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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

No 10 rules out starting Commons summer recess before new PM takes office - live news

Theresa May laying a wreath during the Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Bayeux, France, today.
Theresa May laying a wreath during the Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at Bayeux, France, today. Photograph: Neil Hall/POOL/EPA

Afternoon summary

  • Downing Street has said the new prime minister will get to face MPs before they leave for their summer recess, squashing speculation that the parliamentary holiday could start early to minimise the risk of Theresa May’s successor facing an immediate no confidence vote. (See 4.08pm.) Number 10 has also insisted that May will stand down as soon as her successor is chosen, despite an earlier briefing suggesting that she might delay if there were a risk of the person replacing her not being able to command the confidence of the Commons. (See 3.24pm.)

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Here is Rory Stewart, the international development secretary and Tory leadership contender, stressing his commitment to localism.

This is a more sophisticated version of the point that Joan Ryan was trying to make in her cringeworthy “look at your hands” speech during the European elections. It is also reminiscent of the title David Cameron gave his 2010 manifesto: Invitation to Join the Government of Britain.

Earlier I said there was little evidence that EU leaders would be willing to make changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement of the kind demanded by Michael Gove and almost all the other Tory leadership contenders. (See 12.31pm.) That remains a fair overall assessment but, in an interesting Twitter thread, the BBC’s Europe editor Katya Adler says some EU figures are starting to contemplate alternative approaches. The 14-post thread starts here.

And here are some of her main main points.

No 10 slaps down Hammond over £1tr cost claim about cutting net emissions to zero

Downing Street has very firmly, if indirectly, reprimanded Philip Hammond for arguing that a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 would cost the country £1tn, money which could otherwise have been spent on public services.

In a letter to Theresa May, leaked to the Financial Times, the chancellor argued that the target could see some industries become “economically uncompetitive”.

In a robust response, May’s spokeswoman dismissed Hammond’s line of argument, while officially insisting this was a general point, and not directed particularly at the chancellor.

No 10 believe Hammond is, in economic terms, comparing apples and oranges by both treating an all-economy cost as if it was just a government spend, and failing to take account the benefits such a policy would bring, or accounting for the costs of failing to act. Downing Street also says any predicted cost would be bound to fall over time.

The spokeswoman said:

Obviously, I’m not getting into the contents of the letter, but broadly there are a lot of figures out there on this issue that don’t factor in the benefits or consider the costs of not doing this. I would add that the costs related to meeting this target are whole-of-the-economy costs, not a fiscal cost, and so it’s not really right to frame it as a trade-off for public spending. I think that’s important to set out.

Asked if Hammond was thus being misleading, she added:

I just set out the way we believe this should be framed. I’m not going to talk about the specifics of a leak, but I think I’ve been pretty clear in the position from the PM.

Updated

This is what the Downing Street spokeswoman said about how the government has ruled out starting the summer recess before the new prime minister has been elected. She said:

I fully expect that the house will ensure it is sitting when a new prime minister is appointed. Then it’s a matter for the house, after that, what activity or action it chooses to take.

No 10 rules out starting Commons summer recess before new PM takes offce

Downing Street has answered the question that Mel Stride, the leader of the Commons, was dodging during business questions this morning (see 11.36am), my colleague Peter Walker reports. He is just back from the afternoon lobby, where journalists were told the government is not planning to start recess before the new PM takes office.

The Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has told Sky News that, if she were prime minister, she would rule out proroguing parliament to facilitate a no-deal Brexit. She said:

It’s certainly not something I would seek to do. I’m passionate about parliament democracy.

Leadsom admitted she had taken legal advice on this topic when she was leader of the Commons, but that was only because she wanted to understand the implications of this option, not because she was planning to pursue it, she said.

Last month Jesse Norman, the Treasury minister, announced that he was considering standing for the Conservative leadership. After consulting his constituents, he has decided against.

But that has not stopped him drawing up a mini-manifesto. He has set it out in a 16-post Twitter thread, starting here.

Tory leadership candidates are considering which television debates to take part in, as campaign teams weigh up the risks of derailing their bids to be the next prime minister with an unpredictable live television appearance, my colleague Jim Waterson reports.

No 10 retracts suggestion May could delay resignation until she is sure her successor has confidence of Commons

Downing Street has been in touch to say that the comments from the prime minister’s spokesman at lobby this morning (see 12.46pm) have been over-interpreted. A source said that there was “no question of the prime minister hanging around beyond the Conservative leadership contest”. The source said that when the spokesman talked about May needing to be able to tell the Queen that her successor could command the confidence of the Commons, he was just setting out the language used as a formality, not flagging up May’s intention to make this an issue.

That does not mean that this might not become an issue. But when I asked the Number 10 source what might happen if Boris Johnson’s election as leader coincided with a group of 10 or so Tories announcing they would vote with Labour to bring down the government to stop a no-deal Brexit, the source would not speculate on this scenario. But he said May did not intend to hang around, and the briefing this morning was not meant to suggest otherwise.

Updated

Brexit - 'It'll all work out,' says Trump

As my colleague Matthew Weaver reports on his D-day commemorations live blog, President Trump has been talking about Brexit at a press conference with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. He said it would “all work out” - although he did not explain how. He told journalists:

That’s really going to be between the UK and the European Union. And they’re working very hard. I know they’re working very hard together, it doesn’t seem to be working out. But at some point, something will happen one way or the other, it’ll all work out.

From left: Melania Trump, President Trump, President Macron and Brigitte Macron inspecting a map during the D-day commemorations in Normandy.
From left: Melania Trump, President Trump, President Macron and Brigitte Macron inspecting a map during the D-day commemorations in Normandy. Photograph: POOL/Reuters

Lunchtime summary

  • Downing Street has said Theresa May will not resign as prime minister until she is sure her successor can command the confidence of the House of Commons. (See 12.46pm.) The declaration came as Mel Stride, the new leader of the Commons suggested that the government may try to send MPs on holiday for the summer recess before the winner of the Conservative leadership contest is announced. (See 11.36am.) During business questions in the Commons opposition MPs and some Tories said the recess should not start until the new prime minister has had the chance to face parliament following his or her appointment, which is due in the week beginning Monday 22 July. But Stride refused to give this commitment. Even with the DUP, the government only has a working majority of around six. Normally when a new prime minister takes over without a general election there is no immediate vote of confidence. But there is speculation that if the Tories were to elect someone like Boris Johnson, committed to taking the UK out of the EU by October with or without a deal, some Tories opposed to a no-deal could decide to vote with the opposition in a no confidence debate to stop this happening. May would not have to wait for such a vote to take place before resigning as PM, but the Number 10 comments today show she would not want to hand over to a successor if she thought there was a realistic chance of the new PM being defeated immediately on a motion of no confidence.

UPDATE: Downing Street subsequently said its briefing had been misunderstood. See 3.24pm.

  • John Bercow, the Commons speaker, has signalled that he would fight any attempt by a new prime minister to prorogue parliament to prevent MPs being able to block a no-deal Brexit. Last night Dominic Raab refused to rule out using this as a tactic if he won the Tory leadership contest. But when the idea was raised in the Commons, Mel Stride, the leader of the Commons, stressed his disapproval. He said that decisions about proroguing parliament were ultimately a matter for the Queen, and he went on:

I think Her Majesty should be kept out of the politics of our parliament, and I am sure that matter will be in the forefront for those who toy with such decisions in the future.

Bercow also indicated that he would oppose any plan of this kind. He told MPs:

One thing we all know, because I have said it myself several times ... is that parliament will not be evacuated from the centre stage of the decision-making process on this important matter. That is simply not going to happen; it is so blindingly obvious that it almost does not need to be stated—but apparently it does and therefore I have done.

Matt Hancock, a leadership candidate, has challenged all his rivals to rule out proroguing parliament to facilitate a no-deal Brexit.

  • Michael Gove, the environment secretary and a Tory leadership candidate, has published his plan for Brexit, warning that Boris Johnson’s commitment to taking the UK out of the EU by the end of October in all circumstances could trigger a general election. (See 9.30am and 12.31pm.)
  • Sam Gyimah, the former minister who is standing as a longshot candidate for the Tory leadership, has accused his male rivals of “Trumpian machismo” in thinking they could get a better Brexit deal than Theresa May. In an interview with Bloomberg he said:

You’ve got chest-beating men saying they could do what Theresa May failed to do. They’re saying they could go and renegotiate in a Trump way and get a better deal ...

