UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailPeter Mandelson has resigned from the board of his lobbying firm weeks before Labour is set to enter No 10. Keir Starmer is now widely predicted to win by a landslide on July 4, returning his party to government for the first time since 2010. And there are predictions the overwhelming scale of the victory could guarantee he stays in Downing Street for a decade. Now it has emerged that Lord Mandelson has resigned as a director of Global Counsel.The move by the former business secretary has prompted speculation he would be free for a possible government role. But it is thought nothing has changed since he ruled out a return to frontline politics earlier this year. The peer raised eyebrows when he said Sir Keir could stand to “shed a few pounds” More

The Conservatives have been slammed for releasing an “abhorrent” migrant boat advert on World Refugee Day.The party released a video on X, which shows a small boat arriving with migrants on it, through the view of a pair of binoculars.People are seen on the beach rolling out a red carpet, with the word “welcome” written in the sand.The final scene has text which says: “Labour’s approach to illegal immigration.”The post on X is captioned: “Don’t wake up to this on 5th July.”Social media users have responded to the video in disgust. One user labelled it “abhorrent”, while another said: “Grubby ad from a grubby campaign for a grubby government.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has been hit with another blow after a major new survey suggested that voters now prefer Nigel Farage than “a Conservative leader” to be leader of the opposition to Labour.The same survey by Redfield and Wilton shows that 50 percent think it was wrong to exclude Mr Farage from the televised head-to-head leaders debate between Mr Sunak and Keir Starmer on 26 Jine.The results have landed after a new row has broken out over the Tories latest social media campaign launched this morning showing Labour rolling out the red carpet for illegal migrants on a beah. Mr Farage accused the Tories of being “liars and cheats” in the advert after months of failure in stopping the small boats. The Redfield and Wilton poll, exclusively carried out for The Independent, also reveals that more voters would like to see Farage’s Reform party replace the Tories than those wanting the Conservatives to remain as the leading centre right party.Farage has made support for country sports a major 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 insightBoris Johnson will lift the lid on his time in Downing Street publishing an “unrestrained” memoir called Unleashed.The former prime minister announced the book will be published by William Collins on 10 October.It promises to cover all the key moments from his time as London mayor to his role in the Brexit referendum and his stint in Downing Street between 2019 and 2022.Boris Johnson will detail what he called the ‘huge realignment that took place in UK politics in the last 15 years’ More

Gove labels insider election betting ‘reprehensible’ as second Tory candidate investigatedSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has been rocked by an election betting scandal after a Conservative candidate and her husband are investigated over a bet relating to the timing of the general election. Tory candidate for Bristol North West Laura Saunders and the party’s director of campaigning Tony Lee are currently being looked into by the Gambling Commission. The prime minister is now facing urgent calls to suspend the probed party members after Sir Keir Starmer attacked Mr Sunak for failing to do so. Other parties like Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper labelled the situation an “utter disgrace” and Labour’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden urged the PM to withdraw support from candidates immediately. The Tory couple are the latest figures to face gambling allegations after Craig Williams apologised over betting on the date of the general election. It comes as a police officer in Mr Sunak’s close protection team was arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the general election.Show latest update 1718895345George Osborne: Starmer cannot ‘assume’ he’ll get two terms in Downing StreetThe former chancellor has said that Sir Keir Starmer cannot “assume” he will have two terms as prime minister if he wins a huge majority on July 4. Mr Osborne added the Labour leader will have to work to “justify” a landslide win. He added: “I don’t think Starmer can assume that ‘I’m in now for a couple of terms if I get this huge, historic majority.But I don’t still see any of the kind of enthusiasm and endorsement of a Labour plan for government that I think you’d need to cement right now a long period of Labour government.“They’re going to have to do the work after the election to justify the very big majority that they look likely to win.”( More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s election campaign was dealt another blow on Thursday after it emerged that a second Conservative Party candidate was being investigated over a bet on the date of the general election.Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate for Bristol North West, is understood to be under investigation by the Gambling Commission (GC) over claims she may have had inside knowledge about the prime minister’s decision to call a snap poll for 4 July.Ms Saunders has worked for the party since 2015 and is married to Tony Lee, who works as the Conservative Party’s director of campaigns. Mr Lee has since taken a leave of absence after it came to light he was also being probed by the GC.According to the BBC, which first named Ms Saunders as the candidate under investigation, she worked most recently at the party’s international division at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, which works with other centre-right parties around the world.What are the rules for MPs and others on betting with inside knowledge?Using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage when betting may constitute a criminal offence.Gamblers are not allowed to use inside information to place a bet or to instruct someone else to do so on their behalf.They are also not allowed to pass inside information on to someone else which they use for betting.Laura Saunders More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMichael Gove has blamed Liz Truss for the Conservative Party’s collapse in the so-called blue wall of safe Tory seats.The party is facing a wipeout in its traditional southern English heartlands at the general election, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour eyeing a series of high-profile scalps, including Mr Gove’s former Surrey Heath seat.And Mr Gove, who represented the area for two decades, blamed the Tories’ struggles on Ms Truss and her September 2022 mini-budget.Click here for our live coverage of the general election campaign.Speaking to The Independent on the Tory party’s battle bus on Thursday, the housing secretary said: “One of the challenges in particular that we face, and it applies in seats like the one I have represented but also more broadly, is the reputation for sound economic management, which is essential for Conservative success, took a bit of a knock in the period between Boris and Rishi.”Michael Gove told The Independent Liz Truss was responsible for the party’s electoral woes More

Michael Gove has admitted he is “over the hill” in politics.The cabinet minister, who announced last month that he will not stand at the general election, believes it is time for the Conservative Party to “have a new generation coming forward” alongside Rishi Sunak.“I’m over the hill, I’ve been in parliament for 20 years,” Mr Gove told Kay Burley on Sky News, when asked why he is stepping down.He named Kemi Badenoch, Laura Trott and Claire Coutinho as the “new generation” of Tory MPs and said he wants to support them instead. More