Conservative Party

Three of the government’s LGBT advisers have resigned as they issued sharp criticism of equalities ministers Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch. Jayne Ozanne accused Boris Johnson’s government of creating a “hostile environment” for LGBT people and criticised the two ministers as being “ignorant” on key issues. The government’s Equalities Office also confirmed that it had […]

Matt Hancock’s department has signed off on two Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) deals worth more than £90million with a state-backed Chinese firm listed at a hotel room in Beijing, new documents show. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) struck two lucrative contracts during the first coronavirus wave with Beijing Union Glory Investment Co Ltd, […]

Tory party funds are not being used for the refurbishment of Downing Street, Boris Johnson’s press secretary has said. The Daily Mail reported that Conservative Party funds met a large part of the bill, which is said to be in the region of £200,000. But the prime minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton told reporters: “Conservative […]

“Glaring ommissions” made during lockdown were due to a lack of women in cabinet, a former Tory minister has claimed. Caroline Nokes MP, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, has previously accused Boris Johnson’s administration of having a “very blokey mentality”. The backbencher has said she wants a “gender-balanced cabinet” leading the government to ensure […]

A Conservative former minister has suggested the majority of Britons are economically illiterate for supporting the chancellor’s corporation tax increase. Sir Christopher Chope criticised the move to raise the tax on company profits from 19% to 25% from 2023, suggesting it was a policy which had more in common with those proposed by former Labour […]

Labour has warned Rishi Sunak against immediately raising taxes in his Budget on Wednesday, urging him instead to focus on securing the economic recovery. Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said now is “not the time” for tax rises, but signalled that she could support an increase in corporation tax in the future. Her comments came amid […]

Ministers are being urged to accept a rebel amendment to protect leaseholders in England from the costs of carrying out emergency fire safety work on their flats. More than 30 Tory MPs have signed the amendment to the Fire Safety Bill – intended to strengthen regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster – […]

Independence supporters have ridiculed a flyer produced by the Scottish Tories warning an SNP majority at this year’s Holyrood elections would lead to a second referendum to separate from the United Kingdom. The leaflet, sent to household across Scotland, appears to suggest Boris Johnson would not prevent the referendum. It says: “The SNP will hold another […]

Scottish government buildings will be allowed to continue flying the EU flag alongside the saltire every day of the year, the SNP has said. The EU is only raised on May 9 to celebrate Europe Day. By contrast, the Union Flag will only be flown one day a year – Remembrance Sunday. The move did […]

Labour has written to the cabinet secretary asking him to publish details on meetings with Tory-linked firms that have secured contracts during the pandemic. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves last week revealed she had written to 10 firms with connections to the Conservative Party awarded contracts during the coronavirus crisis in a bid to […]

Conservative MP George Freeman is under fresh investigation for potential breaches of the Ministerial Code following a row with the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog. Last month, Freeman was found to have broken the Ministerial Code after failing to seek advice by the appointments watchdog before accepting a position with a company producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).   […]

A senior Tory MP has criticised the “very blokey mentality” of Boris Johnson’s government.  Caroline Nokes, who chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee, also said there were some “serious questions about the calibre of the women” invited into top positions. She told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “I think it’s still a very […]

Tory peer Lord Freud has agreed to apologise after being found to have breached the Code of Conduct by seeking to interfere in a legal decision. The Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, found there was “an inherent dishonour in Lord Freud choosing to leverage his position as a parliamentarian to seek to influence the […]

Remembering the group of Conservative MPs that their own leader dubbed the ‘Glamour Boys’ and threatened with deselection. In the 1920s and 1930s of buttoned-up Britain, homosexuality was an illicit act, and would remain that way until 1967 when the law changed in England and Wales. Even though gay culture was vibrant, it existed mostly underground, its […]

Cronyism concerns have led to Labour urging companies with Conservative Party links to disclose their pandemic profits. Research by the Opposition suggests the value of contracts awarded to firms with connections to the Tories amounts to almost £2 billion. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal she has written to the top […]

