UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe UK economy recorded no growth in April in a blow to Rishi Sunak’s hopes of turning around the Tory Party’s faltering election campaign.According to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday, gross domestic product (GDP) was flat during the month, following growth of 0.4 per cent in March.This follows an estimated 0.6 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2024, which pulled the UK out of a small recession at the end of last year.It also comes just over a week before the next figures on inflation are released and a decision is made by the Bank of England on interest rates.The latest monthly figure will make grim reading for the prime minister who has made economic growth one of the central pillars of his general election campaign.In March he said this year will be “prove to be the year that the economy bounces back” after the downturn in 2023. Responding to the figures, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “There is more to do, but the economy is turning a corner and inflation is back down to normal.”Prime minister Rishi Sunak has pegged much of his general election campaign on a recent record of economic improvement More

Grant Shapps stumbles over the Conservatives’ stamp duty policy from their election manifesto during a live interview on Wednesday, 12 June.The defence secretary told Nick Ferrari that stamp duty would be abolished for first-time buyers on homes valued up to £450,000.However, the policy’s real figure is £425,000.Later on, Mr Shapps said: “Off the top of my head I remember it as 450. I found it here… you’re right, it’s 425 million…” before Mr Ferrari interrupted to correct him that the number is in its hundreds of thousands rather than millions. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The British economy failed to grow in April, official figures showed Wednesday, in a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has made the return of growth and a generally calmer economic backdrop a central pillar of the Conservative Party’s election campaign. The Office for National Statistics said wet weather dampened consumer spending and construction during the month. The flat monthly reading came after a 0.6% increase during the first quarter of the year, which Sunak has made much of on the campaign trail following a period of muted growth.Though monthly figures are vulnerable to short-term factors, the flat reading is likely to be used by opponents of the Conservatives in the run-up to the election on July 4. While Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt insisted the “economy is turning a corner,” his opposite number in the Labour Party Rachel Reeves said the “economy has stalled.”The latest growth figures come a week before the next round of inflation data and the Bank of England makes its next interest rate decision.Hopes within the Conservative Party that the bank would lower its main interest rate from the 16-year high of 5.25% have diminished after inflation failed to fall as much as hoped in April. Though inflation is down at an annual rate of 2.3%, it remains slightly above the bank’s target and is expected to tick up slightly in coming months. High interest rates — which cool the economy by making it more expensive to borrow — have helped ease inflation, but they’ve also weighed on the British economy.“A June interest rate cut looks improbable, with the Bank of England likely to be a little wary of shifting policy in the middle of a general election campaign,” said Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.On Tuesday, Sunak pledged to cut taxes and reduce immigration in the Conservative Party’s manifesto for government if reelected. Labour, which is ahead in opinion polls, is due to publish its manifesto on Thursday. More

Sir Ed Davey fell into water as he attempted to complete a floating assault course while campaigning in Warwickshire on Wednesday, 12 June.The Liberal Democrat leader was championing the party’s plans for a new clean water authority to replace Ofwat (Water Services Regulation Authority) as he paid a visit to Spot-On-Wake in Henley-in-Arden.The party has promised to “end the sewage scandal” by changing water firms into public benefit companies, banning bonuses for water bosses until discharges and leaks stop, and replacing Ofwat with a new regulator.It comes after Sir Ed fell off a paddleboard into Lake Windermere as he hit the campaign trail in May. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChancellor Jeremy Hunt has admitted his Surrey seat could be won or lost by 1,500 votes or less as he faces a battle to political survival. The Godalming and Ash parliamentary seat is a key target for the Liberal Democrats who are aiming to demolish the Conservative “blue wall” in southern England. If they are successful, a defeat for Mr Hunt could surpass the infamous “Portillo Moment” when the former defence secretary Michael Portillo was beaten in Enfield Southgate during New Labour’s landslide victory in 1997.A YouGov poll has suggested that the Liberal Democrats are set to win this new seat from Mr Hunt at the general election. Mr Hunt’s majority in the 2019 general election was 8,817, but he thinks this could now be a much closer race this time around.He told Bloomberg: “There’s all to play for. This seat is probably going to be won or lost by the Conservatives by 1,500 votes or fewer.”No chancellor has ever lost their seat at a general election, making the battle for the seat one of the more compelling storylines at the general election.Mr Hunt would be the first chancellor to lose his seat at a general election More

Rishi Sunak apologised for D-Day commemorations “running over” as he sat down for an ITV News interview after leaving the 80th anniversary event early. The prime minister left Normandy before a major international ceremony marking the anniversary of the Allied landings so he could record a TV interview as part of his push for votes in the general election.However, his campaigning has been dealt a heavy blow by the backlash against the decision.Mr Sunak has since apologised, saying: “I stuck to the itinerary that had been set for me as prime minister weeks ago, before the election.”On reflection, that was a mistake. And I apologise.” More

Rishi Sunak said he “went without” as a child as his parents would not allow him to have Sky TV.The prime minister sat down with ITV News in an interview he gave after leaving D-Day commemorations early last week.Mr Sunak faced backlash for this decision, and later apologised saying it was a “mistake.”As Paul Brand asked Mr Sunak if he had ever “gone without something,” the prime minister replied that “went without lots of things” as his parents “wanted to put everything into our education.”Mr Sunak attended Winchester College boarding school, where 2024/25 fees stand at £51,855 per year. 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 insightBrexit and culture war issues are driving a firmer wedge between Labour and Tory voters, analysis by leading pollster Professor John Curtice has found. Immediately after the Brexit referendum, Leave voters were more than twice as likely than Remain voters to say they were Conservative. But this has now grown to three times as likely, according to a new report from the National Centre of Social Research.Opinions on the rights of trans people are also a growing indicator of voting preference. Participants of the British Social Attitudes survey were asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement: “A person who is transgender should be able to have the sex recorded on their birth certificate changed if they want”. People’s responses differed little by the party they supported when the question was first asked in 2016. However, a large political gap has now emerged between those who disagree that transgender people should be able to change their birth certificate and those who don’t. Professor John Curtice has said that identity and morality issues are becoming more important to voters More