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      Kemi Badenoch facing ‘inevitable’ leadership challenge as Tories battle dire poll ratings

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      Kemi Badenoch is facing an inevitable leadership challenge, Boris Johnson’s former director of communications has warned, amid reports that the Tory party is plotting to oust her. Guto Harri, who worked for Boris Johnson during his time in No 10, also warned the Conservatives against selecting frontrunner Robert Jenrick as their next leader, dubbing him a “pale imitation” of Reform UK. It comes after The Independent revealed that Tory MPs are plotting to remove Mrs Badenoch as panic grows over the future of the party following Reform’s success in the local elections and continued disastrous results in the polls. Kemi Badenoch is facing questions over her leadership after the disastrous local election results More

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      Reform hits 30% landmark as more than half of Tory voters switch to Farage

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      Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have hit 30 per cent for the first time in the weekly tracker poll conducted by Techne UK for The Independent.After a massive victory in May’s local elections where the party won 10 councils and 677 seats, Reform’s climb in the polls continues while the slide continues for both Labour and the Tories.Ahead of the local elections on 1 May Reform were tied with Labour on 25 per cent each but have gained five points in the last month while Labour have fallen three points to 22 per cent.Meanwhile, the Tories who were on 23 per cent just before the local elections have seen their support collapse six points in a month to 17 per cent, now just one point ahead of the Lib Dems on 16 per cent. The Greens have also benefited rising by two points to 9 per cent.Techne UK’s chief executive Michela Morizzo said: “It seems the political landscape in the UK is evolving more rapidly in a totally new direction than ever before in history.”This week’s polling revealed that voters aged over 45 are more likely to support Reform with backing for Farage increasing the older people get.Voters aged 35 to 44 are evenly split at the top between Labour and Reform while voters under 35 are more likely to support Labour.More than half (52 per cent) of Tory voters from last year’s election have now switched to Reform. However only 10 per cent of Labour’s 2024 election voters back Reform now with more (12 per cent) going to Lib Dems.The figures will only add to questions about Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s ability to survive while they also appear to have pressured Sir Keir Starmer into a U-turn on winter fuel. Since Sir Keir Starmer’s government took over, Labour have seen a decline in support. The Conservatives, too, have been unable to keep momentum in opposition, and have fallen to 21 per cent support. Meanwhile Reform, which won an unprecedented 14.3 per cent of the vote in the July general election, has continued to make steady gains, overtaking the Tories in January, and now sit alongside Labour at the top. It is important to note, however, that national voting intention polls do not tend to accurately reflect the picture at local elections, but they can provide a useful snapshot of political sentiment. For some voters, political parties play little part in their choice for local councillors, while others might vote solely based on party affiliation. More

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      Starmer delays tackling child poverty leaving tens of thousands on the brink

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      Labour has delayed a flagship plan designed to cut child poverty until the autumn, in a move that could leave tens of thousands on the brink. Just weeks after coming to power, ministers said they would consider ditching the “cruel” two-child benefit cap in a bid to head off a backbench Labour revolt.But the overall strategy in which the policy was expected to be included has now been pushed back, despite fears of another rebellion on welfare cuts within weeks. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signalled a partial U-turn on restricting winter fuel payments earlier this week (Thomas Krych/PA) More

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      Probation staff shortages threaten to derail plans to safely release prisoners early, ministers warned

