Politics

The MP who defected from the Tories to Labour yesterday has apologised for comments she made supporting her ex-husband after he was convicted of sexual assault. After former Tory MP Charlie Elphicke was jailed for two years in 2020 for assaulting two women, Natalie Elphicke told the Sun the fact he was “attractive” and “attracted

Former COVID vaccines minister and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will not be standing at the next general election. The Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010 quoted his “most famous constituent” as he wrote: “Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.” He said: “The time is right

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labour Party. The Dover MP said the change in the Tory Party since she entered parliament in 2019 “has been dramatic and cannot be ignored”. She hit out at the “broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic government”, adding that Labour “looks to the future –

It has been fewer than two years since Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told Tory MP Natalie Elphicke to “f*** off” for criticising Marcus Rashford at the Euros. Now they are colleagues. Ms Elphicke crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join Labour ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions, causing a stir on both

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has confirmed the name of the contractor running the Ministry of Defence’s payroll system that was hacked by China. Mr Shapps told parliament that SSCL (Shared Services Connected Ltd) is the contractor and their work is being reviewed across government following the cyber attack – which China has denied. Politics Live:

Humza Yousaf has formally tendered his resignation as Scotland’s first minister to the King. It now paves the way for MSPs to vote on who should take his place, with new SNP leader John Swinney expected to win Holyrood’s backing. The vote is expected to take place at the Scottish parliament later on Tuesday. Image:

The government is “gaslighting” the public about the state of the economy, the shadow chancellor will say on Tuesday. Rachel Reeves is set to attack the Conservatives in a speech in the City of London, as the opposition takes the fight to the government on their own turf ahead of the general election. Running a

The government at one point considered using Iraq to process asylum seekers – like the Rwanda scheme – according to documents seen by Sky News. This could have seen people sent from the UK to a country the government advises against all travel to. The two countries already have a returns agreement – but only

Graeme McCormick has pulled out of the race to become SNP leader and endorsed rival John Swinney as Scotland’s next first minister. Mr McCormick’s decision not to pursue a leadership bid leaves Mr Swinney as the only official candidate after Humza Yousaf announced he is stepping down. In a statement shared with Sky News, he

Andy Street’s interview with Sky News fired the starting gun for discussion over the future direction of the Conservative Party. But the battlefield immediately proved to be the Conservative WhatsApp group, also leaked to Sky News. There are two big conclusions about the leaks There are two Tory MPs publicly prepared to call on Rishi

It was a wafer-thin victory, but a huge win. The symbolism of Labour taking the West Midlands mayor, a jewel in the Tory crown, could be felt in the room as Labour activists gathered in Birmingham to celebrate the win with their new mayor Richard Parker and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. There are moments

Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the villagers who Sky News revealed turned him away from his local polling station when he tried to vote without a valid photo ID – under rules he introduced. The former prime minister has said he had attempted to cast his ballot using a magazine sleeve with his name

We went into this set of local and mayoral elections with two big questions: Is Labour on course for a majority and how bad is it going to be for Rishi Sunak?  On the Sunak question, it’s a very clear-cut story. The Tories are having as bad a night as their worst nightmare. There is

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has renewed his demand for Rishi Sunak to go to the polls after the prime minister suffered a by-election drubbing and bruising council losses across England. But while Mr Sunak said the the grim early results were “disappointing” for the Conservatives, he insisted he was focused completely on the job

Senior Tories are predicting they will lose the Blackpool South by-election as counting gets under way. Sources told Sky News’ political correspondent Tamara Cohen they did “not expect to hold” the seat – which they won with a 3,690 majority in 2019. And they said the “stars could not be more aligned against us” following

John Swinney has announced his bid to take over from Humza Yousaf as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister. The Perthshire North MSP has spent a year on the backbenches after he stepped down as deputy first minister when Nicola Sturgeon resigned in 2023. Announcing his intention to run for first minister during a visit

The Scottish government has survived a vote of no confidence at Holyrood. Scottish Labour pressed ahead with its motion despite Humza Yousaf announcing earlier this week his intention to stand down as SNP leader and first minister. It failed by 58 votes to 70. The Scottish Greens voted against the motion, with party co-leader Patrick

The Tory mayor of the West Midlands is sending voters an endorsement from Boris Johnson which urges people to “forget about the government”, Sky News can reveal. Andy Street’s campaign website makes no mention of Rishi Sunak on its homepage and is coloured in green rather than Conservative blue, suggesting the mayor is trying to

The UK has sent the first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda – under a voluntary scheme. The scheme is for those who have gone through the asylum process and had permission rejected, rather than for migrants who have illegally entered Britain by crossing the Channel on small boats. The migrant was sent on a commercial

Ireland’s prime minister has insisted the UK must respect an existing arrangement between the two countries to take back asylum seekers. Simon Harris told Sky News the UK must honour a deal that has been in place since 2020 as a row escalates over the Irish government’s new plans to return to the UK asylum