Tag: Conservative Party

Boris Johnson, one of the two men who could become the United Kingdom's next prime minister, has repeatedly dodged questioning over what happened when police were called to an alleged altercation at the south London home he shares with girlfriend…

However, the council has switched in recent years between Labour and no overall control, and is run by a coalition of Conservatives and the City Independents, which despite its name is a party and includes among its councillors longtime independents as well as defectors from parties as varied as Labour, Ukip and the British National party. Mohammed Pervez, the energetic leader of the Labour group, which remains the council’s biggest, is fighting an avowedly local campaign, focused on traditional areas such as litter, parking, potholes and schools. During a canvass of comfortably sized postwar terraced houses in his own ward north of the city centre, Pervez delivers a well-drilled message about “four years of chaos” covering everything from children’s services to road maintenance. Our challenge is to make people understand that this election is not about Brexit, but about local services. “We always get asked how, as independents, we have influence on the government,” James says. “But governments have never supported Stoke-on-Trent by putting money into it. The Conservative group leader, Abi Brown, who is number two to James in the council, recounts the period before 2015 when her party had two representatives – her and Brereton – and “were regarded as a bit of an irrelevance”. Now they have seven, and like Pervez, Brown is keen to keep the campaigning as far away as possible from national issues like Brexit: “I’d like to think that in the wards we hold, people know their councillors and while they might be unhappy with things at a national level – and it does get raised – they’ll vote on local issues. Landon declines to tell Pervez how he will vote – “all the councillors have always been rubbish. Now you can’t really predict anything.”

The Conservative MP Christopher Davies has been found guilty of submitting fake expenses invoices for £700 of landscape photographs to decorate his office, meaning he could be kicked out of parliament under the recall process. Davies has not been suspended by the Conservative party but he will now face a recall petition to see whether his constituents want to force him to face a byelection. “It’s shocking that the Conservative party has still failed to take action against Christopher Davies, over a month after he admitted stealing from the public purse,” he said. He then created two fake invoices, so the £700 cost could be split between the two budgets – £450 to the startup and £250 for the other. MPs ask the public to place their trust in them and in an election that’s what happens. “The recall process may end your political career – that’s part of the machinery.” The process can result in MPs who are handed prison terms of less than a year being subject to a petition to oust them. It is not a financial cost, it is a harm to the integrity of parliament.” Forster said his client underspent across every single budget. For the prosecution, Stott said it was accepted that Davies had not sought to profit financially from the action and that he was entitled to claim for the pictures. However, he said Davies was not entitled to split the costs across two budgets, and any claims had to be accompanied by genuine invoices. Davies served as a councillor in Powys before he was elected as an MP at the 2015 general election.

No 10 is feeling the pressure to pull the plug on Brexit talks with Labour and move to an alternative plan, amid warnings that the opposition is in no hurry for a deal before the European elections. Ken Clarke: ‘Brexit is like a parody version of student politics’ Read more However, government sources acknowledge Theresa May is under much greater time pressure than Labour, which has little incentive to do a deal before the European and local elections that are likely to result in the Conservatives suffering heavy losses to Nigel Farage’s Brexit party. Ministers and their opposition counterparts are taking part in working groups on some issues this week, but there will be no discussion before Easter on the big issues of a customs union or a confirmatory referendum, making it easy for Labour to reject the prime minister’s overtures so far. The government’s alternative plan is for MPs to thrash out an acceptable version of May’s deal through a series of votes or by amending the withdrawal bill, but experts said there was barely enough time to do this in the five weeks before the European elections. Nikki da Costa, formerly the legislative affairs director in No 10, suggested getting the withdrawal bill passed by 22 May would “require a level of legislative aggression from government not seen in this parliament”. There is also concern in No 10 that Labour may not get behind the plan to let MPs amend the withdrawal bill to find a way forward. “We don’t know if they are going to work and it may be that we need to find a way to rebuild the Conservative-DUP coalition,” Hunt said. One Conservative MEP told the Guardian that it was “cloud cuckoo land” to think European elections can be avoided at this stage. Conservative party officials are privately acknowledging the party will lose around half of their MEPs. A Tory party source said: “As is usual, Conservative candidates are expected to represent the Conservative party.”

What now for Labour? Two key problems threaten the prospect of success: the prime minister’s almost non-existent authority, and whether it is ultimately ever going to be in Labour’s interests to do a deal with the Tories. This is also believed to have been a factor in the 31 October extension date offered by the EU. That was the calculation May made when she cancelled the first Brexit vote before the Christmas recess, but MPs returned still determined to vote her deal down. What now for the second referendum campaign? Once the question is agreed the Electoral Commission would then designate lead campaigners for both sides, adding more time to the process, before a 10-week campaign period. The People’s Vote campaigners have said that the EU would be minded to extend article 50 further if a referendum was already in play and more time was needed. The Brexit delay prolongs the sense of limbo for EU citizens in the UK and British nationals in the rest of Europe. The government wants the remaining 3.4 million to apply by the end of December 2020 if there is a no-deal Brexit, or by June 2021 if there is a deal. But the EU leaders hope that the threat of European elections on 23 May might push some Brexiters to finally back the withdrawal agreement.

The Conservative party has told potential local election candidates it is preparing to fight in the European elections in May, and asked potential MEPs to put themselves forward. Conservative MEPs were warned in a meeting last week that they faced “annihilation” in European polls, igniting fury among some at the prospect of having to spend money and time on standing again to either lose their seats or spend an unclear length of time in post, with a number considering whether they want to bother at all. A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said that it remained the intention to pass the necessary legislation so the UK did not need to participate in European parliamentary elections. The Lib Dem Brexit spokesman, Tom Brake, said: “We are raring to go to the polls with a clear offer; every Liberal Democrat elected is another voice fighting for our country’s place in the European Union.” Don't dread the European elections – they could fix our broken politics | Maya Goodfellow Read more The Conservative party has been repeatedly warned it could face a looming grassroots meltdown because of Brexit, yet new data ahead of next month’s local elections suggests the party is fielding candidates in more than 96% of the 8,374 English council seats being contested on 2 May. The Conservatives could also receive a “Brexit benefit” if May agreed a departure deal before the local elections, according to Hayward, who is a Conservative peer as well as being a noted psephologist. Labour is fielding people in 77% of seats – many of the contested areas are Tory heartlands – and the Lib Dems 53%. “Considering there is this general perception that the grassroots of the Tory party are in total despair, and immobile, 96% is the highest figure in this four-year cycle that’s ever been achieved,” Hayward said. But divining the possible impact of Brexit was very tricky, he said: “The problem is that these things are so fluid at the moment. I have no doubt in my own mind that there is a Brexit benefit to the government if there is a deal. The corollary of that is that there is clearly a dis-benefit to the Tory party to not having a deal.

Theresa May is facing intense cabinet pressure to avoid the prospect of a long Brexit delay, amid increasing expectations that last ditch cross-party talks on a compromise departure plan will not produce anything concrete. Before a crucial EU summit later this week, the prime minister is facing a fast-diminishing range of options that could split the Conservative party and prompt a mass cabinet walkout, or could result in the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on Friday. Under the terms of the previous brief extension agreed with the EU, if Brussels does not agree another delay, a no-deal Brexit will happen on Friday. Alexandre Holroyd, an MP from Macron’s En Marche party whose brief covers Brexit, told the BBC that this should come with conditions, for example, the UK should have no say on the next EU budget. They said: “A long, non-flexible extension would come with EU elections as well, which is another red line for lots of the Conservative party. The shadow business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, who was among the Labour delegation, said on Sunday that while the mood of the talks had been positive, there was as yet no sign on where May might budge, particularly Labour’s key demand for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU. Adding to the sense of drift, Leadsom indicated that it was up to Labour to accept the customs arrangement already in May’s rejected deal, and that she and other Brexiter members of May’s ministerial team could not accept a full customs union. “There are various different types of arrangements, and those discussions are still ongoing,” Leadsom said, calling May’s existing customs plan “an excellent proposal”. “My expectation – and I’m not party to the discussions – is that the prime minister will only seek to agree those things that still constitute Brexit.” What does seem clear is that May’s options are closing in, with her deal conceded as lost, and a backbench bill led by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper mandating the PM to avoid a no-deal departure is expected to become law late on Monday, after finishing its progress through the Lords. Another source said the plot for the Brussels summit seemed clear: “I expect she’ll have a pretty bruising time and then walk away with a long extension.”

Allies of Amber Rudd played down rumours she plans to join Boris Johnson in a Conservative party leadership “dream ticket” to unite the Brexiter and remainer wings of the party, as the manoeuvrings to succeed Theresa May gained pace. With moves to oust the prime minister expected to reach a crescendo if she agrees a longer-term delay to Brexit with the EU at a Brussels summit this week, the idea of a so-called “Bamber” joint bid has been floated, potentially uniting the work and pensions secretary with the former foreign secretary. Rudd is known to be happy to be a standard-bearer for remain-minded opinion in the race to succeed May, but is being seen more as a kingmaker than a likely winner herself, mindful of both the likely preference of Conservative members for a Brexiter as well as the tiny 346 majority she holds in her Hastings constituency. But it is understood that Rudd is by no means signed up to the plan and has not decided on supporting any particular candidate. An ally of the former home secretary said Rudd’s focus was on her so-called One Nation Group of moderate Tories, said to comprise of around 40 MPs intent on making sure any future leader would not pull Britain from the EU without a deal. Also seeking support from that wing of the party will be Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and the international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, as well as born-again Brexiters such as Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. The Guardian view on May’s Brexit offer to Corbyn: years too late | Editorial Read more The remainer end of the race is currently less congested, in part because hopefuls realise that the party electoral system – whereby a final two whittled down by MPs are put to a vote of the strongly leave-oriented membership – does not favour such views. Their ranks were nonetheless potentially increased by one on Sunday when the former education secretary Justine Greening, now a strong supporter of a second referendum, indicated she could well compete. “I don’t know when the leadership contest will happen but for me [the party] has always been a vehicle for changing Britain for the better, simple as that.” Asked if she might be particularly tempted to try her luck if the candidates did not include any centrists, Greening said: “That would be one of the reasons why I might do it.” Greening was dismissive of the idea of a staunchly pro-Brexit team, for example Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, who chairs the European Research Group, which represents strongly leave-minded Tory backbenchers. “You’re not going to win elections by fishing in a voter pool that probably represents about 30% of the country.” Rees-Mogg, who has so far refused to say who he will back when May departs, as the prime minister has pledged to do when a Brexit departure plan is finalised, had praise on Sunday for both Johnson, the former mayor of London, and for Rudd.