Four Conservative hopefuls so far have put their hat in the ring to become the next Party leader, after nominations for Rishi Sunak’s replacement opened on Wednesday evening. James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride have so far entered the race, and are expected to be joined by Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel and Suella Braverman (all of whom have picked up nomination papers). Nominees much each have 10 backers to submit their papers to enter the race, and with only 121 Tory MPs in total, if all 7 politicians do indeed enter, this means they would have an average of 17 backers each… talk about a divided party. The leadership race will then follow this timeline:
29 July – nominations will close at 2:30pm.
Early September – four candidates will be chosen to proceed following a number of rounds of voting among Conservative MPs.
29 September - 2 October – the final four will make their case to Party members at the Conservative Party Conference, and MPs will select the final two.
Late October – Party members will cast their votes.
31 October – the online ballot for voting will close.
2 November – the new leader will be announced.
Meanwhile on the Government benches, Keir Starmer wasted no time laying down the law as he booted 7 of his MPs out of the Party earlier this week. John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Apsana Begum and Zarah Sultana all had the whip suspended for six months, as a result of voting against the Government on an SNP amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap. This controversial policy has been the cause of some tension within the Party recently, with many members openly criticising it, including Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. Yet, the Government is insisting there is not the money available to get rid of the cap at present, and is instead focusing its efforts to tackle poverty on its new Child Poverty Taskforce and its plans to introduce free breakfast clubs in primary schools.
Parliament’s tradition of maiden speeches by new MPs is always a pleasure, treating us to earnest stories, fun facts and party-political lines inserted by the whips. With 100 newly elected members having delivered theirs over the past week, we’ve trawled them and pulled out the most interesting/ridiculous/inane (delete as appropriate) facts we could find…
Joe Powell’s wife gave birth to twins one week into the election campaign…Carla Denyer (probably) became the first MP to give their pronouns in their maiden speech (“she/her”)…Sarah Sackman reminded us that her only female predecessor in her Finchley and Golders Green seat, a certain Margaret Thatcher, was forced to wait two years to make her maiden speech…Josh MacAlister stated that the only time he had previously entered Parliament was while leading a school trip…Public health consultant Beccy Cooper revealed she presented a daily slot on BBC Radio Sussex debunking covid misinformation during the pandemic…Ellie Chowns mentioned socks four time in her speech, surely a record…Greg Stafford paid tribute to his brother, former MP for Rother Vally Alexander Stafford, who failed to be re-elected…John Slinger’s dad played rugby for England… Professor of Geopolitics Al Pinkerton revealed that three of his former students were candidates in the most recent election…Peter Prinsley is the first ear, nose and throat surgeon ever elected to Parliament, while Shockat Adam is only the second ever optometrist…Kirith Entwistle revealed she was the first Ahluwalia, an Indian caste, elected to Parliament…and Steve Witherden spoke of having been illiterate until age 11 and being “written off by many”.
MPs are also honour-bound to trumpet the uniqueness and natural beauty of their constituency, with newly-hired aides expecting an exciting first week instead trawling through Wikipedia looking for semi-interesting facts about their boss’s local area. This week, we learnt…
A leather company based in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West provided the leather for the benches in Parliament… Bishop Auckland’s amateur football club provided players to help Manchester United fulfil its fixtures following the Munich air disaster in 1958…it was in Harpenden and Berkhamsted that the Crown of England was surrendered to William the Conqueror in 1066…Bognor Regis and Littlehampton receives the “most sunshine hours” in the UK, although Eastbourne was claimed to be the sunniest town…Boston and Skegness was claimed to be the most fertile constituency in the country…Spelthorne was the home of Lord Knyvet, who was responsible for the arrest of Guy Fawkes in the cellar beneath Parliament in 1605…Finchley and Golders Green was where Archbishop Desmond Tutu led his ministry during his exile from apartheid South Africa…Mid Leicestershire is the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days…Bristol Central saw what is believed to be Banksy’s first ever mural (ok, that may not be so surprising)…Hartlepool includes the only target which returned fire against German naval bombardment in World War One, making it the UK’s only battlefield during the war…Halifax has had female MPs for 56 of the last 60 years…the first MP for the constituency of Derby South was Philip Noel-Baker, the only person ever to have been awarded an Olympic gold medal and Nobel prize… Dartford is the longest bellwether constituency in the UK, voting in the winning party’s candidate in every election since 1964…Gateshead Central and Whickham has the oldest yeshiva in the country…Hastings and Rye holds the world record for the biggest gathering of pirates in any one place…and Gravesend is the final resting place of the native American princess Pocahontas.
The Prime Minister announced the first major partnership between GB Energy and The Crown Estate, with Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens UK, confirmed as Chair of GB Energy. Keir Starmer said the agreement has the potential to leverage up to £60bn of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence, leading to up to 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments reaching seabed lease stage by 2030, which is enough power for the equivalent of almost 20 million homes. The Great British Energy Bill and the Crown Estate Bill were also introduced in Parliament this week, giving both GB Energy and The Crown Estate the powers they need to rapidly deliver.
