Politics

Boris Johnson has replaced two of the five close aides he lost in less than 24 hours as “partygate” allegations continue to threaten his premiership. Cabinet minister Steve Barclay will be the prime minister’s new chief of staff, replacing Dan Rosenfield. Mr Barclay, a former Brexit secretary, will also be charged with integrating a “new

Nadine Dorries has insisted that 97% of Tory MPs are behind Boris Johnson as the prime minister was hit with a further call to resign. The culture secretary also told Sky News her cabinet colleague Sajid Javid was 100% behind the prime minister, after the health secretary sought to distance himself from Mr Johnson’s claim

Another Conservative MP has submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson. Aaron Bell, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said the partygate allegations and the prime minister‘s subsequent handling of the fallout has made his position “untenable”. Politics live: Resignation of Downing Street official ‘will be terminal’ for PM – as Tory MP says public has

Another aide has reportedly left Number 10, taking the total number of departures in less than 24 hours to five. Number Ten Policy Unit member Elena Narozanski is the latest aide to leave Boris Johnson’s Downing Street operation amid the continuing fallout from the partygate allegations, Conservative Home reports. Her departure comes after Number 10

Two more senior officials are leaving Number 10 in an apparent mass exodus from Downing Street amid the fallout from the partygate scandal. Number 10 revealed on Thursday night that both Dan Rosenfield, the prime minister’s chief of staff, and Martin Reynolds, Mr Johnson’s principal private secretary, are leaving their roles. It came just hours

Analysis by Jon Craig, political correspondent It’s being called D-day for the cost-of-living crisis. And Rishi Sunak is determined to be centre stage and show the public and Tory MPs that he has the right measures to tackle it. On a day of good news and bad news, on which the bad threatens to outweigh

Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister says he has issued an order to halt Brexit agri-food checks at the nation’s ports, citing legal advice. The checks are required under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Edwin Poots says he will seek an agreement from the power-sharing government on a way forward in the near future. Speaking

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has told Sky News he will be submitting a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson today. The senior Tory, who is chair of the Defence Select Committee, revealed in an interview with Kay Burley that he would be making the move. He said it is “time to resolve this” as

Twelve alleged lockdown-busting gatherings are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as part of the Downing Street partygate row, it has been revealed. The Scotland Yard investigation is the second inquiry to take place into claims Number 10 officials – including Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself – were partying in 2020 and 2021 in breach

The public would “hypothetically” be told if the prime minister was fined for breaking COVID rules, Downing Street has said – reversing an earlier assertion that refused to guarantee that would happen. When asked earlier whether any fixed penalty notices would be made public, the prime minister‘s spokesman said it was for the Metropolitan Police

People who followed COVID rules “will feel like they’ve been taken for mugs” by the prime minster, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has told Sky News. Speaking to Kay Burley, Sir Keir said many members of the public will have felt “anger, grief and guilt” when looking back at how they obeyed COVID-19 restrictions over

Boris Johnson will continue his fightback from the partygate scandal by unveiling plans for a “Brexit Freedoms Bill” to allow retained EU laws to be more easily removed. On the second anniversary of the UK’s official departure from the EU, the prime minister is pledging to “further unleash the benefits of Brexit” with a promise

Boris Johnson is facing more pressure from Conservative MPs to “go back to the drawing board” over a planned tax hike after he recommitted to an increase in National Insurance to help fund the NHS and social care. Senior Tory backbencher Robert Halfon told Sky News the government should instead look at windfall taxes on

Boris Johnson has apologised after a version of the Sue Gray report criticised Downing Street for a “serious failure” over a number of gatherings during COVID restrictions, as he declared: “I get it and I will fix it.” A limited version of the Cabinet Office inquiry by Ms Gray has been made public, a document

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have doubled down on a controversial hike to National Insurance, following reports the prime minister was having second thoughts about the policy. Mr Johnson is under pressure from some Conservative MPs to scrap or at least delay the increase to win back support as he awaits the findings of Whitehall

Tom Tugendhat has become the first MP to say he would run to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a Tory leadership contest. The ex-soldier and Foreign Affairs Select Committee chairman told Times Radio it would be a “huge privilege”. He said he had not been “canvassing support”, but “of course, you should have a