U.K. political correspondent for @POLITICOEurope, still chipping in on the odd Playbook
London, England
Joined June 2012
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Lots of empty seats at this Reform press conference
Pretty much entire audience (except journalists) has been moved behind the stage and even that stand isn’t full
At least one party aide is filling it out
New: Ministers are set to approve the Jackdaw gas field tomorrow, three people briefed on the plans tell myself and @POLITICOEurope colleagues
Sam Blewett retweeted
Piece by me and @BlewettSam on how difficult it’d be to work together. Talk about race has deepened the personal divide for Badenoch
Yet the door is still being held open. One Shad cab minister warns a “monster” left coalition is a terrible option too…
politico.eu/article/conserva…
Sam Blewett retweeted
“Vile,” “horrible,” “betrayal,” “bastards,” “spivvery”
For top Tories, the hatred of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is v, v real
Kemi Badenoch said today she’d prefer a fresh election to a coalition.
No wonder. The hostility means a tie-up may not be practical even if she wanted it
New: The Tories are considering not unveiling a major social care offer of their own, three shadow cabinet members tell us
Instead, they're banking on Andy Burnham’s proposals falling apart under the heat of scrutiny
“No policy is still a policy," said one
Ultimately, some top Conservatives want a debate about personal responsibility and what the state should be offering
Much more in this piece with @e_casalicchio and @danbloom1 here
politico.eu/article/andy-bur…
New: Nigel Farage will use a speech in the Brexit-backing Labour heartland of Doncaster to start the fightback against Andy Burnham's reignition of the EU debate
“He will talk about Burnham wanting to take us into the Euro, return us to freedom of movement with 500 million people and losing the ability to nationalise key industries,” said one Reform official
More in our story here politico.eu/article/nigel-fa…
Scoop: Justice Secretary Alex Norris is gearing up to water down the Starmer-era plans to curtail jury trials
Doesn’t sound like he’ll be going as far as the big critics want though
More in this morning’s Playbook
Sam Blewett retweeted
EXCL: Farage aide Dan Jukes went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Egypt with pollster JL Partners in December 2025, weeks before the firm released high-impact polls without disclosing that they were financed by Reform.
w/@saschaosullivan
Sam Blewett retweeted
EXCL: Unions are talking about backing a dual system of capping donations, where wealthy individuals *and* unions would each be subject to a cap ... but it would be calculated differently for each group. So unions would face a different cap mechanism to wealthy individuals 👀
Sam Blewett retweeted
Great piece by @BlewettSam (with contribs from me) on Farage's battle to get Reform UK election-ready
🔹 Officials want a list of draft bills ready to go
🔹 But the 100 star candidates aren't "top-drawer" vetted yet
🔹 And there's v little clue who the 400 peers would be
Inside Nigel Farage's battle to get Reform election ready
- c.100 candidates are ready(ish) for final vetting after a bootcamp roadshow
- Yet more ex-Tory defectors could run as Reform MPs
- Plans to publish draft bills to help prevent the Lords blocking their program
Read my deep dive into Reform's attempt to get fighting fit for an election here politico.eu/article/inside-n…
Sam Blewett retweeted
POLITICO also discovered several instances of other pollsters failing to cite their clients. Transparency campaigners have said it is time that polling firms were held to tougher standards.
politico.eu/article/nigel-fa…
Sam Blewett retweeted
EXCL:
JL Partners — the pollster in the Reform donations scandal — carried out other polls where the funder was not declared.
The firm ran surveys in 2022 and 2024 Tory leadership races which received press coverage without disclosing who paid.
w/@saschaosullivan @danbloom1