A new body to tackle the ‘broken’ skills system was also launched as part of Starmer’s shakeup. In a speech at the Farnborough Airshow, Keir Starmer announced that Skills England will work with the Migration Advisory Committee to identify current and future skills gaps, put in place plans to address those gaps, reduce the UK’s “long-term reliance” on overseas workers and also identify the training on which the Growth and Skills Levy can be spent. He added it will bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade, with Richard Pennycook, former chief executive of the Co-operative Group and lead non-executive director at the DfE, named as the interim Chair. The body will be established in phases over the next 12 months.
G20 Finance Ministers were told that Britain is “open for business” as Chancellor Rachel Reeves travelled to Rio de Janeiro on her first international visit since taking office. She stated that the number one priority of the new Government is to boost economic growth to make every part of the country better off, urging business leaders to “take another look at Britain”. She also outlined how she will always act in the national interest on major international issues, including climate change and support for Ukraine. Reeves will be back in Westminster on Monday, as she is expected to reveal a £20bn hole in Government spending for public services, vowing to “fix the mess we inherited” from the Conservatives.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy pushed for a reset of the UK-India partnership during his first visit to New Delhi, in which he: reinforced the UK’s commitment to securing a Free Trade Agreement; announced the UK-India Technology Security Technology Initiative; agreed to deepen the partnership on climate, including to mobilise finance and unlock new clean growth opportunities; and addressed the UK Post Ministerial Conference with ASEAN Member States, promising to work with them “to promote peace and security in this region and beyond”.
178 – The number of life Peers over the age of 80 in the House of Lords.
100 – Maiden Speeches delivered so far…with 232 more to go.
7 – MPs expected to run in the Conservative Party leadership contest.
3.5% – the reduction in average roadside pollution in outer London six months after ULEZ was extended, according to a report published by the Greater London Authority.
149 – People appointed to Government (including Cabinet members, Ministers, and Parliamentary Secretaries from both the House of Lords and Commons)
32 – Days of Summer Recess, with Parliament to rise at the end of Tuesday's business and return on Monday 2nd September.
We’ve now reached the end of the only full sitting week between May and September, and we’ve begun to see where the Government’s early legislative priorities lie. Eight of the 40 Bills announced in the King’s Speech have been introduced, split between the Commons and the Lords. This includes the Great British Energy Bill, which will have its Second Reading on 5 September; and the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill is due to complete its time in the Commons on 3 September.
The first Private Members’ Bills have also been introduced, with this including potentially one of the most significant pieces of legislation in recent times. Lord Falconer of Thornton, having finished second in the Ballot, has chosen to introduce the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which would ‘allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards, to be assisted to end their own life’. With many of the large social legislative changes having begun as Private Members’ Bills, including the legalising of abortion and same-sex marriage, this could be the legislative vehicle that leads to assisted dying being permitted. However, it is believed the Prime Minister would rather wait for a Bill on the topic to be introduced in the Commons, due to these types of Bills from the Lords not usually getting time in the Commons (unless the Government chooses to give them time, which would set a precedent that the PM would rather not establish).
Six in ten Britons support retaining the two-child benefit limit, according to a YouGov poll. The policy was introduced in 2015 and has proven to be divisive within the Labour party, as 50% of 2024 Labour voters believe the policy should be kept, while 38% believe it should be abolished. Meanwhile, among Conservative voters, 80% believe it should be retained. Looking at responses by age groups, the policy is generally supported, with the only exception being among 18-24 year olds, with only 32% believing it should be retained.
One in six Britons support the Government’s plans for early release of prisoners, according to another YouGov poll. Following the Government’s announcement that prisoners who have served 40% of their sentence could be released, YouGov’s poll found 82% of Britons would be in favour of releasing foreign nationals early so they could be deported and 80% would support building more prisons.
69% of people list ‘fixing the NHS’ as the most important of Keir Starmer’s 5 key missions for Government, finds a new Ipsos poll. Making Britain’s streets safer was listed as the second most important priority, while securing Britain the highest sustained economic growth in the G7 came in third.
PMQs was back this week, with Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak once again battling it out, only this time they’d swapped corners. It was a point that leader of the SNP in Westminster Stephen Flynn (who is no longer guaranteed a question) congratulated Starmer on, thanking him for “ending Tory rule”. A cry of “and yours” followed from the Backbenches, causing chuckles throughout the Chamber, and a wry grin to form on Flynn’s face as well.
Tom Tugendhat’s leadership campaign got off to an entertaining start as he was forced to swiftly change his campaign slogan, when it was pointed out his initial four-line effort of:
Together we can,
Unite the Party.
Rebuild Trust.
Defeat Labour.
created an unfortunate acronym…cue the last part being changed from ‘Defeat Labour’ to ‘Win Back The Country’.
