UK Politics

Kwasi Kwarteng refuses to rule out Tory comeback from himself or Liz TrussSupport trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader in the wake of the Conservative Party’s wipeout at the general election has been underway for 10 days.Ex-deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell has urged the Tory party to avoid an interim leader, saying the best option “is to seek to persuade Rishi to remain” until mid to end of November.He said that the former prime minister’s instinct will be ‘almost certainly to go’ but that the 1922 Committee meeting showed ‘widespread feelings of sympathy and respect for Rishi Sunak.’ While no candidate has yet formally launched a bid, Suella Braverman’s hopes were dealt an early blow, as one source described the twice-sacked home secretary’s campaign to The Times as “dead before it even started”, accusing her of “going too hard, too soon”.Other possible Tory leadership race contenders on the party’s right include Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel, while James Cleverly, Jeremy Hunt, Tom Tugendhat and Victoria Atkins are among more moderate figures who could launch bids.Show latest update 1721050640Tory treasurer who gave party £5m quits role days after election defeatSir Mohamed Mansour, the senior treasurer of the Conservative Party, announced on Saturday he was resigning from his post 10 days after Rishi Sunak’s election defeat.The Egyptian-born billionaire had donated £5m to the party and had been a key player in raising other funds. His donation was the biggest for the Conservatives since 2001.He told The Independent: “I have been honoured to serve my country and party since December 2022 and it has been a privilege to do so.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain15 July 2024 14:371721046039Who will be the next Tory leader? All the front runners ranked, from Priti Patel to Suella BravermanHere we look at some of the remaining runners and riders:Maryam Zakir-Hussain15 July 2024 13:201721043169Top Tory calls for Rishi Sunak to stay as party leader until November as succession battle loomsMaryam Zakir-Hussain15 July 2024 12:321721039198Tory grandee urges against lurch to extreme right in leadership battleThe Conservative Party needs to avoid a lurch to the “extreme right” as it tries to rebuild itself from its worst ever defeat, a former party chairman has warned.Lord Chris Patten, who was chairman for the successful 1992 general election campaign where he also lost his seat, has raised concerns that the Tories will try to ape Nigel Farage as it seeks to win back supporters.Writing for The Independent, the Tory grandee, who was also Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong, labelled two of the potential contenders Priti Patel and Suella Braverman as “extreme right” and described Farage as “Tommy Robinson in a cravat” as he urged for the party to take time over resetting itself.Maryam Zakir-Hussain15 July 2024 11:261721036805Rishi Sunak should stay as Tory leader until November, Andrew Mitchell saysA senior Tory has urged Rishi Sunak to stay on as party leader until November amid divisions in the party over how long the contest to replace him should take.Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell said he understood Mr Sunak’s “possible reticence” but spoke out against the idea of having an interim leader and argued “we should play it long”.He said the Conservatives should “adopt a modest profile” in the wake of its drubbing in the General Election and use the party conference, starting on September 29, for a “showcasing” of contenders.Maryam Zakir-Hussain15 July 2024 10:461720846800Watch: Suella Braverman refuses to say if she’ll be next Tory leaderSuella Braverman refuses to say if she’ll be next Tory leaderMaryam Zakir-Hussain13 July 2024 06:001720839600Suella Braverman blasts Kemi Badenoch as Tories ignore calls for unityTwo of the frontrunners in the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader have attacked each other, as infighting within the party deepens.She also named her rival Kemi Badenoch, tweeting: “I’d be interested in knowing whether Kemi thinks I’m having a ‘very public nervous breakdown’.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain13 July 2024 04:001720832400Jacob Rees-Mogg starts filming new reality TV show following general election defeatMaryam Zakir-Hussain13 July 2024 02:001720825200The real reason Rishi Sunak held his disastrous snap electionHouseholds would have to pay even more eye-watering sums in many of the so-called “blue wall” Conservative seats in the south of England Mr Sunak was desperate to save.Maryam Zakir-Hussain13 July 2024 00:001720818033Will Rishi Sunak stick around to take on Keir Starmer at PMQs?One of the many humiliations suffered by the Conservatives in the past week has been the temporary deletion of their X/Twitter account. For a short time, visitors to the party’s social media page were greeted only with the error message: “Something went wrong”. That’s an understatement, although the question remains exactly what went wrong.Identifying a way forward could take months, if not years, but in the meantime what’s left of the parliamentary Conservative party has to form an effective opposition. In the short term, this means Rishi Sunak taking on Keir Starmer’s former role in the most brutal of job swaps…Sean O’Grady has more…Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 July 2024 22:00 More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe Conservatives face a leadership contest after a disastrous election result which saw Labour win by a landslide. But the party has lost a string of senior names who had been expected to stand – including former cabinet ministers Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps. Here we look at some of the remaining runners and riders: Kemi Badenoch The combative former business secretary, who has been involved in a number of high-profile clashes, is seen as a strong contender. She had a good run when she competed for the leadership in 2022. A one-time darling of the Conservative right she was seen to have blotted her copy book, however, when she canned a pledged bonfire of EU red tape. She left the door open to the race when she said, “we will talk about leadership things after an election”. Odds: 11/5Rishi Sunak leaves the Conservative Campaign Headquarters in London after conceding defeat More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour will govern Britain more like Gareth Southgate and less like Michael Gove, Lisa Nandy has promised.The culture secretary vowed an end to the “era of division” in British politics, adding ministers will take their lead from the beloved England manager.Asked whether Mr Southgate should be kept on after Sunday night’s loss to Spain in the final of Euro 2024, Ms Nandy said: “I admire him enormously and I am sure he will reach a decision after spending a bit of time thinking about it.”She told Sky News: “The contribution that Gareth Southgate has already made to football is enormous on the pitch and off the pitch.Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said Labour will govern like Gareth Southgate, not Michael Gove More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe government’s adviser on political violence has called on the home secretary to investigate a “dark underbelly” of abuse and intimidation of candidates during the general election.John Woodcock, a former Labour MP, who now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Walney, also suggested there could have been a “concerted campaign by extremists”.He has urged Yvette Cooper to commission an inquiry.His call comes just days after the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “If there is something that keeps me awake at night, it is the safety of MPs.”Police secure the entrance for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and wife Victoria to arrive at a polling station More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorDavid Lammy called for an immediate ceasefire in his first meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the Middle East on Sunday.The foreign secretary raised the urgent need for a ceasefire agreed by both sides, which includes the release of all hostages and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza.In meetings with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Lammy made the case for working towards a two-state solution to the conflict.The foreign secretary was also expected to announce that the UK will provide another £5.5m this year to UK-Med to fund its work in Gaza.David Lammy held his first meetings in the Middle East with Israeli and Palestinian leaders More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorLabour’s animal-welfare and environmental policies may be better than the Tories’ – but they contain disappointing gaps, experts say.In a YouGov poll last year, a third of voters said animal welfare was one of their top three issues.So new environment secretary Steve Reed will come under pressure from lobby groups – and in some cases, from opposing countryside and farming factions.Nature-restoration pledges hold promise but nature-friendly farming should be encouraged, say experts More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe UK parliament and the US Congress are set to work more closely to combat threats to frontline politicians in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.The Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle is to write to his American counterpart stressing the importance of sharing expertise on security measures, The Independent has learned.It comes as the shooting at a campaign rally led to concerns about the safety of MPs and the risk of political violence in the UK.A bloodied Mr Trump was rushed from the stage to a hospital after the attempt on his life and later said that a bullet had “pierced” his ear.The gunman was killed at the scene.Kim Leadbeater, the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, said the attack on Mr Trump raised questions about “what a civilised democracy looks like”.The Labour MP for Spen Valley told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We are back again having that conversation about what democracy looks like, what our politics looks like. I sadly feel that we are not making a huge amount of progress in this country.”House of Commons leader Lucy Powell also said that there was a “growing sense of … hate and attacks” towards UK politicians which was “something that we need to take action on”.The government’s adviser on political violence has also called on the home secretary to investigate a “dark underbelly” of abuse and intimidation of candidates during the general election.John Woodcock, a former Labour MP, who now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Walney, also suggested there could have been a “concerted campaign by extremists”.Just hours before the attempt on Mr Trump’s life, the Commons speaker warned that the safety of MPs keeps him “awake at night”.Sir Lindsay Hoyle said threats and intimidation towards parliamentarians were currently at such a level that he had “never seen anything as bad”.The security of MPs was tightened after Sir David Amess was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex nearly three years ago. He was the second MP murdered in recent years, after Ms Cox was killed in her constituency in 2016.A spokesperson for the speaker said: “Mr Speaker will be writing to the former president to express condolences.”They added that he would also be writing to “the current US Speaker of the House – who is also a G7 counterpart – to reiterate the importance of sharing expertise regarding security measures for those in frontline politics”.Earlier Ms Cox’s widower, Brendan Cox, called for a “consensus against political violence in all forms”.Jo Cox’s widower Brendan Cox called for a consensus against all political violence More

Support trulyindependent journalismFind out moreCloseOur mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.Louise ThomasEditorThe government’s adviser on political violence has called on the home secretary to investigate a “dark underbelly” of abuse and intimidation of candidates during the general election.John Woodcock, a former Labour MP, who now sits in the House of Lords as Baron Walney, also suggested there could have been a “concerted campaign by extremists”.He has urged Yvette Cooper to commission an inquiry.His call comes just days after the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “If there is something that keeps me awake at night, it is the safety of MPs.”Police secure the entrance for Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and wife Victoria to arrive at a polling station More