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Katy Balls

Katy Balls

The Spectator

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The Tory election campaign had one success - Rachel Reeves is boxed in on tax

It’s hard to find a member of the 2024 Tory election campaign who had an uplifting experience. Several are still traumatised. But those trying to...

latest 6

iNews

Katy Balls

Can Robert Jenrick do it? 

Robert Jenrick will soon submit his nomination papers to the 1922 chairman for the Tory leadership contest. When he does so, this will make him the...

previous day 7

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Politics / The Tories are a danger only to each other

On Monday night the Conservatives announced the rules of the party’s leadership contest. The reaction in Labour circles was incredulity that their...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Starmer’s plan to deal with Labour’s hard left

There was a ripple of shock across the House of Commons on Tuesday night after Keir Starmer withdrew the whip from seven Labour MPs for backing an...

wednesday 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

James Cleverly becomes the first candidate to declare 

James Cleverly has become the first candidate to declare in the Conservative leadership contest. Announcing the news tonight in an op-ed for the...

23.07.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

The new plan for the Tory leadership contest

Is there white smoke at last in the Tory leadership contest? Last week the 1922 committee and Conservative board met but failed to agree the Tory...

23.07.2024 4

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Starmer's honeymoon could be short as 'Sue's shitlist' gets longer

When Labour was preparing for government, Sue Gray wrote a government risk register of the biggest challenges the party could face if it took power....

20.07.2024 6

iNews

Katy Balls

Tories divided over leadership contest rules

There had been hope that the Tories would announce the rules and timetable for the party’s leadership contest before the week was out. Then, next...

19.07.2024 3

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Will Keir Starmer’s EU ‘reset’ pay off?

Keir Starmer is at Blenheim Palace today for the gathering of the European Political Community, the forum created by Emmanuel Macron in the wake of...

18.07.2024 4

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Politics / The new divide in Labour

Labour MPs ought to have been jubilant when they gathered for their weekly all-party parliamentary meeting on Monday. Most were still riding high...

18.07.2024 3

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Robert Jenrick is the dark horse of the Tory leadership race

“The right always wins” – this was the assessment of a party old hand ahead of the last Tory leadership contest. They were proven correct....

17.07.2024 4

iNews

Katy Balls

The race to replace Rishi as Tory leader is about to begin

Who will lead the Conservative party in opposition? By Tory party conference, we should have the answer. After much debate about the rules and timing...

17.07.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Is JD Vance really good news for Labour?

Donald Trump put an end to speculation on Monday with the announcement that his pick for vice president will be JD Vance. With Trump riding high in...

16.07.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

New Justice Secretary makes history

There has been much attention over the past week over how new MPs have chosen to be sworn in. This new parliament is the most openly non-religious in...

15.07.2024 3

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Israel / David Lammy calls for Gaza ceasefire

David Lammy is visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories – his first trip to the Middle East as Foreign Secretary. On his meeting list so far...

15.07.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Starmer’s most radical prisons shake-up is still to come

When Keir Starmer gave his first Downing Street press conference last weekend, he warned that ‘tough decisions’ were coming shortly. The first of...

12.07.2024 9

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Cozzie livs! It’s out of control, what can we do? Here are some terrible ideas!

12.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Katy Balls

A fight for the soul of the Tory party is inevitable. Rishi Sunak staying on may make it worse

When Tory MPs gathered on Wednesday night to hear Rishi Sunak address them for the first time since their worst election defeat, they were told to be...

12.07.2024 30

The Guardian

Katy Balls

Starmer must move fast without losing his head

When Keir Starmer’s Labour party gathered on Monday to celebrate their election victory, the difficulty was finding a big enough venue. There were...

11.07.2024 30

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Why MPs are braced for an ‘extremely turbulent few years’

Four days on from Keir Starmer’s landslide victory, Westminster is still soaking up the results of the general election. With the Labour leader...

08.07.2024 3

The Spectator

Katy Balls

So, what ‘tough decisions’ does Starmer have in mind?

How long will Keir Starmer’s honeymoon last? The Prime Minister is basking in election glory after leading his party to a landslide victory. This...

06.07.2024 8

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Not all Tories think it's over - they are already plotting their way back

As the election results rolled in in the small hours of Friday, there was a steady drumbeat of Tory big beasts being ousted across the country. From...

05.07.2024 7

iNews

Katy Balls

‘Reset’ / What Keir Starmer’s first Downing Street speech reveals

Keir Starmer has given his first speech as prime minister. Labour’s seventh leader to make it to 10 Downing Street walked up the pavement to his new...

05.07.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

The reckoning / The Tory blame game begins

As Labour declares victory in the general election, Rishi Sunak is on course to preside over the Tories’ worst ever general election result. As the...

05.07.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Breaking / Labour majority of 170, says exit poll

The polls have closed and the exit poll is in. The BBC exit poll projects that Labour will win a landslide of 410 MPs and the Conservatives will be...

