RIP Jeremy Hanley, local Richmond MP and inspiration for one of the great political lines after returning to parliament after the 1983 GE. 1/2

Makerfield shaping up to be a nail-biter, according to the Sunday Times’ poll: 43% - Labour 40% - Reform 7% - Restore Expect to see Reform doing their best to squeeze that vote in the next three weeks

If Burnham wins Makerfield, can see the argument for a quick election. Full consequences of Iran yet to be felt, most of the difficult spending decisions are backdated to latter half of this parliament. Reform not prepared for government. Will it ever get better than this for Labour?

NEW: Gavin Williamson has announced on Instagram the sad death of Cronus the tarantula after more than a decade as a "trusty companion"

Re-reading this today. There's a lot to respect about the Prime Minister and his back story, it's just such a shame that he has proved so underwhelming in office www.theguardian.com/books/2024/f...

Robert Jenrick attacks Andy Burnham as a career politician: “He’s not the King of the North - he’s the King of Norman Shaw North”

New: Kim Leadbeater has written to colleagues urging them to enter the PMB ballot on Thursday and support her Assisted Dying Bill She hopes: "a small minority of opponents in the upper House will not be able to block progress in the same way again" spectator.com/article/kim-...

Lee Anderson named chairman of Reform UK, replacing David Bull. It is part of the post-election structure as previewed in last week's Spectator:

Kemi Badenoch now talking of higher borrowing costs as the “Burnham premium” while Nigel Farage refers to him as “open borders Burnham.” Interesting to see if his approval ratings begin to dip, as opponents start trying to attack him.

Exc: Lord Weir is launching a fresh push to guarantee lasting British sovereignty over the Chagos Islands He finished 10th on Friday in the Lords' ballot and intends to put forward a PMB to guarantee the Chagossians future self-determination: spectator.com/article/save...

Makerfield by-election confirmed for 18 June. Reform say they are "bullish": 50 activists out working the seat today, with hundreds more expected tomorrow. The local branch is viewed as one of the party’s stronger ones, with "plenty" of VIs collected already.

Trump on Starmer: "He's in trouble for two reasons – energy and immigration"

Had some messages from Reformers who want Robert Kenyon, the Makerfield candidate who won 32% in 2024. “He’s our Hannah Spencer”, says one - a reference to Kenyon’s job as a plumber. Emphasises local roots and the base’s tradition in a high-profile, high-stakes race.

The last remaining person in Parliament who served in the Armed Forces in the Second World War retired on Wednesday. Labour peer Lord Christopher, aged 101, bowed out, 81 years after WWII ended.

The Makerfield by election to replace Josh Simons will be a fascinating contest to see how Andy Burnham fares against Reform UK. Nigel Farage: “We look forward to the contest and we will throw absolutely everything at it.”

New: Tories disown the Worcestershire group who did a deal with the Greens to overthrow Reform Spox: “The Conservative Group Leader did not make our opposition clear to his fellow Worcestershire councillors and has been suspended pending investigation.”

Wexit – at last. With a 987-word resignation letter perfectly attuned to the anxieties of the Labour Party: spectator.com/article/wes-...

Liz Truss getting a reference in Streeting's resignation letter. Truly a message to the Labour Party

New: Wes Streeting quits as Health Secretary. He tells the PM: "As you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would dishonourable and principled to do so"

Like a shark, Nigel Farage has to keep moving forward. This week’s Spectator column on his next steps: - Pitch to union members - New teams in devolved parlys - Restructuring expected in ReformHQ - Candidate selection for 29 explained - A Tory warning from Jeremy Hunt spectator.com/article/fara...

Exquisite timing for Angela Rayner as she is cleared by HMRC for her tax affairs h/t @pippacrerar.bsky.social

Tory MP tells me that not a single government MP has been put down on the Speaker's list to speak today in the King's Speech debate

"A dangerous and hostile world..." *cue laughter track*

Always love the PM and LOTO walking from Commons to Lords. Here's Damian McBride on how Gordon Brown handled it in 2007:

A Tory messages: "Looks like the King's robe has had had a good refurb – finally. Definitely new ermine".

New ministerial appointments: Nesil Caliskan MP as MHCLG PUSS Natalie Fleet MP as Home Office PUSS Catherine Atkinson MP as MoJ PUSS Preet Kaur Gill MP as DHSC PUSS Gen Kitchen MP as Whip Deirdre Costigan MP as Whip Shaun Davies MP as Assistant Whip

The candidate that Reform and Tories tell me they're most worried about

New: Miatta Fahnbulleh becomes the first minister to resign and calls on Keir Starmer to "do the right thing" We are now at 80 names following Jonathan Hinder and Richard Baker. Keep up to date on Coffee House: spectator.com/article/live...

75 of Labour MPs have now called on Starmer to go spectator.com/article/live...

The King's Speech on Wednesday was supposed to be a new chapter for Keir Starmer's government. Instead, it will mark its swan song: spectator.com/article/keir...

Can't wait to see how the next eight years of the Starmer premiership goes

Number 54: Lorraine Beavers, one of the few left-wingers selected for 2024, calls on PM to quit t.co/1srUZE8VY4

Watching Devil Wears Prada 2 is the new John Major wisdom teeth

As Keir Starmer now prepares to say that “incremental change won’t cut it”, a reminder of what he said to @tommctague.bsky.social last summer:

More than a sixth of the non-payroll vote is now backing a change of Labour leader. Let us know if we've missed any: spectator.com/article/live...

Only two postwar PMs have left office within two years of winning a working majority: Anthony Eden after Suez and David Cameron after Brexit. Keir Starmer could shortly become the third, having won the biggest majority of all.

A sudden rush for a contest, encouraged by the soft left, could, inadvertently, end up putting the Blairite crown prince into No. 10: spectator.com/article/star...

More than 15% of the non-payroll vote in the PLP are now effectively calling on Starmer to quit: spectator.com/article/live...

Scottish Labour has lost seats at their seventh successive Holyrood election - truly the decline and fall of an empire

Well, it's ambitious

Interesting Kemi Badenoch op-ed, claiming that Reform has "burned through £7m-£8m on these elections – that’s about ten times what most parties would have spent." www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05...

Farage to Sunday Times on how Christopher Harborne's £5m donation became publicly: "This is illegally obtained data, I’ve had my computer hacked during this campaign. The whole thing is an operation.”

New: Ghislaine Maxwell’s nephew Ted has failed in his bid to be elected as an independent councillor in Tower Hamlets

In the absence of a big beast, a minnow fills the void. Sacked by Starmer, scarred by the London results, Catherine West gives voice to the muttering masses behind her: spectator.com/article/labo...

The voters have spoken, they demand change - send for Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman

If you are already getting electoral withdrawal, don’t despair! Two House of Commons by elections now loom in Aberdeen South + Arbroath & Broughty Ferry following respective elections of Stephen Flynn + Stephen Gethins to Holyrood Both SNP held - you’d fancy them to keep both

In May 2024, Reform UK had 14 councillors. Less than two years' later, they have 2,429 councillors.

Reform source: “The only larger single local election landslide in modern records was Blair’s Labour in 1995, which gained approximately 1,807 seats. Reform today is second to that.. peak reform?”

A long-term, self-described ‘furious’ Labour activist responds to Starmer’s email to the Scottish party: