Politics

The race to succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader could be won and lost in Birmingham over the next few days. The “beauty contest” involving the remaining candidates at the party conference has the potential to transform one of the not-so-famous four from also-ran to front-runner. Robert Jenrick, ahead among Conservative MPs, has the early

Russell Findlay has been elected the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives. The MSP saw off competition from Murdo Fraser and Meghan Gallacher in the bruising battle to replace Douglas Ross. Mr Findlay won with 2,565 votes. Mr Murdo placed second with 1,187 votes, while Ms Gallacher claimed third with 403 votes. The announcement comes

Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer did not break any rules when he used Lord Alli’s London penthouse to record a COVID-era broadcast urging people to “work from home”. The prime minister revealed on Wednesday he used the millionaire Labour peer’s home, estimated to be worth £18m, for his son to study for his

Sir Keir Starmer has attacked Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, accusing the country of “treating [its] own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder”. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council in New York – and sat opposite a Russian representative – the British prime minister accused the state of committing

A motion calling for Labour to reverse its cut to the winter fuel allowance has been backed by party conference members, in an embarrassing blow to Sir Keir Starmer. While there is nothing binding about the vote, it puts further pressure on the Labour leadership over its controversial decision to take away the benefit from

Sir Keir Starmer has defended removing the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners as he warned of a “hard” path ahead. The prime minister, giving his keynote speech at Labour’s conference, was attempting to turn around the doom and gloom of the past few months. He addressed concern about cutting the winter fuel allowance,

Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico’s Jack Blanchard share their daily guide to the day ahead in politics in under 20 minutes.  On the day Sir Keir Starmer addresses the Labour Party conference as prime minister for the first time, Jack and Sam set out what he’ll announce and ask whether he

As the UK’s first female chancellor delivers her speech at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Sky News Daily asks why the new government is already fighting to regain the public’s trust. Host Niall Paterson is joined by Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby and economic and data editor Ed Conway in the conference hall

Hecklers have interrupted the chancellor’s speech at the Labour conference as they appeared to call for a halt to arms sales to Israel and for action on the environment. Rachel Reeves was telling the conference in Liverpool how proud she was to be the UK’s first ever female chancellor when shouting came from the hall.

Rachel Reeves has said her ambition is for the UK to be “the best place to start and grow a business” as she promised Labour will bring investment to Britain. The chancellor, speaking to Sky News ahead of her keynote speech at Labour’s conference today, said by bringing stability to the economy her administration will

Sir Keir Starmer should find the source of leaks about Sue Grey and “publicly fire them”, the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said. Ruth Davidson, co-host of Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction, told a live event of the podcast that Downing Street’s political advisers need to be “read the riot act” and reminded that

Arguably, there’s a much much bigger problem for Sir Keir Starmer at the Labour conference than the freebies, the briefings and the incessant chatter about an absent chief of staff.  As you go round the Liverpool conference centre, ask Labour MPs and members of the cabinet what they want to be talking about today. What

Even the Iron Lady flinched at the prospect of delivering her leader’s speech to the annual party conference. Her speech writer Ronald Millar recalled leaning forward moments before Margaret Thatcher went to the rostrum with words of encouragement. “Piece of cake, prime minister,” he whispered, only to be rebuffed with “not now Ronnie, I’m about

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”. The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor. Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan

Nigel Farage has spoken about his aspirations as Reform UK party leader and insists he could become prime minister. He told Sky’s political correspondent Darren McCaffrey the prospect of taking over at Number 10 at some point “may not be probable, but it’s certainly possible”. In an interview on the sidelines of the Reform UK

Sir Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes, Sky News understands. Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner also announced they would take the same approach moving forward. The decision by the prime minister, chancellor and deputy prime minister follows scrutiny of Sir Keir Starmer and his wife for accepting

Sir Keir Starmer’s top adviser is “getting the right pay for the job” despite reports she earns £3,000 more than the prime minister, former Labour MP Harriet Harman has said. The Baroness, now a peer and the co-host of Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, said Sue Gray’s reported salary of more than £170,000 is “the rate

Sir Keir Starmer has come under scrutiny over the past week for the more than £100,000-worth of gifts he has accepted. It started with controversy over his wife’s clothes and has escalated since Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project revealed he has been gifted more freebies and hospitality than any other MP since 2019 – a

Sir Keir Starmer has received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader, Sky News can reveal. Government officials are worried the prime minister’s willingness to accept hospitality to go to football matches could amount to a conflict of interest given plans to overhaul the sport’s regulator which many clubs oppose. The

The London Victims’ Commissioner has called for it to be easier to appeal lenient sentences after it emerged the case of Huw Edwards cannot be reviewed. The disgraced BBC veteran was spared jail on Monday for accessing indecent images of children as young as seven, with the judge handing down a six-month suspended term at

Ten years ago today the people of Scotland went to the polls to decide on the future of their country in the Scottish independence referendum. The historic event – which would have seen Scotland break free from the rest of the UK – took place on 18 September 2014 and saw more than two million

Sir Ed Davey has pledged to be a champion for carers – as he put his party forward as the “responsible opposition”. In a personal and emotional keynote speech in Brighton on Tuesday, the Lib Dem leader said “care and carers must not be forgotten and ignored any longer”. “If the Liberal Democrats don’t offer

The government has diverted up to £75m from the scrapped Rwanda plan to fund the new Border Security Command ahead of an immigration “crime crackdown”. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said the agency will “deliver a major overhaul and upgrade in law enforcement against smugglers and trafficking gangs to boost our border security”. The immediate

The prime minister has said the UK has moved “from a government of gimmicks to a government of pragmatism” as he attempts to tackle the small boat crisis. Sir Keir Starmer is in Rome to hold talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni about a range of issues, including irregular migration and her controversial plans

Italy’s migration deal with Albania will be on the agenda as the prime minister meets his counterpart in Rome on Monday, after appointing a former police chief to tackle people smuggling. Sir Keir Starmer has signalled he is “interested” in the plan under which Tirana will accept asylum seekers on Italy‘s behalf while their claims

The foreign secretary insists the prime minister is “seeking to comply with the rules” and an investigation into a Labour donor buying clothes for Sir Keir Starmer’s wife is “not a transparency issue”. Sir Keir Starmer is facing an investigation over a possible breach of parliamentary rules after failing to declare that some of his

Sir Keir Starmer is under investigation for a possible breach of parliamentary rules after failing to declare that some of his wife’s high-end clothes were bought for her by his biggest personal donor, Lord Alli. The Labour peer paid for a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for Lady Victoria Starmer, reportedly both before and after

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a tax on the wealthiest instead of cutting support for “struggling pensioners”. Speaking after arriving at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton on a jet ski, Sir Ed said his party is the only one offering up a solution on how to “plug the awful financial

Sir Keir Starmer has talked up the US-UK relationship after a White House meeting with Joe Biden, but questions remain over Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles. The prime minister travelled to Washington this week to meet with President Biden to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – among other issues. Speaking before the “long

There has been no impact assessment of how the decision to strip millions of pensioners of winter fuel payments will affect them, Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves decided to means-test the payments, worth up to £300, to help fill a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances. Pressed on

Baroness Harman has urged the prime minister to stick to his manifesto pledge to kick peers out of the House of Lords when they turn 80. During the general election campaign, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to abolish the Lords entirely during his first parliament and replace it with an elected chamber. But the first of

The NHS will not get any more funding without reforming, Sir Keir Starmer has said as he laid out a 10-year plan to fix the health service. The prime minister stressed his plans to build an NHS fit for the future “do not just mean putting more money in”, and will take a decade to

Rishi Sunak has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “hiding” an impact assessment on the winter fuel payment cut for 10 million pensioners. Mr Sunak asked Sir Keir twice if he would publish an impact assessment on the policy after Labour MPs voted on Tuesday to push the cut through. However, Sir Keir responded by saying