UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailGrant Shapps has admitted the Conservatives are unlikely to win the general election, saying he is a realist and pleading with voters to help prevent a massive Labour majority instead.The defence secretary said he would not “pretend black is white” by claiming Rishi Sunak is on course to remain prime minister, adding it is “not the most likely outcome”.And while he said a Tory win is still possible, he said he lives “in the real world” and warned of “the dangers of Labour” if Sir Keir Starmer enters Downing Street with what he called a supermajority.Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said he ‘lives in the real world’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSuella Braverman’s new TikTok video described as “cringey” has left many viewers confused about whether it is just a parody.The former home secretary was filmed doing a swaggering dance to the soundtrack of Fedde Le Grand and Ida Corr’s 2006 hit ‘Let Me Think About It’.She launched the new account on the social media platform last week with a handful of videos as part of her general election campaign, and it has already received tens of thousands of views.Wearing dark sunglasses and green trousers, the Conservative candidate for Fareham and Waterlooville does not speak during the 15-second clip.Instead, a caption appears asking whether voters will support her at the upcoming general election on 4 July, while a remix of the popular song plays in the background.Ms Braverman tries to capitalise on a viral trend on TikTok More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightNewly-crowned Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is set to unveil his party’s manifesto on Monday.It comes after a buoyant week for the former Ukip leader, with an explosive poll placing Mr Farage’s party ahead of the Tories for the first time in history.However, with only three weeks before election day, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted the Conservatives would not come third at the general election and said they are “still fighting hard for every vote”.Meanwhile, Mr Farage has declared himself and his party the “new opposition” following the groundbreaking YouGov pollSpeaking during a press conference in London on Friday, the staunch Brexiteer called on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to face him in a head-to-head televised debate on migration.So what’s Mr Farage’s plan? Does he intend to take over the Conservative Party from the outside? Or will he attempt to usurp them completely as Reform’s popularity grows?What could Mr Farage’s victory mean for the future of UK politics? And what can we expect from a Reform manifesto?If you have a question on Mr Farage’s explosive return to frontline politics submit it now, or when I join you live at 12pm on Tuesday 18 June for the “Ask Me Anything” event.Register to submit your question in the comments box under this article.Scroll down or click here to leave your comment.If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments section to leave your question. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until I join the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 12pm as I tackle as many questions as I can. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightA tactical voting hit list has been produced by campaign group Best for Britain which has placed removing Rishi Sunak from his Richmond and Northallerton seat in Yorkshire as its top priority.The centre-left campaign group, which was set up to stop Brexit, has identified other prominent targets on the list including leadership hopefuls Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Penny Mordaunt, along with home secretary James Cleverly, former prime minister Liz Truss and former home secretary Priti Patel.It comes after MRP polling over the weekend suggested the Conservatives could end up with a historic low number of seats, a mere 72.Best for Britain are making recommendations in 451 seats recommending with 370 for Labour, 69 for the Lib Dems, seven for the SNP, three for the Greens and two for Plaid Cymru. The other seats in England, Wales and Scotland have Labour or Lib Dem incumbents where there is unlikely to be any contest. Meanwhile, they are asking people not to vote DUP or TUV in Northern Ireland.The projections follow a map produced by The Independent on tactical voting across the UK, which readers can check to see how best to vote.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is returning to the campaign trail on Monday (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA Reform UK candidate has resigned after historic comments calling for people to vote for the BNP. Grant StClair-Armstrong, 71, was supposed to contest against business secretary Kemi Badenoch in North West Essex. In an old post in 2010, he reportedly wrote “Vote for BNP”, lamenting the state of the UK. “I could weep now, every time I pick up a British newspaper and read the latest about the state of the UK. No doubt, Enoch Powell would be doing the same if he was alive. My solution … vote BNP!” he wrote, in remarks first reported by The Times. A spokesperson for Reform confirmed in a statement to the paper that the North West Essex candidate resigned from their party due to the revelation of “unacceptable historic social media comments”. “We have accepted his resignation,” they added. In a post on X on Sunday evening, Mr StClair-Armstrong said: “I do not and have never supported the BNP, particularly the nasty Nick Griffin. I posted it in a moment of frustration, the only person in the world who has ever done so.”The remarks were unearthed from the archives of a blog called Joli Triste, which has since been changed. The archive also allegedly showed racial slurs, including a joke about “female hormones”.He told the BBC that the comments were posted sometime between 2004 and 2007 and he was an “angry man” at the time. In his remarks to The Times he said he was going through a tough phase, but has “cleaned up his act” since then. “I don’t have this stuff on my website any more … I removed all that stuff and made the website respectable,” he told The Times. “It was at a time when I was feeling particularly hard done by, I’d been shafted by a lot of people. I cleaned up my act a long, long time ago.”About his support for BNP, he told The Times that he believes they’re a “disgusting party”. “I’ve got no excuses for that. I think they’re a disgusting party. I don’t like the English Defence League. I don’t like them,” he said.Mr StClair-Armstrong said he decided to resign because he did not “see any alternative”. However, his name will still appear on the ballot as the names of the candidates can not be changed now. But if we wins, he will win as an independent candidate. More