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      Severe staff shortages mean the beleaguered probation service cannot safely monitor prisoners in the community under new plans to free up prison spaces, senior figures have warned. In a review ordered by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood as the prison crisis boiled over during her first days in office, her Tory predecessor, David Gauke, recommended freeing many prisoners a third of the way into their sentence and telling judges to avoid jailing people for less than a year in favour of community sentences.While the plans have been widely welcomed, concerns have been raised over how the under-pressure probation service will cope with an influx of new offenders to manage. Ms Mahmood is expected to accept most of the proposals, but former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland expressed concern that the plans could merely “transfer a prison-based problem into the community”.And probation union Napo warned that there was now a “vital window” to invest in staff and their wellbeing before the changes place “massive, massive pressure” on a service already in “chaos”.Hailing the report as “the most important review of sentencing policy in at least a generation”, Napo chief Ian Lawrence added: “But the problem the government has right now is, if prisons are full, so is the probation service.“And our capacity to process even more people released into the community is going to be put under massive, massive pressure … without something being done to maintain the confidence of staff. That means paying people so they don’t just leave, because people [have had] enough of the current workload situation.”The most recent official figures suggest a shortfall of nearly 1,500 probation officers below the recommended staffing level of 7,115. Mr Lawrence warned that this target may underestimate the true need. Ministers have vowed to recruit a further 1,300 officers by March 2026 and while the probation service grew by 610 staff in the year to March, more than 2,000 staff – nearly 10 per cent – left over the same period. Forty per cent of probation officers who quit left with at least 10 years of experience, analysis by The Independent found.Asked whether he believes the probation service has enough staff to safely enact the reforms, Mr Lawrence said: “Certainly not now.”Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered the sentencing review during her first days in office More

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      Trump tells Starmer to stop building ‘unsightly windmills’ and drill for more oil in North Sea

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      Donald Trump has taken aim at Sir Keir Starmer’s government just weeks after the two leaders appeared to put the “special relationship” back on track with a much-lauded trade deal. The US president hit out at one of the Labour leader’s flagship strategies, on net zero, telling him to “stop with the costly and unsightly windmills” and instead forge ahead with more drilling for oil in the North Sea. Mr Trump, who has been vocal in his opposition to wind turbines for many years, used a post on his social media platform Truth Social to say: “Our negotiated deal with the United Kingdom is working out well for all. “I strongly recommend to them, however, that in order to get their Energy Costs down, they stop with the costly and unsightly windmills, and incentivize modernized drilling in the North Sea, where large amounts of oil lay waiting to be taken.”Trump has hit out at Keir Starmer’s use of ‘windmills’ More

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      Angela Rayner pushed for middle-class families to lose child benefit, leaked memo reveals

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      Angela Rayner wanted to force middle-class families to lose child benefit in a bid to avoid welfare cuts for the disabled and a squeeze on public spending, a leaked memo has revealed. The deputy prime minister’s proposal would have forced families where the top earn has a salary of £50,000 or more to pay back any child benefit they receive through their tax returns.The scheme was originally introduced as an austerity measure by George Osborne in 2010, but the band was raised to a salary of £60,000 or more by former Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt just before the last general election.Angela Rayner (Jonathan Brady/PA) More

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      ‘Declining’ is the most common word associated with Britain, damning poll shows

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      The most common word the public associates with Britain is “declining”, a damning new poll has revealed. A study by a group of Labour backers reveals seven in 10 people feel ignored by politicians amid the erosion of public services and the hollowing out of local communities. And, in the landmark report, the influential groups are calling on Sir Keir Starmer to take the fight to Reform UK with a radical programme to rebuild local communities – not by seeking to ape Nigel Farage on immigration. A sense of national decline is fuelling the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform More

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      Martin Lewis gives verdict on Starmer’s winter fuel U-turn and Labour’s benefits cuts

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      Martin Lewis has welcomed a partial U-turn by Sir Keir Starmer on winter fuel payments.On Wednesday, the prime minister announced he wanted to allow more pensioners to claim the winter fuel payments, worth up to £300, alongside improvements in the UK economy.It marked a turnaround for the Labour government, which, last July, said pensioners not in receipt of pension credits or other means tested benefited would not receive the cash to help with energy bill in colder months.The move came amid a mounting backlash from his own MPs concerned about the party’s performance at the recent local elections.Although no details have been released on how many more pensioners would be eligible, or if the policy would be altered in time for this winter, Mr Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, welcomed the move on social media.But speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday, Mr Lewis said the government needed to focus on the estimated 700,000 eligible people who were not claiming pension credit, as they will miss out on winter fuel payments as it stands.Currently, those aged over 66 in receipt of pension credits or other means tested benefits are eligible for the winter fuel payment.Sir Keir Starmer has announced that he wants to ensure more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments More