Near the heart of a decision that both approved was a distrust of the style of politics pursued by the Chancellor’s predecessor.
Pledges on this scale cannot be delivered in this Commons without Conservative consensus. They can only be charmed – not bullied – onto the statute book.
The number of rebels has risen; it is concentrated among post-2005 intake Tories, and in seats that are either marginal or were until recently.
Tory MPs would have forced changes to Osborne’s tax credit plan in any event. Are they really up for the tough decisions that deficit reduction requires?
Another region, another strong Conservative result against a mismanaged Labour campaign plagued by local miseries.
The third piece in our series examines the four-way battle for the hearts and minds of voters in Wales.
Recent ConservativeHome authors James Wharton and Guto Bebb are present. Both expressed concern about the consequences for their areas of the offer to Scotland.
All the posts were elected unopposed – another sign of Tory MPs’ growing discipline.
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Daily Mail this morning reports on the 118 Conservative MPs who have written to constituents indicating their opposition to gay marriage proposals. The Mail says "Their opposition has been expressed in letters and emails sent to constituents who have contacted them with their own concerns", and points out that […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Conservative Friends of Israel is an influential affiliate group of the Conservative Party which contains perhaps the largest number of Conservative MPs of any group in Parliament. It exists to promote understanding of and support for the State of Israel in the Conservative Party, and its membership reaches the […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Guido Fawkes has a list of new Conservative members of Select Committees, from Graham Brady's office. Mr Brady explains: "For the following committees I have received the same number of nominations as there are vacancies, the following are therefore elected". The appointments are: Communities and Local Government John Stevenson […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. On Friday, 50 MPs, including 34 Conservatives, wrote a letter to the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, expressing their "serious concerns" with the Department of Health’s proposal to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. The letter stated that: "There is no reliable evidence that plain packaging will have any public health […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Yesterday evening a debate was held on regional pay. I blogged earlier this week on why I don't think the Government will introduce regional pay bargaining – and the Commons debate last night certainly didn't dispel my theory. After initial pro-regional pay contributions to the debate from Elizabeth Truss, […]
By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter Under proposals by the Welsh Boundary Commission, three Conservative seats will be abolished, one will be lost, and two would be gained from Labour. Those being abolished are: Aberconwy (Guto Bebb) Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) Preseli Pembrokeshire (Stephen Crabb). The seat largely returns to its pre-1997 boundaries. The new seat of […]