Katy Balls

Katy Balls is Diary Editor at The Spectator.

Now what? The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast

24 July 2021 9:00 am

The government’s Covid optimism is fading fast

Boris Johnson's sombre 'freedom day' press conference

20 July 2021 7:14 am

On the day that nearly all legal Covid restrictions go, one could be forgiven for presuming ministers would be in the…

Boris Johnson's plan for 'freedom day'

6 July 2021 5:12 pm

Four weeks later than planned, ministers are preparing to lift nearly all Covid restrictions from 19 July. This afternoon, Boris…

Sajid Javid's optimistic Covid forecast

29 June 2021 3:04 am

Sajid Javid used his first appearance at the despatch box since his appointment as Health Secretary to paint an optimistic…

Will Sajid Javid champion the end of Covid restrictions?

28 June 2021 5:37 pm

As the row over Matt Hancock’s relationship with his married adviser Gina Coladangelo continues to dominate the news, attention in…

Johnson vs Sunak: The political battle of the autumn?

21 June 2021 7:27 pm

As ministers grow increasingly confident that they will be able to unlock by 19 July, Boris Johnson is facing a…

Revealed: How the UK-Australia deal was struck

20 June 2021 11:00 am

The UK’s first bespoke trade deal agreed since leaving the EU was finalised with Australia over two dinners. One took…

The biggest danger to Boris comes from the enemies within

19 June 2021 9:00 am

Boris Johnson’s predecessor was destroyed by her inability to meet deadlines. Theresa May extended the Brexit transition period so many…

The political advantages of the UK-Australia trade deal

16 June 2021 8:50 am

The UK government has agreed its first bespoke trade deal since leaving the EU. After Boris Johnson met with Australian…

Boris Johnson delays the end of lockdown

15 June 2021 9:01 am

Boris Johnson has this evening confirmed that he will delay the lifting of all Covid restrictions by four weeks to…

What Tory MPs fear most about a lockdown delay

15 June 2021 12:37 am

As Boris Johnson prepares to announce a four-week delay to the final stage out of lockdown, he faces a mixed reaction.…

The ‘sausage war’ escalates between the UK and EU

10 June 2021 1:47 am

Any hope that a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol could be found ahead of the G7 summit have been…

Boris clamps down on foreign travel over Covid variant fears

4 June 2021 3:10 am

Those hoping for a holiday abroad this summer were dealt a blow this afternoon with the announcement of the government’s…

Scotland is open – and desperate for English tourists

29 May 2021 9:00 am

Scotland is open – and desperate for English tourists

What will Cummings say?

24 May 2021 6:14 pm

As the government puts the final touches to its social distancing review and Foreign Office ministers ponder the best response…

Can Boris’s roadmap survive the Indian variant?

22 May 2021 9:00 am

The roadmap out of lockdown is the signature document of Boris Johnson’s new team in No. 10. It’s intended to…

Labour recriminations begin: Angela Rayner sacked as party chairman

9 May 2021 5:06 am

The local election results are not over yet but the recriminations in Labour over the party’s bad results are already well…

Andy Burnham makes life more difficult for Starmer

9 May 2021 3:40 am

As Keir Starmer spends the weekend working out how exactly to bounce back from disappointing results for his party in the…

How much trouble is Starmer in?

7 May 2021 4:54 pm

Keir Starmer is facing a rocky few days as the party’s results from the local elections start to come in.…

How the Goveites took charge of No. 10

1 May 2021 9:00 am

But can they restrain the PM?

Can Boris Johnson's green makeover woo red wall voters?

23 April 2021 12:15 am

COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference due to be held in Glasgow, isn’t until November, but work is already…

Boris scraps daily White House-style briefings

21 April 2021 3:15 am

Boris Johnson has axed plans for televised White House-style press conferences. The announcement came six months after Allegra Stratton was unveiled…

Why Boris was so reluctant to cancel his India trip

20 April 2021 2:52 am

Just a few hours after Boris Johnson confirmed that his trip to India had been postponed, the country has been placed…

The green games: the Prime Minister’s big plan to rebrand Britain

17 April 2021 9:00 am

Boris Johnson’s Olympic ambitions for the COP26 summit

Johnson takes the next step out of lockdown

6 April 2021 3:05 am

When Boris Johnson first unveiled his roadmap out of lockdown, there was a promise of an end to restrictions by 21…