Badenoch’s team briefed yesterday that they were “slightly concerned at possible narrowing of the race… ConHome poll tomorrow rumoured to be positive for Jenrick.” At which point Deputy Editor Henry Hill made clear that he was the only one with the ability to see the score, and even he hadn’t checked it…
The final event in ConHome’s closely-watched leadership polling series has Kemi leading by 24 points at 55%. Jenrick sits on 31% and 14% say they don’t know. Kemi is up 4 points from the beginning of September, Jenrick is down 3. A decisive lead. The poll is of 828 members – the largest number so far…
Jenrick is giving a speech on foreign policy and defence this morning. He better hope it makes an impression…
Labour’s muddled definition of “working people” has now shifted three times in a week, adding to the farcical spectacle surrounding their manifesto tax pledges. Yesterday, Keir Starmer said that Britons earning income from shares or property aren’t “working people.” Sparking fresh fears of looming tax hikes for investors…
In a failed attempt to clarify the “working people” line, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, made the morning media rounds. Speaking on the Today Programme, he was asked six times a simple question: “Do landlords work?” And six times, he dodged the question, hiding behind a stream of evasive waffle instead:
This won’t be music to the ears of 2.82 million private landlords in the UK, who now brace for the potential of steep tax hikes in the upcoming budget. Labour has taken the “campaign in poetry, govern in prose” approach to whole new level…
Starmer’s first few months have been more than a little bumpy on the home front. After it emerged that his wife, Lady Vic, had received thousands of pounds worth of clothes from Labour’s human ATM, Lord Alli, she doubled down – making a bold debut at London fashion week on 16 September. On 24th September she wore a £1,105 designed dress by Edeline Lee at Labour conference in Liverpool – flanked by her husband. Just days earlier, on 14th September, she had been spotted with Starmer at Doncaster racecourse. It looked like high profile days out in designer clobber would be Lady Vic’s vibe in Downing Street…
But where has she been since? Multiple Labour insiders are raising the question – with regular visitors to Downing Street noting her absence. She’s absent from the wires – which were becoming dominated by snaps of Lady Vic. Downing Street snappers haven’t seen her moving around the area. And Number 10’s own social media channels show no trace. As one bemused Labour wag, almost certainly joking, puts it: “she hasn’t left him, has she!”…
Another day, another defeat for Jolyon Maugham. This time, it’s his ill-fated attempt to oust Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption. Earlier this month, the Good Law Project launched a campaign titled “Protest adviser must be removed for conflicts of interest,” writing to the Lords Commissioners for Standard alleging Walney had violated the House of Lords’ code of conduct. A strong accusation from the fox-beater…
Now, a solid 14 days later, the House of Lords Standards Commissioner has dismissed the complaint. Lord Walney posted on X he was “very pleased” with the swift result. It’s a defeat in record time, even for Jolyon…
Contracts and pay for SpAds are set to be finally signed off next week. Guido hears the Cabinet Office is pushing to get everything wrapped up, pencilling in next Thursday as the date. Though, as always in Whitehall, there’s a chance political wrangling could push things further down the line…
Also on the agenda is the publication of SpAd registered interests. Expect some eyebrow-raising revelations…
Under Sue Gray, SpAds found themselves on unusual four-month probationary contracts – a mark that ironically Gray didn’t quite make herself. Now it’s Morgan McIavelli’s turn to whip the team into shape and stamp out any murmurs of unionisation over pay and conditions. Preliminary commiserations for those SpAds who don’t make it onto permanent contracts…