We’re where we are not for want of trying. The British government has spent the last two and a half years negotiating with the EU. Most of these candidates who say they’ll get a better deal have been in the cabinet during that time. They’ve approved or been involved in every step of the negotiation of Brexit. So it’s hard to believe that now they can do what working with Theresa May they couldn’t deliver.

Gyimah, who is calling for a second referendum on Brexit, has almost no support in the parliamentary party for his candidature and will probably be eliminated before voting starts on the grounds he does not have enough endorsements.

  • One betting company has reduced the odds on Labour winning today’s Peterborough byelection on the basis of bets placed this morning. The Brexit party are still the favourites, but Betway is pricing Labour at 3/1, down from 7/1 earlier this week and 5/1 first thing this morning. Betway’s Alan Ager said:

All the money has been for Labour since polling stations opened in Peterborough this morning. Though the Brexit party are still widely expected to pick up their first seat in the Commons, this now looks a more closely-run contest than previously thought.

Labour are into just 3/1, having been as big as 7/1 earlier this week and 5/1 this morning, while the Brexit Party have been eased out to 1/4 from what looked a nailed-on win at 1/10.

Updated

Brexiters should not talk about a 'vassal state', says Gove

And while we’re on the subject of Michael Gove, the Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, who interviewed Gove at a public event last night, has a very good write-up of what was said here.

Speaking to the Spectator, Gove stressed another difference between himself and Boris Johnson, his main rival for the Tory leadership. (See 10.10am.) Johnson has claimed, more than once, that an unsatisfactory Brexit deal could turn the UK into a “vassal state”. But Gove said he disapproved of this language. He said:

One thing that I think is wrong about the debate is people use words like “vassal state” and “treachery”, “traitor”. William Joyce – Lord HawHaw – was a traitor. You are not a traitor if you disagree with me about Europe. You are a patriot who expresses a different point of view.”

Gove has clearly given up any hope of getting votes from European Research Group Tories. Amongst ERG types, banging on about a “vassal state” is almost obligatory in any discussion of a soft Brexit.

Interestingly, on the Today programme this morning Fraser said that two Tory leadership candidates (he did not say who) had told him that, if they got to the final two and it were obvious that Boris Johnson were going to win, they could pull out of the contest to speed up his election. This is what Andrea Leadsom did in 2016. We’ve all been assuming that the Tories will not have a new leader until the end of July, but Fraser’s revelation raises the possibility that the process could wrap up much sooner.

Boris Johnson could avoid facing an immediate confidence vote in his premiership if he becomes Conservative leader, as ministers are considering whether to send MPs home early for their summer break before the new prime minister is announced.

Mel Stride, the new leader of the House of Commons, aroused suspicions that the Conservatives are plotting to put off a confidence vote for their new leader until September, as he refused to confirm when recess will start. (See 11.36am.)

He said it was “not necessarily” the case that the new Conservative leader would have to appear in front of parliament before MPs go off on holiday until the autumn.

Ministers appear to be trying to get round the threat of a new Conservative leader failing to be able to form a government, if Johnson or one of the other frontrunners to succeed Theresa May loses the support of some Tory MPs or cannot win over the Democratic Unionist party.

Labour sources said they believe the government whips are planning recess to start potentially as early as July 19 – almost a week earlier than last year – while the Conservatives will not say exactly when the winner of their leadership contest will be announced, other than it will be in the week of July 22.

The move to delay a confidence vote until September would give a new leader the chance to ensure its confidence and supply deal with the DUP still stands.

However, it could mean that Theresa May would not be able to go to Buckingham Palace straight away and resign as prime minister. Her spokesman said May would only hand over the keys to No 10 when “she says to the Queen that she is stepping aside and believes that someone else can command the confidence of the House”.

UPDATE: Downing Street has subsequently clarified what the spokesman meant, saying that May has no intention of staying in office after the leadership contest is over. (See 3.24pm.)

