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Johnson to tell new Tory MPs they have to change party for good PM intends to set plans for Brexit bill, carry out minor cabinet reshuffle and present Queen’s speech before ChristmasBoris Johnson will tell the next generation of more than 100 new Tory MPs that they have a responsibility to change the the party for good, as he sets out plans for a first vote on his Brexit bill before the festive season.With just a week until Christmas, the UK prime minister intends to accelerate plans for his Brexit bill, carry out a minor cabinet reshuffle and present a Queen’s speech next week, before shifting his focus to reshaping Whitehall in the new year. Continue reading... Go to Source

Labour leadership race begins as senior figures back Rebecca Long-Bailey Jeremy Corbyn could remain in post to end of March as post-election infighting continuesLabour leadership contest: who are the runners and riders?The starting gun has been fired on the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, as the party became engulfed in a bitter row about whether its Brexit position or leadership were mainly to blame for last week’s election disaster.Labour confirmed on Sunday night that Corbyn had asked for a leadership process to elect his successor by the end of March, meaning he will carry on in post and opposing Boris Johnson across the dispatch box for more than three months. Continue reading... Go to Source

Isaac Levido: the Australian political strategist credited with Boris Johnson's victory Lynton Crosby protege behind Scott Morrison’s unexpected win chalks up another triumph with the UK Conservatives’ successful re-election campaignNational election campaigns – by definition a team effort – are somewhat unfairly often credited to the performance of a single person. But thanks to a sharp, focused campaign that produced a large majority for Boris Johnson after a period of unprecedented political instability there was just one name being sung out at Conservative headquarters on Thursday: Isaac Levido. Continue reading... Go to Source

Boris Johnson threatens BBC with two-pronged attack No 10 boycotts Today programme and considers decriminalising non-payment of licence feeDowning Street is threatening the future of the BBC by insisting it is seriously considering decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, while boycotting Radio 4’s Today programme over the broadcaster’s supposed anti-Tory bias.No 10 pulled ministers from Saturday’s edition of the Today programme and sources said it intended to “withdraw engagement” from the show in future. Continue reading... Go to Source

Labour leadership contest: who are the runners and riders? Rebecca Long-Bailey, Angela Rayner, Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips are among potential candidates Follow the latest election news - live updatesContinue reading... Go to Source

What we learned about the media this election The campaign saw an unprecedented level of criticism of British journalism Boris Johnson threatens BBC with two-pronged attackWas it the media wot lost it? This general election has seen an unparalleled level of criticism of British journalism, a prime minister who showed it was possible to skip tough interviews without suffering at the ballot box, and an online campaign that pushed the limits of what was previously considered acceptable in UK politics.The aftermath has seen Jeremy Corbyn partly blame the still-powerful Sun and Daily Mail for his defeat, despite the plummeting print circulations of national newspapers. At the same time the Conservatives have turned their fire on the media and are threatening to decriminalise the licence fe...

From the NHS to Brexit: what can we expect from Johnson's government? Our specialists look into series of pre-election pledges, from health to education and media policyBoris Johnson made a raft of promises and comments indicating future policy during the election campaign. Our specialist reporters take a look at what we can now expect from the government on key policy areas. Continue reading... Go to Source

Hong Kong violence breaks out again in shopping centres Police make arrests and use pepper spray as flashmobs and vandalism break outHong Kong police used pepper spray and made arrests on Sunday as small groups of black-clad pro-democracy protesters targeted some of the city’s shopping centres, ending a rare lull in violence.Flashmob protests and vandalism broke out in several locations. Riot police responded with pepper spray in at least two shopping centres as members of the public heckled them. Continue reading... Go to Source

'I own this disaster': John McDonnell tries to shield Corbyn Shadow chancellor suggests his preferred choice as new Labour leader is Rebecca Long-BaileyJohn McDonnell has said he takes full responsibility for Labour’s disastrous election defeat, as he sought to divert blame away from Jeremy Corbyn and pave the way for Rebecca Long-Bailey to succeed him at the top.The shadow chancellor, who ran the campaign that saw Labour lose dozens of northern English seats to the Tories, apologised and claimed that he “owns this disaster”. Continue reading... Go to Source

McDonnell says he takes full responsibility for Labour's defeat – politics live Shadow chancellor says Brexit and the media also to blame for loss and Corbyn will stand down in ‘8-10 weeks’ 11.46am GMTJohn McDonnell says he was not ignoring Lisa Nandy as a potential candidate to succeed Corbyn when questioned about candidates this morning. Andrew Marr mentioned the Wigan MP’s name twice but McDonnell did not respond. Paul, You are over interpreting this. I was simply adding names to those mentioned by Andrew Marr, not ignoring Lisa.The important issue now is ensuring that the leadership election is conducted positively, without any rancour so that we can come through this united & we will. 11.34am GMTThe former Labour home secretary, Alan Johnson, has written a s...

Britain’s new political landscape: what the voting numbers tell us Politics professor Rob Ford crunched the numbers with a team of experts to produce the devastatingly accurate exit poll. Here, he details how the 10pm figures foretold a night of horror for LabourThe exit poll stunned us all again. In 2017 it raised the curtain on a night of humiliation for Theresa May and the Conservatives and triumph for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn. This time the roles were reversed. Boris Johnson succeeded where May failed, mobilising Leave voters’ frustration at Brexit deadlock to secure the largest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher’s third victory in 1987, and the largest share of the vote (44%) won by any party since Thatcher’s first win in 1979. Corbyn secured a &ldquo...

We will now find out what a triumphant Boris Johnson really wants and believes | Andrew Rawnsley To keep his promises, the Tories must pay a lot more heed to areas of Britain that have been strangers to the party for decadesPower always reveals. Robert Caro, the brilliant biographer of Lyndon Johnson, puts it extremely well: “When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary. But as a man obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary.”This insight came to mind when considering the prospects for our country now that another politician called Johnson has secured a great deal of power. His successful gamble on a snap election has just taken the Conservatives to their largest parliamentary majority since Margaret Thatcher was...

In Blair’s old seat, the regulars agree: ‘Corbyn doesn’t understand us here’ They come from pit families with strong military ties – and it was patriotism that made them switch their vote for the first timeIt came as no surprise that Boris Johnson hot-footed it to Sedgefield on Saturday . The prime minister probably never had much doubt that he could eclipse Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party in this election, but to rewrite the electoral history of this particular place was perhaps beyond his imagining. He needed to see it for himself.Sedgefield had not only returned solid Labour majorities since 1935, it was also the symbolic home of the politician who, by the time of the next election, will be the only Labour election winner in half a century. Johnson wore an ironic red tie f...

I take my share of responsibility for this defeat, says Jeremy Corbyn ‘I am proud that we won the arguments,’ says Labour leader in his account of party’s election failureJeremy Corbyn: We won the argument, but I regret we didn’t convert that into a majority for changeJeremy Corbyn has accepted his personal responsibility for Labour’s general election defeat as he gave his fullest explanation to date for the catastrophic losses that helped return Boris Johnson to Downing Street.Writing in the Observer, the Labour leader, who has announced he will step down when a successor is elected in the spring, describes the results as “desperately disappointing”. Continue reading... Go to Source

Tactical voting was set to be Remainers’ saviour, so what went wrong? Our polls were good at identifying the correct challenger in key seats. But voters needed more than a common enemyIn the end, fears of a Corbyn government and disdain for Jo Swinson’s election campaign combined to defeat tactical voting. Over the past four weeks, the Observer has reported on constituency polls designed to assist voters wanting to oppose the Conservatives and stop Brexit. Last Sunday, we recommended candidates in 50 seats. Our results were not great. Non-Conservatives won only 13 of these seats; of these, nine were SNP gains in Scotland. In England, our preferred candidates triumphed in only four seats: Putney and Portsmouth South (Labour) and Richmond Park and St Albans (Liberal Democrat).Why ...

Sturgeon: Scotland wants different future from rest of UK SNP leader says election results made clear Scottish voters don’t want a Boris Johnson government or BrexitBoris Johnson cannot “bludgeon” Scotland into seeing the world in the same way that he does, Nicola Sturgeon has said after telling the new prime minister that the election results made it clear that Scots want a different future to the rest of the UK.Speaking at the V&A museum in Dundee on Saturday where she joined the Scottish National party’s newly elected MPs, Sturgeon insisted it is unsustainable for the Tories to keep saying no to a fresh vote. While the Conservatives gained a large Commons majority, the SNP took 48 of the 59 Scottish seats. Continue reading... Go to Source

The race begins … and the next Labour leader is likely to be a woman Six of the seven probable challengers are female, and all will be keen to connect with traditional party supportersThe battle to succeed Jeremy Corbyn and shape the future direction of the Labour party is under way as potential successors set out their leadership stalls for the first time, amid bitter recriminations after the party’s worst general election defeat since 1935.Two of the likely candidates in what will be a 12-week contest that is expected to begin in January – Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy – break cover with articles in the Observer, expressing their anger and dismay at the party’s crushing defeat, and calling for a far-reaching post-mortem to ensure Labour reconnects with the mil...