Rishi Sunak reveals election date

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Good Tuesday morning. This is Rosa Prince.
LAST NIGHT IN DOWNING STREET: Rishi Sunak welcomed the Lobby to 10 Downing Street with mulled wine, elderflower cordial and canapés. A host of Cabinet ministers turned out for the event, which had a pared down guest list compared to previous years. The PM is less big on working the room than some of his predecessors, but did give an actually pretty funny speech in which he revealed the date of the general election will be … some time in 2024. 
That’s a relief … For one No. 10 staffer, who said they were glad they wouldn’t be “getting trench foot” knocking on doors in January 2025 — the last possible date the election can be held but which, TBH, was always a pretty outside bet.
Just stop Santa: In his three-and-a-half-minute speech, the PM joked about singing Christmas carols in No. 10: “Away in a star chamber,” “O come Tory faithful” and “I saw three ships” — (“not on my watch”) … delivered some startling drive-bys on Boris Johnson and the Sun’s Harry Cole … and said he’d warned his daughters about spending Christmas in their Richmond constituency: “If they see someone coming down the chimney it could be Father Christmas — or it could be a Greenpeace protester.”
Green Christmas: He also recycled that gag about the holidays being a time for escape and relaxing in the sun, “or as James Cleverly likes to call it, reminiscing about your old job.” To be fair, the cloakroom staff dancing to Feliz Navidad in the hallway of No. 10 explained they had to do something to keep going because “it’s our third reception today.” Who can blame the PM for running out of fresh material with a schedule like that?  
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Meanwhile next door: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt played host at the traditional No. 11 bash for political journos’ kids, featuring a foam party, musical bumps and a special appearance by Captain Marvel. The clash meant hacks were left with the agonizing choice of boozing with the PM or giving their little ones a memory to cherish for a lifetime. Kudos to the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar for packing her daughter off home with her husband and making it to both. 
AND WITH THAT, HE WAS GONE: The PM stayed for around 30 minutes before dashing off saying he had to prep for his grilling by the liaison committee this arvo. He’s due to appear before the mighty gathering of Commons’ committee chairs at 1 p.m. in the Boothroyd Room. He’ll be on the ice for around 90 minutes before hosting yet another reception celebrating the British film industry this evening, the poor lamb.
But before that: There’s Cabinet as usual at 9.30 a.m. — and Sunak isn’t the only member of the government’s top team with a busy day planned. Leveling Up Secretary Michael Gove, Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, Home Secretary James Cleverly and Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho all have events in the diary. Let’s take them in turn — starting with the PM.
(Not very) dangerous liaisons: Remember when Boris Johnson would barrel into liaison committees and you never knew what would kick off? It’s a different kettle of anchovies with Sunak, who tends to handle these occasions with relative ease. The session will be divided into themes, with the exact order of questioner decided on the day today. The categories cover global affairs, economic issues, COP28 and energy concerns. You can watch along here.
BUILD OR BE DAMNED: In a major speech to the Royal Institute of British Architects, Michael Gove will announce plans to force councils to build sufficient homes in their area within three months or face government intervention. Authorities could lose their power to decide on planning applications. Gove will write to around 10 authorities he considers are failing to sign off on planning bids swiftly enough, threatening to strip them of their powers. The announcement forms the centerpiece of his speech, which starts at 11 a.m. It’s followed by a Q&A session with journalists.
The deets: The leveling up secretary is also publishing the government’s response to a consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. In it, he attempts to walk a tightrope between reviving the government’s flagging manifesto commitment to build a million new homes, and Tory “nimbyism” which has seen him lobbied by backbenchers concerned about unsympathetic building in their patches during an election year.
Read all about it: The plans splash the Times, which also carries an interview with Gove by Policy Editor Oliver Wright. 
The small print: It’s very much a Goldilocks plan; councils will have to boost homebuilding, but won’t be forced to build on the greenbelt, and retain the power to stop development that threatens to mar the local area. Gove also tells the Times he wants to see 150,000 new homes in Cambridge alone; says he will review London’s housing plan, with a threat to strip Mayor Sadiq Khan of his planning powers; and says the government’s housing target drifted off track due to high inflation and interest rates.