05.07.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Politics / ‘I have to forge my own path’: Rachel Reeves on her plans for the economy

Outside a café on the outskirts of Reading, Rachel Reeves is listening to the concerns of small-business owners. ‘Something that has affected us...

04.07.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Nigel Farage’s mistake was peaking too early

Another day, another Reform party scandal. This has been the recurring theme of the final weeks of the election campaign: candidates for Nigel...

03.07.2024 8

iNews

Katy Balls

Last YouGov election poll points to Tory wipeout

The final polls are rolling in ahead of voters going to the polls tomorrow. On Tuesday night, Survation published its last MRP poll of the campaign,...

03.07.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Will there be an election upset on Thursday?

In just two days, voters will head to the polling booth to cast their vote in the 2024 general election. Will there be any surprises in store? So far,...

02.07.2024 9

The Spectator

Katy Balls

The awkward question being whispered in the Labour Party

When Keir Starmer appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday morning, he appeared to let the cat out the bag. The Labour leader suggested he would scrap...

30.06.2024 7

iNews

Katy Balls

Politics / What’s the worst that can happen for the Tories?

When Rishi Sunak stunned his cabinet colleagues by calling a snap election, they feared the worst. Fast forward a month and what they originally saw...

27.06.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Sunak withdraws support for gamble-gate Tory candidates

It never rains but pours for Rishi Sunak. After a weekend of negative headlines over the Tory gambling scandal and a grilling on the Sun’s...

25.06.2024 7

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Is the Farage ‘Putin ally’ row putting off Reform voters?

So far in this election campaign the consistent theme has been Tory turmoil. A large part of this has been caused by Nigel Farage and his decision to...

25.06.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Sunak and Starmer now have one shared experience: a telling-off

With under a fortnight to go until polling day, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have little in common. One is leading a scandal-stricken campaign, and...

24.06.2024 10

iNews

Katy Balls

The betting scandal spells trouble for Sunak

Is the Tory campaign cursed? After Rishi Sunak battled through the pouring rain when he called the election, suffered the return of Nigel Farage and...

24.06.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

‘Things could get ugly very quickly’: Tories fear a bloody civil war on 5 July

It’s 7am, Friday 5 July, and the recriminations have begun. The Tories have suffered their worst defeat in history – the knives are out. Losing...

22.06.2024 10

iNews

Katy Balls

Politics / Meet Surrey’s ‘M&S movers’

On a street in Camberley, Surrey, a pensioner stands in the doorway, rollers in her hair, staring with some bemusement at the Liberal Democrat...

20.06.2024 10

The Spectator

Katy Balls

The Europe Labour wants doesn't exist anymore

There’s a meme that’s been doing the rounds online of last week’s G7 summit. The seven leaders stand in together for a photo in Apulia, Italy...

19.06.2024 5

iNews

Katy Balls

New poll puts Tories on lowest seat total in history

How is the Conservative campaign going? Well, according to the latest YouGov poll, things are looking worse for Rishi Sunak and his party than when he...

19.06.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Blair's gender comments are a political lesson for Starmer

What question do Labour politicians dread the most? Anything on ruling out tax rises isn’t great – the party is trying to give itself as much...

18.06.2024 3

iNews

Katy Balls

Can Rishi Sunak reduce the Tories’ losses?

Every morning in Conservative Campaign Headquarters, Tory aides kickstart the day by blasting out Elvis Presley’s ‘a little less conversation’...

17.06.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Tory survivors of this election could face a nasty surprise - irrelevance

Picture the scene. It’s 5 July. A triumphant Keir Starmer has just arrived at 10 Downing Street after securing a majority of 272 – bigger than...

15.06.2024 10

iNews

Katy Balls

Reform overtakes Tories in new poll

Here we go. This evening the Reform party has overtaken the Tories according to a new YouGov poll. The survey for the Times found that support for...

13.06.2024 2

The Spectator

Katy Balls

‘Change’: Starmer unveils manifesto

What would Labour do in power? This is the question Sir Keir Starmer tried to answer this morning as he appeared in Manchester for the launch of his...

13.06.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Politics / The return of Douglas Alexander

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in Gullane, an affluent seaside town on the Firth of Forth. For political campaigners, golden hour is the perfect time...

13.06.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

The Tories are going public with their ‘Dunkirk strategy’

The Tories managed to avoid any major own goals or gaffes during the launch of their manifesto. Given some of the problems over the last few weeks on...

12.06.2024 5

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Jonathan Ashworth’s pre-emptive Tory attack

On Tuesday morning, Rishi Sunak will unveil the Conservative party’s 2024 manifesto. So far, there is talk of tax cuts, welfare reform and the need...

10.06.2024 6

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Can Sunak get his election campaign back on track?

As a general rule, you know your election campaign has gone off track when politicians are being asked on the broadcast round whether their leader...

10.06.2024 20

The Spectator

Katy Balls

Why some Tories are considering a future with Farage

In the spin room in Manchester on Tuesday night, there was palpable relief from Rishi Sunak’s team as the first head-to-head of the election...

08.06.2024 6

iNews

Katy Balls

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