UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWhen Rishi Sunak took the podium to deliver his prime minister’s speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester last October, there was little he could say that hadn’t already been leaked to the media. But he did have one secret weapon, in the form of his wife, Akshata Murty.Taking to the stage in a bright coral suit and heels, the fabulously wealthy daughter of an Indian tech billionaire stepped into the limelight and gave Sunak perhaps his best moment in an otherwise difficult party conference season.Now, the Tory leader, who trails by 27 points, hopes to repeat this trick again with Mrs Murty taking to the campaign trail solo to help turn the tide in his favour.The heiress and businesswoman visted a Royal British Legion care facility in Ripon, North Yorkshire on Wednesday to bolster support for her husband’s campaign.Akshata Murty, the wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, meets with residents during a visit to a Royal British Legion care facility More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIf Labour wins most votes on 4 July, nearly half of its winning margin will come from people who agree with the Tories but are backing Sir Keir Starmer because they have “given up” on Rishi Sunak.That is the finding of a “Red Votes, Blue Values” survey which appears to reveal a new election trend.According to the JL Partners survey for The Independent, 40 per cent of Labour’s current substantial lead in the polls is from people with small “c” conservative views.The poll shows a huge chunk of the electorate is instinctively in tune with traditional Tory thinking on a wide range of key policies and topics from immigration, law and order, public spending and tax to being pro-business, “anti-woke” and patriotic.But in spite of this, they are switching to Labour because they have “lost faith” in Mr Sunak.The dramatic findings reflect a mirror image of the so-called red-wall effect in the last election.On that occasion, the Tories were swept to power aided by voters in working-class seats in the North who abandoned Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing Labour Party.This time it appears the opposite is happening: traditional Conservative supporters are abandoning the party of Sunak, Johnson and Truss in favour of Starmer, who has ditched Labour’s left-wing baggage.Callum Hunter, of JL Partners, says: “Keir Starmer’s road to Downing Street hinges on ‘Blue Labour’ voters. “The public are closer to the Conservatives in attitudes towards policy than Labour, but they are backing Starmer anyway – Labour is ahead by converting voters of what is still a fundamentally conservative Britain. The Tories face an electorate that ‘agrees with them but has given up on them’.”According to the poll, the average Briton tends to lean to the right socially and economically.Mr Hunter said: “It puts them closer to what they perceive as the Conservative Party on 11 of 19 key issues, from Rwanda to the economy to crime. “Whilst the general voter is closer to the Conservatives on the policies themselves, they have lost faith in Rishi Sunak’s leadership and the Tories’ ability to handle these issues. “Forty per cent of Labour’s lead comes from voters who take a more economically and socially conservative view. They tend to think that political correctness has gone too far, are supportive of the Rwanda plan, want a tougher stance on crime and are proud of the UK.“The electorate is still quite conservative, with a small ‘c’, but they have abandoned the Conservative Party in their droves.”However, Mr Hunter said there could be a sting in the tail for Starmer from his army of small “c” conservative recruits if the Tory Party revives after the election.“Going into this election, and beyond, he needs to worry more about these voters than any other group.“A post-election Conservative Party resurgence could see this group fall away. Right now, Starmer leads on leadership attributes, and the salient issues like the NHS are ones that Labour own, but there are fundamental policy disagreements between Labour and the electorate. It will be tough to reconcile these two positions if they get into government.”JL Partners interviewed 2,001 adults online from 2-4 May More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailAfter a difficult start to the general election Rishi Sunak has finally come ahead of Keir Starmer in one crucial area in the polls.The Conservatives are currently trailing Labour by between 12 and 27 points according to diffierent opinion polls published over the last 24 hours but one poll puts them ahead.According to Redfield and Wilton, the Conservative’s campaign slogan is preferred by voters.The Tories are campaigning on “Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future.” while Labour has gone for the one word “Change” inspired by Barack Obama’s 2008 bid for the White House.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Scotland could be ‘key to delivering the change our entire country needs’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer has broken his silence after a morning of fevered speculation about the future of Diane Abbott as a Labour MP.The veteran left-winger had the Labour Party whip restored on Tuesday, but whether or not she will be able to stand in the general election remains mired in uncertainty.She confirmed to various news outlets that the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) has banned her from standing for Labour – more than a year on from her suspension over controversial comments about racism.Sir Keir Starmer has broken his silence over the Diane Abbott row More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWith the clock ticking down to the general election on 4 July, the major parties are facing a race to win over voters before polling day.The Conservatives and Labour have been battling it out on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security so far and the parties’ leaders, Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, are also set to square off in TV debates.ITV announced on Wednesday that the first head-to-head general election debate between the pair will take place on ITV1, ITVX and STV and STV Player on Tuesday 4th June at 9pm.The hour-long debate, Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate, will be moderated by Julie Etchingham. It will take place live in front of a studio audience and will be made and produced by MultiStory Media, part of ITV Studios.Sunak and Starmer will take part in two televised debates 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 insightLabour’s plans to end tax emptions for fee paying independent schools cannot be challenged in the courts because of Brexit, a leading expert has claimed.Dan Niedle, founder of thinktank Tax Policy Associates, has warned that Reform UK leader Richard Tice’s plans to challenge Labour in the courts will fail because of his previous successful campaign to leave the European Union.Labour want to end the charity status of private schools meaning that parents will have to pay 20 percent VAT on top of the already eye watering annual fees which, according to financial advisers St James Place, averaged £20,480 for day pupils and £34,790 for boarders in 2022.There are believed to be around 615,000 children in the UK’s 1,300 independent schools, some 7 per cent of all British school-age children and 18 per cent of pupils over the age of 16. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said she was a ‘social democrat’ when asked if she was a socialist (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA white Labour candidate who publicly apologised after making a racist joke privately described criticism of the incident as a “smear campaign” against him, The Independent can reveal.Darren Rodwell, whose rant was compared to a racist comedy show in the mid-1970s, said at the time his remarks were “extremely stupid and embarrassing”.“I deeply apologise to anyone that I have offended,” he said after a clip of the 2019 remarks surfaced in October 2022.But, just days later, an email seen by The Independent reveals he told a potential constituent that he was in fact being smeared. Darren Rodwell, who is white, said he has ‘the worst tan possible for a Black man’ More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailDiane Abbott says she has been barred from standing as a Labour candidate at the general election.The veteran Labour MP had the party whip restored on Tuesday, but will not be able to stand for it on 4 July, she told the BBC.Ms Abbott was suspended last April over a letter she wrote in The Observer suggesting Jewish people are not subjected to the same racism as some other minorities.The former shadow home secretary under Jeremy Corbyn immediately apologised over her comments and said the letter had been an “initial draft”.Diane Abbott has confirmed she is barred from standing for Labour in the general election More