UK Politics

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 ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer has made Rachel Reeves Britain’s first female chancellor as he appoints his new cabinet to get on with the job quickly.One of his easiest appointments for the new prime minister was Ms Reeves as his new chancellor. She played a major role in the campaign and as a former Bank of England economist has helped bring economic credibility back to Labour from the wreckage of the Jeremy Corbyn years.She is the first female to hold the second most important role in governent in 708 years of the office being in existance.Reeves is Britain’s first female chancellor More

Andy Burnham appeared to enjoy the moment Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg lost his seat in the general election, suggesting the former Tory cabinet minister had been “battered”.The 55-year-old Arch-Brexiteer was defeated by Labour’s Dan Norris in the new North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.Mr Norris won 20,739 votes compared to 15,420 for Sir Jacob.As the result was broadcast on Sky News on Friday morning (5 July), Mr Burnham celebrated.“That’s ‘Mogg-xit’ – he’s gone,” the Mayor of Greater Manchester said.“He’s been battered and he deserves to be. He has no clue what he has inflicted on people.” 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 dust has pretty much settled on this year’s UK general election, with the polls closing at 10pm on Thursday and virtually all votes counted overnight.Labour has secured a historic win with a significant majority – though less than some polls predicted – while the Conservatives have suffered their lowest-ever number of seats since 1832. See the latest seat count and constituencies declared live here. But with some surprising twists and dramatic seats on knife-edge losses, let’s dive into the general election by numbers. 1. Labour gained at least 211 seats — but just 1.6 per cent increase in share of the voteThough pollsters were predicting a large Labour majority in both seats and vote share, Sir Keir Starmer’s party has not managed to move the needle far when it comes to its proportion of national votes overall. Due to lower turnout, Labour won less votes than last election, at 9.7 million compared to 10.3 million in 2019.Labour’s total vote share sits at 33.8 per cent, a minute increase from 32.2 per cent in 2019, and well below the Tories’ 43.6 per cent in the last election. Nonetheless Labour has won at least 412 seats, an increase of 211 from 2019. ( More

The first senior Tory to lose a seat in the general election launched a brutal attack on his party during during a live BBC interview.Sir Robert Buckland slammed Conservative colleagues for saying “stupid” and “inflammatory” things during an interview on Thursday night (4 July).The former Justice Secretary lost to Labour’s Heidi Alexander, who won a majority of 9,606 and wiped out Sir Robert’s majority of more than 6,000 in Swindon South.Speaking to the BBC after his loss, Sir Robert said: “I’m fed up of personal agendas, and jockeying for position. The truth is now with the Conservatives facing this electoral Armageddon, it will be like a group of bald men arguing over a comb.” More

BBC presenter Clive Myrie thanked Tory MP Steve Baker for a “depressing” end to his live general election interview.The former MP, who lost his Wycombe seat after 14 years in power to Labour candidate Emma Reynolds, said he “would not be coming back” as he listed the struggles facing MPs across the country.Mr Baker said: “I’m sad for our country because Labour are going to be a disaster.”He added: “I wanted to win this, but for me personally, thank God I’m free. It’s over, and I’m glad.”Mr Myrie replied: “Well that is a depressing way to end an interview Steve, thank you for that.” More

At least seven hecklers interrupted Nigel Farage’s speech at a Reform UK press conference on Friday 5 July.The party’s leader was due to address to supporters and the media at around 2:30pm, but the event began with a person in the audience interrupting him and calls from others for the heckler to be removed.After the first man was removed, a number of other hecklers were escorted out of the Westminster venue.Mr Farage accused the first man who interrupted his speech of being “steaming” and shouted “boring” nine times as a second heckler started speaking.He was holding the press conference after Reform won four seats at the general election. More

Victoria Starmer warmly greeted supporters outside 10 Downing Street alongside her husband Sir Keir Starmer following Labour’s victory in the UK general election.Aptly wearing a red dress, Mrs Starmer walked hand-in-hand with the new prime minister as they hugged supporters waiting along Downing Street on Friday (5 July).A smiling Mrs Starmer was captured on camera thanking supporters. At one point, she appeared to say to one supporter “At last”.Sir Keir promised to rebuild trust in politics and restore hope to the nation after a landslide Labour victory.In his first speech in Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted “decisively for change”. 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 ThomasEditorWatch live as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage holds a press conferece on Friday (5 July) after he won a Commons seat in his egth attempt.Mr Farage promised his party would “stun all of you” as it picked up four Commons seats in the general election.Reform received more than four million votes, around 600,000 more than the Liberal Democrats, but thanks to the first-past-the-post system they won just four seats.Mr Farage will be joined in the Commons by former Tory Lee Anderson, party chairman Richard Tice and former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe in being elected to Parliament.Speaking after winning the Clactom seat, Mr Farage said: “They’ve been around for 190 years. They’ve been amazingly resilient. But this could be, I think this is the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party.”Mr Farage also said there is now a “massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it”.He added it is not just the Tories he is taking on, saying “we’re coming for Labour” and “this is just the first step of something that is going to stun all of you”. More