But but but: Khan produced figures suggesting homebuilding in the capital had outstripped the national average, saying the rate of completions was 20 percent higher in the capital than elsewhere. He said: “The progress we are making in London is despite nimby Tory ministers regularly intervening to block new building in the capital.”   
Back to the office: Meanwhile the Guardian reports Gove’s department is threatening to use financial penalties against councils such as South Cambridgeshire where staff are working a four-day week.
CAMERON ON HIGH: While Gove battles to get spades in the ground, his old buddy David Cameron takes to the skies, stopping off in Paris and Rome on his way back from the Amir of Kuwait’s funeral for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Sunak’s bezzie mate Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and his foreign minister counterparts. Topics slated for discussion include the “desperate” humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to maintain the commitment to Ukraine and illegal migration.
Sustainable cease-fire: The foreign secretary will repeat his call at the weekend for a “sustainable” cease-fire in Gaza, and call for increased coordination between European allies to get aid into the besieged territories. In words briefed overnight, he said: “As we face some of the greatest challenges to international security in a lifetime, our response must be one of strength and resilience with our European allies.”
Letter 1: A group of 10 Conservative MPs including three former Cabinet ministers — Kit Malthouse, David Jones and George Eustice — piled the pressure on Cameron to go further and call for an “immediate” cease-fire, by putting their names to a letter urging him to firm up the U.K.’s criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. The Mail has more. And here’s a supportive tweet from Paul Bristow, who was sacked as a PPS for calling for a cease-fire.
Letter 2: A group including former head of the armed forces David Richards, six former British ambassadors, an ex-director of the MoD, a former member of the U.S. Security Council and a bunch of other leading military and foreign policy experts write to the foreign secretary today, warning the U.K.’s failure to call for a cease-fire is “strategically ill-advised and morally indefensible” ahead of a key U.N. Security Council vote expected today. Here’s the letter on X.
PARENTS FIRST: Teachers will not be punished for using the “wrong” pronouns when addressing trans pupils, and should usually advise the parents if a child wants to change gender. That’s the nub of new “parent first” guidance for schools which will finally be published today by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. The Sun has all the details.
What’s it all about: The new rules — which are not mandatory — will be set out in a WMS today. They say parents should usually be informed if a pupil wishes to transition, except in exceptional circumstances. Single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms must be retained in schools, and teachers should use their judgment, particularly in secondary schools, about trans pupils playing contact sports.
Shelved: The Telegraph says plans to require a doctor’s sign-off before permitting a child to transition were shelved amid concerns about the workload for GPs.
Lover not a hater: Tory Deputy Chair Rachel Maclean is challenging a hate crime incident record given after she shared a social media post describing a Green party rival as a “man who wears a wig and calls himself a ‘proud lesbian.’”
PLAY NICELY: Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has summoned fuel retailers to a Whitehall summit where she’ll warn them not to allow petrol prices to creep up over the Christmas break. She tells the Sun: “As millions of people get ready to drive home for Christmas, I want to make sure they are getting a fair price for their tank.” Representatives from Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons supermarkets as well as the RAC and AA are among those attending.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Health Secretary Victoria Atkins meets senior medical leaders today as part of what the Times describes as an attempt to isolate striking junior doctors. She earlier struck a deal with speciality and specialist staff which will boost pay by up to 15 percent. The Times has a full article.
NEXT YEAR IN RWANDA: Home Secretary James Cleverly and the refreshingly loose-lipped Lords Trade Minister Dominic Johnson appear before the international agreements committee to discuss the CPTP and Rwanda treaty this afternoon.
REMINDER: It’s the last day of term in both the Commons and Lords, with recess starting once sittings end. Playbook, however, never stops — we’ll be with you all through Christmas and New Year.
LABOUR’S DARLING: Shadow Cabinet is canceled while the party including Keir Starmer travels en masse to Edinburgh for the funeral service of former Chancellor Alistair Darling, who died from cancer last month aged 70. 
