Cameron: ‘We are the party of the working people’

Above: Cameron’s cabinet

David Cameron will today tell his newly formed cabinet (though with plenty of old faces) that the Conservatives are the ‘party of the working people’, as they meet for the first time post-election.

The prime minister will outline measures that the Tories say will create two million jobs and help people with childcare.

“I want everyone around this table to remember who we’re for,” Mr Cameron will say to his first Conservative-only team.

“Every decision we take, every policy we pursue, every programme we initiate, never forget: we’re here to give everyone in our country the chance to make the most of their life.

“The pundits might call it ‘Blue Collar Conservatism’, others being on the side of hard-working taxpayers.

“I call it being the real party for working people: giving everyone in our country the chance to get on, with the dignity of a job, the pride of a pay-cheque, a home of their own and the security and peace of mind that comes from being able to support a family.

“And just as important – for those that can’t work, the support they need at every stage of their lives.”

Mr Cameron will outline measures to be announced in the Queen’s speech at the end of the month, including reducing the benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 and a new scheme which will see young people with no work experience required to take part in training or work placements or face losing their benefits.

David Cameron rewards EU referendum MP but female promotions appear to tail off

David Cameron has spent the morning before his first cabinet meeting making his junior appointments.

Among them are rewards for James Wharton, the MP behind the private members’ bill paving the way for a referendum on our EU membership which was eventually killed off in the lords. He will be the new Northern Powerhouse minister.

Caroline Dinenage is the under secretary of state at the minister of justice and will also work with Nicky Morgan as the minister for equalities at the DfE. Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary’s previous opposition to gay marriage has meant that she has not held the equalities role her predecessor held.

She is the only woman to be handed a role this morning, despite a day of high profile appointments for women yesterday.

A veterans minister in Mark Lancaster is also appointed.

Other appointments include:

John Penrose a Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office Damian Hinds is to be Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Mark Lancaster is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans Caroline Dinenage is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice. She is also Minister for Equalities at DfE Ben Wallace is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office Andrew Jones is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport James Wharton is the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Northern Powerhouse) Ben Wallace is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office Rory Stewart is to be Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DEFRA Justin Tomlinson is to be Minister for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions. Damian Hinds is to be Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

Vince Cable personally thanks hundreds of supporters

He was one of the shock scalps taken in the general election – Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham for 18 years.

The former business secretary has been inundated with messages of support from well-wishers on Twitter – and has spent the days since the election personally responding to them all.

@TrevorAston Hi Trevor. That's very kind. With best wishes, Vince.

— Vince Cable (@vincecable) May 11, 2015

@Fihumphries Hi, thank you for your tweet and such kind words. Much appreciated. With best wishes, Vince.

— Vince Cable (@vincecable) May 10, 2015

@MarkSomers Thank you Mark for your kind words. Best wishes. Vince.

— Vince Cable (@vincecable) May 11, 2015

@SunitaDaviesF1 Sunita. It has truly been a honour to serve Twickenham since 1997. Thank you for your kind words. Best wishes, Vince.

— Vince Cable (@vincecable) May 9, 2015

By the Channel 4 News count he has replied to almost 400 people since Friday.

New Science minister knows nothing about science, his dad reveals

Stanley Johnson, the father of Boris Johnson and the new science minister Jo Johnson, was rather too candid last night when an LBC radio presenter told him the news of his son Jo’s new job.

Speaking to Iain Dale he declared: “Good heavens, I don’t think he knows anything about science! … He certainly knows the Latin for a lot of things…”

Chuka Umunna is favourite with bookies for next Labour leader

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Odds this morning from odd checker

According to the bookies this morning Chuka Umunna, the MP for Streatham and shadow business secretary is the favourite to become the next Labour leader.

He is closely followed by Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper who have long been tipped as probably contenders after Ed Miliband stood down after a “very disappointing and difficult” election night.

Mr Burnham and Ms Cooper have been central figures in the party for over a decade assuming office in 2001 and 1997 respectively and both holding cabinet positions in the last Labour government.

Mr Umunna, meanwhile, is a relatively new kid on the block elected to Parliament in 2010. however this weekend Lord Mandelson, Tony Blair’s business secretary, appeared to endorse the idea of Mr Umunna as a candidate. He also took the opportunity to write his two cents in the Observer just three days after the loss – appearing under the headline “Where Labour went wrong – and what we must do to put it right”.

The field has been further opened up by the failure of Ed Balls to win his seat on election night possibly clearing the way for his wife, Ms Cooper, the shadow home secretary to make a strong leadership bid.

According to the bookies Tristram Hunt the privately educated former journalist and historian is also in the running. As is Liz Kendall, the first Labour MP to declare as a candidate.

Patrick Worrall tells me what this actually means for my money:

The big thing to remember is that you get your stake back as well if you win.

