Boris Johnson bets on the Red Wall for his premiership to recover from the disaster of local elections. Levelling Up is set to take over the Queen’s Speech, while Brexit will dominate.
With the Tories losing hundreds of councillors to the Tories, the PM was dealt a serious blow. The bloodbath that erupted in London saw the Tories lose thousands more and the Lib Dems gaining ground in the traditional heartlands.
Conservatives, including an incumbent minister, have renewed their calls for tax cuts in the wake the the financial meltdown.
But, Mr Johnson’s immediate threat seems to be gone, in part because Labour did not succeed in getting into Northern and Midlands, which were his historic majority areas in 2019.
Premier, who suffered severe damage from the Partygate row, has been also helped by police. They announced they will investigate whether Keir Sternmer violated lockdown rules regarding the Beergate espisode.
Interviews this morning with Dominic Raab, Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, revealed that it was a difficult fight to retain his London suburb seat in the next election.
Sky News reported that Johnson said the party is doing better in Red Wall and that Mr Johnson “can and will” win the next election.
Johnson wants to make Parliament more open when it opens on Tuesday. Johnson promises to bring a “super seven” of Brexit Bills, which will cut red tape as well as remove any ‘unnecessary hurdles inherited by the EU”.
Levelling Up will be the main focus. This is a plan to revitalize England’s high streets and give councils power to seize control of buildings to benefit their local communities.
Boris Johnson received a severe blow after the Tories lost thousands of councillors. The bloodbath that erupted in London saw the Tories lose hundreds of their most senior members, while the Lib Dems made gains in more traditional areas.
A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent
In interviews, Dominic Raab said that the next elections would be a tough one for him.
Damian Green, a former Cabinet minister, told Sunday Telegraph that Tories need to’rediscover the virtues which appeal to natural Conservatives within strong Conservative areas’. This includes reducing taxes.
John Redwood, an ex-minister who warned that recessions can lead to governments being’swept out of office’. He urged Rishi Sunak, Chancellor, to reverse the rise in National Insurance and stop VAT on domestic fuel bills.
Kit Malthouse, the Policing Minister, reportedly stated that he hopes Mr Sunak will implement tax cuts “shortly”.
Raab claimed that while the election results were challenging, they proved to be a mixed bag for Conservatives.
Boris Johnson denied that the Queen’s Speech was a “reset” for his administration, but he told Sky News that ‘Whatever we’re going to focus on this week is our plans to boost the economy and protect the cost-of-living.
“We will be discussing reforming agriculture, and innovation to produce cheaper and healthier food.
“We will be discussing areas in which Britain holds a significant comparative advantage such as tech and financial services.”
Raab admitted that the Liberal Democrat resurgence in Surrey would make it difficult for him to win his Esher seat and Walton seat.
However, he insists that Johnson is still the correct person to lead the party.
A projected vote share by Rallings & Thrasher for the Sunday Times found that Labour was on 35 per cent after the elections, with the Tories on 33 per cent and the Lib Dems on 17 per cent.
Based on new boundary possibilities, the Conservatives would remain the largest party in a general election. However, they are 15 seats behind a majority according to the Electoral Calculus website.
Sky News spoke with Lisa Nandy, Labour’s frontbencher: “It showed that Labour’s path to power is long, but that it does not have to take too long. In Scotland, Wales, and England, where we are making progress, we’re moving forward in all regions and nations now. I saw us losing Labour MPs and watched good people go away and wondered if that would ever be repaired.
“We started to fix that damage on Thursday.”
Michael Gove from Levelling up suggested that there may be a drop in home ownership as a factor in the party’s problems in London. After decades of Tory rule, London’s top authorities in Wandsworth (and Westminster) fell to Labour.
He told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘There is a particular challenge for us in London and I think that challenge in London relates to … home ownership.
“There are many other factors. The incumbent government must address the issues that are making it difficult to purchase a home for London’s young residents.
“That is one of the lessons I would draw from this stage.” Another is the fact that Labour Party seems to not have made the same progress as the opposition outside London.
Heralding the Queen’s Speech measures, Mr Johnson told the Sunday Express: ‘I call them the super seven – and they will benefit families and businesses across the land by changing old EU rules that don’t work for the UK.
“From data reform to gene editing to financial services, these Bills are going to allow us to prosper as a modern and dynamic country. This government is working hard to deliver them.”
Johnson is using the Queen’s Speech to express his concern about the increasing cost of living.
It is possible that the PM will also reveal plans for revival of struggling urban centres.
As Mr Johnson attempts to restructure his government following the disastrous local elections results, the Queen’s Speech will include a plan to clear high streets of “derelict shopsfronts” and to restore pride in neighbourhoods. Councils are given additional powers to make landlords rent out vacant shops.
The other measures include making the sidewalk cafes that sprung up in the Covid-19 epidemic a permanent feature of the town’s central landscape.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which aims to revitalize England’s High Streets, will give councils the power to control buildings to the benefit of the communities they serve.
The landlord can make vacant shops for longer than one year accessible to potential tenants by holding compulsory rental auctions.
Also, authorities will be able to make more use of compulsory purchase orders in order to provide housing, infrastructure and regeneration plans.
Johnson stated that high streets across the country are blighted by abandoned shopfronts. They have been neglecting local communities, reducing their opportunities.
“We’re putting it right. We’re putting power back into the hands of community leaders so that our communities can be revitalized, level up opportunities and restore neighbourhood pride.
Officials pointed out that about one in seven shops was vacant according to the British Retail Consortium, while as many as five were vacant in North East.
High rental costs for shops and rising demand from consumers who have moved to the internet have caused a drop in sales and impacted their ability to rent and pay business rates. This trend was exacerbated during the pandemic.
Michael Gove from Levelling Up said, “By empowering local community to rent shops that have been empty for at least a year, we will stop the devastation caused by abandoned shops.”
In the plans of the Government are also measures to ensure that England has a café culture similar to continental ones.
Partly because Keir Sterner’s (pictured), Labour was unable to get into the Northern or Midlands areas where he won his historic majority, it appears that Johnson has escaped the immediate threat from a coup.
Temporary powers were given to restaurants, bars, and pubs during the pandemic.
These powers, which will become permanent through new legislation in order to increase capacity for local businesses and boost the economy locally, are made permanent.
Proposed plans to ban fur imports and foie gras are not likely to be included in the Queen’s Speech.
The Times newspaper reported that the measure had been dropped following criticisms from Cabinet members who said it was too conservative.
It is anticipated that the Animals Abroad Bill will include an outright ban on hunting trophies trade and prohibit the promotion and sale of cruel travel experiences.
Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, said Saturday that the Queen’s Speech package will ‘demonstrate the nation, that the second-half of this Parliament is about repairing the economy and recovering from Covid. The backlog of NHS.com and national security.
The package also includes a Brexit Freedoms Bill that will make it simpler to repeal legacy EU laws, and a Bill of Rights which will replace the Human Rights Act.