Politics

Liz Truss was interrupted by activists as she attempted to deliver her opening speech at a Conservative Party hustings in Eastbourne. The protesters from Green New Deal Rising shouted “shame on you” and “Green New Deal” as they stood holding placards inside the hustings venue. “I think we have some infiltrators and I will wait

Rishi Sunak has said Nicola Sturgeon needs to be beaten rather than ignored, aiming a dig at Liz Truss who earlier this week called Scotland’s first minister an “attention seeker”. Mr Sunak said Ms Sturgeon and her party the SNP “pose an existential threat to our cherished union”, adding: “Arguing that we should ignore them

Rishi Sunak has been accused of “funnelling taxpayers’ money to rich Tory shires” after he told party members he had been working to divert funding from “deprived urban areas”. A video obtained by the New Statesman magazine shows the former chancellor proudly telling grassroots Conservatives that he had started changing public funding formulas to ensure more

Liz Truss has refused a Conservative Party member’s request for her to apologise for proposing to link public sector pay to local living costs – reiterating that the policy was “misrepresented”. On Monday night, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones

This is the moment that matters. On the advice of the National Cyber Security Centre, an arm of GCHQ, the Conservative party has delayed sending out ballot papers to its members – originally expected last weekend. As a result the next seven days, beginning today, are now crucial to determining the next prime minister of

Sajid Javid has thrown his support behind Liz Truss as the next Conservative Party leader, in what will come as a huge blow to Rishi Sunak. The former health secretary, and ex-leadership hopeful, attacked Mr Sunak’s economic policies as he revealed his choice in The Times this evening. He suggested Mr Sunak’s refusal to cut

Conservative members are facing delays in receiving their postal ballots to vote for who they want to be the party’s next leader due to security fears. In a letter sent to Tory members seen by Sky News, the Conservative Party’s head of membership confirmed postal ballots will arrive “a little later than we originally said”

Liz Truss has extended her lead over Rishi Sunak among Tory members, according to a new poll, after the foreign secretary U-turned on a plan to link public sector pay to regional living costs. On Monday night, the leadership race frontrunner said she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones

Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss is promising to “wage war on Whitehall waste” with proposals to shake up civil service pay. The foreign secretary says she will save up to £11bn a year by adjusting wages for regional jobs, scrapping roles focused on diversity and inclusion, and ending paid time off for union officials to

Former Tory leadership contender Penny Mordaunt has endorsed Liz Truss in the race to be prime minister, in a huge blow to Rishi Sunak. Ms Mordaunt announced her backing for the foreign secretary as she introduced her at the latest Conservative leadership hustings in Exeter, declaring Ms Truss as “the hope candidate” who “knows what

Rishi Sunak is promising a “radical” change if he becomes prime minister by cutting the basic rate of income tax from 20p in the pound to 16p by the end of the next parliament. In his latest pitch to Conservative Party members, the former chancellor claims the 20% reduction would be “the largest cut in

A retweet by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, showing Rishi Sunak stabbing Boris Johnson in the back, has been branded “dangerous” by a fellow Conservative MP. The picture has the prime minister and the former chancellor’s faces imposed onto those of Roman leader Julius Caesar and one of the men who conspired against and killed him,

Rishi Sunak has pledged to introduce a temporary £10 fine for NHS patients who fail to attend a GP appointment as he tries to bridge the gap with Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. The former chancellor acknowledged he is “playing catch-up” to the foreign secretary in the battle to become the next prime

Tom Tugendhat has admitted foreign secretary “would be a fantastic job to do” – but insisted Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss has made him no promises. Mr Tugendhat, who also stood as a candidate to take over from Boris Johnson, is the latest senior Tory MP to back Ms Truss over Rishi Sunak. Mr Tugendhat

Summer getaways and weekend plans could be severely disrupted today during a fresh round of rail strikes – with an “amber traffic warning” also in force on the roads. The Aslef union says train drivers at seven rail companies are staging a 24-hour walkout in a dispute over pay, and there are fears millions of