So £10 on David Miliband at 33 to 1 is £330 plus your tenner back = £340.

Here are a few of the odds in that chart. Stake is always £10.

Chuka at 15/8 is a £28.75 win

Andy Burnham at 11/4 gets you £27.50

Yvette Cooper @ 11/2 equals £65.00

David Miliband @ 33/1 = £340.

Chuka Umunna Announces Labour Leadership Bid

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna has announced that he is running for leader of the Labour party.

He has used a video on his Facebook profile to announce his plans to be leader of the party here.

Speaking from Swindon he says that he has “no truck” with the idea that it will take 10 years to rebuild the Labour party in five years.

“I want to lead that effort as part of a really big Labour team getting Labour back into office”.

Twitter is also discussing the decision to use Facebook – and a shaky iPhone video – to announce his candidacy, rather than a more traditional political interview.

Chuka Can: Chuka Umunna’s new campaign slogan?

David Cameron invites in the cameras to his first majority cabinet

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

David Cameron hosts the first cabinet meeting with his new cabinet in Downing Street 

And don’t they look happy to be Lib Dem free.

He says a majority Conservative Government has the mandate to deliver the entire Conservative manifesto and get all their “bread and butter” issues through.

He tells them, and the broadcasters cameras: “This will be a different government, it’s not a coalition government, so we will be properly accountable. When you vote for something you get it.”

Losing MPs: What it’s like to clear your desk while everyone around you celebrates

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

There is a very moving article in the Guardian about what happens to MPs forced to clear their desks when they have lost, even as their party celebrates jubilantly down the hall. Worth a read.

This bit is about Lee Scott who lost his seat with a surprise 589 seats going to his opponent.

Scott’s voice wobbles a little as he speaks. “It’s been probably one of the worst periods I’ve ever experienced,” he says. “It’s like a bereavement. I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve shed a lot of tears.” As we are speaking, the Conservatives in committee room 14 are banging the desks in scenes that Boris Johnson will later describe as “orgiastic”. Is Scott sticking around to say his goodbyes? “I think I just want to get out and get home,” he says. “I need to lick my wounds. I can’t explain it … I didn’t anticipate losing, but I thought I would be OK if I did. But it’s nothing like I thought it would be.”

Dominic Raab: Tory rebel is brought back into the fold

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Mr Raab, who has been rather a thorn in Mr Cameron’s side with rebellions over human rights laws has been brought into the ministry of justice under the leadership of Michael Gove.

Last year David Cameron was forced to rely on Lib Dems and Labour to block Mr Raab’s an amendment intended to make it harder for foreign criminals to avoid deportation – even though Mr Cameron had said the plan was unlawful.

In the end moer than 90 Conservative MPs voted for it.

His introduction into the department of justice could be an effort at keeping your enemies, or at least one of your most wayward critics, close or it could be a signal that the Government is getting serious on it’s manifesto pledge to scrap the human rights act and replace it with a British bill of rights.

In case we were in any doubt…

New Labour MPs arrive in Westminster

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Harriet Harman welcomes the 53 new Labour MPs to Westminster today. Her main message is the role that they will play in “opposing a Tory government”.

65 per cent of Labour’s new MPs are women and they range in age from the 20s to their 60s.

Ms Harman said: “They bring with them a wealth of experience. Going forward they have an important job as new members of the Parliamentary Labour Party – holding the Tory Government to account, whilst fighting hard to stand up for the people in the communities they represent”

Labour deputy leadership contests

• Rhodri Jones Head of Home News

A strange feature of Labour Deputy leadership contests in modern times is that they almost always resolve to the same demographic clash: a more middle-class, more right-on woman, usually with a background in the party’s left; against a more working-class, regional man with a union background.

Stella Creasy on the campaign trail in Walthamstowe, she has said she is ‘open’ to the idea of going for deputy leader

Margaret Beckett beat John Prescott (former RMT Official) in 1992, then he beat her two years later; Harriet Harman beat Alan Johnson (former head of CWU) in 2007, and now we have Tom Watson (former official of a predecessor of UNITE) against Stella Creasy.

Whether this is a coincidence, a basic division in Labour ranks, or two key target demographics for them, or perhaps all three, isn’t clear.

Tom Watson is actively campaigning for deputy leader of the Labour party

Look who’s back

Larry the Downing Street cat is stroked by a police officer

Larry the Downing Street cat sits on the step after David Cameron was returned to No 10. last week

Nigel Farage to try and become and MP for the eighth time?

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

The UKIP leader, whose post-election resignation was rejected by the party on Monday, will make an eighth attempt at becoming an MP when a “viable seat” becomes available.

Mr Farage, who is still an MEP, failed to win a seat in South Thanet last week.

Douglas Carswell has refused to endorse Mr Farage’s return as leader saying in a Conservative Home event on Monday: “I heard about the unresignation on, I think Twitter, or whatever. You’ll need to ask me about it later, I’m not going to talk about that now.”

Meanwhile Mr Farage has denied that he was behind the events that saw him tender his resignation and then withdraw it on Monday.

Ukip deny suggestion that party is no unanimous in wish for Nigel Farage to return

• Georgia Graham georgia.graham@itn.co.uk

Nigel Farage resigns as Ukip leader on Friday before withdrawing his resignation on Monday

Ukip chairman Steve Crowther has, in the last minutes, issued a statement saying that there is “not the slightest suggestion that the NEC was anything other than unanimous in its wish for Nigel to withdraw his resignation.”

“He spent a considerable time making the case for his resignation, and the appointment of an interim leader, but there was no-one in the committee who did not want him to stay on.

He left the room while it was further discussed. I took the views of members and they unanimously asked him to remain as leader.

“The NEC is 100% behind Nigel as we go forward into the referendum campaign which is already underway.”

Youngest Tory in parliament

Angus Robertson officially appointed SNP’s Westminster Leader

David Lammy is confused for Sierra Leone politician

David Lammy has posted a local news story about whether he would consider going for Ed Miliband’s job as Labour leader.

However it is not the eye catching headline that has perturbed him.

“If anyone knows who this guy is please let him know he’s now the MP for Tottenham”, he writes.

The Tottenham and Wood Green Independent which had a picture of Julius Maada Bio underneath the headline: “MP David Lammy considers taking Ed Miliband’s job as Labour leader”.

The real David Lammy

David Lidington remains Europe minister

Unions in chaos over role in vote for new Labour leader

Labour’s affiliated trades unions look pretty bewildered today over what role they’ll play in the election of a new Labour leader.

Constitutionally, there’s no longer an electoral college in which trade unions play a big part, as they famously have done in leadership elections over the last 35 years.

But union members could still play a decisive role in the contest.  I stress the word “could”.

The level of trade union involvement could be determined by when exactly the contest is held. especially after 2010 when Ed Miliband secured his election through union members outvoting MPs and ordinary members.

Keep reading

Michael Dugher: Labour lost because we had too many pointy-heads and too few street fighters.

Michael Dugher was Ed Miliband’s vice-chair of the Labour party but he’s not holding back on the criticism of how last month’s election campaign was run.

He told the New Statesman: “I know that, personally. If you’d have asked me aged ten what I wanted . . . I would have said I would’ve liked my parents to be able to afford a car; I would’ve liked us to go on a foreign holiday.

“We lived in a warm, loving house, but it was quite a small house for six people, and I might have liked my own bedroom. That’s working-class aspiration.”

He added: “I’ve always thought that politics is 90 per cent emotion. All parties need a combination of people with different talents and reaches. Ed was very intellectual, he had a brilliant brain; he felt that ideas were the most important thing in politics.

“And he’s right. But I sometimes felt that he surrounded himself with too many people who were socially just like him: all living within a stone’s throw of each other in north London, all had been to the same university, and all kind of intellectual ­academics . . .”

Douglas Carswell clashes with Ukip officials over money

By Rachel Anderson

Senior Ukip figures are doing battle over the money their four million votes in the General Election will bring them.

As a major party, Ukip will be entitled to £650,000 of what’s known as Short money which goes to opposition parties to help finance their backroom operations.

On Monday Douglas Carswell, the party’s only MP, was approached by the party secretary with a plan to recruit 15 staff.

Sources say that the plan was dismissed out of hand as Mr Carswell is not an “American senator” and sees no need to spend that kind of money on staffing when there is only one MP to serve at Westminster.

Instead there is a more to make sure much of money should be returned to the taxpayer to help constituents who can’t afford train fares and other basics.

Mr Carswell is believed to be determined to differentiate himself from the image of a gravy train politician taking allowances from Brussels because they are available and instead wants to make sure everything is done “by the book”.

How unions could swing the Labour leadership

• Michael Crick Political Correspondent

Labour’s affiliated trades unions are undecided over what role they will play in the election of a new Labour leader.

Michael Crick takes a look at how the voting process works:

Read more here.

Cameron reaches out to the shy – or self-loathing – Tories

• Gary Gibbon Political Editor

David Cameron says the Tories would become “the real party of working people”, as ministers welcomed the Prime Minister into the Cabinet room for his first speech reaching out to MPs since his re-election.

Read more here.

Sajid Javid brushes aside business concerns over EU referendum

• Siobhan Kennedy Business Editor

Sajid Javid, the new Business Secretary appears to dismiss business concerns over a potential Brexit, saying the most important thing was to press ahead with a renegotiation and an in/out referendum.

Read more here.