Former de facto deputy prime minister Sir David Lidington tells MATT WITHERS about how he will continue campaigning for the Conservatives to be a pro-European party. The night before I speak to former de facto deputy prime minister Sir David Lidington, the organisation he chairs changed its name. Goodbye Conservative Group for Europe, hello Conservative […]

Number 10’s adviser on ethnic minorities considered resigning over fears the Conservative Party was pursuing a “politics steeped in division”. Samuel Kasumu reportedly retracted his resignation letter – in which he said tensions in government were at times “unbearable” – on Thursday after talks with vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi. The BBC said he wrote: “I […]

A Tory MP who refused to apologise for misleading comments about Covid-19 may still face disciplinary action by his party, Michael Gove has hinted. Sir Desmond Swayne wrongly told a group of vaccine sceptics that some Covid-19 data had been “manipulated” while encouraging them to “persist” with their campaign against lockdown restrictions. Gove, a cabinet minister, said […]

Former chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is to become a full-time banker. Osborne will step down from his roles as editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard newspaper and senior adviser at investment firm Blackrock at the end of March to join financial consultants Robey Warshaw. Robey Warshaw, founded in 2013, said the former Tory MP would […]

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross has accused Nicola Sturgeon of putting her party before the pandemic by planning for a “reckless and irresponsible” second independence referendum. Ross will outline his criticism of the First Minister in a speech on Monday responding to the SNP’s roadmap for a second vote on independence. The roadmap states a […]

Tory Brexiteer Sir Desmond Swayne has been accused of spreading “dangerous misinformation” about the coronavirus after he reportedly said that the infection and mortality figures had been “manipulated”. In comments reportedly made in November, the lockdown-sceptic Tory MP told the group Save Our Rights UK that the UK was “bouncing round at the typical level of […]

A Tory former minister broke the ministerial code when he began working for a PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) firm shortly after leaving government, the UK’s anti-corruption watchdog has said. George Freeman MP, who was a former health minister and member of Boris Johnson and David Cameron’s government, failed to register with the watchdog before accepting a […]

The Conservative Party’s collection of the personal data of 10 million voters around their ethnicity and religion was illegal, the Information Commissioner has told MPs. Elizabeth Denham said the Conservatives had deleted the data following a recommendation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in a report last year. Speaking to MPs on the Digital, Culture, […]

Labour has reported the Conservative London mayoral candidate to the Crown Prosecution Service over claims he “repeatedly attempted to mislead” voters with campaign leaflets. Shaun Bailey, who is seeking to topple Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan during the upcoming May election, used “City Hall” branded paper to warn Londoners of an alleged “21.2%” council tax increase. […]

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has launched an attack on Rishi Sunak’s handling of the pandemic, claiming his policies have costs job and left the UK with the highest death toll in Europe. Dodds has accused her Tory opposite number of repeatedly taking the wrong policy options, with the government setting up a “false choice” between protecting public […]

Boris Johnson has declared “there’s nothing wrong with being woke”. The prime minister was asked if he considered Biden to be woke – defined as being alert to societal injustices – after Labour’s Lisa Nandy praised Joe Biden as a “woke guy” who is a possible model for electoral success for the Labour Party. “I can’t […]

These are the 356 Tory MPs who failed to vote against a £20-a-week cut in the Universal Credit for families during the coronavirus pandemic. Aaron BellAdam AfriyieAdam HollowayAlan MakAlberto CostaAlec ShelbrookeAlex BurghartAlex ChalkAlexander StaffordAlicia KearnsAlister JackAlok SharmaAlun CairnsAmanda MillingAmanda SollowayAndrea JenkynsAndrea LeadsomAndrew BowieAndrew BridgenAndrew GriffithAndrew JonesAndrew LewerAndrew MitchellAndrew MurrisonAndrew PercyAndrew RosindellAndrew SelousAndrew StephensonAndy CarterAngela RichardsonAnne-Marie […]

Greens MP Caroline Lucas has accused the Tories of being the “nasty party” after it told backbenchers to abstain from a vote to keep a £20 top-up to Universal Credit. Lucas accused the government of being “perfectly happy” for the price of the pandemic to be paid for by “some of the poorest people who are least able to […]