UK

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 appointed the key figures in his new cabinet following the Labour Party’s landslide victory on Friday. He has appointed 22 Labour MPs and peers to key cabinet positions – including a record 11 women. This includes senior ministers from Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s New Labour governments, in an attempt to bring in outside expertise for his ministerial ranks. The new cabinet also includes some unexpected appointments, including some who have been given peerages to allow them to sit in the House of Lords and attend cabinet. But who exactly are these new cabinet ministers who are not MPs?Patrick Vallance Patrick Vallance during a coronavirus press conference at Downing Street 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 ThomasEditorSuella Braverman has become the first potential Conservative leadership candidate to admit that the party’s very existence is now at stake after the most disastrous general election result in its history.The former home secretary was one of three potential leadership candidates to do the Sunday morning political shows along with ex-health secretary Victoria Atkins and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick in an attempt to start diagnosing what went wrong.It followed the Tories winning a mere 121 seats, their worst result in the party’s 346-year history, as millions of their voters switched to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.Suella Braverman believes Nigel Farage could destroy the Tories (Victoria Jones/PA) 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 ThomasEditorA Labour cabinet minister has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards after Tony Blair called for their use to help control migration. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said the government would be “looking at all sorts of things” and he did not want to pre-empt that work.But in an interview nearly two hours later he said: “I can rule out ID cards for you. That’s not something which is part of our plans.”The idea was one of the former prime minister’s flagship policies in Downing Street, but it was killed off after he lost power.Pushing the new government to embrace the scheme, he said: “We need a plan to control immigration. If we don’t have rules, we get prejudices.” On Sunday, Mr Reynolds said the home secretary Yvette Cooper would look at “all sources of advice” on the issue. But sources close to Ms Cooper said ID cards were not Labour policy and that had not changed.He later told Times Radio he could rule out ID cards. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the new government would “look at all sources of advice” on the issue 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 European Union is willing to offer Keir Starmer a new deal on post-Brexit issues, the Irish prime minister has indicated. Simon Harris said there was “space” to work more closely with the UK – and Ireland would be an ally in any negotiations. His comments were welcomed by the new business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who said the UK should explore ways to improve trade relations with the bloc. But he ruled out any return to freedom of movement. Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he wants to see improved Anglo-Irish relations (Brian Lawless/PA) 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 ThomasEditorSir Keir Starmer’s new Labour government must fully embrace artificial intelligence (AI) as a “game-changer” in fuelling economic growth, his predecessor Sir Tony Blair has urged.While Britain is stuck in a “horrible and unvirtuous circle” of high taxation, spending and debt but with “poor outcomes”, advances in the new technology mean there has never “been a better or more exciting time to be governing”, the former Labour prime minister claimed.Hailing Sir Keir for his landslide general election victory, the last Labour leader to achieve such a feat in 1997 described Thursday’s result as “the most remarkable turnaround in recent British electoral history and the most stunning in the 120-year history of the Labour Party”.Tony Blair and Keir Starmer at the Future of Britain Conference in London 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 ThomasEditorReform UK’s fifth MP James McMurdock is about to take one of the biggest pay cuts in Westminster to take his seat in parliament.The surprise late entry to “Reform bridgehead” in the Commons was working for a big financial firm in the City of London when he put his name forward as a paper candidate for the seat of South Basildon and East Thurrock.Then on Friday, just after 5am, long after most candidates had gone to bed for a long sleep, Mr McMurdock was declared as the 650th and final MP elected in the 2024 general election.James McMurdock enjoys a pint with Nigel Farage 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 ThomasEditorThere is now a 58-year age gap between the oldest and youngest MPs, as Britain’s first representative born in the 21st century is elected.When Sir Roger Gale was first elected to parliament in 1983, Sam Carling – now MP for North West Cambridgeshire – would not be born for another 19 years.Aged just 22, Mr Carling will now officially be the ‘Baby of the House’, having won his seat by a thin margin in Labour’s electoral landslide on Thursday.The Cambridge graduate only sat his GCSEs in 2018 and is now – just six years later – North West Cambridgeshire’s first-ever Labour MP.Originally from the North East of England, he has described himself as coming from “a totally apolitical family, in quite a deprived part of the North East”, before he moved to Cambridge to study natural sciences at the age of 18.“I saw a lot of things getting worse around me,” he told the BBC. “I was concerned about shops closing on local high streets that used to be a thriving hub and are basically now a wasteland.“And the sixth form closed, but I didn’t make the connection to politics until later.”His LinkedIn profile suggests that despite his young age, he is well qualified for the job, having bagged six A* grades in his A-levels.Alongside his studies he has been a staff writer at the university’s newspaper, co-chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club and a city councillor for West Chesterton since May 2022.His win in North West Cambridgeshire was unexpected, with him beating his veteran Tory opponent Shailesh Vara by just 39 votes.He had been ushered in as Labour’s candidate as a second selection after the party’s first was ousted and his candidacy was met with ridicule online.“Hi Sam, have you had a real job before?” One Twitter/X user asked. Another said: “Another one of Labour’s creche kiddies.”Mr Carling beat veteran Conservative Shailesh Vara 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 ThomasEditorNigel Farage has decided he will not try to win over any current or former Tory MPs and has ditched his plans to take over the Conservative Party.In an interview with The Independent, the leader of Reform UK and newly elected MP for Clacton, said he already has a plan to win the next general election in 2029.He believes “there is no love” for Keir Starmer’s new Labour government but has admitted his own ambitions for the election were thwarted by the number of racist remarks from his party’s candidates.Instead, he believes the Tories have left “a huge vacuum” that Reform can fill as they begin trying to rebuild from the wreckage and decide who will replace Rishi Sunak over the next few months.Mr Farage was speaking as he joined fans of East Thurrock Community Football Club with James McMurdock, who was the fifth Reform MP to be confirmed, for a celebratory drink in a constituency that his party has snatched from the Tories.Farage speaks to ‘The Independent’ in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex More