party grandee added: “We need to cut taxes, almost certainly, to give people more room to be able to ride out the shock of the cost of living crisis.” More

Sir Keir Starmer should “consider his position” as Labour leader if he is fined as part of a police probe into a takeaway meal with colleagues, said former shadow minister Diane Abbott.Durham Constabulary is investigating claims an event attended by Starmer with other senior party figures and activists while campaigning last year might have broken local Covid regulations.“I think if he actually gets a fixed-penalty notice he really has to consider his position,” Ms Abbott, a left-wing critic of his leadership, told LBC.The former shadow home secretary, who served under Jeremy Corbyn, added: “I don’t think he will, I think this is a lot of hype built up by the Tory press, but if he were to get a fixed penalty notice he would have to consider his position.”It follows Mr Corbyn’s intervention in the row. The former Labour leader, who now sits as an independent MP, said on Friday that the police decision to re-examine the case was a “very serious development”.However, Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting told BBC Breakfast on Saturday that he would not “entertain” the prospect of Sir Keir resigning over alleged lockdown rule-breaking in Durham last April.“I’m not even going to entertain the prospect of that because I have absolute faith and confidence that Keir Starmer did the right thing all the way along,” said the shadow health secretary.Mr Streeting said the contrast between Sir Keir and Boris Johnson will be “even sharper” after Durham Police team finish its investigation into the circumstances around the campaign event.Durham Police said they had U-turned on an earlier decision on the case that no offence had been committed after receiving “significant new information”.Police have not revealed what additional details sparked the probe but The Times reported a “key factor” was confirmation deputy leader Angela Rayner attended the evening. Labour had previously denied she had been present.The so-called “beergate” probe will take up to six weeks and will see those suspected of having breached lockdown rules sent questionnaires, according to reports.Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, told reporters on Friday in London – having returned from a victory lap around the country following Labour local elections successes – he did not believe the event had breached the rules.Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi questioned why Sir Keir was not resigning after the Labour leader had called for Mr Johnson to quit as PM while under investigation over the No 10 Partygate row.Mr Zahawi told Times Radio: “The public will be uncomfortable with the hypocrisy. I think he’s used one in three of his PMQs to talk about parties … He has tweeted himself saying that if you’re under investigation, a criminal investigation, then you should resign.”Labour’s Sadiq Khan had raised eyebrows last week when he said it was a “fair point” to draw comparisons between Johnson’s birthday party and Starmer’s takeaway curry gathering.But the London mayor defended the party leader on Saturday, saying: “Keir is quite clear. No rules were broken. He was working incredibly hard all day, had supper in the evening. A million miles away from what Boris Johnson was found to have done.”Shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens also defended Starmer. Asked whether Sir Keir could resign, she told Times Radio a fine was “extremely unlikely”.Ms Stevens added: “I think that this is a non-story, a kind of smear that’s been going on to time with the local elections to try and hold up a Tory party that is so badly damaged by the behaviour of the prime minister.”Following allegations of lockdown breaches by Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former adviser at the time, Durham Constabulary said it had a policy against issuing Covid fines retrospectively.In May 2020, an investigation concluded that Mr Cummings might have committed a “minor breach” of the law by driving to Barnard Castle, but that issuing a fixed penalty notice months later “would amount to treating Mr Cummings differently from other members of the public”. More

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross blamed Boris Johnson and the Partygate scandal for “very disappointing” results for the Tories in local elections across the UK.Mr Ross said that voters had sent a clear message they were “unhappy” with both the prime minister and law-breaking parties – but also maintained that Mr Johnson should stay at No 10.It comes as the Scottish Tory chief’s leadership appeared to come under threat, with colleagues pointing to his own “failed” handling of the Partygate scandal.One Conservative MSP told the Daily Record that informal discussions have taken place about ditching Mr Ross after the party slumped to third place behind the SNP and Scottish Labour.The Scottish Conservative leader previously made his own unhappiness with the PM clear, calling for him to step down as a result of the lockdown parties in Westminster.But in a major U-turn, Mr Ross changed his stance, withdrawing a no-confidence letter demanding the PM’s resignation in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.The unnamed MSP said: “I think the result is confirmation of a failed strategy. His strategy has definitely given us the worst of both worlds. I would not be surprised if he resigns himself.”“He could have initially not put in a letter and simply castigated the prime minister. Having made his decision, he had to stick to it. It was a real lack of political judgement.”Another Scottish Tory figure said the U-turn had been “idiotic”, while former MSP Adam Tomkins said Mr Ross “owns this, not Boris”, adding: “It was Douglas who U-turned, Douglas who flipped, and Douglas who backed the PM.”But Mr Ross insisted on Saturday that his change of stance on Mr Johnson had not impacted on what he accepted were “disappointing” results.The Scottish Tory leader said: “I don’t think, had I not changed my position in light of the atrocious conflict in Ukraine, it would have changed the situation, because voters I was speaking to were unhappy with the prime minister and unhappy with Partygate.“Had I maintained my position despite the war in Europe, those voters would still have been unhappy with Partygate and still unhappy with the prime minister because he remains in post.”Tories ‘must do better’ after losing nearly 500 council seats, says education secretaryThe Scottish Tories returned 214 councillors across Scotland – down from the record 276 the party achieved in 2017 – but Mr Ross insisted it was their “second best result for many, many years”.He pointed to areas such as Aberdeenshire, Moray, South Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders, where the Conservatives are the biggest party. But Mr Ross conceded: “Clearly, it wasn’t a good night and I am disappointed.”Voters who had traditionally backed the Tories chose to “register a protest” by staying at home and not voting, Mr Ross said. “In this election they wanted to stay at home to register their protest and we’ve got to listen to that,” he added.He insisted he could “hear their anger and frustration”, adding that Tory leaders across the UK should be “reflecting on the result”.Earlier on Saturday education secretary Nadhim Zahawi urged Tory MPs not to move against the prime minister – saying Mr Johnson was still an electoral “asset”.Asked about Mr Zahawi’s remarks, Mr Ross said: “He has to look at the losses received in many parts of the country.” More

