UK politics live: Half of Labour voters ‘let down’ by Starmer, Jenrick vows he won’t return Tories to centre

Continuing his morning media round, Pat McFadden has said Sue Gray has “not enjoyed” being in the public eye and this has led to her decision to take a break from government.

The senior cabinet office minister told LBC: “I know that she has not enjoyed being a figure in the public eye unlike me, who can come on your programme and speak for myself and answer any of your questions.

“As an official, she can’t do that. Given what she has been through in the last few weeks, she has decided to take a bit of downtime, take a bit of a break, and I quite understand why.”

Asked how long her break would be, Mr McFadden said: “I don’t think it will be long, but let’s give her a bit of space and privacy after somebody who, as I said, can’t speak up for themselves, finding themselves on the front pages of the newspapers in a way that she has not wanted to be.”

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster would not disclose if Ms Gray would continue being paid while she was taking time away from work.

Robert Jenrick has said that any member of his shadow cabinet would be required to commit to his controversial policy of withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should he become the new Tory leader.

Asked if all of his top team would have to sign up for the policy to serve, Mr Jenrick told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Well, it would be one of the stable of Conservative policies, so yes, we would go into the next election with it in our manifesto.”

Robert Jenrick has expressed concern over the Conservative Party’s decision to delay the leadership race until after the Budget announcement on 30 October.

With the winner of the contest not set to be revealed until 2 November, the delay means Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt will be replying for the Opposition.

Mr Jenrick argued that the party made a major miscalculation with the timing.

Asked why he believed that was a mistake, he told the BBC: “I think the Budget is going to be a major moment in British politics and in terms of the debate for the months and years to come.

“I think it would be good for myself or indeed Kemi were she to prevail to be there making the Conservative case and doing what is ultimately the first duty of leader of the opposition which is to provide the strong, articulate, clear case for the opposition in parliament, holding the government to account and it begins on that day.” 

One of the major donors of Kemi Badenoch’s campaign for Tory leadership has been linked to the devastating Grenfell Tower fire that claimed 72 lives.

Councillor Quentin Marshall, a senior figure in the Conservative-controlled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, donated £5,000 to Badenoch’s bid, igniting outrage among survivors and critics.

During his tenure as chair of the council’s housing and property scrutiny committee from 2010 to 2016, he faced allegations of dismissing residents’ concerns about the pre-fire refurbishment as “grossly exaggerated.”

His committee was responsible for monitoring housing services and ensuring compliance with fire safety measures, a task the public inquiry later concluded he and his team “failed” to execute effectively.

Reacting to the reports, Ed Daffarn, a survivor who lived on the 16th floor, said: “I worry that the Conservatives have learned nothing from Grenfell and are promoting policies that put profits before people and ignore the health and safety of residents as we saw at Grenfell with such devastating effects.”

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has admitted that the much-touted £24 billion in green investment across Britain is not necessarily guaranteed.

Speaking to Sky News, Pat McFadden clarified that there is no set “lower band” for private sector commitments.

He said: “You have to go with what it says on the press release, this is what the companies have announced that their intentions are.”

Pressed if this meant there could be no investment in practice, he replied: “No, it won’t be zero, because some of these companies are already investing in the UK as well. We will definitely see more than zero.”

Labour’s vote share since winning power has continued its dramatic slide to less than 30 per cent after voters aged 55 and over abandoned Keir Starmer’s party, new polling has revealed.

The Techne UK weekly tracker poll for The Independent has registered support for Labour falling to 29 per cent down five points from the election and two points below last week.

But with the Tories still undecided on a new leader, they failed to capitalise on Labour’s loss of popularity with a gain of just one point from last week to 24 per cent. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was also up one to 19 per cent.

Our political editor David Maddox has the full story below:

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden has defended former senior aide Sue Gray after skipping a major devolved nations summit.

Doing the morning media round, he said Ms Gray is taking a short break after “going through quite a lot” in recent weeks.

The former chief of staff, who left her position in No 10, is transitioning to her new role as envoy to the nations and regions.

Speaking to Sky News about Ms Gray’s absence from the bilateral with regional and national leaders, Mr McFadden told Sky News: “Sue has been through quite a lot in the last few weeks.

“I worked with her, she is a great colleague. She is taking a short break now and I think we should allow her the time in privacy to do that.”

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has thrown his weight behind Robert Jenrcik in the Tory leadership contest, suggesting the former immigration minister is the party’s strongest candidate to challenge Reform UK.

The former Tory MP, who can still vote in the contest as a party member, said Mr Jenrick is best placed to “converse” with Nigel Farage potentially opening the door to an electoral pact.

He also suggested that Mr Jenrick could “steal Nigel’s clothes” and take on the party leader’s policies to win over right-wing voters.

Mr Rees-Mogg told GB News: “Who do we want to lead us to the next general election? Who do we think can take on the Reverend Starmer?

“Who will be able to converse with Nigel Farage and see where that may go one way or another? Who can steal Nigel’s clothes, if necessary, which may be the best way of going about it?

“Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that that person is Robert Jenrick.”

Mr Jenrick faces Kemi Badenoch in the final stretch, with the winner decided by Conservative Party members on 2 November.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has welcomed the latest GDP figures, celebrating the return of growth to the UK economy.

“Growing the economy is the number one priority of this Government so we can fix the NHS, rebuild Britain and make working people better off,” she said.

Ms Reeves added: “While change will not happen overnight, we are not wasting any time on delivering on the promise of change.

“Next week, hundreds of the world’s biggest businesses will come to Britain as we deliver on our promise to bring investment, growth and jobs back to every part of the country.”

The UK economy saw a boost in August, growing by 0.2 per cent after flatlining in June and July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The growth is a welcome sign for chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the upcoming autumn Budget.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: “All main sectors of the economy grew in August, but the broader picture is one of slowing growth in recent months, compared to the first half of the year.

“In August, accountancy, retail and many manufacturers had strong months while construction also recovered from July’s contraction.

“These were partially offset by falls in wholesaling and oil extraction.”