Tag: Conservative Party

Nadhim Zahawi sacking: The damning report that finally sealed his fate

”These factors, however, cannot mitigate my overall judgement that Mr Zahawi’s conduct as a Minister has fallen below the high standards that, as Prime Minister, you rightly expect from those who serve in your government.“

LETTER from Sir Laurie Magnus to the Prime Minister, 29 January 2023:

Letter from the Prime Minister to Nadhim Zahawi, 29th January 2023:

Letter_from_the_Prime_Minister_to_the_Rt_Hon_Nadhim_Zahawi__29_January_2023Download

The Conservative Leadership Contest: A Guide to the Policy Landscape 

From cost of living to the Ukraine conflict, the next Prime Minister will face a series of challenges when they enter 10 Downing Street in September.

As the Conservative leadership contest continues, it is important that the debate be substantive and based on evidence. UK in a Changing Europe and Full Fact have partnered to produce a series of evidence led, research-based assessments of the key issues confronting the country. 

The briefings have been written by experts in their field with contributions from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the London School of Economics, Health Foundation and others. 

We based our choice of issues on the IPSOS Issues Index, topics of most current concern to the UK public, and areas of debate between leadership candidates so far.

The report contains briefings on:

  • Macroeconomics by Stephen Millard (National Institute of Social and Economic Research)
  • Tax and Spend by Ben Zaranko (Institute for Fiscal Studies)
  • Economic Inequality by Robert Joyce (Institute for Fiscal Studies)
  • Education by Carole Willis (National Foundation for Educational Research)
  • Climate, the Environment and Net Zero by Gareth Redmond-King (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit)
  • Health and Social Care by Anita Charlesworth (Health Foundation)
  • Immigration by Madeleine Sumption and Peter William Walsh (Migration Observatory)
  • Brexit by Anand Menon (UK in a Changing Europe)
  • Housing and Planning by Paul Cheshire (LSE)
  • Security, Defence and Foreign Affairs by Malcolm Chalmers (Royal United Services Institute)
  • The Union by Nicola McEwen (UK in a Changing Europe)
  • Faith and Trust in Politics by Will Jennings and Gerry Stoker (University of Southampton)

Our aim in putting together this collection was not to tell people what to think but to provide information that will help them make up their own minds—as well as equip journalists with the best available evidence as hustings continue 

As the briefings highlight, there are considerable trade-offs both within and between policy areas. With this in mind, we believe that these summaries will provide a useful primer for scrutiny of the candidates’ positions on policy as the contest continues through the Summer.

We hope that the report provides some context for this debate and provides voters with a timely and accessible analysis of the key issues in the leadership contest.

Yours sincerely, 

Anand Menon (UK in a Changing Europe)                                    Will Moy (Full Fact)

UKICE-Full-Fact-Conservative-Leadership-Contest-ReportDownload

Another one bites the dust …

Tugendhat eliminated from Tory leadership contest

TOM Tugenhadt was the latest candidate to be eliminated from the Conservative Party leadership contest when results of yesterday’s ballot was announced last night.

FOUR candidates now go through to the next round of voting. They are:

KEMI BADENOCH (58)

PENNY MORDAUNT (82)

RISHI SUNAK (115)

LIZ TRUSS (71)

The next round of voting takes place today – we’ll know the result at 3pm – and the shortlist will be reduced to two candidates before parliament breaks up on Thursday. Tory Party members will then choose between these final two candidates in a ballot that will take place over the summer recess.

The winner – and the UK’s next Prime Minister – will be announced on 5 September.

3pm UPDATE

KEMI Badenoch is the latest candidate to be eliminated following today’s vote. Exactly where Ms Badenoch’s votes go now will be crucial in determining which two of the final three candidates will fight it out for the votes of Tory party members over the summer to become our next Prime Minister.

Crisis? What Crisis?

UK government rebuild under way as Tory candidates line up for top job

The Queen approved the following appointments yesterday as outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson assembled a new government after a tumultuous 48 hours that saw more than fifty resignations:

  • Rt Hon Greg Clark MP as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Rt Hon James Cleverly MP as Secretary of State for Education
  • Rt Hon Sir Robert Buckland QC MP as Secretary of State for Wales
  • Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
  • Shailesh Vara MP as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
  • Andrew Stephenson MP as Minister without Portfolio. He will attend Cabinet.
  • Johnny Mercer MP as a Minister of State (Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) at the Cabinet Office. He will attend Cabinet.
  • Graham Stuart MP as a Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
  • Stephen McPartland MP as a Minister of State (Minister for Security) at the Home Office
  • Tom Pursglove MP as a Minister of State jointly at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice
  • James Heappey MP as a Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence
  • Will Quince MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Education
  • Maria Caulfield MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Health and Social Care
  • Paul Scully MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. He remains as Minister for London.
  • Marcus Jones MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Matt Warman MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Trudy Harrison MP as a Minister of State at the Department for Transport
  • Edward Timpson CBE MP as Solicitor General

Mr Johnson plans to stay on as PM until a successor is elected by the autumn, but many Tory MPs want him to leave office straight away. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab – who has ruled himself out of the race to replace Johnson – would seem like the obvious person to hold the reins during this transitional period.

Opposition leader Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer has said he will call a vote of no confidence, forcing a general election, if Johnson doesn’t go now, For that to succeed, though, Starmer would need the support of Tory MPs – and even in these turbulent times it’s pretty unlikely that turkeys will vote for Christmas!

While the Prime Minister throws together this patchwork interim government the race to succeed him has begun in earnest after Johnson was finally forced to quit as Tory leader yesterday.

Respected backbencher Tom Tugendhat is the latest MP to throw his hat into the ring, joining Attorney General Suella Braverman and Brexiteer Steve Baker who have both indicated an interest in standing for the top job. They will be joined by plenty more candidates stepping forward over the coming days, however.

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, former Health secretary Sajid Javid, transport secretary Grant Shapps and new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi are all likely to stand, as is photo-opp queen, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (above).

Defence secretary Ben Wallace is seen as a steady pair of hands and is popular with the Tory faithful and Trade minister Penny Mordaunt is also expected to put her name forward. Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is very likely to stand, but his successor Matt Hancock has wisely ruled himself out. There will be many more who see themselves as the perfect candidate to be our next Prime Minister, though.

Spoilt for choice?