Sinn Fein is on course for its best ever result in a Northern Ireland Assembly election after receiving the most first-preference votes, as counting resumed on Saturday.Sinn Fein currently has 21 seats, while the DUP have 19, the Alliance Party 14, the Ulster Unionists (UUP) six and the SDLP on four, with results through for almost 70 of the 90 assembly seats.Sinn Fein received 250,388 first preferences, compared with the 184,002 returned for the DUP and 116,681 for the Alliance Party.This means that it received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 21.3 per cent for the DUP, 13.5 per cent for Alliance. It pointed to a majority of support for the Northern Ireland protocol.Sinn Fein’s vice president Michelle O’Neill, on course to be the first nationalist first minister, was elected on the first count in Mid Ulster, with Alliance leader Naomi Long topping the poll in East Belfast.Ms O’Neill, surrounded by party colleagues and supporters as the result was announced in the Magherafelt count centre, said Sinn Fein wanted to “together work in partnership with others”. More

Boris Johnson remains an electoral asset to the Conservatives, a cabinet minister has insisted, despite the Tories suffering a net loss of almost 500 seats in local elections across Great Britain.Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi urged Tory MPs not to move against the prime minister, despite rebel backbenchers saying the leadership issue “brought to a head” soon.“He is an asset, absolutely,” Mr Zahawi told Sky News. “If you look at the way that Boris cuts through in places like Nuneaton, places like Newcastle-under-Lyme, other parts of the country as well – Harrow in London.”In a message to Tory colleagues, he said: “People don’t like to vote for split parties, for teams that are divided. “We are stronger when we are united – that would be my message to all my colleagues.”However, Tory MP Aaron Bell, a critic of the prime minister, said the issue of his leadership must be “brought to a head” soon.Mr Bell, who has already submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson, told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “I don’t think we can continue having this hanging over the party for many more months to come, with the Metropolitan Police and Sue Gray and then the Privileges Committee.”He said it was “perfectly reasonable” for colleagues to wait until the publication of senior official Ms Gray’s report, but “we do need to bring this to a head, one way or another, so that we can draw a line under this”.As of Saturday morning, with only a couple of counts to go in England, the Tories had lost almost 500 council seats – including 341 in England, 63 in Scotland, and 86 in Wales.Mr Johnson admitted his party had experienced a “tough night” in London and the south of England – where Partygate proved a major issue, sparking alarm among Tory MPs in traditionally rock-solid seats.Marcus Fysh – the Tory MP for Yeovil who has not declared his opposition to Mr Johnson – said he was “devastated” by the loss of Somerset county council to the Liberal Democrats.“We need a radical change of approach on the economy and I don’t think the team we’ve got as currently constituted is capable of delivering that,” he told The Times. “We need to discuss amongst colleagues whether Boris is the right person to do that.”On Friday, David Simmonds, the Tory MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, said “a change of leader” could be one way of restoring public confidence in the government after admitting Partygate had caused a major loss of trust.Sir Roger Gale, the first Tory to announce no confidence in Mr Johnson, suggested a challenge could come within as little as three weeks, telling The Independent: “There’s a tide that’s flowing that’s unstoppable. Something has got to happen.”Another senior Tory backbencher told The Independent it was now “clearly very much in the interests of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats to keep Boris in place”, said the MP. “He is clearly leading us down not up.” More

