Politics

Boris Johnson is capable of winning the next general election, a cabinet colleague has insisted, as he said the ability to look forward is a good thing after the prime minister said he was eyeing a third term. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis threw his support behind the Tory leader, amid fresh criticism and plots

Two by-election defeats, the resignation of his party chairman with the parting shot that Conservative grassroots “deserve better than this”, and his colleagues back home openly discussing how to change party rules for another confidence vote – none of it seems to bother Boris Johnson. As MPs back in the UK talked – publicly and

Boris Johnson has said voters are fed up of hearing about things he had “stuffed up” as he played down a bruising double by-election defeat as a “safety valve”. The prime minister, who has faced a barrage of criticism over lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street and over his own conduct, argued people had not been

In the end, it wasn’t a double blow, but a triple one. Boris Johnson lost not just two by-elections but his party chairman too, who became the first of his cabinet to publicly express misgivings over the PM’s leadership, saying volunteers and staffers “deserve better than this”. The by-election losses he was reluctantly expecting, but

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden has resigned after the party slumped to two by-election defeats. Mr Dowden said in a letter to Boris Johnson that the defeats were “the latest in a run of very poor results” and added: “We cannot carry on with business as usual.” He is the first Cabinet minister to fall

Polls have closed in the by-elections being held in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton. Both seats were held by the Conservatives before their previous MPs resigned in disgrace, triggering the by-elections. Results are expected to be announced overnight. The polls are regarded as a key test for Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s leadership after 148 of

Voters will head to the polls this morning in two crucial by-elections that are seen as a key test for Boris Johnson’s leadership. In Wakefield, a former industrial area in West Yorkshire, the election was triggered by the resignation of Imran Ahmad Khan. Wakefield was one of the so-called Red Wall seats won by the

Boris Johnson has accused detractors of his Rwanda deportation policy of having “condescending attitudes” towards the African nation, as the prime minister said he hopes to use his visit to Kigali to change minds. Mr Johnson said Rwanda‘s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) was “an opportunity for us all to understand

Ministers cannot allow unions to win the battle for higher pay as it would fuel a “vicious cycle” of inflation hurting the poorest, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said. Mr Raab told Sky News’s Kay Burley that latest official inflation figures showing the increase in the cost of living hitting a new four-decade high of

The deputy prime minister wants to introduce a Bill of Rights to ignore European Court of Human Rights judgments blocking removal flights to Rwanda. Dominic Raab is introducing the proposed legislation, which would also increase deportations of foreign criminals, to parliament on Wednesday after the court in Strasbourg disputed the government’s heavily-criticised policy of sending

Commuters must be prepared to “stay the course” in the face of the “unnecessary aggravation” caused by rail strikes, Boris Johnson has warned. He made the remarks came at the start of a Cabinet meeting on the first day of walk-outs across the network that are the biggest for three decades, leaving millions facing inconvenience.

Downing Street has confirmed it was in conversation with The Times around the time the newspaper dropped a report claiming Boris Johnson tried to appoint his now wife to a government role when he was foreign secretary. In a story published on Saturday morning, the paper reported that Mr Johnson attempted to hire Carrie Johnson,

A Cabinet minister has told Sky News he fears rail strikes will go ahead this week – and warned that workers must make sacrifices as the UK battles inflation. Simon Clarke, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that while the government was not the legal employer of union members due to walk out, they could

Cabinet minister Grant Shapps has revealed  he predicted to within one vote the scale of the recent revolt by Tory MPs against Boris Johnson. In doing do so, the transport secretary was far more accurate in forecasting the scale of opposition against the prime minister’s leadership than the Conservative whips. The backroom fixers were taken

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned the world against letting “Ukraine-fatigue” set in as he returned from a surprise visit to the war-torn country. Mr Johnson had pulled out of a planned appearance at conference of northern Tories on Friday in order to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Asked if he had timed the visit

The grounding of the first flight of asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda was an “absolutely scandalous” move, Priti Patel has said. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) granted an injunction that resulted in a chartered aircraft to Kigali being unable to depart Wiltshire on Tuesday. And in an interview with

Claims that Boris Johnson missed a conference of Northern MPs for a trip to Ukraine over fears of a bad reception after partygate have been dismissed as “conspiracy b******s”. The prime minister unexpectedly pulled out of a conference of northern Conservatives in Doncaster on Friday, just days before a crucial by-election in Wakefield that the

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has returned a questionnaire to police investigating the so-called “beergate” episode. Sir Keir has been under pressure over the event in Durham in April 2021, when he was filmed having a drink and a takeaway curry with party colleagues. He has pledged to resign as party leader if he is

Travel turmoil at UK airports caused by severe labour shortages could be solved by staff opting to work longer hours, a business minister has suggested. Speaking to Sky News, Paul Scully highlighted the scope for part-time workers to be “more productive” as he was tackled over months of misery faced by air passengers. His comments

Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser told the prime minister he was quitting after being placed in an “impossible and odious position”. Downing Street published Lord Geidt’s resignation letter a day after he unexpectedly decided to step down, becoming the second in the role to do so under Mr Johnson. Lord Geidt admitted this week that he