Politics

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said the party now has more than 200,000 members and is aiming to overtake the Labour Party’s total of 309,000. Speaking to delegates at a regional conference in Wiltshire, the Clacton MP called his party’s growth “truly extraordinary” since its founding in 2021 as the re-launch of the Brexit

Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April 2013. But the UK’s longest-serving post-war prime minister still casts a long shadow over politics today, more than a decade later. Only last week the Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer cited her example in support of his deregulation plans. “In the 1980s, the Thatcher government deregulated finance capital…,”

Health minister Andrew Gwynne has been sacked over comments posted on a WhatsApp group. Mr Gwynne reportedly made antisemitic comments and ‘joked’ about a pensioner constituent, saying he hoped she died before the next election, according to the Mail on Sunday. In the WhatsApp chat, which contained Labour councillors, party officials and at least one

Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, has died at the age of 78. Lord Elis-Thomas also served as the Welsh government’s culture, sport and tourism minister from 2017 to 2021. He served as his party’s leader between 1984 and 1991 and as MP for Merioneth, later Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, from 1974 to 1992.

Keir Starmer was touring the UK National Nuclear Laboratory in Preston when the Bank of England halved its 2025 growth forecast, cut interest rates for the third time in six months, warned of an uptick in inflation and said the national insurance hike on employers would hit prices and jobs more than expected.  It was

The Labour MPs who have set up a pressure group to counter the threat of Reform UK have been warned they risked promoting factionalism. Baroness Harman, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said setting up the group was also “problematic” because it gave the impression that those involved did not believe the leadership

The Foreign Office has revoked the accreditation of a Russian diplomat after a British official was expelled from Moscow last year. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the Russian ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, had been summoned to a meeting with a senior British official to revoke the accreditation of the diplomat. “This is in

The Conservative Party is pledging to tighten immigration rules after Reform topped a landmark poll for the first time earlier this week. In her first major policy announcement as Tory Party leader, Kemi Badenoch is pledging to double the amount of time an asylum seeker needs to have been in the UK before claiming indefinite

Is history repeating itself in the row over Sir Keir Starmer’s voice coach Leonie Mellinger? After all, she is not the first person who has coached a prime minister to be caught in political controversy. After the Tories demanded a police probe, are there echoes of the row over Tony and Cherie Blair’s “lifestyle coach”

The UK government has distanced itself from Donald Trump’s suggestion Palestinians could be relocated and Gaza developed into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and

Britain could do a slimmed down trade deal with the United States within months, the last politician to oversee negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration over a UK-US agreement has told Sky News. Last night Sky News revealed that leading members of the Trump administration believe a trade deal with the UK could be sealed in

The symbolism was plain to see. Five years on from Brexit, the British prime minister on Monday was brought back into the club for one night only, invited to an informal dinner with the EU’s 27 leaders to talk about resetting relations after a bumpy Brexit. The invite was sent out weeks ago, with the

Reform have topped a Sky News/YouGov poll for the first time as the party continues to shake up British politics. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has edged in front on 25%, with Labour pushed into second on 24% and the Tories on 21%. The YouGov poll, taken on Sunday and Monday, also puts the Lib Dems

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of breaking lockdown rules when a voice coach came to Labour headquarters during COVID. The Labour Party has denied the prime minister breached COVID rules in December 2020 for employing actress and voice coach Leonie Mellinger to help him prepare a response to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Two Sunday

As Donald Trump kicks off his threatened trade war by slapping tariffs on both friends and foes alike, Number 10 is preparing for the moment he turns his attention to the UK. The unpredictability of the returning president, emboldened by a second term, means the prime minister must plan for every possible scenario. Under normal

Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week confirmed government support for dozens of big projects to boost growth, on top of Labour’s existing promise to build 1.5 million new homes. Major planning system reforms are under way in a bid to meet targets, but among the challenges the government faces in delivery is who will build them.