Updated

Gove's Brexit plan - Analysis

In his Mail article Michael Gove sets out a seven-point Brexit strategy. Here are his seven proposals in his own words. I’ve added numbers, and bold type, but otherwise the text is as it is in the Gove article. Underneath each point I’ve posted a critique.

Overall, it is remarkable how little he has to add to what Theresa May has already tried.

1 - “A Conservative, politician-led, negotiating team. I will make sure MPs across the party are involved in shaping our negotiating stance and we have proper leadership in the direct talks with Brussels. My policy unit will be our parliamentary party.”

Analysis: For the last three years the UK has had a Conservative, politician-led negotiating team. It is called the cabinet. This paragraph reflects the Brexiter myth that the flaws in Britain’s Brexit strategy are all the fault of Olly Robbins, the PM’s chief Brexit adviser, who is a civil servant, but who does work for the prime minister. Gove’s promise to use the parliamentary party as his “policy unit” sounds like something that will appeal to MPs, who decide the final two in the Tory leadership contest, but it is not practical, given how divided the parliamentary party is. And does he really want to contract policy-making out to the European Research Group?

2 - “We need a new approach to Northern Ireland – a union guarantee. That means listening to our unionist friends in Northern Ireland who want to see a so-called ‘Stormont Lock’ which would guarantee in international law that there won’t be any difference in laws across the UK unless the Northern Ireland assembly and executive agrees. I will also personally lead the talks to get devolved government back up and running in Northern Ireland.”

Analysis: Gove seems to have forgotten that the government has already published, in January, plans for a so-called ‘Stormont lock’ (pdf) that would ensure no regulatory divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland under the backstop. And in March, in her speech before the second vote on her deal, Theresa May explicitly promised to legislate for these proposals. Gove’s promise to personally lead talks to get power-sharing restored in Northern Ireland would mark a difference from May, who has been relatively disengaged from this process, but his intervention might not be helpful. Gove opposed the Good Friday agreement, and in the past he has been seen as a pro-unionist ultra; he would find it hard persuading nationalists and republicans that he was a neutral arbiter.

3 - “A fullstop to the backstop. We need a dedicated minister leading the search for alternative arrangements for the Irish border – supported with proper funding and intensive technical work. We have to remove any risk that we could be trapped in a backstop, so I will work with the Irish government and Brussels to secure a clear exit mechanism, compatible with the principle of consent for Northern Ireland.”

Analysis: The only thing new about this is the soundbite. The government already has a “dedicated minister” working on the backstop and related Brexit issues - the Brexit secretary, who heads a department, DExEU, with almost 700 staff - and May and her three successive Brexit secretaries have spent countless hours already trying, without success, to do exactly what Gove proposes - remove the risk of the UK being held permanently in the backstop.

4 - “No second referendum. Holding one would make divisions worse and give the Scottish Nationalists another excuse to try to break up our union.”

Analysis: May repeatedly stressed her opposition to a second referendum and Number 10 said she would not agree to one “in any circumstances”. Gove is just restating this position.

5 - “A Canada-style deal. The best way to honour the referendum result is to secure a bespoke agreement based on the free trade agreement between Canada and the EU, tailored for Britain’s needs. This means free trade as well as taking back control of our laws, borders and money.”

Analysis: This does mark a departure from May’s position. The political declaration on the future UK-EU trade relationship that May negotiated with Brussels was flexible enough to cover a range of outcomes, but May’s Chequers plan would have effectively kept the UK in the single market (bound by the ‘common rulebook”) for goods. Gove is rejecting this. His eventual Brexit outcome would be harder than May’s.

6 - “Action this day. We must leave the EU as soon as we can. I want us to leave before October 31 and that will be my goal. I won’t be engaging in can-kicking or dithering.”

Analysis: This is not so much a policy as a jibe about May “dithering”. It is certainly true that she did repeatedly delay key decisions and votes on Brexit. But that was because she could not find a policy acceptable to both the EU and her backbenchers. There is nothing in what Gove has said that suggests he would be any more likely to pass a deal.

7- “A Brexit rule: always choose Brexit over No Brexit. If, finally, it comes to a decision between no-deal and no Brexit, I will choose no-deal – it’s a democratic imperative that we must leave the EU before the next general election or we risk letting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street. I’ve been involved in no-deal planning. I recognise, of course, it would mean short-term turbulence, but we would get through it and ultimately prosper.”

Analysis: This is slightly different from the line taken by May. Although she originally said no-deal would be better than a bad deal, in recent months she tried to avoid answering questions about whether no-deal was preferable to no Brexit, and she eventually ended up saying parliament would never agree to no-deal. Gove is making it clear that he would be willing to go for no-deal. But almost all the other candidates in the Tory leadership contest have also said they would prefer no-deal to no Brexit, so this is not a statement that differentiates him.

In his article Gove also challenges the argument that the renegotiation he is proposing his unobtainable. He says:

Some say that Brussels won’t negotiate with us any more. Certainly, EU negotiators recognise a cross-party agreement is now out of reach. They know parliament won’t pass the same deal as proposed by Theresa May without legally-binding changes. They also saw the European election results, where the Brexit party’s success was a reminder Britain has not changed its mind since the referendum.

Yet I believe that European leaders want to find a way through this. I’m convinced they want to conclude these talks as quickly as possible so we’re on course to leave by October 31.

Again, almost all the Tory leadership candidates are making the same claim - that, faced with a new PM, the EU would make compromises it has not been willing to make already. It is undoubtedly true that EU leaders would like to see Brexit resolved by the end of October. But they have repeatedly said the withdrawal agreement cannot be renegotiated and there is very little evidence that they would be willing to make the concessions being demanded by Gove, or any of his Tory leadership rivals.

Updated

MPs could be on summer recess by time new PM takes office, Mel Stride tells Commons

Mel Stride, the new leader of the Commons, has just confirmed that the government may try to send MPs on holiday for the summer recess before the new prime minister takes office.

Picking up on an issue first raised by Labour’s Valerie Vaz (see 11.02am), Peter Bone, the Tory Brexiter, said that the new prime minister should face parliament before the summer recess. He said the government should not be afraid of parliament and, if the new PM were to lose an immediate confidence motion, Bone was confident the Tories would win the subsequent election with an increased majority. He asked Stride to confirm that the new PM would take office while the Commons was still sitting.

But Stride could not give this assurance. He replied:

The answer to that question is an interplay between when the contest in the Conservative party for the new leader is due to conclude and of course when the recess itself is announced. And as we don’t know the answer to the latter, and I’m not sure that we entirely know the answer to the former, I think the answer unfortunately is, no, not necessarily.

The Conservative party has said it expects to announce the new leader in the week beginning 22 July. There is no fixed date for when the summer recess normally starts, but last year the recess started on 24 July. This year, because the Commons has effectively run out of legislation to pass, it would be easy to make an argument for recess starting soon.

However, MPs have to vote to approve recess dates. Normally these are agreed by all parties, and passed without opposition, but it it likely that Labour would oppose any attempt to schedule the summer recess before a new PM took office.

Mel Stride
Mel Stride Photograph: Parliament TV

In the Commons Valerie Vaz, the shadow leader of the Commons, has just asked Mel Stride, the new Commons leader, to comment on suggestions that the government might send MPs away for the summer recess before Monday 22 July, which is the week when the winner of the Conservative leadership contest is due to be announced. Labour MPs suspect the government could go for an early recess so that MPs are not around to table an instant no confidence motion. But Stride refused to be drawn on the timing of the recess. He just said this would be decided in the normal manner.

Updated

Turning to D-day, a lot of MPs have been tweeting tributes to veterans today. Here are three from MPs who have been sharing stories about their relatives.

From Labour’s Hilary Benn

From David Mundell, the Scottish secretary

From Labour’s Emma Reynolds

Rory Stewart says he wants to double DfID spending on climate crisis

Rory Stewart, the international development secretary and another candidate for the Conservative leadership (although not one with any realistic chance of winning) is taking questions in the Commons now. He has just told MPs that he wants to double the amount his department spends on the climate crisis. He said:

We face a climate cataclysm. If we get this wrong, 100m more people will be in poverty. I would therefore like, as the secretary of state for international development, to double the amount that our department spends within our budget on climate and the environment. I would like to double the effort that the department puts into that issue.

