The Met Office has issued an extreme weather warning for Sunday, as temperatures climbed to 32C on Monday.
The rare amber alert covering much of England and Wales is used to warn people of potential health and transport issues caused by the heat.
It comes as Wales had its hottest day of the year with 28.7C in Cardiff's Bute Park.
Northolt, west London, recorded a high of 32C as temperatures in England soared.
And Heathrow airport, in west London, recorded temperatures of 31.8C. The airport previously was the site of the UK's hottest day so far this year on 17 June when it was 32.7C.
The Met Office's extreme heat warning has only been issued twice before.
Level three heat-health alerts, which are separate to the amber alert, are in place across the south, the Midlands and eastern parts of England.
BBC weather presenter Chris Fawkes earlier said that Monday had a "decent shout at being the hottest day of the year so far", as he predicted highs of 34C in eastern parts of England, including Cambridgeshire.
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Temperatures are set to remain high overnight going into Tuesday, making it an uncomfortable night for many.
The Met Office is advising people to stay indoors where possible and to drink plenty of fluid to cope with the heat.
Parents are also being encouraged to limit their children's exposure to the sun.
The heat-health alerts, issued jointly by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office, are expected to stay in place until next weekend.
Heatwaves are becoming more likely and more extreme because of climate change.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was 38.7C on 25 July 2019 in Cambridge Botanic Garden.
Scotland and Northern Ireland had their hottest days of the year so far on Sunday.
On Monday, Aboyne in the Highlands hit highs of 27.5C, while Armagh reached 24.2C.
Sweltering temperatures are also affecting the north of England, with Manchester set to reach a high of 28C.
A heatwave is sweeping across Europe, with a plume of hot air coming up from Africa and northwards through Spain.
Temperatures are expected to hit 38C in Madrid and 47C in Seville on Monday.
France, Germany and Italy could see the heat exceed 40C over the coming weekend.
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Dr Agostinho Sousa from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged people to stay hydrated and try to find shade when the rays are strongest in the afternoon.
The agency said the elderly, people with underlying health conditions and those who live alone are particularly at risk.
It suggests people shade or cover windows exposed to direct sunlight, check fans and fridges are working properly, and that medicines are correctly stored.
The Met Office declares a heatwave when it records at least three days in a row with maximum temperatures exceeding a set temperature - which varies in different areas of the country.
The UK's four-level heat-health system highlights the potential health impacts of high temperatures.
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The level three currently in place requires health and social care workers to pay particular attention to high-risk groups of people such as the elderly and vulnerable.
Train services were suspended between Victoria and Brixton in south London earlier when a fire broke out on tracks at Battersea Bridge.
Network Rail believes the fire was caused by a stray spark touching the bridge's timbers.
High track temperatures meant fewer trains could run because of a speed restriction, West Midlands Railway said.
Hampshire County Council is preparing to deploy gritters to deal with road surfaces being melted by the sun.
The machines are normally used to tackle snow but will instead be spreading light dustings of sand to help drivers.
Dog owners are being advised to avoid over-exercising their pets in hot weather.
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home said taking your pet for walks in the early morning or early evening when temperatures have cooled can prevent heatstroke.
It also added that dogs should never be left in parked cars when temperatures go above 21C - in a locked car this can jump to 40C.
Some weather models are predicting extreme heat for the UK next weekend.
BBC weather presenter Chris Fawkes said temperatures could rise to the high 30s due to hot weather across Spain and Portugal being drawn to the UK - boosting temperatures through the week and into next weekend.
Weather forecasting models suggest it is possible - though not likely - temperatures in the UK on the weekend could reach 40C (104F).
But a Met Office spokeswoman said it did not believe the warmest weather would reach 40C - UK temperatures have never reached that point.
Some weather models are showing extreme heat for the UK from next weekend.☀️🌡️ #UKWeather
BBC Weather presenter Simon King said this was a low possibility - though not impossible - and an indicator of a changing climate.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, climate scientist Ella Gilbert said heatwaves and hot spells are increasing in frequency, intensity and duration because of climate change.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era began in the latter half of the 18th century, and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around the world make steep cuts to emissions.
In England, there were 2,500 excess deaths in the summer of 2020 as a result of hot weather, while heat-related deaths in the UK could treble in 30 years, the British Red Cross predicts.
An ally of Priti Patel has admitted sharing a “dirty dossier” sent around Tory WhatsApp groups branding Rishi Sunak a liar who cannot be trusted on tax.
Patrick Robertson, a lobbyist who has worked in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, is thought to be helping to run Patel’s campaign to become Tory leader.
His previous work includes lobbying to prevent the extradition of Augusto Pinochet to Spain to face trial for human rights abuses, and acting as an adviser to Imran Khan, the recently ousted prime minister of Pakistan.
The memo, which set Tory WhatsApp groups abuzz over the weekend, accuses Sunak of “wasting” money during the pandemic, breaking Conservative manifesto commitments not to raise taxes and “publicly lying” about his wife’s non-dom tax status.
It raises questions about his loyalty to Boris Johnson by saying that the former chancellor’s resignation came “within minutes” of Savid Javid stepping down, and asks if this should be seen as “an unplanned coincidence”.
It also notes that Sunak “launched his campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party with a website domain registered in December 2021”.
“Getting ‘Ready for Rishi’ means supporting a candidate who, like Boris, landed a Partygate fine from the police for breaking lockdown rules,” the memo says.
The memo’s author is listed as Robertson and it was created on Saturday night, according to the document properties. However, he denied writing the text.
“You won’t find my properties on it or my name on it because it wasn’t from me,” he told The Times. “I received it myself and sent it to other people. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
Patel is expected to launch her leadership bid imminently after sounding out the support of the European Research Group, the Brexiteer caucus of backbench Tory MPs. The home secretary already has the backing of 12 Tory MPs even though she has not officially declared her intention to run.
A source close to Patel said: “We hope that all candidates will run a clean campaign to be party leader, and avoid this election providing the Labour Party with leaflet fodder. We have no knowledge of or involvement in producing this document.”
14 minutes ago
4.05pm
Reheated Thatcherism not enough, says Braverman
“Reheated Thatcherism” will not be enough to turn around the crises faced by Britain, Suella Braverman has said (Geraldine Scott writes).
Setting out her pitch to be Conservative leader, the attorney general told the relaunch of the Conservative Way Forward campaign group that she was committed to cutting taxes, dismissing suggestions that it was not “the serious thing” to do.
She said the drivers of a high-tax economy were “an ageing population putting strain on the NHS and social care sector, long-term unemployment [and] overflowing prisons”.
She said: “These are the challenges that we can’t just wish away. We can’t cut public services just like that when so many people depend on them.
“No, we need a more deep-rooted approach. Rather than just reducing the supply of government, we need to reduce the demand for it.”
But she said: “If we believe anything as Conservatives, we believe in low taxes. But we need a plan for this decade, not the 1980s. Reheated Thatcherism is not going to be enough.”
Braverman suggested she would reform public services, for example putting an emphasis on primary care in the NHS to take pressure off hospitals, and giving prisoners training for a trade.
She said: “The way to build a dynamic, low-tax economy isn’t just about taxes, or about the economic supply side — vital though that is — it’s about the social supply side, too. We need a more resilient society.”
She said: “Don’t vote for me because I’m a woman, don’t vote for me because I’m brown. Vote for me because I love this country and because I will do anything for it.”
34 minutes ago
3.45pm
Westminster springs a leak
Westminster has always had a problem with leaking – and now it seems to be bringing the whole broken edifice tumbling down.
A debate in the House of Commons has been delayed this afternoon after water began leaking into the chamber.
A video shared on Twitter showed the leak coming through the ceiling
MPs have been unable to agree a plan to fix the myriad issues affecting the Houses of Parliament, including asbestos hazards and leaking roofs.
A recent report estimated that repair works would take up to 76 years and cost £22 billion if politicians refuse to move out.
Even if MPs were to move out for 19 to 28 years, the construction costs are expected to amount to £13 billion.
Michael Fabricant, the Conservative MP for Lichfield, said that the leak meant “democracy [had been] suspended until further notice”. He said: “Only in a heatwave can the House of Commons be suspended because of a flood in the chamber!”
The roof leak has left wet patches on the carpet in the Commons
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49 minutes ago
3.30pm
Rees-Mogg told not to enter leadership race
Jacob Rees-Mogg has been urged not to enter the Conservative leadership race in a public attack by a former minister who was once his closest ally (Patrick Maguire writes).
Amid increasing divisions on the Tory right, Steve Baker, the influential Eurosceptic organiser, said Rees-Mogg, who is considering a late bid for the leadership, risked splitting the Brexiteer vote.
Baker, who abandoned his own leadership bid to run the campaign of Suella Braverman, the attorney general, last week, told The Times: “Suella has my complete and unequivocal loyalty.
“As her campaign manager, I go where she decides. Jacob ought not to stand. He can’t win and he’d lose a general election. But he would probably stop Suella getting through.”
Baker’s intervention — a rare criticism of the man with whom he plotted to defeat Theresa May’s Brexit deal — brings mounting rancour on the right of the party into the open.
Tory Eurosceptics are mostly divided between Braverman, who commands the support of the party’s most dogmatic Brexiteers, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Priti Patel, the home secretary, who is yet to formally declare.
A Rees-Mogg candidacy would render an already divided right bloc more fissiparous still, splitting the vote four ways.
Allies of Boris Johnson already fear that this group of MPs risks inadvertently handing the contest to Rishi Sunak if it does not consolidate behind one or two candidates before the first ballot.
1 hour ago
3.00pm
Zahawi pledges to cut income tax and energy bills
Nadhim Zahawi has promised cuts in income tax, corporation tax and energy bills as he tries to shake off “smears” about his financial affairs (Henry Zeffman writes).
Making his first speech as a Conservative leadership candidate, the new chancellor attempted to outbid the rest of the field by pledging that tax would fall as a percentage of GDP every year if he became prime minister.
Zahawi was promoted from education secretary to chancellor on Tuesday, but the next day joined cabinet calls for Boris Johnson to resign. Since he entered the leadership contest at the weekend it has emerged that he has faced investigations by the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs. Zahawi has denied knowledge of any probes.
Nadhim Zahawi set out his policies in the Tory leadership race during a speech in London this afternoon
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
He said today: “Tax as a percentage of GDP will fall year on year if I become prime minister. That is a promise.
“I have a simple solution. Let people keep more of their money and let them choose how to spend it. Today, I can announce that, as prime minister, I will cut the base rate of income tax to 19p in 2023 and 18p in 2024. That will give households back £900 a year on average.”
He added: “I will abolish VAT and green levies on energy bills temporarily for two years. It is simply not right that the Government stands by and profits from skyrocketing energy costs while families struggle.”
He also said that “as chancellor I have set the wheels in motion to abolish the planned corporation tax rise.”
Torsten Bell of the Resolution Foundation said that Zahawi’s pledge to cut 1p in the pound from income tax would cost £6 billion next year.
2 hours ago
1.30pm
Truss sets up HQ at famous address
Liz Truss has taken over one of Westminster’s most famous addresses in her bid to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
The foreign secretary has set up camp at 11 Lord North Street — the town house belonging to the Tory peer and donor Baron Howard of Rising (Oliver Wright writes).
Michael Portillo — then defence secretary — ran his doomed campaign against John Major from the address in 1995. Expecting Major to be ousted by the right of the party, Portillo decided to get ahead by setting up a secret HQ in the Georgian townhouse.
11 Lord North Street has a long history of hosting Conservative leadership campaigns
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His machinations were revealed when BT engineers were spotted installing 40 phone lines, despite his public declarations of loyalty to the prime minister.
The house was next pressed into service in 2001 when Iain Duncan Smith was granted its use for his successful campaign to succeed William Hague as leader.
Truss got to know the house well when she backed Johnson for the leadership in 2019. As head of policy, she was based at Lord North Street when it became one of two bases used by Johnson for his successful campaign to succeed Theresa May.
The house, which dates from the 1720s, is next door to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s townhouse in a street that has a history of intrigue and power-broking.
Harold Wilson lived down the street when he was prime minister in the 1970s, and other locals have included the disgraced Tory MP Jonathan Aitken, the Eurosceptic MP Teresa Gorman, and the former Tory party chief whip Alastair Goodlad, from whose house John Major’s leadership campaign was run in 1995.
3 hours ago
12.30pm
Johnson avoids giving ‘damaging’ endorsement
Boris Johnson has said his endorsement would “damage” any candidate to succeed him, as a leading northern Conservative urged Tory rivals to focus on levelling up as well as tax cuts (Chris Smyth writes).
The prime minister refused to say whether he felt betrayed by his MPs after criticising the Tory “herd” in his resignation speech. “There’s a contest under way and it’s happened, and, you know, I wouldn’t want to damage anybody’s chances by offering my support,” he said during a visit to the Francis Crick Institute in London to highlight the importance of science to Britain’s future.
Ben Houchen, Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, said he was “frustrated” that candidates to succeed Johnson were not talking about how to boost growth in neglected areas.
The prime minister would not say if he felt betrayed by MPs
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He told Times Radio: “I just find it really frustrating as a contest at the moment that we’re just deciding whether cutting taxes or not cutting taxes is the right or wrong thing. As I’ve just said, it depends on the rest of the policy.”
Criticising a “very narrow” focus on tax cuts, he argued: “Whether you want to cut taxes or not is informed by the policy that you want to implement as a government. Now, one of those key policies is levelling up. And at the moment, I am frustrated that there is little to no conversation about levelling up.”
Boris Johnson declines to endorse any candidate running to replace him
Johnson’s allies are considering whether to back Liz Truss or Priti Patel as a candidate to beat Rishi Sunak, and Truss is pitching to be a lower-tax version of Johnson.
Her allies insist she will continue Johnson’s levelling-up plan, but is likely to use a different name to emphasise the goal of spurring private sector investment rather than using government money.
A spokesman for her campaign said: “The next prime minister has to be someone who unites the red and blue wall, has a clear vision for the country and economy based on Conservative principles and has the experience and track record to deliver that vision and hit the ground running on day one. Liz is the only candidate who ticks all of those boxes”.
4 hours ago
11.30am
Truss started campaign website a month ago
Liz Truss registered her official website to become the next Tory leader almost a month before Boris Johnson resigned (Oliver Wright writes).
The website lizforleader.co.uk went live at the weekend as part of the foreign secretary’s campaign to succeed Johnson as prime minister.
But a search for the domain name — first carried out by Sky News — shows that it was registered on June 8, 2022.
This was two days after Boris Johnson narrowly won the 1922 Committee vote of confidence, during which Truss publicly supported him.
Liz Truss registered the site two days after Boris Johnson won a vote of confidence
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Rishi Sunak and Tom Tugendhat both registered their websites last week on July 6 and 9 respectively. Most of the candidates do not appear to have campaign websites yet.
Penny Mordaunt’s pm4pm.com was registered on May 24, 2019 — the day that Theresa May announced her resignation. Mordaunt did not end up running in that contest but kept the domain name.
Using the tagline “trusted to deliver”, Truss kicked off her campaign with a slick video highlighting her work on trade deals and the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. She said that a prime minister with “experience, who can hit the ground running from day one” was needed, in a possible dig at rivals without cabinet experience.
While such Machiavellian tactics are unlikely to damage her campaign among Tory MPs — who were well aware of her longstanding leadership ambitions despite protestations of loyalty to Johnson — it could cause her difficulty later in the race.
A good proportion of Tory members still support Johnson, and the actions of the final two candidates in the days leading up to his resignation are likely to come under scrutiny.
4 hours ago
11.20am
Chancellor rows back plans to slash government budgets
Nadhim Zahawi has rowed back on proposals to cut every government department’s running costs by 20 per cent to fund his tax-slashing promises (Geraldine Scott writes).
The chancellor had suggested on Sky News that he would force all departments to make cuts, pointing to his record at the Department for Education. When asked how he would cut taxes as pledged he said: “Nothing’s off the table.”
The majority of those vying to be Conservative leader have pledged tax cuts, except for Rishi Sunak, who has said the country cannot tell itself “fairytales” over the state of the economy. But few have set out how they would achieve the promises.
Zahawi told Sky News: “I think it’s only right that across government we do this exercise, it’s an important exercise. It’s only right that we exercise fiscal discipline when it comes to public-sector pay.”
However, the team behind his leadership bid sought to clarify that he meant a 20 per cent reduction in civil servants, which has already been proposed by Boris Johnson.
Sajid Javid said yesterday that his plans would cost about £39 billion a year and insisted he did not “believe in unfunded tax cuts”. He promised a “scorecard” showing how it could be achieved, and said he would ask for “efficiency savings” from all departments by 2024.
Liz Truss has promised to “start cutting taxes from day one”. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary who is backing Truss, said it was accepted that public spending would need to be reduced.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned the candidates that to avoid having to hike taxes again in coming years they would have to scrap certain benefits or make cuts to the NHS.
Robert Jenrick, who is backing Sunak, said that Tory “credibility” was at risk by candidates promising cuts. “Announcing fantasy tax cuts to help get through a leadership election, I think, is unwise.”
5 hours ago
10.25am
Analysis: candidates must play to two galleries
The Tory leadership election has two audiences, Tory MPs and Conservative party members. It would be risky to assume they want the same thing (Chris Smyth writes).
It is often assumed that Tory members are more unbendingly right-wing than MPs, yet although polling suggests there is some truth to this idea on social issues the reverse is true on the economy.
While Rishi Sunak is being pilloried by rivals over his tax rises and spending, the evidence suggests that this could hurt him more in the first round of the contest. If he gets to the final two, members could be more understanding.
Surveys by the British Election Study and others, published in the journal Political Studies last year, show that on questions about redistribution, big business and the fate of ordinary working people, Conservative voters are slightly to the right of the average voter, members are further right but MPs are significantly more likely to hold classical right-wing positions. Hence the clamour today to offer tax cuts.
Priti Patel is likely to enter the race today
JESSICA TAYLOR/UK PARLIAMENT/AP
On values, it is a striking finding that the average Conservative MP is more socially liberal than the average voter. Tory MPs are far less likely to support the death penalty, bemoan young people’s lack of respect and call for stiffer sentences than voters as a whole. Members, by contrast, are far to the right of voters on most of these issues.
No surprise, then, that all candidates in the leadership election have pledged to keep the policy of deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has caused significant queasiness among many Tory MPs.
The views of Tory voters on such issues may boost the hopes of Priti Patel, who is likely to enter the race today and will feel she has a chance as the “authentic” right-wing candidate if she can make it to the final two.
Yet both Tory MPs and members will be selecting a leader with half an eye on the wider electorate: they know they need a leader who can win the country as a whole. They will be second guessing each other and the voters. They will also need to be mindful that what might be wildly popular in some constituencies will be toxic in others.
Added to that is the fact that, as Jeremy Corbyn discovered, even espousing policies which might themselves be individually popular can contribute towards painting a leader as extreme or dangerous.
These overlapping layers of calculation mean that it is still very hard to predict who will become Britain’s next prime minister by the end of the summer.
6 hours ago
10.10am
I’m being smeared with tax rumours, says Zahawi
Nadhim Zahawi has said he is “being smeared” by stories about his tax affairs as senior Tories become alarmed about the bitter tone of campaigning in the leadership election (Chris Smyth writes).
The chancellor has denied claims that the National Crime Agency or HMRC have been investigating irregularities in his finances — but promised to release his tax returns as prime minister, in a move aimed at Rishi Sunak.
Nadhim Zahawi has said he will publish his tax accounts each year if he becomes prime minister
HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
With innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations about rival camps being thrown around, already Sunak has had to deny claims by Nadine Dorries, a close ally of Boris Johnson, that he is working with Dominic Cummings, formerly Johnson’s chief adviser. Yesterday Tory MPs were sent a 400-word attack on Sunak that said there was “nothing Conservative about [his] big tax and big spend agenda”.
This morning Zahawi lashed out at reports of investigations into his business career. “I was clearly being smeared. I was being told that the Serious Fraud Office that the National Crime Agency that HMRC are looking into me. I’m not aware of this . . . I’ve always declared my taxes. I paid my taxes in the UK,” he told Sky News.
He joined Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt in promising to publish his tax returns if he progressed in the contest, saying: “We need to take this issue in many ways off the off the table. I will publish my accounts annually. That’s the right thing to do. It’ll make a difference to the country going forward if all prime ministers publish their tax returns.”
Sunak, who has been damaged by revelations of his wife’s non-dom tax status and faces scepticism about whether he is too rich to lead a country suffering a cost of living crisis, has not made a similar pledge. Allies said it would be “presumptuous” to consider what he would do if he made the final stages of the contest.
This morning George Eustice, the environment secretary, who is backing Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said that “of course” he was worried by negative campaigning. “We are all colleagues in the same party and it’s incredibly important for people, whoever wins, to put the party back together to pull things back together and therefore the tone that people adopt in this campaign really matters,” he told LBC.
6 hours ago
9.30am
Tax row dominates debate
The Conservative leadership election begins formally today, dominated by an increasingly bitter row over tax that could well decide Britain’s next prime minister.
Liz Truss, Nadhim Zahawi, Sajid Javid, Suella Braverman will all be speaking publicly and demanding tax cuts in a full-frontal attack on Rishi Sunak’s economic policy.
Sunak, the early frontrunner, will not appear today but Robert Jenrick, one of his leading supporters, accused rivals this morning of “fantasy tax cuts” and warned them against making promises they could not keep in the race to succeed Boris Johnson. He criticised “entirely unfunded tax cuts in the heat of a Conservative leadership election which has been partly caused by a lack of trust”.
Jenrick insisted that big tax cuts would require an increase in borrowing or spending cuts, arguing that Tory members “understand that these are difficult times and they do require somebody who’s highly economically literate and has a proper plan”.
But Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, who until recently sat at the cabinet table with Sunak and Jenrick but is backing Truss, said: “Tax rates are very, very high. Do we want to continue on that path or reset or try something else?”
Kwarteng said that the priority was boosting growth, and “we don’t do that by rising taxes to the highest levels since 1949. That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever”. He said Truss had argued privately against the national insurance rise introduced by Sunak to fund the NHS.
Tom Tugendhat, who is pitching himself as a fresh start having never served in government, pointed out that he was one of a few Conservative MPs to vote against the national insurance “tax on jobs”. “I certainly think that we should be looking to lower taxes across every aspect of society,” he added.
As the contest begins in earnest, the prime minister has spent the morning on a visit to the Francis Crick Institute
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
An expedited timetable is expected to be agreed after elections to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers this afternoon. This will set a high bar for candidates to get on the ballot paper — with the backing of 20 to 36 MPs, or 10 per cent of the parliamentary party, being suggested — in an effort to thin out of a field of 11 declared candidates so far. MPs will winnow them down to a final two so that a choice can be put to members once parliament’s summer recess begins on Thursday next week.
The accelerated debate will become a battle for the future of the party’s economic policy: if members accept Sunak’s argument, then he is on course to win. But if they insist on faster tax cuts, the contest is wide open to become the standard bearer of the right.
7 hours ago
9.00am
Conservative leadership election formally begins
Good morning and welcome to The Times’s live coverage as the Tory leadership election formally begins today. Elections to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers will be held this afternoon, following which the committee is expected to agree the timetable for how the leadership contest will take place. Meanwhile, several of the 11 contenders are out and about this morning, pushing their low tax credentials.
Jeremy Hunt is among those who have entered the race
LONDON — Boris Johnson may be (almost) gone, but British politics shows little sign of shifting to the center ground anytime soon.
As the prime minister licked his wounds at his official Chequers residence following a dramatic week in which once-loyal colleagues forced him to resign as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, a crowded field of candidates seeking to replace him began courting their electorate.
So far they’re largely offering a heady mix of tax-cutting, woke-bashing and Brexit-backing policies that will be pretty familiar to followers of U.K. politics under Johnson.
Tory lawmakers looking to land the top job will first have to win over their fellow MPs, who are asked to pick the final two candidates before rank-and-file party members choose a winner from that pair. Conservative bosses meet Monday evening to thrash out the timetable for the contest, which could stretch through the summer.
Johnson himself is staying in the post while the contest plays out, but those hoping for a centrist tilt once he goes might be left waiting. A former Conservative MP said of Tory lawmakers: “I think that they were so determined to get rid of Boris … that they hadn’t really thought about: what next?”
On Europe
The Conservatives are a long way from experiencing Brexit buyers’ remorse if the leadership race is anything to go by.
Even Tom Tugendhat, a former soldier who has led parliament’s tough scrutiny of Johnson’s foreign policy since 2020 and is seen as a moderate, made clear he would continue to push a controversial post-Brexit bill seeking to override parts of the painstakingly negotiated protocol for trade rules in Northern Ireland.
It’s a plan that, under Johnson, attracted real anger from the EU, but no candidate has yet said they would put the legislation on ice.
Another great moderate hope, Jeremy Hunt — a former foreign secretary defeated by Johnson in the 2019 race to replace Theresa May — announced on Sunday he would make Esther McVey his deputy if he were to win. McVey is one of parliament’s most ardent Brexiteers, and has long riled up left-wingers.
Britain’s Attorney General Suella Braverman said she would go one further and take Britain completely out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) — the longstanding international convention meant to shield human rights and political freedoms in Europe — in a bid to push through Britain’s paused plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
On tax
But Britain’s place in the world has so far been a relative sideshow as candidates fall over themselves to promise Margaret Thatcher-esque tax cuts, even as the U.K. grapples with soaring inflation.
First on the bonfire is a rise in national insurance, a tax on employment which went up by 1.25 percentage points in April in a bid to increase healthcare spending but which has angered Conservative MPs who believe it’s hitting families and businesses when they least need it.
It’s already put one candidate in a somewhat awkward spot — former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who pushed for more National Health Service spending as the man running the health department, has now promised to ax the levy.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who became the latest to enter the race Sunday night, pledged to “start cutting taxes from day one” as her opening gambit, while Johnson’s newly-appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi warned that the U.K.’s current tax burden is “too high.”
Both Hunt and Javid have meanwhile promised to shelve a planned rise in corporation tax.
Some Westminster-watchers are skeptical, and the pledges come after early frontrunner and former top finance minister Rishi Sunak warned against “fairytale” promises to cut taxes while maintaining high spending.
“Saying you’re going to produce tax cuts at this stage — given the state of the economy, inflation and everything else — I think it is, to say the least, a brave proposal,” the former MP quoted above said.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, warned Sunday that the U.K. will still need to spend much more on its National Health Service, social care and pension obligations in the future, meaning either tax rises or a “real plan for major surgery to parts of [the] welfare state.” No such plan has yet been forthcoming, with candidates promising detailed costings further down the track or pointing to unnamed efficiencies that can be made in the running of government itself.
Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who pushed for more National Health Service spending has now promised to ax the levy | Leon Neal/Getty Images
Yet some are at least happy there’s an economic debate going on. Business groups have had an occasionally-rocky relationship with the Conservative Party in recent years over Brexit and tax, and there’s some enthusiasm at the chance to talk tax after months of tumult.
Craig Beaumont, head of policy at the Federation of Small Businesses, predicts that the Tory candidates are “going to be fizzing with ideas,” and said it’s “refreshing” that the Conservative debate has kicked off with the hopefuls trying to outbid each other on tax. He’s long criticized the national insurance hike, and urged more help for small businesses grappling with the mounting cost of energy. “We’ve already seen a whole day today … all about where everyone stands on tax,” he said. “And that’s great.”
On ‘culture wars’
Under Johnson, the Conservatives dipped their toes into the water of so-called culture wars debates, with periodic interventions on hot-button issues like the rights of transgender people and the fate of statues memorializing slave traders.
In a clear sign that these rows will continue to flare as top Tories try to win over the party, Sunak — used to rising above the fray as Westminster’s money man — chose to kick off his campaign with a rare intervention on identity: An unnamed “ally” of Sunak was quoted in the Mail on Sunday criticizing “trends to erase women via the use of clumsy, gender neutral language.”
Several other candidates have entered the fray too, although others, like Tugendhat, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, are steering well clear and urging respect.
Former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch made a big play of being opposed to socially liberal language and policies, blasting “zero-sum identity politics” as “shutting down debate” in a piece for the Sunday Times. Meanwhile, Braverman on Sunday night highlighted the importance of a fight to ensure legislation allowing her to take maternity leave referenced a woman rather than a “pregnant person.”
What happens next?
As Conservatives squabble over the future, Johnson himself is staying put — for now.
It’s not unusual for defenestrated prime ministers to stay on while the race to replace them plays out, but such was the anger toward Johnson that there were rumblings MPs could try to finish the job sooner.
Yet those calls for Johnson to stand aside immediately have largely died down, according to a former minister who has been taking the temperature of the party faithful.
Westminster now has a “temporary, functioning government,” the ex-minister added, although he warned those Johnson has appointed to the Cabinet in the interim not to “do anything stupid.”
“They have got to keep things pretty restrained and keep the ship on neutral until September,” he said, referring to the likely timeframe for the end of the race.
Instead, MPs and activists are turning their attention to what comes next.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown — treasurer of the 1922 Committee of MPs that holds the pen on Tory leadership rules — told LBC Radio Sunday he’s “absolutely confident” the contest will be whittled down to two candidates by July 20, although it’s still unclear how long activists will be given to quiz and then vote on the winner from a final two candidates.
While others are less than thrilled at the prospect of a drawn-out Tory bidding war, Beaumont argued that a proper contest, rather than a coronation, could help weed out bad policy ideas as journalists, fellow MPs and business groups get a chance to pore over the details.
“If someone comes out with a promise now that, actually, when you really dig in doesn’t work — that will come out,” he said.
Two former health secretaries, Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, on Sunday announced bids to stand as Conservative party leader with pledges to slash taxes in an effort to win support from MPs.
A total of nine candidates have now announced they will stand to replace Boris Johnson as UK prime minister, with more expected to declare in the coming days.
The contest was prompted by Johnson’s resignation on Thursday as party leader, following his handling of a sexual harassment complaint involving the former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
According to the bookmakers’ Ladbrokes Coral, former chancellor Rishi Sunak is in pole position to be the next leader. He has also picked up the largest number of endorsements so far, with 27 Tory MPs pledging their support.
Penny Mordaunt, the trade minister, also launched a bid on Sunday with a focus on being a team player. “Our leadership needs to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship,” she said.
Javid, the first cabinet minister to resign from the government this week — prompting the events that led to the prime minister’s resignation as Tory leader on Thursday — has made the economy his central campaign issue.
He pledged to scrap the national insurance rise that was introduced while he was health secretary earlier this year, which is unpopular with fiscal conservatives.
“I’m not sure I would have done it if I had been chancellor, but I was focused on my job and I’m not trying to do other people’s jobs for them,” he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
Javid and Hunt also pledged to slash corporation tax. While Hunt said he would introduce an immediate cut from 19p to 15p, Javid said he would reduce it by 1p a year to reach the same level.
Hunt, who openly criticised Johnson in last month’s no-confidence vote in the prime minister, argued that any tax cuts must be funded by growth.
“I would love to see income tax cut, but it has to be done in a way that is sustainable,” he wrote in the Telegraph. “It can’t be an electoral bribe and it depends on growth. What you’d need is an income-tax cut that is for life, not for Christmas. That means starting by saying we’re going to get the economy growing, then you get yourself in a position.”
Transport secretary Grant Shapps also announced on Sunday that he was standing and sought to rally MPs who remained loyal to the outgoing prime minister. “I like Boris Johnson”, he told the Sunday Times.
Shapps added: “It is easy to criticise Boris after keeping one’s head down for years while being happy to benefit from his patronage. I am glad that I did not do that.”
The contest will formally begin on Monday when the rules will be confirmed by the 1922 committee of backbench Tories. Nominations are expected to open on Tuesday.
The contest will be conducted in two stages. The first, where Tory MPs will narrow down the long list of candidates, is expected to start on Wednesday. A shortlist of two will be finalised before parliament goes into its summer recess on July 21.
Conservative party members will then vote for the final candidate to be their party leader by the end of August, with the new prime minister taking office before the House of Commons returns on September 5. Johnson will remain in Number 10 as a caretaker leader.
More candidates are expected to declare in the coming days. Foreign secretary Liz Truss will launch her campaign imminently, according to those with knowledge of her plans.
She is expected to seek to differentiate herself from Sunak on the economy, pledging tax cuts and supply side reform. One Truss ally said: “She’s definitely not the continuity candidate on the economy.”
Truss will advocate “a clear vision for the economy based on Conservative principles”, another ally said. She will focus on regulation and the UK’s divergence from EU rules.
The man who has died after an accident while helping to build a bonfire at a site in County Antrim has been named locally as John Steele.
He was in his 30s and from the Antiville area of Larne.
It happened at the Antiville bonfire in Fairway at about 21:30 BST on Saturday.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it had responded to reports a man had fallen from a height. A rapid response paramedic, two emergency crews and a doctor were dispatched.
The bonfire is currently being dismantled.
Constructed from stacked wooden pallets, it stood at more than 50ft (15m) tall.
It was one of many being built across Northern Ireland ahead of the traditional July celebrations.
Pacemaker
They are usually lit to mark the Eleventh night, before the Twelfth of July.
It is part of the commemorations to mark the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange, over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
The bonfire where John Steele fell from the top and died last night has been dismantled pic.twitter.com/o8woLa3Jr9
Daniel Crawford, a close friend of Mr Steele's and one of the bonfire organisers, was there when the incident happened.
On behalf of the organisers, he told BBC News NI: "We are all completely heartbroken at the loss of our friend and brother.
"Our deepest heartfelt condolences to the Steele family.
"He will be forever missed."
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Rev Ben Preston, of Craigy Hill Presbyterian Church, said he had been to the scene and spoke to Mr Steele's parents.
"As you can imagine they are in deep shock," he said.
"No father, no mother wants see that for their son, for a child.
"There's a sense of stillness about. I walked to church this morning and we're just numb and in shock."
Rev Preston said it was difficult to see the incident unfold at a bonfire, "somewhere where there is celebration, families and communities gathered".
"You just don't expect something like this to happen."
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP for the area Sammy Wilson, who attended the scene on Saturday night, said the community was in shock.
"It's a terrible tragedy, this should have been a night of celebration," he told BBC News NI.
"A young fella who lived in the area, he was a window cleaner in the area I was told by some people this morning and had been well known, going around the houses from he was a young boy.
"His family live within eye sight of the bonfire site.
"There's a family who is grieving and a community which will feel that hurt as well because he was known, he was doing something which the community were looking forward to, and our thoughts have to be with the family."
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Alliance assembly member (MLA) for East Antrim Stewart Dickson said: "My deepest sympathy goes to his family and friends and the whole community as it reflects on this tragic death" he said on Twitter.
UUP MLA John Stewart said the local community would "rally round to give the family as much support as possible".
'Dark cloud'
The Antiville Bonfire Facebook page paid tribute to the man as "a true Antivillian through and through, born and bred".
In a post they said: "A dark cloud has certainly risen over the Antiville estate today.
"Our deepest and sincere condolences are sent from our hearts to his entire family circle at this heart-breaking time.
"Please give the family their time and privacy at this, obviously, hard time for them."
Insp Adrian Bryan said police were appealing for witnesses to the "tragic accident" who were in the area last night.
Parts of the UK could see temperatures pushing towards 30C (86F) today, according to forecasts.
London and southeast England are expected to see highs of 29C (84.2F), with clear skies during the afternoon, making it hotter than parts of the Maldives, forecasters say.
The heatwave is likely to last into next week, with temperatures set to soar above 32C (89.6F) on Monday Tuesday, which would make it the warmest day of the year so far.
Central England is likely to reach 28C (82.4F), with the South West hitting 23C (73.4F).
In Wales, the mercury is forecast to reach 27C (80.6F) on Sunday afternoon, northern England could see 27C (80.6F), Scotland could reach 25C (77F) and Northern Ireland could get to 25C (77F).
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Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "It will turn hotter, especially in the South.
"Tuesday will bring some rain to the North and West, but much of England and Wales will stay fine, dry and hot."
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud added: "There's a headline maximum of around 29C over the course of Sunday in London and the South East.
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If you do go out: Ensure you have suncream
"We should see pretty much wall-to-wall sunshine across the bulk of England and Wales and a good portion of Scotland."
It comes after a heat-health alert was issued for England, with people warned not to stay in the sun for long periods and to make sure they are covered in high-factor sun cream.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office have put in place a level 3 alert for the East of England, South East and London with highs of 32C (89F) currently forecast. A level 2 alert has been issued for the South West, East Midlands, West Midlands, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions.
A level 2 alert is issued when there is a "high chance" of the forecasted conditions, while level 3 means there is a "90% probability". The alerts will be in place from 9am on Monday until 9am on Friday.
The hottest day in the UK so far this year was 17 June, when Heathrow reached 32.7C, the Met Office said.
While their is cooler weather on the way - it might not be for long.
Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "Temperatures are expected to dip slightly around the middle of the week, before rising again, perhaps to record breaking temperatures next weekend. The Met Office said there's currently 10% chance of exceeding 40C (104F) in the south-east next Sunday."
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
Parts of the UK could see temperatures pushing towards 30C (86F) today, according to forecasts.
London and southeast England are expected to see highs of 29C (84.2F), with clear skies during the afternoon, making it hotter than parts of the Maldives, forecasters say.
The heatwave is likely to last into next week, with temperatures set to soar above 32C (89.6F) on Tuesday, which would make it the warmest day of the year so far.
Central England is likely to reach 28C (82.4F), with the South West hitting 23C (73.4F).
In Wales, the mercury is forecast to reach 26C (78.8F) on Sunday afternoon, northern England could see 27C (80.6F), Scotland could reach 25C (77F) and Northern Ireland could get to 23C.
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Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "It will turn hotter, especially in the South.
"Tuesday will bring some rain to the North and West, but much of England and Wales will stay fine, dry and hot."
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office have put in place a level 3 alert for the East of England, South East and London with highs of 32C (89F) currently forecast. A level 2 alert has been issued for the South West, East Midlands, West Midlands, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions.
A level 2 alert is issued when there is a "high chance" of the forecasted conditions, while level 3 means there is a "90% probability". The alerts will be in place from 9am on Monday until 9am on Friday.
The hottest day in the UK so far this year was 17 June, when Heathrow reached 32.7C, the Met Office said.
Temperatures are expected to cool later this week, as a cold front pushes in.
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
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