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Tag: Boris Johnson

  • Former UK PM booted out of live U.S. election show

    Former UK PM booted out of live U.S. election show

    Boris Johnson has been “fired for banging on about his book” during a guest appearance on Channel 4’s coverage of the U.S. election, according to the programme’s co-host Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

    The former UK prime minister was told off for holding up his memoir and plugging it just minutes into the live programme titled “America Decides: U.S. Presidential Election.”

    Channel 4 newsreader Guru-Murthy told Johnson to “put it away” and “stop it, enough” as he twice referenced his new book and attempted to hold it up to viewers.

    Guru-Murthy described the former prime minister’s actions as “so cheap”.

    Johnson retorted: “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me… I’m allowed to plug my book.”

    Later during the panel discussion, Johnson said he met with former U.S. president and Republican nominee Donald Trump after his attempted assassination in July.

    “In case I failed to mention this, I am promoting my book Unleashed, and I had a talk with him about Ukraine,” he said.

    When asked about following in Trump’s footsteps regarding a political comeback if he was to win the presidential election, Johnson said: “The answer is obviously contained in Unleashed where you’ll find the full discussion of this subject.”

    Co-host Emily Maitlis told him: “We are not all going to read your book, so just tell us, do you want to have a political comeback…. You can’t actually answer a single question.”

    Johnson responded: “By the way Emily I’ve answered all your questions all night. Currently I am blissfully engaged promoting my book Unleashed, available in all good book stores.”

    Later in the programme, Johnson was replaced on the Channel 4 panel by Michael Cohen – who served as a lawyer to former president Trump.

    Guru-Murphy told viewers: “Boris Johnson has been fired for banging on about his book.”

    It was not clear whether Johnson’s exit from the programme had been planned or if he had departed early.

    Johnson, 60, has been promoting his new memoir titled Unleashed after it was released last month.

    The 784-page book looks back on Johnson’s time as prime minister – from 2019 to 2022 – including Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

    Channel 4 newsreader Guru-Murthy is at the helm of the channel’s first overnight U.S. election programme since 1992 alongside former “Newsnight” presenter Maitlis.

    Political pundits, and a number of famous faces including Johnson, joined the hosts in the Washington DC studio as the American public decides whether Democratic nominee Kamala Harris or Trump becomes president.

    Guests on the programme include Republican supporter an reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, and Stormy Daniels, the woman at the centre of Trump’s hush money trial following an affair between the two.

    A representative for Channel 4 has been contacted for comment.

  • Boris Johnson returns to trail as UK election campaigns come to end

    Boris Johnson returns to trail as UK election campaigns come to end

    Former Conservative British prime minister Boris Johnson has lent his support to the incumbent prime minister, Rishi Sunak, on the campaign trail.

    This is coming as pollsters forecast their party could “win a lower share of the vote than at any past general election.”

    At a rally on Tuesday, Sunak hailed the “Conservative family united” after an appearance by his predecessor Mr Johnson and claimed just 130,000 voters could help stem his party’s predicted losses.

    He made his speech after Survation pollsters found Labour is on course to win more seats than it did in 1997.

    But Labour leader Keir Starmer had previously brushed off claims his party is on for a landslide and said: “Every single vote has to be earned.”

    Speaking at the rally, held at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, Sunak said: “Isn’t it great to have our Conservative family united, my friends?”

    Sunak added: “Now, it suits lots of people to say that the result of this election is a foregone conclusion but I know that it is not.

    “Just 130,000 people switching their vote, giving us their support, is what it will take to deny Labour that supermajority they want. Every single vote matters.”

    Johnson earlier addressed the crowd of Conservative Party supporters, telling them Starmer would try to “usher in the most left-wing Labour government since the war.”

    Making a reference to “other parties” allegedly “full of Kremlin crawlers,” Johnson said: “Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas.

    “Don’t let Putin’s pet parrots give this entire country psittacosis – which is a disease you get by the way from cosying up to pet parrots,” referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former hard-left Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

    He added: “Everybody if you actually want higher taxes next week, this year, if you feel you’ve got a few thousand to spare, then vote Labour on Thursday.

    “If you want uncontrolled immigration and mandatory wokery, and pointless kowtowing to Brussels again, then go right ahead, make my day, vote for Starmer.

    “But if you want to protect our democracy and our economy and keep this country strong abroad by spending 2.5 per cent of our GDP on defence which Labour still refuses to commit to, then you know what to do, don’t you, everybody?

    “There’s only one thing to do – vote Conservative on Thursday my friends and I know you will. I know you will.”

    Johnson’s appearance was at one of the Conservative Party’s final campaign events, before polling stations open their doors to voters between 7 am and 10 pm (0600-2100 GMT) on Thursday.

    Pollsters have suggested Starmer and the Labour Party are on for a big victory after ballot papers are tallied up in counting halls throughout the country.

    Survation pollsters quizzed 34,558 respondents online and by phone and have said a Labour landslide of more than 418 seats – the number which the party took under Tony Blair’s leadership 27 years ago – is “99% certain.”

    The MRP poll data suggests prominent Conservatives could lose their seats to Labour, including Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt in Portsmouth North, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps in Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire, and party chair Richard Holden in Basildon and Billericay in Essex.

    Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to lose the Godalming and Ash seat in Surrey, and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan her Chichester in Sussex seat to the Liberal Democrats.

    “The Conservative Party is virtually certain to win a lower share of the vote than at any past general election,” Survation pollsters wrote in their analysis.

    Techne UK’s survey of 5,503 voters for The Independent, also unveiled overnight, has given Labour (40 per cent) a 19-point lead over the Conservatives (21 per cent).

    But Starmer refused to entertain suggestions he will lead his party to a landslide victory at one of his final visits.

    He told campaigners: “People are saying the polls predict the future – they don’t predict the future, every single vote counts.

    “Every single vote has to be earned and in places like this it’ll probably go down to a few hundred either way and therefore the worst thing for people who want change is to think ‘job done’ and ‘we don’t need to vote because there’s going to be a majority in any event.’

    “It isn’t ‘job done’.”

    Starmer, who is set to visit England, Wales and Scotland on the final day of campaigning, added: “Given that the country is pretty broken at the moment, a lot of things aren’t working, there’s a big job for us to do if we come in to serve and we need a strong mandate for that.

    “We need to know the country genuinely wants this change and that we’re sort of all prepared to say this is the change that we want and it gives a real strong mandate to a government to say ‘we’ve asked you to change things, you need to get on with it’.”

    In the Liberal Democrat camp, deputy leader Daisy Cooper described Johnson’s intervention as “an insult.”

    She said: “Rishi Sunak has reached a desperate new low, turning to a man who discredited the office of prime minister and lied to the country time after time.

    “It is time to boot out this tired and sleaze-ridden Conservative Party, and elect Liberal Democrat MPs who will stand up for their communities.”

  • Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting ID

    Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting ID

    Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday turned away from a polling station after forgetting to bring a photo ID.

    The PA news agency understands Johnson was told by polling station staff he would not be able to vote without proving his identity.

    The requirement to provide photo ID was introduced by Johnson during his time in Downing Street as part of the Elections Act 2022.

    It is understood Johnson was later able to vote, and that he voted Conservative.

    Thursday’s election is the first time many voters in England and Wales have had to present ID to vote under provisions first rolled out at last year’s local elections.

    Acceptable forms of ID include a passport, driving licence, Proof of Age Standards Scheme (Pass) cards, Blue Badges, and some concessionary travel cards.

    The Government has also said it intends to make veterans’ ID cards a valid form of voter identification after former service personnel were turned away from polling stations.

    Veterans minister Johnny Mercer apologised to those who had been unable to use their veterans’ ID card to vote in the local elections on Thursday, vowing to “do all I can” to have it added to the list of valid identification.

    A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “It is our intention for the new Veteran Card, which was rolled out in January, to be added to the official list.”

    The Government is consulting on adding the card to the list of acceptable voter ID, which already includes armed forces identity cards.

    Mercer’s apology came after Army veteran Adam Diver complained he had been turned away from his local polling station after presenting his Veteran Card.

    Diver, 48, had been looking to place his vote in Fleetwood, Lancashire, but was turned away after presenting his card, saying the experience left him feeling “gutted”.

    “I felt clearly deflated, I felt gutted to be fair and upset – I felt angry at the point,” Diver, who served in the Army for 27 years, told the PA news agency.

    “I felt like my time served was invalidated and I just thought to myself, ‘what was the point in that?’

    “I’ve served in pretty much every war going; I’ve spent 27 years away from my family.

    “I thought you could use it as an ID card. It’s like a driving licence, you can’t get any more official and it didn’t strike me one bit that it wouldn’t be validated.”

    Labour said the Government has had years to ensure the Veteran Card was included on the list of valid voter ID, having begun rolling out the cards in 2019.

    Downing Street said it had no wider concerns about the operation of the voter ID requirement, adding that only 0.25 per cent of would-be voters had been turned away from polling stations for lacking the correct documents.

  • RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR: Former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson seeks support for Ukraine

    RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR: Former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson seeks support for Ukraine

    Following the Russian attack faced by Ukrainians, the former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has said the only way to end the war in Ukraine is for the country to win.

    Mr Johnson, who on Sunday travelled to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, was received by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    The Conservative MP said it was a “privilege” to visit the country at the invitation of Mr Zelensky.

    Former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson travels to Ukrainian capital Kyiv

    During Mr Johnson’s visit to Ukraine, he was received by Mr Zelensky and other Ukrainian ministers in Kyiv.

    This is the moment to double down, and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job

    “I welcome Boris Johnson, a true friend of Ukraine, to Kyiv. Boris thanks for your support!” wrote Mr Zelensky on Telegram.

    He also visited the towns of Bucha and Borodyanka, to the north-west of Kyiv, which were occupied by Russian forces in March last year.

    After Russian troops were repelled, scenes of mass destruction were discovered in the two towns, including the bodies of civilians strewn along a street in Bucha.

    Mr Johnson said “the suffering of the people of Ukraine has gone on for too long. The only way to end this war is for Ukraine to win – and to win as fast as possible, This is the moment to double down, and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need to finish the job. The sooner Putin fails, the better for Ukraine and for the whole world.”

    Former UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson travels to Ukrainian capital Kyiv

    Current UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was said to be “supportive” of Mr Johnson’s visit.

    Mr Sunak is “always supportive of all colleagues showing that the UK is behind Ukraine and will continue to support them,” his press secretary said.

    Mr Johnson’s visit comes as increased pressure is being put on allies of Ukraine, including Germany, to supply more tanks to the war-torn country.

  • Conservative MPs to make choice for leader after Johnson withdraws

    Conservative MPs to make choice for leader after Johnson withdraws

    Conservative members of Parliament would choose who they want to be their new leader in the first stage of the race for the British premiership after Boris Johnson dramatically pulled out of the contest.

    The former prime minister claimed he had the nominations needed to make it onto the ballot paper but admitted he could not unite his warring party.

    His withdrawal meant the contest could be decided by early afternoon on Monday unless both the remaining candidates can get the support of 100 MPs.

    In a statement on Sunday evening, Johnson said there was a very good chance he could have been back in the prime minister’s residence by the end of the week if he had stood.

    However, his efforts to reach out to his rivals Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to work together in the national interest had not been successful so he was dropping out.

    While Sunak, the former chancellor, already had more than 140 public declarations of support, Mordaunt, the Leader of the House, had fewer than 30.

    Her team were now hoping that the departure of Johnson would see a swathe of MP who was backing him or are yet to declare swing behind her.

    A campaign source confirmed she was still in the running, arguing she was the candidate who Labour fear the most.

    “Penny is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative Party together and polling shows that she is the most likely candidate to hold onto the seats the Conservative Party gained in 2019,’’ the source said.

