Politics

Restoring the crumbling Houses of Parliament could cost more than £39bn and take between 38 and 61 years to complete, parliamentarians have been told. It’s one of two proposals being considered by MPs and peers, and would see work on the building, which mostly dates from the Victorian era, completed in stages. Under the second…

Sir Keir Starmer has been made to look “weak, naive and gullible” by blaming Peter Mandelson’s “lies” for the crisis engulfing his premiership – and it could bring him down, a senior Labour figure has said. The party’s former deputy leader Baroness Harman told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast the saga had become “so serious” for…

It was hardly a ringing endorsement of the deal. But it could have been a lot worse. And after the week Sir Keir Starmer has just been through, President Trump’s grudging support for the controversial Chagos deal will have come as a relief. The good news for the PM was the president signalling he won’t…

A by-election is set to take place in the constituency of Gorton and Denton, in Greater Manchester, on 26 February. The vote was triggered by the resignation of former MP Andrew Gwynne on medical grounds. Politics latest: Follow live updates You can find below a full list of candidates who will be on the ballot…

By my reckoning, yesterday will be remembered as perhaps the most difficult of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership yet, with even close allies telling me they are not sure where it will end. His admission at Prime Minister’s Questions that he knew of the friendship between Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him as…

The government says it wants to recruit 10,000 more foster carers by the end of the next parliament, launching what ministers describe as a major drive to reverse a long-term decline in support for vulnerable children. Backed by £88m in funding, the plan promises to open fostering up to younger and more diverse households, sweep…

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈 Another day and another podcast dominated by Peter Mandelson – but as the political pressure ramps up across parliament, how will Number 10 react and is the carnage over? In a frantic 24 hours, Lord Mandelson gave up his peerage and the Metropolitan Police…

Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour high command may be relieved that Peter Mandelson has quit the House of Lords. But for both the prime minister and the soon-to-be ex-peer, their humiliation and torment may be about to get even worse. Mr Mandelson faces a full-blown probe by the Met’s specialist crime team into allegations…

Peter Mandelson is set to retire from the House of Lords following the latest revelations about his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. His decision to leave the upper chamber was announced by the Lord Speaker, Lord Forsyth, shortly before 3pm. His departure will become effective overnight. In response to the announcement, a Downing Street spokesperson…

Kemi Badenoch has said that Sir Keir Starmer should have been able to secure the release of pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai during his visit to China. The Conservative leader, who has been critical of the prime minister’s attempts to reset the UK’s relationship with Beijing, said that was something a “strong prime minister would have…