No way forward is without risk at this stage. But the least hazardous course is for the Party to step out soon with a new leader.
A functioning Government would whip for Malthouse Two – the plan backed by Steve Baker, Nicky Morgan, Iain Duncan Smith, Damian Green, Simon Hart and others.
Also: Plaid leader refuses to support the Government over Salisbury; Foster suggests ‘shadow assembly’ for Northern Ireland; and more.
We reveal who will sit on the Communities and Local Government, Environment and Rural Affairs, Justice, Public Accounts and Science and Technology committees.
Another region, another strong Conservative result against a mismanaged Labour campaign plagued by local miseries.
The third piece in our series examines the four-way battle for the hearts and minds of voters in Wales.
Recent ConservativeHome authors James Wharton and Guto Bebb are present. Both expressed concern about the consequences for their areas of the offer to Scotland.
All the posts were elected unopposed – another sign of Tory MPs’ growing discipline.
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. After today's 1922 Committee elections, Robert Buckland has been elected Joint-Secretary (replacing Karen Bradley, an Assistant Whip) and Simon Hart and Karl McCartney have also been elected to the Executive, replacing George Hollingbery (now PPS to Theresa May) and Simon Kirby (now PPS to Hugh Robertson). A few results of […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Guido Fawkes has a list of new Conservative members of Select Committees, from Graham Brady's office. Mr Brady explains: "For the following committees I have received the same number of nominations as there are vacancies, the following are therefore elected". The appointments are: Communities and Local Government John Stevenson […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Yesterday's debate on the Lords Reform Bill was heated, yet relatively polite. I noticed far more speakers against reform of the Lords than for – perhaps because pro-reform Tories knew, the programme motion having been withdrawn, that they would win the Second Reading vote easily (thanks to Labour votes). […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Friday, 50 MPs, including 34 Conservatives, wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, expressing their "serious concerns" with the Department of Health’s proposal to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. The letter stated that: "There is no reliable evidence that plain packaging will have any public health […]
By Jonathan IsabyFollow Jonathan on Twitter Paul has already covered the row yesterday afternoon between Tory MP and 1922 Committee Secretary, Mark Pritchard, and the Government Whips' Office and their attempt to persuade him to withdraw his motion proposing an outright ban on wild animals from circuses. So what was the substance of the debate? […]
The outgoing Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance, Simon Hart, gained the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire at the election and of his rural constituency, he said that “it should not be thought that everything is rosy in our particular garden”: “We have the same economic and social problems as any other constituency, which is […]