Politics

Sir Keir Starmer is promising his planned reforms of the Labour Party will be like New Labour’s famous Clause IV “on steroids”. In a speech on Saturday, the Labour leader drew comparisons with Sir Tony Blair’s controversial 1995 decision to abandon the party’s founding commitment to nationalisation in favour of his New Labour agenda. Sir

Priti Patel will accuse Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of presiding over the “managed decline” of the Conservative Party in a speech today. The former home secretary is one of the keynote speakers at the launch of a new grassroots movement – the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO). Set up by backers of Boris Johnson, the new

A well-connected Tory police and crime commissioner triggered two different police investigations into political opponents in recent weeks, Sky News can reveal.  Steve Turner, PCC for Cleveland, was attempting to become a Tory councillor in Redcar in the Tees Valley, in addition to his existing £73,300 role overseeing the area’s police service. During the campaign,

As daylight broke on the English local election results a week ago, Sir Keir Starmer popped up in the Kent council district of Medway – which Labour had just captured from the Conservatives – to declare that Labour is “on course for a majority government”. He stuck to his line doggedly this week under tough,

Harriet Harman, the chair of parliament’s partygate inquiry, was in personal contact with Sir Keir Starmer’s incoming chief of staff Sue Gray while she was still a civil servant. In the early stages of the parliamentary probe, the veteran Labour MP privately said of her fact-finding efforts: “I just speak to Sue.” Sky News understands

Tory MPs have launched scathing attacks on the government for U-turning on its decision to remove all EU legislation from UK law by the end of 2023. Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, confirmed the move on Wednesday, putting a stop to a key pledge of Rishi Sunak’s leadership campaign last summer. She said

Former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen has launched legal action against Matt Hancock after joining actor Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party. Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party after claiming the COVID-19 vaccine was “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”. Former health secretary Mr Hancock, who was suspended from the Tories for appearing on

Sir Keir Starmer has refused seven times to rule out doing a deal with the Liberal Democrats after the next election if Labour finds itself the biggest party at Westminster but short of an overall majority. Speaking to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Keir declined to say whether he would do a deal

A government minister has accused some anti-monarchy protesters of planning to cause “dangerous” disruption during the coronation, despite the Metropolitan Police expressing “regret” for arresting them. The force faced a backlash after detaining a number of members of the campaign group Republic over the weekend, and has now said their investigation was unable to prove

Patients will be able to receive prescription medicines and oral contraception without seeing a GP under new plans to ease the strain on surgeries. It is hoped the measures – which could be rolled out as soon as this winter – will help to free up 15 million slots at doctors’ surgeries over the next

Metropolitan Police bosses are to be questioned by the London Assembly over the force’s treatment of protesters during this weekend’s coronation celebrations. A total of 64 people were arrested – including 13 people to “prevent a breach of the peace” and a man with an unused megaphone, who police said could “scare the horses”. Four

The government has announced £240m of funding for GP practices, aiming to help patients to get appointments more quickly. The cash will be given to surgeries to “embrace the latest technology”, replacing old phone systems and creating online tools to “ensure patients get the care they need as soon as possible”. As part of what

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has admitted the local election results were “not good” for the Conservatives, but insists Rishi Sunak is “starting to deliver in a quiet way for the British people”. Her party lost more than a thousand seats after voters went to the polls across England, seeing Labour take over as the largest

Tory Cabinet member Penny Mordaunt emerged as one of the stars of the coronation as she carried an enormous sword and then presented another to the King during the ceremony. In her role as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, Ms Mordaunt carried the 17th-century Sword of State

If there is a key takeaway from this year’s local elections, it’s that it has been a punishing night for the Tories, with more than 1,000 council seat losses. In his first electoral test as prime minister, Rishi Sunak saw the Conservatives lose control of 50 councils – a result party chairman Greg Hands said

Labour would fall short of an overall majority in parliament, a vote share projection shows following local elections in England. Based on analysis of change in vote share across 1,500 wards Labour is the most popular party with 36%, with the Conservative share 29%, Lib Dems with 18% and others standing at 17%. See full

In 1997, as he celebrated Labour’s landslide, Tony Blair famously declared: “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” In 2023, as they head towards a set of dismal local election results, the Tories will fear this is the darkest hour before another new Labour dawn next year. From Plymouth to Stoke-on-Trent, from the South

Polls have closed in this year’s crunch local elections – with results expected to start rolling in from midnight. Voters are deciding who runs services in 230 (out of 317) local authorities in England, with around 8,000 councillors’ seats up for grabs. Mayors are also being chosen in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough in what

Sir Keir Starmer was wooing Sue Gray to become his chief of staff for at least four months before announcing her appointment, Sky News has discovered. The Labour leader has repeatedly refused to disclose when the first contact between the pair took place. But Sky News understands his first discussion with the top civil servant

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, is to step down after a damning report into the party’s culture. Mr Price and the party’s chair Marc Jones were forced to apologise after the report – commissioned by the party’s ruling committee – found that the party had “failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual