In this section, you will find all my articles related to politics in the United Kingdom. 

Boris Johnson's reshuffle of the Whips' and Cabinet Office: summary

The fallout from PartyGate and the subsequent meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the 1922 Committee resulted in reports of a planned reshuffle earlier this week, which would have been the third since Mr Johnson arrived at Number 10. Some changes did take place on Tuesday, though they were generally limited to the Whips’ Office and Cabinet Office, with some moves to fill vacated roles from those changes. Here, Wolves of Westminster looks at the full changes in this mini-reshuffle.

The creeping trend of increasing press restriction

Recent events might suggest that we are in an environment in which state control over media and the press is growing increasingly normalised. The Mail on Sunday‘s leader last weekend was notable. Boris Johnson was blasting the BBC for its coverage of PartyGate and not, in his view, promoting the need for booster jabs, which he described as their primary duty. However, it is not within the prerogative of the Prime Minister or anyone within the executive to determine what the BBC’s duty is. The c

Johnson’s latest challenge is different from any he has faced before

This year’s festive period is looking to become Boris Johnson’s toughest since he took up the reins as Prime Minister in the summer of 2019. This time round, it is not the kind of challenge he has been accustomed to in the past. The background: a recent Survation poll puts the Conservatives six points behind Labour (40-34), following the reintroduction of certain Covid measures and the recent Downing Street Christmas party scandal. Inputting those numbers into the calculator on Electoral Calcul

HS2 has caused a stir, but why is it so controversial?

The recent Liberal Democrat by-election victory in Chesham and Amersham sparked headlines. The election was called following the passing of former Wales Secretary Dame Cheryl Gillan who, despite being a Brexiteer in a pro-Remain seat, had retained the seat with more than 50% of the vote share in 2017 and 2019. Analysts have suggested that the Tory defeat may have been due to a crumbling of the so-called ‘Blue Wall’ in Southern England, with some suggesting local issues such as HS2 have played a

The reshuffle moves that would make sense according to the data

There has been occasional chatter of a second major cabinet re-shuffle of the Johnson ministry when the coronavirus outbreak finally ends. The re-shuffle of the opposition frontbench may have dominated headlines recently, but it has been over a year since Boris Johnson’s first reshuffle. Looking at polling data from both within the Conservative and Unionist Party and the wider public, there are four additions and four removals that would make objective political sense, if there were to happen in

Super Thursday Summary: The Big Winners and Losers

Last Thursday saw a plethora of elections take place across the United Kingdom. These included Police and Crime Commissioner races, London Mayoral and Assembly votes plus local elections that had been delayed for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak, elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd, a by-election in Hartlepool, plus the originally scheduled local and combined authority races. Wolves of Westminster provides a summary here of all the big results. • The Conservatives gained th

The upcoming DUP leadership elections – runners and riders

On May 14, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) will see its MPs and MLAs vote for their new leader as well as a new deputy leader. It will be the first formal leadership election in the party’s history, as the outgoing Arlene Foster and her predecessor Peter Robinson ran unopposed, while Mr Robinson’s predecessor Ian Paisley founded the party. Here, Wolves of Westminster takes a look at the five potential candidates and what the election could mean for the party and Northern Ireland’s place in

London Mayoral Elections 2021: The runners and riders

Much of the attention in the London Mayoral race has gone towards the incumbent, Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party, and his challenger, Tory Assembly Member Shaun Bailey. There are, however, several other candidates, both from minor parties and from a plethora of independents. In this article, Wolves of Westminster gives you the low-down on who these candidates are and what they are standing for. The election takes place on 6 May. You can register to vote here, with the deadline being 11:59 on 19

Hartlepool polling data: Optimism for Tories, Pessimism for Reform UK

A new MRP Poll released by The Times yesterday morning will be positive reading for the Conservatives, but poor from Reform UK’s perspective. The poll is for the seat of Hartlepool, which will see a by-election following the resignation of Labour MP Mike Hill. In the 2019 General Election, Mr Hill dropped 14.8 percentage points, with his majority being more than halved. The Tories had increased by 13.3 points in 2017, but dropped a further 5.3 points two-and-a-half years on. Richard Tice stood

Fact-checking the claims made by anti-Starmer far-left activists

Wolves of Westminster yesterday reported on a meeting of the so-called ‘Labour In Exile Network’ (LIEN), featuring several individuals who had been suspended by the Labour Party and were critical of the direction the party is heading in under Sir Keir Starmer. Some of these individuals described themselves as “Marxists”, with one going as far as to say “we consider ourselves revolutionary socialists” when calling for their agenda to involve a greater amount of change in the status quo.

EXCLUSIVE: Expelled far-left activists vow to set up own CLP, print own membership cards in defiance: “We’re not going anywhere!”

A group stylising themselves as the “Labour In Exile Network” (LIEN), made up of far-left activists many of whom have been suspended or expelled by the Labour Party, held a founding conference on 27 February to discuss their ‘Plan for Change‘ and terms of reference. Among their plans were to issue their own Labour Party membership cards for expelled former members.

Book Review: Farewell My Colony by Todd Crowell

Todd Crowell is a journalist who has worked in Hong Kong for Asiaweek. He wrote Farewell My Colony to chronicle the experiences of the last years leading up to the handover. It is an eye-opening book, chronicling the hopes and fears of both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps as well as the UK and People’s Republic of China. The book takes you through interviews with locals, legislators in both camps whom Crowell had lunch with, and gives a comprehensive telling of Chris Patten’s democrati

Boris Johnson boost as new poll shows steep drop in Starmer support

We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights. Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. Boris Johnson’ s net favourability is now at six points, an increase of two. The Tories are now leading in Westminster voting intention with 43 percent of the vote. Labour are second with 36 percent, with the Tories gaining one point and Labour losing one from a fortnight previously. The Liberal

Boris Johnson focuses on US satellite agency after UK loses access to EU's space system

OneWeb could be able to deliver the same services as Galileo. According to Mail Online, Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak signed off on the bid for 20 percent in the US operator on Thursday night. OneWeb filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to coronavirus disruption but has its headquarters based in London. In 2018, Brussels warned the UK’s role in Galileo was up for negotiation which angered ministers due to the amount of money Britain had invested in the project. Officials told the Times t

Jeremy Hunt accepts ‘share of responsibility’ for missing earlier pandemic lessons

He blamed Whitehall “groupthink” and called for scientific advice to be depoliticised for future pandemics. However, he denied accusations that austerity was a major cause in the high UK death toll. Mr Hunt told a virtual event with Politico: "The problems and the challenges we've had in tackling coronavirus don't relate directly to that pressure. "They relate more to the fact we didn't learn the lessons of SARS and MERS, which should have happened under my time as well. "I fully accept that I

Boris Johnson set to announce new social distancing rule to help reopen UK

This rule would allow people to go within one metre of each other providing they are sticking to other rules, such as wearing masks or meeting outdoors. The proposal, reported by the Sunday Telegraph, will be in effect from July 4 and is understood to apply to all venues. Professor Callum Semple on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) has previously been against changing the current 2m rule but has said: “It is now a reasonable political decision to relax these rules." Mr Johnso

Brexit blow: EU leaders are refusing to backdown on fisheries for one reason

The EU has previously said an agreement on fisheries is a pre-existing condition to a free trade agreement. Britain insists any agreement must be based on an understanding that British waters are primarily for British boats, The UK formally left the European Union in January. Until the end of the year, it is a transition period. During this time, EU laws and regulations will still apply. This means fishing fleets of each country have full access to each others’ water. The first 12 nautical mile

Boris Johnson facing Cabinet backlash over plans to suspend Sunday trading laws

It is understood the plans to suspend them for a year are part of a larger coronavirus recovery plan. Britain’s Sunday Trading Act of 1994 allows large stores to open for no more than six consecutive hours between 10am and 6pm. Government Chief Whip Mark Spencer, Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes Park have said the move is likely to attract “strong” opposition, particularly in the House of Lords, according to the Times. Chanc
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