Inside the Tory Leader’s bid to stabilise, reshape and revive a party still haunted by its recent past – even in shadow cabinet.
Change? The Tories – and much of the government benches – believe it is coming for the Labour Leader soon.
Through a mix of timing, pressure and parliamentary guile, Kemi Badenoch left Labour with nowhere to hide over Peter Mandelson.
Mandelson says Epstein was like ‘dog muck’. The trouble is that he kept rolling in it — and Starmer, despite his promises for higher standards, looked the other way.
Reform’s recruitment of old Tory names has handed Kemi Badenoch a chance to draw a clear dividing line – if she is willing to be bold with her newest MPs.
As Reform absorbs disgruntled ex-ministers and new groups jockey for influence, Badenoch’s Conservatives remain a party of the right — but one that has yet to find its voice.
The Tory leader last night rallied her right-wing MPs after Jenrick’s defection and makes clear that talk of a leftward shift is pure fantasy.
Although one senior Tory told me “we have known for a while”, it was only the night before her statement that they were “100 per cent sure he [Jenrick] was poised to defect”.
A Jewish MP barred from a school because he might “inflame” teachers is not an aberration. It is a warning about how far intimidation has crept into public life. And we are too late to it.
Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet away day comes as Labour stumbles into yet another U-turn, this time on pubs.
West Midlands Police decided first, searched for evidence later – and left Parliament to now unravel its shifting story. In banning Israeli fans, the force consulted some communities loudly, erasing others entirely.
Primrose Hill’s New Year’s Eve closure shows how quickly shared civic life is being managed out of existence.
If you’re going to grant someone citizenship, perhaps a background check is in order. The European parliament managed to do it before awarding a freedom of thought prize; British citizenship is a bigger prize than that.
The Conservative Party remains under pressure, but the sense of paralysis that defined much of the year has eased. Badenoch’s leadership seems to have finally steadied the party and lifted the mood.