Today, Boris Johnson’s Tories fell behind Labour amid a scandalous row that engulfed his Government. A former lover accused the Prime Minister of promising to her success.
Following days and days spent accusing MPs of second jobs and rent payments for their homes, Sir Keir Starmer’s party won an Opinium poll from the Observer.
This is Labour’s first win with Opinium since January. It follows several polls that showed the party outpacing the Conservatives.
Johnson was also accused of promising to exercise his political power in order to assist Jennifer Arcuri, a US-based tech entrepreneur, while they were still together.
A diary extract from Ms Arcuri’s diary was seen by The Observer. She stated that he promised to help her business in order to win my love’ as he served as London’s mayor.
One MP said to the Sun that the Conservatives are being harmed by sleaze allegations. This was a reference the ‘Liverpool apology’ which he had to offer after having insulted them in his role as junior minister in 2000.
Today, however, the Department for Transport was made to admit that Grant Shapps, Cabinet minister and keen pilot, uses a lobbying organization to prevent development at airfields.
The poll follows several polls from last week that show Labour leapfrogging Conservatives.
A diary extract from Ms Arcuri’s diary was seen by The Observer. She stated that he promised to help her business in order to win my love’ as he served as London’s mayor.
With the political sleaze row continuing to dominate headlines, the Sunday Times reported the Transport Secretary – who the newspaper says owns a £100,000 aeroplane – ‘set-up and diverted public money’ to a new team within the Civil Aviation Authority which is designed to lobby against planning developments that infringe on airstrips.
According to the newspaper, objections from the Airfield Advisory Team helped stop Homes England’s plans to construct 3,000 homes at Chalgrove (an airfield in south Oxfordshire), while opposing ambitious plans to build a battery gigafactory at Coventry Airport.
However, Department for Transport officials stated that the team did not lobby and was instead providing support for general aviation regarding a wide range of topics that could affect their operation.
The Sunday Times also reported that Mr Shapps’ aviation hobby had “undermined” Government efforts to repatriate Britons following the fall of Thomas Cook, the travel agent. He had also taken up valuable time while DfT was dealing with post-Brexit travel disruption and coronavirus.
PA received confirmation from a source saying that claims had been fabricated and proved false.
Opinium also recorded a slip in the Prime Minister’s approval rating to a new low, with a net rating of minus 21 per cent.
Recent polls show a drop in support for Tories following the botched Owen Paterson investigation. A Savanta ComRes poll placed Labour ahead by six points, while a YouGov poll found the two rival parties at neck-and-neck.
A separate survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on Wednesday put Labour two points ahead of the Tories.
These findings follow a Government attempt to dismantle the existing Commons standards system in order to delay Mr Paterson, a Tory cabinet minister, being suspended for violating lobbying rules. It also revealed that Sir Geoffrey Cox, former attorney general of the Tory government, voted proxy while providing legal services to the Caribbean.
The Sunday Times reported Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary,’set-up’ and diverted public cash to an entirely new Civil Aviation Authority group that was created to oppose planning decisions that violate airstrips.
He is reported to own a £100,000 Piper Saratoga aircraft similar to the one above
After being MP for North Shropshire for 24 years, Paterson decided that he would no longer be there. This was after the ministers had abandoned their standard reforms after opposition parties declared they wouldn’t support them.
Since then, the scandal has brought back the attention of MPs on how much money they raise through second jobs and scrutiny of second homes.