Politics

Rishi Sunak is facing pressure to protect the triple lock on state pensions – and a growing backlash over his decision to reappoint Suella Braverman as home secretary. The new prime minister has confirmed that a planned Halloween budget will be delayed until 17 November so the latest economic forecasts can be taken into account.

Rishi Sunak is reinstating the ban on fracking that Liz Truss controversially lifted. During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the new prime minister said he stands “by the manifesto” on fracking. The Conservative 2019 manifesto placed a moratorium on fracking in England following opposition from environmentalists and local communities. Mr Sunak‘s spokesman explicitly confirmed he

Rishi Sunak has started to appoint his cabinet after being officially asked by the King to form a new government. The new prime minister has promised to form a government of “all the talents” amid calls from senior Tories to appoint the best ministers available – rather than focusing on those who are loyal to

Rishi Sunak has appointed his cabinet after being asked by the King to form a new government. The new prime minister promised to form a government of “all the talents” amid calls from senior Tories to appoint the best ministers available – rather than focusing on those who are loyal to him, as his two

Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s prime minister after meeting King Charles at Buckingham Palace this morning. At the start of the day, outgoing PM Liz Truss will hold her last cabinet meeting before she is expected to make a departing statement outside Number 10 at 10.15am. Ms Truss, who became the shortest-serving leader in

After a swift leadership race, Rishi Sunak has won the contest to take over the Tory Party and become the next prime minister of the UK. And it could be the right decision for the Conservative Party, if the most recent YouGov poll is to be believed. Released just this morning it says voters familiar

For a man who was, until recently, thousands of miles away on a Caribbean island (and has yet to put his hat in the ring) it is extraordinary that Boris Johnson’s name has dominated this leadership race. Such is the strength of feeling around the former PM: love him or loathe him, we can’t stop

Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he is backing Boris Johnson to return as prime minister despite having previously called for him to resign in the summer. “I’m backing Boris. He got the big calls right, whether it was ordering more vaccines ahead of more waves of Covid, arming Ukraine early against the advice of

Boris Johnson has been pictured by Sky News making his way back to the UK. The former prime minister has been on holiday in the Dominican Republic but is set to return to London after telling an ally that he will run to lead the country again. He is flying back in economy alongside his

Rishi Sunak has become the first to receive 100 public endorsements from Tory MPs – enough to meet the threshold for nominations in the leadership race. The news came just before a source close to Boris Johnson claimed he had also reached the threshold, although this has yet to be verified. The winner of the

A cabinet minister has told Sky News they believe Boris Johnson could secure the 100 nominations he needs from Conservative MPs to progress in the Tory leadership race if he were to stand. Speculation is mounting that Mr Johnson could launch a comeback to frontline politics after the dramatic resignation of Liz Truss, his successor,

Rishi Sunak has announced his bid to become the next Conservative leader and prime minister, six weeks after Liz Truss beat him to the top job. The former chancellor has put himself forward for the second time in a matter of months after the extraordinary resignation of Ms Truss on Thursday, 44 days into her

Candidates to replace Liz Truss as Tory leader will need at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs, 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady has said. This will rule out a number of candidates from running, and means the maximum number of people able to stand is three. During the last leadership election, Rishi Sunak won

In a statement lasting less than five minutes, on the steps of Downing Street, where 44 days ago she pledged to “deliver, deliver, deliver”, Liz Truss just announced her resignation. She says the leadership election to replace her will be completed within a week. MPs certainly want a quick resolution to the chaos, not another

After Wednesday, it’s worth asking: who is in charge? The last 12 hours suggests it’s very hard to say. Few say Liz Truss, since her word is no longer her bond, her writ limited. So what are the other possibilities? Few think it is Mark Fullbrook, the embattled chief of staff, but few believe his

Liz Truss has pulled out of a planned event this afternoon, during which she was due to take questions from journalists. Downing Street has not given any reason for the canning of the trip to an electronics manufacturer. A source said the visit was cancelled due to “government business”, but declined to elaborate further. Politics

It’s a sign of how bad things are for the new prime minister that only her third Prime Minister’s Questions is being billed as a potentially defining moment in her short premiership. MPs tell me that how Liz Truss performs at the dispatch box against Sir Keir Starmer at their weekly joust will be an

A minister has warned Liz Truss cannot afford to make any more mistakes, as the prime minister fights to save her premiership. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said he remains supportive of Ms Truss, unlike many of his colleagues, but there was no more room for error after a day of U-turns. New chancellor Jeremy

Liz Truss has apologised for the “mistakes” she has made in her first few volatile weeks as prime minister – but insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election. Speaking for the first time after almost all the tax cuts announced in last month’s mini-budget were scrapped, Ms Truss said: “I recognise

After allowing her chancellor to rewrite the government’s energy price plan, Liz Truss has just removed one of her biggest remaining arguments for staying in power. Yes, reversing the Kwarteng income tax cut, abolishing the dividend tax changes and the VAT-free shopping scheme are very politically painful. But abandoning the existing energy price cap scheme