Noah Keate

Please mind the ballots POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K. By NOAH KEATE and MASON BOYCOTT-OWEN Tips, gossip, state secrets and coffee requests @johnjohnstonmi or jjo…

I interviewed Electoral Commission Chief Executive Vijay Rangarajan in this week's @politico.eu London Influence. He told me mis/disinformation were primary forms of overseas election interference which left them worried going into next May's polls.
www.politico.eu/newsletter/p...

I feel your pain having experienced something similar last week. Was repeatedly called 'madam' even after I'd made it clear many, many times I wasn't.

PMQs: Badenoch leaves Starmer stumped on post-budget turbulence The Tory leader pressed the prime minister on the political ripples from Rachel Reeves’ financial statement — and put Starmer on the back foot.

My first @politico.eu #PMQs scorecard of December after helping with morning Playbook gave Kemi Badenoch victory. The Tory leader clearly poked holes in the turbulent budget aftermath — while Starmer had some emotive rhetoric, he was on the back foot.
www.politico.eu/article/pmqs...

⚖️ IN LONDON PLAYBOOK PM TONIGHT ...

⚖️ Labour must convince its own MPs on proposed court reforms

⚖️ Vote looms tonight on farm tax — what will Labour dissenters do?

⚖️ Lords Speaker manifestos, via @noahkeate.bsky.social

⚖️ Read and subscribe (free) here: www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

Thank you Mary, I'm sure he'd deservedly heard it a million times before. :) Happy December to you all!

London Playbook PM: Thank Hughes very much Presented by Microsoft By EMILIO CASALICCHIO with NOAH KEATE PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser Good afternoon. This is Emilio Casalicchi…

Read more in this afternoon’s @politico.eu London Playbook PM, expertly crafted by @ecasalicchio.bsky.social with all the analysis about Richard Hughes’ resignation … and what it means for the OBR/Treasury.

www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

This afternoon, I interviewed Gurpreet Singh Johal, the brother of Jagtar Singh Johal, who’s been imprisoned in India since 2017. He told me his meeting with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper today was a “backwards step” that felt like talking to a brick wall.

Resisted the temptation to say ‘Love Four Weddings and a Funeral’ while in the same Tube carriage as, er, Hugh Grant. Fellow passengers very polite, am sure lots recognised him but allowed the great actor to complete his journey in peace.

Helping with London Playbook for some of this week after admiring the landscape in Ravenscourt Park and by the Thames. The hours of daylight may be getting shorter but the sky is particularly majestic and serene at this time of year.

Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance and For the Many are the four prospective names 50,000 members of ‘Your Party’ will choose between at their inaugural conference in Liverpool.

Jeremy Corbyn will announce the result on Sunday afternoon.

After my scoop announcing parliament's security guards were likely to strike on New Year's Eve, do read my longer @politico.eu piece about why the people responsible for protecting Britain's democracy are so fed up with their working conditions.

www.politico.eu/article/uk-h...

The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.

Stardust. The Israeli-U.S. company with a strange and totally real plan to block out the sun and reverse global warming.

Reporting this story involved a complete relearning of what I thought I knew about the climate future.

w/@corbinhiar.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Grabbing the grassroots POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K. By JOHN JOHNSTON Tips, gossip, state secrets and coffee requests @johnjohnstonmi or jjohnston@politico.co.u…

Wow. Labour MPs are starting super-early on a strategy that some Tory MPs told us (#BGEbook) had saved their bacon in 2024!

'A Labour MP [says] that while their approach is “local, local, local” they will “only mention the PM or chancellor if I develop a desire to find out what losing feels like.”'

London Playbook PM: Chancer chancellor Presented by The London P&I Club By EMILIO CASALICCHIO with NOAH KEATE PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser Good afternoon. This is Em…

Read more information plus everything you need to know about the budget (including *that* leak) in Playbook PM magnificently anchored by the legendary @ecasalicchio.bsky.social.

www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

SCOOP: Parliamentary Security Department employees in the PCS union are likely to strike on New Year's Eve if their long running dispute with the house authorities isn't resolved after walking out today.

