Collectively, these measures will have been enough to ensure Tory MPs didn’t leave the Commons chamber feeling empty-handed. But none will have been fooled into thinking this was a transformative Budget.
Nobody would be surprised if Bishop Auckland or Wolverhampton West returned to Labour. But if the Liberal Democrats beat Caroline Newton in Henley, doom looms for the Tories.
Fourteen years of Conservative government has left under-40s hating the Tories. Radical action will be required to win them over. But this will not be limited to improving their material circumstances.
64.18 per cent of our panel think the Conservative Party was wrong to suspend our 2022 Backbencher of the Year compared to 30.89 per cent who think it was right to do so.
Yesterday marked fifty years since Edward Heath asked voters “Who governs Britain?” and received the polite but firm reply of “Not you, mate”.
Not only would passing a tax cut disproportionately helpful to London and the South-East be an admission of defeat in the Red Wall, but it would provide Labour with an easy attack line in the autumn.
Budget tax cuts would be disingenuous. Any headroom would be based on earlier tax hikes and further increases and cuts after the election. But are Tory MPs at all interested in the long-term sustainability of the public finances?
A new poll has found that Labour has over-taken the Conservatives in the country’s 100 most rural seats. Deep England is ailing, and holds the Government responsible.
As sensible as it might be in spirit, it will change very little in terms of school policies and won’t protect children from online harms for the bulk of the day that they are not in school.
Labour held the seat from 1997 to 2019.
Or: “Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was not entirely wrong to tell the Foreign Secretary to kiss her ass”.
How long until Starmer is demanding an immediate ceasefire? How long until another Labour MP or candidate is suspended for saying something appalling? And what will this mean for the party overwhelmingly likely to form the next government?
The common expectation is that inflation will fall below the Bank’s target rate of 2 per cent by April. Downing Street will hope rates are falling sooner rather than later, even if that means before the target is met.
Countries with greater wealth distribution – like Iceland or Austria – have seen the smallest losses of faith in democracy. Every new homeowner is another convert to the idea that democracy can work for them.
65 per cent believe we are on track for a Labour majority. Add on the shares also predicting a Labour-led coalition or a minority Labour government, and that rises to 87 per cent, a point higher than last month.