Politics

The government’s new voter ID rules were an attempt to “gerrymander” the electoral system which “came back to bite them”, a former minister has suggested. Jacob Rees-Mogg made the comments having supported the proposals when he was in government under Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. The local elections this month were the first time that

The Tories have a “great opportunity” with a mood of “steely determination”, cabinet minister Grant Shapps has told Sky News, despite a local election drubbing and party infighting. Speaking on the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the energy secretary also said he “completely and fundamentally” disagreed that the Conservatives cannot come back and win. Former

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 former Labour MP has been jailed for more than two years for making and distributing child abuse images. Paul Clark, who represented Gillingham in Kent for 13 years, was sentenced to 28 months in prison at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday. A total of 1,446 indecent images of children were found on five electronic

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,

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

Boris Johnson considered sending Rishi Sunak a foul-mouthed video after he resigned and triggered his downfall, the former PM’s former director of communications has claimed. Guto Harri, who advised Mr Johnson from February to September last year, said Mr Johnson believed Mr Sunak’s decision to resign last summer was “the great betrayal of all time”,

Voters across Northern Ireland will head to the ballot box for local elections this Thursday. On 18 May, people across the country will get the opportunity to decide who is responsible for local issues, from leisure services to bin collections. Local elections are often used by voters to voice their opinion on national political parties,

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