Many passholders & guests watch the New Year fireworks from the Terrace.👇

UK budget leaks early in ‘unprecedented’ blunder Crucial Office for Budget Responsibility analysis on Rachel Reeves’ plans available online before the chancellor’s budget statement.

The Chancellor announced a plethora of policies at the budget. But what are people going to remember? The OBR's analysis, which included the key policies, being published online *before* she started speaking. Our writeup of the leak and key policies here.
www.politico.eu/article/uk-b...

Must say Nus Ghani is doing an excellent job chairing the budget. A good audition for the next Commons Speaker election?

NEW: Crossbench peer Deborah Bull is expected to go up against Association of Conservative Peers Chair Michael Forsyth to replace John McFall as Lord Speaker.

One Tory peer admitted Forsyth was a “political animal” … but some Labour peers admire his reverence for tradition.

The call before the storm Presented by The London P&I Club By SAM BLEWETT with BETHANY DAWSON PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser Good Tuesday morning. This is…

Read more in today’s London Playbook

www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

NEW: Crossbench peer Deborah Bull is expected to go up against Association of Conservative Peers Chair Michael Forsyth to replace John McFall as Lord Speaker.

One Tory peer admitted Forsyth was a “political animal” … but some Labour peers admire his reverence for tradition.

The call before the storm Presented by The London P&I Club By SAM BLEWETT with BETHANY DAWSON PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser Good Tuesday morning. This is…

Read more in today’s London Playbook

www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

NEW: Crossbench peer Deborah Bull is expected to go up against Association of Conservative Peers Chair Michael Forsyth to replace John McFall as Lord Speaker.

One Tory peer admitted Forsyth was a “political animal” … but some Labour peers admire his reverence for tradition.

Congratulations Henry!

Teal skies thinking POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K. By NOAH KEATE and JOHN JOHNSTON Tips, gossip, state secrets and coffee requests @johnjohnstonmi or jjohnsto…

Do read this week’s London Influence for my interview with Jonathan Brown, who’s CEO of the brand new Centre for a Better Britain think tank. Though independent from Reform UK, there’s plenty of overlap in their diagnosis on what’s wrong with the UK.

www.politico.eu/newsletter/p...

PMQs: Starmer keeps quiet on pre-budget tax speculation Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch laid into the communications carnage around the budget — but Starmer criticized her own record in the Treasury.

If you missed #PMQs this week, don't worry. There was nothing to write home about ... but I had a go anyway in our @politico.eu scorecard. Do have a read so you can vicariously experience the largely unremarkable shenanigans for yourself.
www.politico.eu/article/pmqs...

A list of all the Labour MPs criticising Shabana Mahmood's immigration proposals Opposition to the government's asylum reforms is spreading beyond the usual suspects

The New Statesman (www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...) and Spectator (www.spectator.co.uk/article/full...) both have lists tracking all the Labour MPs who've criticised the government's immigration plans ... and this is *before* Shabana Mahmood speaks in the Commons.

Weeks where decades happen Presented by Lloyds Banking Group By NOAH KEATE PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Subscribe for free | Listen to Sunday Crunch and view in your browser Good Sunday afternoon. This is Noah Keate, in the…

Yours truly was flying the Sunday Crunch plane this weekend while the mighty @masonboyowen.bsky.social had a well-earned rest. Do read to see the government's immigration plans, Labour leadership rumblings, budget speculation part 94 and Auntie's war with the Donald.

www.politico.eu/newsletter/s...

🚨 IN LONDON PLAYBOOK PM TONIGHT ...

🚨 SCOOP: Labour MPs reckon Starmer/Reeves "bottled" the budget

🚨 One said the pair “put short-term survival before national interest. Which is pretty unforgivable.”

🚨 One left fuming after businesses hold investment over flip-flopping

Peers across parties were frustrated about the insufficient time to scrutinize the assisted dying bill. Chief Whip Roy Kennedy said no government time would be allocated — restricting it to five hours on Fridays.

My analysis in this arvo's Playbook PM 👇

www.politico.eu/newsletter/l...

Starmer and Reeves ditch Budget plan to increase income tax rates Chancellor explores alternative ways to raise revenue to fill fiscal hole estimated at up to £30bn

Big scoop by my colleagues, this: