Lead News

They were times in which prime ministers seemed to be on their way out as soon as they’d arrived. The big strategic decisions the country faced were ducked or postponed. The public finances repeatedly wobbled, yet efforts to rationalise the tax system faltered in the face of vested interests, including farmers. Reforms to social security were trumpeted before being diluted. ...

Christopher Harborne, the crypto billionaire who controversially gifted Nigel Farage £5m, has been named in the list of the UK’s wealthiest people for the first time. Other first-timers include Noel and Liam Gallagher and Emily Eavis, the daughter of the Glastonbury festival founder, Michael Eavis, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List published on Friday. Harborne, who gave Farage ...

One of Keir Starmer’s closest allies in the cabinet has conceded that the prime minister is “unpopular” but has insisted Labour should not repeat the same pattern of changing leaders that damaged the Conservatives. The housing secretary, Steve Reed, one of Starmer’s most loyal ministers and staunch defenders, told broadcasters on Friday that no one had the numbers to challenge ...

Wes Streeting has quit the cabinet as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister, saying there should now be a leadership contest. Streeting, who is on the party’s right, has long been gathering support for a challenge and has spent the week gathering names of MPs for his nomination. But in his letter to Starmer, ...

Miatta Fahnbulleh, a minister in Keir Starmer’s government, resigned on Tuesday while publicly questioning the British Prime Minister’s leadership and urging him to begin an “orderly transition” within the Labour Party. Fahnbulleh became the first minister in Starmer’s administration to step down openly over concerns about the direction of the government. In her resignation message posted on X, she wrote: ...

On Wednesday, Charles III will deliver the King’s Speech, setting out the government’s planned new laws for the next Parliamentary session and beyond. The speech will be scrutinised even more intensely than usual as Sir Keir Starmer attempts to relaunch his premiership after a disastrous set of election results for Labour. Here is what we think will be in the ...

UK leader Keir Starmer swept to power promising to end years of chaos in British politics, but numerous policy U-turns, controversies and rock-bottom poll ratings see him teetering on the precipice. In his first speech as prime minister on 5 July, 2024, Starmer promised a government of “service” that would “tread more lightly” on people’s lives following 14 years of ...

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed to prove his doubters wrong and stem mounting calls for him to step down after disastrous local and regional elections for his ruling Labour party. But more than 60 of Labour’s 403 MPs asked him to step down, unconvinced by his pledge to make the party bolder and better to assuage disgruntled ...

Reform UK has made significant gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives in council election results in England so far. The polls across Scotland, Wales and 136 English local authorities are the biggest set of elections since the 2024 general election and a key test for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. As most councils did not begin counting ...

* Londoners went to the polls on Thursday with local elections taking place in each of the 32 boroughs and some 1,800 councillors set to be elected * Reform UK is on the verge of winning Havering, giving the party its first London council * The Conservatives win Westminster back from Labour, hold Kensington and Chelsea and Bexley, and become ...