    However, one senior minister who was backing Johnson the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi said he would now be supporting Sunak.

    “Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty,’’ he tweeted.

    With nominations due to close at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Monday, Mordaunt has limited time to get the necessary nominations.

    If she fails, Sunak will be declared leader without a contest.

    If she did not get the numbers, MPs would then decide which of the two candidates they prefer in an “indicative’’ vote.

    There would then be a final online poll of party members to decide the outcome with the result due on Friday unless one of the candidates pulls out.

    Certainly, there are some in the party who would like to see an uncontested coronation to avoid a repeat of what happened with Liz Truss.

    This happened when the party in the country voted for a leader who did not have the backing of MPs.

    Mordaunt could find herself under pressure to withdraw if she finished a long way behind Sunak in the poll of MPs, even though she is popular with the Tory grassroots.

    At the same time, however many activists many of whom loathe Sunak for his role in bringing down Johnson would be furious if they are denied a say in the contest.

    In a statement on Sunday evening, Johnson said he had been overwhelmed by the support he had received from people urging him to run just weeks after being forced out by his own MPs after one scandal too many.

    If he had stood, he said there was a very good chance the members would have voted him back into power by the end of the week and that he would have been well-placed to lead the party to victory in a general election in 2024.

    However, he had come to the conclusion that “this would simply not be the right thing to do.

    “You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament,’’ he said.

    “And though I have reached out to both Rishi and Penny because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this.

    “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.’’

    Some MPs were sceptical of his claim to have secured the 100 nominations needed to go forward, with the number of public declarations of support falling far short of that.

    Some at Westminster suspected that he chose to withdraw rather than face the humiliation of having to admit he could not get the numbers.

  • Sunak looks set to become next UK PM after Johnson quits race

    Sunak looks set to become next UK PM after Johnson quits race

    Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after his rival Boris Johnson quit the race, admitting that he could no longer unite their party following one of the most turbulent periods in British political history.

    Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, could be named leader as soon as Monday to replace Liz Truss, becoming Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months.

    The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss will face one of the most daunting set of challenges, tasked with rebuilding Britain’s fiscal reputation through deep spending cuts as it slides into a recession, dragged down by surging energy, food, and mortgage rates.

    He will also preside over a party that has bounced from one crisis to the next in recent months, badly split along ideological lines and a country that is growing increasingly angry at the conduct of its politicians.

    “The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis,” Sunak said in a statement declaring his candidacy on Sunday.

    First he must defeat the last candidate in the contest, Penny Mordaunt, who is fighting to secure the support of 100 lawmakers to get on to Monday’s ballot.

    Mordaunt, who is leader of parliament’s House of Commons, has so far received the backing of around 25 politicians.

    More than 150 have backed Sunak.

    Should she fail to hit the threshold, Sunak would become prime minister. If she makes it onto the ballot, the party’s members will select the winner on Friday.

    “He’s not taking anything for granted at all,” interior minister Grant Shapps, a supporter of Sunak, told BBC television.

    “He’s speaking to colleagues throughout this morning.

    “And of course, we’ll be hoping to attract sufficient numbers to ensure that this can be put to bed,” Shapps added.

    Citi economist Benjamin Nabarro said he was sceptical that the government had the legitimacy to manage the current economic challenges.

    Its first task will be to present a budget, expected on Oct. 31, to plug a black hole in the public finances.

    “Political machinations over the weekend point to a party beset with divisions.

    “With party unity and legitimacy conspicuously threadbare, we expect a structural credibility gap to remain,” Nabarro said.

    Investors have at least been given some reassurance that Johnson will not be fighting for the leadership again.

    The former prime minister – forced out of office by a ministerial rebellion earlier this year following a series of scandals – had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to see if he could enter the ballot.

    He said on Sunday night that while he had secured sufficient support, he realised that he could not govern effectively “unless you have a united party in parliament”.

    Johnson has loomed large over British politics for years.

    He led his party to a landslide election victory in 2019 but was forced out of Downing Street less than three years later following a string of scandals.

    “Boris has bottled it,” the Metro newspaper said on its front page as many lawmakers questioned whether he had actually secured the backing of the necessary 100 lawmakers.

    By Sunday just more than 50 said publicly they would vote for Johnson.

    Many of Johnson’s supporters had previously accused Sunak of betrayal after he quit as finance minister in the summer, triggering the rebellion that forced Johnson out

    Sunak first came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the Coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns.

    If chosen, the former Goldman Sachs analyst would be the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of Indian origin.

    His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies arrived to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.

    After graduating from Oxford University, he later went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.

    He also worked at Goldman Sachs as an analyst.

  • Tory leadership: Boris Johnson drops out of race, says it’s right thing to do

    Tory leadership: Boris Johnson drops out of race, says it’s right thing to do

    Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pulled out of the contest to become Britain’s next leader on Sunday, saying he had the support of enough lawmakers to progress to the next stage but far fewer than front-runner former Finance Minister, Rishi Sunak.

    “There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday,” Johnson said in a statement.

    “But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”

    Johnson, who never formally announced his bid to return to Downing Street, has spent the weekend trying to persuade Conservative lawmakers to back him and said on Sunday that he had the support of 102 of them.

    He needed the backing of 100 by Monday to proceed to the next stage, which would have seen him going head-to-head against Sunak in a vote by the Conservative Party’s 170,000 members.

    Sunak, whose resignation as Finance Minister in July helped precipitate Johnson’s fall, had cleared the threshold of 100 lawmakers needed to progress to the next stage, securing 142 declared supporters on Sunday, according to Sky News.

    He will be named leader of the Conservative Party and become Prime Minister on Monday unless candidate Penny Mordaunt reaches the threshold of 100 backers to force a run-off vote by party members. She had 24 declared supporters on Sunday.

  • Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak lead race to be UK’s next prime minister

    Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak lead race to be UK’s next prime minister

    Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak on Friday were leading the potential contenders to replace British Prime Minister Liz Truss with candidates canvassing support to become Conservative Party leader in a fast-tracked contest.

    After Truss quit on Thursday, ending her six weeks in power, those who want to replace her were trying to find the 100 votes from Conservative lawmakers needed to run in a contest that the party hoped would reset its ailing fortunes.

    With the Conservatives all but facing a wipeout in the next national election, according to opinion polls, the race is on to become the fifth British premiere in six years.

    The winner would be announced on either Monday or Friday next week.

    In what would be an extraordinary comeback, Johnson, who was ousted by lawmakers just over three months ago, was running high up the ranks alongside Sunak to be crowned the next prime minister.

    “I think he’s got that proven track record to turn around things. He can turn it around again. And I’m sure my colleagues hear that message loud and clear,” Conservative lawmaker Paul Bristow said of Johnson on LBC radio.

    “Boris Johnson can win the next general election,” he said.

    Johnson, who left office comparing himself to a Roman dictator brought into power twice to fend off crises, might face difficulty in reaching the 100 votes after his three-year tenure was blighted by scandals and allegations of misconduct.

    One of his former advisers, who no longer spoke  to Johnson and requested not to be identified, said he was unlikely to reach the target, haven alienated dozens of Conservatives during his scandal-ridden tenure.

    The Financial Times newspaper, which called for a new election, said a Boris comeback would be “farcical”.

    Will Walden, who also previously worked for Johnson, said the former prime minister was returning from holiday and was taking soundings.

    “The country needs a grown-up, serious leader. Boris had his chance, let’s move on. I suspect that is not what the Tory party will do, they may well re-elect him,” he told the BBC.

    Business minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was backing Boris, tweeting his support with the hashtag ‘#Borisorbust’.

    The contest began on Thursday, hours after Truss stood in front of her Downing Street office to say she could not go on.

    Sunak, the former Goldman Sachs analyst who became finance minister just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe and was runner-up to Truss in the previous leadership contest this summer, was a favourite with bookmakers, followed by Johnson.