Rory Stewart
Rory Stewart Photograph: BBC

How Gove differentiates himself from Boris Johnson

In his Daily Mail article Michael Gove does not mention Boris Johnson, his main rival for the Tory leadership, by name. But his piece is full of not-so-subtle digs at the former foreign secretary. As well as criticising one of Johnson’s main policy platforms, his commitment to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October at the latest (see 9.30am), Gove also sets out various other dividing lines between the two men.

  • Gove implies that Johnson does not have a record of delivery in government. Setting out his own qualifications to lead the country, Gove says:

It’s true that in every job I’ve done in government, I’ve driven change and been determined to deliver the benefits of new policies as quickly as possible.

I have used the Whitehall machine to get things done and force through dynamic reforms. I have directed civil servants rather than letting them direct me.

Gove has been in charge of three government departments. Johnson has only run the Foreign Office, and the general consensus in Whitehall is that he did it badly. (See, for example, this assessment of Johnson’s time as foreign secretary by BuzzFeed’s Alberto Nardelli.)

  • Gove stresses that he has been a lifelong Eurosceptic - implicitly drawing a contrast with Johnson, who only decided to back the leave campaign at the last minute. Gove says:

I’ve always been a Eurosceptic. As a teenager, I saw how the EU’s common fisheries policy drove my dad’s small business to the wall and hollowed out coastal communities in my part of Scotland.

Long before I became an MP, I was at the heart of the campaign against a single currency. So when the referendum was called, I knew at heart that I had to stand up for what I had always believed – and for people like my father who had suffered as a result of the EU.

  • Gove describes himself as “serious” - implying that Johnson’s best-known quality, his humour, is a weakness. Gove writes.

This is a moment when we need someone who is ready to lead and serious about the job at hand.

Gove suggests Johnson's Brexit timing deadline could trigger early election

Good morning. With President Trump’s state visit over, Theresa May is only 24 hours away from the day when she will formally resign as Conservative leader and the leadership contest to succeed her is now fully underway. Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, remains the clear favourite. And many people think that Michael Gove, the environment secretary who jointly ran the Vote Leave campaign with Johnson in 2016 and then backed him for leader before declaring he was not up to the job, is the candidate most likely to make it alongside Johnson into the final two for the ballot of Tory members.

Today, in an article for the Daily Mail, Gove sets out a series of dividing lines between himself and Johnson. I will go through them in more detail shortly, but the key one is about the timing of Brexit. Johnson has said that he would definitely take Britain out of the EU by 31 October, deal or no deal. Gove says he is willing to be a bit more flexible, and he implies that Johnson’s approach could trigger an early general election. He writes:

I’d like us out earlier [ie, before 31 October]. But if we make the progress I know we can and we are on the cusp of a better deal which works for Britain, would it really be in our best interests to opt for a No Deal exit when just a little more time and effort could make all the difference? I would not give up on the progress made.

Also, saying that we would leave come what may when there is still progress to be made runs the risk of parliament forcing us into a general election before Brexit is secured.

That would surely hand Downing Street to a Jeremy Corbyn government propped up by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. That would mean Brexit was lost, the future of our Union at risk and the levers of power handed to a Marxist. As I argued during the no confidence debate in January, just think how awful that would be for Britain.

I will cover Gove’s “Brexit manifesto” (and its flaws) in a bit more detail soon.

Two other Tory leadership stories are worth flagging up this morning.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

9.30am: Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, gives a speech on housing to the Resolution Foundation.

10am: Rory Stewart, the international development secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

10.30am: A service to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-day will take place at the National Memorial Arboretum in Burton-on-Trent. Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have also been attending events in Normandy, and other commemorative events are taking place during the day. My colleague Matthew Weaver has been covering them the events on a live blog here.

After 10.30am: Mel Stride, the new leader of the Commons, makes a statement in the Commons about next week’s business.

Also today, people are voting in the Peterborough byelection.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on the Tory leadership contest. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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