Latest news from round the country.
This week we examine another region where the main parties fought themselves to a stalemate, whilst UKIP positioned themselves for future success.
Chris Skidmore becomes Deputy Chair.
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 […]
Paul Uppal is MP for Wolverhampton South-West. Follow Paul on Twitter. To say that this week has been eventful would be a serious understatement. Its events culminated yesterday when rocket sirens went off in Jerusalem where I was staying with a Conservative Friends of Israel delegation. It was an experience I will never forget. On […]
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 I recently profiled the 2020 and Free Enterprise groups of Tory MPs. Those two groups are formed by ideology: MPs are attracted to the groups because, in the case of the Free Enterprise Group, members wish to open up markets and make Britain business-friendly enough to compete with other world class economies. The 2020's […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. As the Feltham and Heston by-election reaches its later stages – it is set to take place next Thursday – senior Conservative MPs have been paying visits to the constituency. In the last few days, the Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, the Minister of State for […]
By Jonathan Isaby Last month the Government published its ambitious Welfare Reform Bill and I wrote about it at the time here. Yesterday the Bill had its Second Reading debate in the Commons and here is a flavour of the warm welcome it got from the Tory backbenches. Several MPs took the opportunity to expand […]
Two maiden speeches were delivered in the Commons yesterday by new West Midlands Conservative MPs. Chris Kelly, who gained Dudley South, spoke passionately of his love for England and of the sense of fairness that the people in his part of the Black Country want the Government to deliver: “Not only am I proud of […]
What I saw at this year’s conference makes me more confident than ever that the Conservatives can break through to black and minority ethnic voters.