Politics

Jeremy Hunt has hinted at an autumn election as speculation continues to grow over when the country will head to the polls. Speaking at the Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee on Tuesday, the chancellor was asked about the government’s spending review – the detailed multi-year plan on how departments will spend their cash – and revealed

The Conservatives have been fined over £10,000 by the elections watchdog for failing to accurately declare donations. The party under-reported non-cash donations in the form of a member of staff seconded to the party by donor Richard Harpin between April 2020 and December 2023, the Electoral Commission said. Politics Live: ‘Act of folly’ to get

Campaigners and MPs are calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the Loan Charge scandal – accusing HMRC of “airbrushing” its approach to a harsh tax crackdown linked to several suicides. The Loan Charge Action Group (LCAG) has hit out at the Treasury Committee after it wrote to the tax office requesting information on its approach

Rishi Sunak said he is “not interested in Westminster politics” and insisted his party is “united” as he brushed off rumours of a plot to oust him. Asked during a visit to the West Midlands why he did not let one of his “disloyal colleagues” have the “poisoned chalice” of being prime minister, Mr Sunak

Rishi Sunak hopes three key moments this week will turn around his fortunes after his standing in the party plummeted. The PM is hoping Monday’s speech on the economy, Wednesday’s end of term appearance before Tory MPs and new inflation figures due out the same day, which could be close to the Bank of England

Rishi Sunak will lead the Tories into the next general election, the transport secretary insisted amid reports of a plot to oust the PM. Mark Harper dismissed speculation some Conservative rebels want the prime minister to be replaced with Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt. Politics Live: Rishi Sunak ‘will lead Tories’ into next election Asked on

Vaughan Gething is set to become Wales’s next first minister after winning the Labour leadership race. Mr Gething, who will also become the first black man to hold the post, is expected to be confirmed as the country’s first minister on Wednesday when a vote will be held in the Senedd. He will succeed Mark

On a cold Wednesday night, in the shadows of the Port Talbot steelworks, a group of men is playing football under the floodlights. The game has been arranged by a local group called Marauders Men’s Health, which provides help to those struggling with mental health problems. Increasingly, the team is made up of men from

Diane Abbott has appeared at a rally where she hit out at the “level of racism that is still in Britain”, following a row over comments made about her. Ms Abbott was greeted in Hackney, east London, with cheers and chants of “I stand with Diane” after a Tory donor’s reported offensive remarks. The former

Ministers have been criticised for encouraging parents to secure a place for their child at their preferred nursery now ahead of September in order to beat long waiting lists. Applications will open on 12 May for the second wave of the rollout of reforms that expand the amount of funded childcare families can claim, the

There are some weeks in politics where what Westminster needs is a monsoon to wash away the toxicity enveloping this place and clean up the atmosphere – and this week is one of them.  Be it the Number 10 agenda this week on better defining extremism, an unruly MP in the shape of Lee Anderson,

The government has unveiled its new definition of extremism as part of a drive to clamp down on Islamist and far-right extremism. Some have warned the change could have a “chilling effect” on free speech, while others have said it doesn’t go far enough. How has the definition changed, why has the government done it,

As the floodlights illuminated the rows of chimneys on the terraced streets around Blundell Park there was a tense second half ahead. One-nil up, the home supporters were desperate to hang on to the win as they fight for survival in League Two. It has been like this for generations of football fans in Grimsby

Rishi Sunak appears to have ruled out returning money to a Tory donor who allegedly said Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot”.  Asked at Prime Minister’s Questions by Labour MP Marsha De Cordova if he would hand back one of the specific donations from Frank Hester’s company

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has said alleged comments made about Diane Abbott by a Tory donor were “racist” – but that there should be “space for forgiveness”. Ms Badenoch is the first cabinet minister to use the term to describe Frank Hester’s reported remarks about the former Labour MP, after government ministers including Graham Stuart

A minister has refused to say if the Conservatives should return money to one of its biggest donors, after reports Frank Hester said former Labour MP Diane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women”. The allegations about the chief executive of The Phoenix Partnership – who donated £10m to the Tories last year

Rishi Sunak will call a snap general election if 10 Conservative MPs defect to Reform UK, a top Tory with close links to Downing Street has claimed. The source of the claim, made to parliamentary colleagues after Lee Anderson’s shock defection, is an influential party figure with impeccable connections. The prime minister’s threat emerged as

Former Conservative deputy chair Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK, becoming the party’s first MP in the Commons. Mr Anderson, who took the seat of Ashfield in 2019, was kicked out of the parliamentary Conservative Party for refusing to apologise after alleging that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”. And while some

Far-right and Islamist threats made the man set to be the UK’s next anti-Muslim hatred adviser withdraw before being appointed. Fiyaz Mughal, founder and director of Faith Matters, said he was set to be appointed by Communities Secretary Michael Gove as a liaison to help the government tackle Islamophobia. It was first reported by GB

A cabinet minister has failed to name which groups or individuals would fall under the upcoming revised definition of extremist groups. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins was interviewed on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips after her frontbench colleague Michael Gove urged pro-Palestinian protesters to question whether extremist groups are behind some demonstrations. She said