The vast majority of talented SpAds have already left Sunak’s sinking ship and shifted to the private sector. SW1 staple the British Venture Capital Association generously invited twenty SpAds and other advisers to a boozy four-hour final schmooze-session last night at All Bar One on Villiers Street.[…] Read the rest ..read more

Reform are on the offensive over in Blackpool. Party sources are taking issue with Blackpool South Tory candidate David Jones’ defence over the Menzies affair. Jones, who is also chairman of the Tory association in Menzies’ Fylde, categorically denied having had any knowledge of the matter prior to The Times story at a hustings last night – that’s despite CCHQ investigating Menzies’ misuse of donors’ money from January.[…] Read the rest ..read more

When there’s a new sleaze scandal every week you can forgive the BBC for getting its whipless Tories mixed up. A segment on the BBC News 1 p.m. bulletin detailing Labour’s calls for a police investigation into Mark Menzies featured a smooth montage of photos…of Will Wragg.[…] Read the rest ..read more

Entries in the comments…[…] Read the rest ..read more

Anneliese Dodds wrote to the Tories yesterday asking a number of questions, including whether Menzies’ behaviour was “common practice for Conservative party MPs”. The Tories’ overall majority dropping from 80 to 43 goes some way to answering that question… An anecdote Guido heard yesterday might explain some of those “personal expenses”.[…] Read the rest ..read more

Redfield and Winton produced a poll that put Tory Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street 14 points behind his Labour candidate rival Richard (Dick) Parker. Locals don’t seem too convinced. One voter asked Dick at a hustings this week: “Why should we vote for someone no one has ever heard of, is that really the best West Midlands Labour can do?[…] Read the rest ..read more

Sunak has put a lot at stake on his Rwanda policy going through, consistently committing to flights setting off in the spring. Though, as Guido has noted before, his definition of when spring is has never been clarified. Yesterday, Number 10 refused to confirm whether they’ll take off in spring. […] Read the rest ..read more

Owen Jones hasn’t stopped producing groundbreaking journalistic output since announcing his new “Vote Against Labour” initiative. His latest piece in The Guardian yesterday argued for cuts to defence spending and scrapping Trident, using such high-grade arguments as: “It is true that Nato membership calls for arms spending of at least 2% of GDP, but in practice most states flout that.[…] Read the rest ..read more

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After The Times revealed that now-suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies was in a hostage situation with “bad people” and forced Tory volunteers to send £6,500 of campaign funds to secure his release, Guido has been sounding out MPs for their thoughts on the matter.[…] Read the rest ..read more