Tories lose Wandsworth as Boris Johnson faces backlash from own councillorsSinn Fein has hailed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as they became the largest party at Stormont for the first time and pushed the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) into second place.The Irish nationalist party’s vice-president Michelle O’Neill said it was a “defining moment for our politics and our people” and said she wanted to “work together” with the DUP to restore power-sharing arrangements at Stormont.Sinn Fein has won 27 seats and received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 23 seats and 21.3 per cent of first preference votes for the DUP – raising the prosect of the first-ever Irish nationalist first minister.Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose nationalist party also made gains in local elections, said earlier it would be an “extraordinary result” if Sinn Fein came out on top and “something that seemed impossible not that long ago”.Over in England, the Conservatives have recorded a loss of nearly 500 seats in local elections to date as well as a string of flagship councils, including the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Westminster.Show latest update

1651953464The politics blog is now closed, however we’ll be back tomorrow with the latest news from the heart of Westminster and beyond.Joe Middleton7 May 2022 20:571651953009Keir Starmer should ‘consider position’ if fined by police, says Diane AbbottSir Keir Starmer should “consider his position” as Labour leader if he is fined as part of a police inquiry into a takeaway meal with colleagues, former shadow minister Diane Abbott has said.Durham Constabulary is investigating claims that an event attended by Sir Keir along with other senior party figures and activists while campaigning last year might have broken local Covid regulations.“I think if he actually gets a fixed penalty notice he really has to consider his position,” Ms Abbott, a left-wing critic of Sir Keir’s leadership, told LBC.Adam Forrest has the details.Joe Middleton7 May 2022 20:501651952109Nicola Sturgeon congratulates Sinn Fein on ‘historic result’Joe Middleton7 May 2022 20:351651951265Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland after victorySinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland after victoryJoe Middleton7 May 2022 20:211651950909Parties should restore power-sharing as ‘soon as possible’, says NI secretaryNorthern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, set to travel to Belfast on Monday to meet political leaders, said he encouraged the parties to form an executive “as soon as possible”.The cabinet minister said: “The electorate delivered a number of messages on Thursday. They were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better.”Mr Lewis added: “Over the coming days I will be meeting with all the party leaders and will urge them to restore the Stormont institutions at the earliest possible moment, starting with the nomination of an Assembly Speaker within eight days.”Joe Middleton7 May 2022 20:151651949469Sadiq Khan: Starmer allegations a million miles from Boris Johnson’s actionsSadiq Khan: Starmer allegations a million miles from Boris Johnson’s actionsJoe Middleton7 May 2022 19:511651947909Labour urges ‘return to the executive’ despite protocol rowLabour has urged Boris Johnson’s government to “prioritise practical solutions through negotiation with the EU” over the protocol and “not chase headlines with empty threats”.Peter Kyle MP, shadow Northern Ireland secretary, congratulated Sinn Fein and said they had “earned the right to nominate a new first minister”.He added: “Unionism will still have a strong voice within power sharing and calls for progress on the remaining issues of the protocol have been heard and should not prevent a return to the executive”.Mr Johnson’s government is drawing up legislation aimed at tearing up checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland unilaterally – a move which is sure to spark a major row with the EU.But the bill is understood to be on hold until after the 10 May Queen’s Speech, with ministers hoping that the election results can persuade Brussels to agree that checks must be dropped to restore power-sharing arrangements.Joe Middleton7 May 2022 19:251651946209Sinn Fein hails ‘new era’ in Northern Ireland as nationalists become largest party for first timeSinn Fein has hailed a “new era” for Northern Ireland as the Irish nationalist party swept history aside and emerged the largest political force at Stormont for the first time.Michelle O’Neill, the party’s leader north of the border, challenged the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to drop its obsession with Brexit checks and “work together” to restore the power-sharing executive which collapsed in February.“Today represents a very significant moment of change, it’s a defining moment for our politics and our people,” said Ms O’Neill after the Republicans won the most votes and most seats for the first time since the country’s political institutions were set up a century ago.Sinn Fein has won 27 seats and received 29 per cent of first preference votes, compared with 23 seats and 21.3 per cent of first preference votes for the DUP – raising the prosect of the first-ever Irish nationalist first minister.Adam Forrest reports.Joe Middleton7 May 2022 18:561651945404Labour lose control of Tower HamletsLabour has lost control of Tower Hamlets council in London to the Aspire party, after it won 24 of the 45 seats on the council, with two seats still to be declared.On Friday, Aspire’s Lutfur Rahman defeated Labour incumbent John Biggs to become the elected mayor of Tower Hamlets.It a remarkable turnaround, seven years after Rahman was removed from the same post for multiple breaches of electoral law. He was banned from politics for five years after an electoral commissioner ruled he had “driven a coach and horses through election law”.Joe Middleton7 May 2022 18:431651944962DUP leader says party is doing ‘extremely well’ despite success of Sinn FeinDUP leader says party is doing ‘extremely well’ despite success of Sinn FeinJoe Middleton7 May 2022 18:36 More