    Running in third was Penny Mordaunt, a former defence minister popular with party members. None had formally declared their candidacy.

  • Liz Truss’s cabinet is Britain’s first without white man in top jobs

    Liz Truss’s cabinet is Britain’s first without white man in top jobs

    The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss has selected a cabinet where for the first time a white man will not hold one of the country’s four most important ministerial positions.

    Truss appointed Kwasi Kwarteng – whose parents came from Ghana in the 1960s – as Britain’s first Black finance minister while James Cleverly is the first Black foreign minister.

    Cleverly, whose mother hails from Sierra Leone and whose father is white, has in the past spoken about being bullied as a mixed-race child and has said the party needs to do more to attract Black voters.

    Suella Braverman, whose parents came to Britain from Kenya and Mauritius six decades ago, succeeds Priti Patel as the second ethnic minority home secretary, or interior minister, where she will be responsible for police and immigration.

    The growing diversity is in part thanks to a push by the Conservative Party in recent years to put forward a more varied set of candidates for parliament.

    British governments have until a few decades ago been made up of mostly white men.

    It took until 2002 for Britain to appoint its first ethnic minority cabinet minister when Paul Boateng was appointed chief secretary to the Treasury.

    Rishi Sunak, whose parents came from India, was Kwarteng’s predecessor in the finance job and the runner-up to Truss in the leadership context.

    “Politics has set the pace. We now treat it as normal, this diversity,” said Sunder Katwala, director of non-partisan think-tank British Future, which focuses on migration and identity.

    “The pace of change is extraordinary,” Katwala added.

    However, the upper ranks of business, the judiciary, the civil service and army are all still predominately white.

    And despite the party’s diversity campaign, only a quarter of Conservative members of parliament are women and 6 per cent from minority backgrounds.

    Nevertheless, the Conservatives have the best track record of political firsts among the main political parties, including appointing the first Jewish prime minister in Benjamin Disraeli in 1868.

    This is despite the fact ethnic minority voters are much more likely to back the opposition Labour party and the ruling party has faced accusations of racism, misogyny and Islamophobia.

    Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised in 2019 for describing Muslim women wearing burqas as looking like letter boxes.

    The Conservatives have elected all three of Britain’s female prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and now Truss.

    The first lawmaker of Asian descent, Mancherjee Bhownaggree in 1895, also came from the Conservatives.

    Johnson assembled the youngest and most ethnically diverse Cabinet in history when he elected prime minister in 2019.

    His three finance ministers included two men of South Asian origin and one of Kurdish background.

    The changes followed a years-long effort by former leader and Prime Minister David Cameron.

    When he took over in 2005, the party had just two ethnic minority members of parliament out of 196, and he set out to ensure that his party more closely resembled the modern Britain it hoped to lead.

    The next year, Cameron introduced a priority list of female and minority candidates to be selected, many for safe seats in the House of Commons.

    Truss was a beneficiary of this push.

    “A key part of ensuring the strength and resilience of any group, including a political party, is the avoidance of everyone thinking and acting in the same way – the avoidance of group-think,” said James Arbuthnot.

    Arbuthnot is a member of the party board’s committee on candidates when Cameron introduced the changes.

    But Kwarteng has played down the significance of his ethnicity.

    He has said that, although he experienced racist insults growing up in the eighties, he does not see himself as a symbol of anyone other than his constituents in Spelthorne, which borders London’s south-west suburbs.

    “I actually think that it’s not that much of a big deal,” he said after being appointed as the first Black Conservative front-bench minister.

    “I think once you’ve made the point, I don’t think it’s something that comes up that much,” he added.

  • BREAKING: Liz Truss to become next UK prime minister

    BREAKING: Liz Truss to become next UK prime minister

    Liz Truss will be the new UK prime minister after defeating Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest.

    She beat her rival by 81,326 votes to 60,399, after a summer-long internal contest sparked by Boris Johnson’s resignation in July.

    Speaking after her victory, Truss thanked Sunak for a “hard-fought contest”

    Details to follow…