Tag: Kemi Badenoch
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4p off gherkins. Kemi Badenoch was on a roll on Wednesday. Not only did she push hard on the King of the Mid-North’s newly-revealed thinking about rejoining the European Union, but she also had a ball in her response to the Budget, training quick-fire bazookas on Chancellor John Healey (Rawmarsh & Conisborough, Labour) “resign, again!”,…
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Perhaps not the most critical issue facing the nation… but important to the PM nonetheless. The Commons was quieter this week as the government cleared the procedural decks for the Budget, which will be held next Wednesday, 28th October. Wednesday 21st October Outside the House Wednesday started with news of the government’s decision to accept…
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Because, frankly, it is beyond embarrassing. After a week in which the American administration has once again managed to complicate the defence of Ukraine, the manoeuvrings of Westminster seem almost inconsequential. Almost. At home Andy Burnham has discovered Europe, the Chancellor has discovered another fiscal difficulty and the Conservatives have discovered that an improvement in…
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Badenoch fails to land serious blows The Commons got back to work after its four week “Conference Season” recess. This seems incomprehensible to most voters who think it would be much more productive if all the conferences were held (in different places) in the same week. This (short) week’s conclusion from the Commons is that…
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…or appear to be done for a little while at least. Conference season is over. Various promises have been made, some more credibly than others. For the party of government the awkward necessity of making ambitions square with reality comes in to immediate focus with the Budget now just 16 days away on 28th October.…
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Is that light at the end of the tunnel? Kemi Badenoch has been having quite a good year. The Conservative Party has not. Twelve months ago, Badenoch was still struggling to establish herself with voters and faced periodic speculation about whether her leadership would survive. She arrived in Birmingham in a much stronger parliamentary position.…
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Much activity, little consequence. A lot appears to have been happening in Westminster since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister. The new leader arrived promising a different sort of government. Policies have been abandoned, spending priorities questioned and relations with Europe cautiously rearranged. A steady trickle of announcements designed to make people feel a little bit…
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Welfare Reform Proposals. Kemi Badenoch delivered a fairly surgical question at PMQs on Wednesday, questioning the new Chancellor’s own declared reasons for resigning as Defence Secretary just 13 weeks ago: “Is the Prime Minister unable, or is he just unwilling,to get that money by 2030?” The PM offered the classic deflective response, revealing far more…
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PMQs was not a close contest this week – but a serious defeat for the PM. Although LotO began predictably enough on defence spending, the PM was unexpectedly knocked out on Question 2 and remained down and out. Mrs Badenoch’s second question on defence spending had the PM on the run: LotO: “The Chancellor used…
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Burnham goes off the boil After a month of frenetic activity, this was the week when Andy Burnham’s new government began to encounter something rather less exciting than political momentum: governing. Reform UK returned to the polling lead with the YouGov voting intention poll based on 16th-17th August data, which placed Reform UK on 24%,…
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The Politics of the Quick Fix. After two weeks of frantic Prime Ministering the Announcement Machine finally fell silent as Andy Burnham went on holiday. Thankfully this also put a temporary stop to the pubs-and-footie tik-toks. So there’s that. (Kate Devlin & Millie Cooke, The Independent, 7th August 2026 “Minister forced to deny Andy Burnham…
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The Commons said farewell to Sir Keir at PMQs, but the Chamber had been dominated over the previous week by the completion of the “Hillsborough Law”, discussion of the Immigration & Asylum Bill, triggering of the Clacton by-election, reflections on the murder of Anne Widdecombe and exasperation with the haphazard conduct of the US-Iran War…