The details: The service takes place at 11 a.m. in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral. Former PMs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown will attend, and eulogies are due to be read by Darling’s children Anna and Calum, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Darling’s friend and former minister Brian Wilson. The hymns will be In the Bleak Midwinter, Love Divine and Jerusalem. Darling and his wife Maggie were extremely popular in Labour circles, and the funeral is expected to be well attended and very moving.
LIKE PULLING TEETH: Labour’s main offering today is a plan to “rescue” dentistry, as the party releases figures showing eight out of 10 surgeries are closed to new patients. The plans include extra funding for 700,000 new, urgent appointments; incentives for dentists to work in “deserts” with low provision; supervised teeth brushing in schools for small children; and reform of the dental contract. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The Conservatives have left NHS dentistry to wither on the vine, and now the service is barely worthy of the name.” More in the Mirror. 
But but but: A Tory spokesperson said: “Only the Conservative government will take the long-term decisions to improve access to dental care with 6 million more dentist appointments, as we build a brighter future for our country.”
Tooth ache: Separately, the Nuffield Trust has a report out today suggesting NHS dental services are at their “most perilous point” ever, and warning radical reforms are needed to “slow the decay.” The Mail has more.
DESPERATELY SEEKING BIDEN: Playbook’s Eleni Courea has a piece today saying Keir Starmer is keen to hold face-to-face talks with Joe Biden before both men head into challenging elections next year. One Labour official tells her: “David Lammy has been tasked with making it happen … But it’s tricky because we don’t know when the election is going to be.” At least we know now it won’t be January 2025.
OK, THIS IS WEIRD: Starmer has an interview with the Leeds University alumni mag in which he returns to his old student house on Chestnut Avenue … the very street a young Playbook resided at a year or so, ahem, after Starmer. It may even be the same house — it’s all a bit hazy. When Playbook was there Chestnut Ave had the moniker of “most burgled street in Britain,” which if you think about it is sort of apt.
NOT IN WESTMINSTER BUT SUPER IMPORTANT FOR WESTMINSTER: The recall petition in Wellingborough to decide whether Peter Bone should be kicked out on his ear closes at 5 p.m. today. It follows Bone’s suspension from the Commons for bullying and sexual harassment. The result will be announced by the council returning officer, although exact timings are unclear. If Bone is dumped by his constituents, the Conservatives will face yet another tricky by-election in a supposedly safe seat. 
MONE-ING MINNIE: As the row over bra queen Michelle Mone’s involvement in a PPE procurement scandal rumbles on, Labour’s Nick Thomas Symonds has written to DPM Oliver Dowden demanding clarification about what government ministers knew and when.
There’s more: The Guardian, which splashes on the latest developments, says the House of Lords standards chief has received a further complaint, relating to Mone’s admission, in an interview with Laura Kuenssberg Sunday, that she lied to the press about her connections to a firm which supplied faulty PPE to the NHS during the pandemic.
Blonde on blonde: In her latest Mail column, Nadine Dorries asks how Mone came to be in the House of Lords in the first place — and why she doesn’t go ahead and quit it already.
HERE’S AN IDEA: With COVID on the prowl again, the i’s Paul Waugh reckons Rishi Sunak should bury the hatchet with Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and “host a press conference, preferably alongside NHS chief Amanda Pritchard and himself, to urge the public to get jabbed.”
TAKE OUT YOUR TRASH DAY: Kemi Badenoch has a WMS update on trade talks with India. Keep an eye on the order paper for more stats and statements the government would rather you missed in a blur of Christmas shopping and drunken revelry.  
GOLDEN GOODBYES: Top Treasury mandarin Tom Scholar received a payout just shy of £400,000 when he was booted out of the Treasury by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Mail’s David Churchill reports. In total, 238 former Whitehall staff were paid exit packages in excess of £100,000 last year, with a further 26 receiving more than £150,000.
PAY PACKET: MPs are projected to receive a 7.1 percent pay increase from April, pushing their basic salary from £86,584 to £92,731 — cue outrage from the usual suspects. The Telegraph has more.
DRUG NATION: Annual drug death stats for England and Wales are published by the ONS at 9.30 a.m.
DATA OVERDRIVE: Peers debate the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill for the first time as critics warn it would allow U.K. political parties to “bombard” voters with unsolicited calls, texts and emails — via the FT.
HOUSE OF COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with Treasury questions and SNP MP Owen Thompson’s 10-minute rule bill on the miners’ strike (pardons) … and then the main business is all stages of the Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Bill. Lib Dem MP Richard Foord has the adjournment debate on transport infrastructure in Cullompton.
WESTMINSTER HALL: Debates from 9.30 a.m. on topics including Christmas and Christianity (led by Tory MP Nick Fletcher) … the adequacy of service accommodation (led by Labour’s Alistair Strathern) … and coastal erosion in Suffolk and Norfolk (led by Tory MP Peter Aldous).
On Committee corridor: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is questioned by the Liaison Committee (1 p.m.) … Investment Minister Dominic Johnson is probed by the Lords’ International Agreements Committee on the U.K.’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (4 p.m.) … and Home Secretary James Cleverly is questioned by the same committee about the U.K.-Rwanda asylum agreement (5 p.m.).
HOUSE OF LORDS: Sits from 11 a.m. with oral questions on home and online schooling, confidential medical records and the downgrading of the role of disabilities minister … and then the main business is the second reading of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill.
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GREAT SCOT: Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison delivers her first budget at about 2.20 p.m. with suggestions a tax band for higher earners could be introduced — the Scotsman has a helpful preview.
DUP BACKSTOP: The DUP declared they will not reenter Northern Ireland’s executive before the new year, despite the government’s conditional offer of an extra £2.5 billion for local leaders — my colleague Shawn Pogatchnik has further details. The Northern Ireland Business Alliance meanwhile pleaded with party leaders for more funding — via the Belfast News Letter.
ICELAND VOLCANO: A volcano erupted in Iceland after weeks of intense earthquake activity, with nearly 4,000 people evacuated out of Grindavik in southwest Iceland as a precaution — Sky News has the latest.
ISRAEL-GAZA LATEST: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Israel to shift away from large-scale aerial and ground operations in the Gaza Strip by focusing on specific Hamas leaders, saying protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza was “both a moral duty and a strategic imperative” — the Guardian has a write-up. Hamas meanwhile posted a video of three elderly Israeli captives pleading for their release — via Al Jazeera.
UKRAINE UPDATE: National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. will run out of funding for Ukraine if Congress does not approve U.S. President Joe Biden’s spending request — my Stateside colleagues have more.
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Housing Minister Lee Rowley broadcast round: GB News (6.45 a.m.) … Times Radio (7.05 a.m.) … Sky News (7.15 a.m.) … LBC (7.50 a.m.).
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones broadcast round: GMB (6.40 a.m.) … TalkTV (7.05 a.m.) … GB News (7.35 a.m.) … Times Radio (7.50 a.m.) … Sky News (8.10 a.m.) … LBC (8.50 a.m.).
Also on Times Radio Breakfast: Tory MP Flick Drummond and Director of Communications at the U.N. Agency for Palestine Refugees Juliette Touma (both 7.30 a.m.) … former Tory Leader William Hague and Labour peer Joan Bakewell (both 9.05 a.m.).
Also on Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (7.05 a.m.).
LBC News: Institute of Export and International Trade Director General Marco Forgione (7.45 a.m.).
Politics Live (BBC Two 12.15 p.m.): Tory MP Matt Warman … former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell … Bank of Dave’s Dave Fishwick … APCO Worldwide’s Jo Tanner.
**Playbook is coming to Germany, and bringing its award-winning journalism with it. Expect the same daily digest of politics – but auf Deutsch! Berlin Playbook covers key institutions including the Bundestag, all the way to each Bundesländer – every morning. Register to read it here in German.** 
POLITICO UK: Keir Starmer pitches for summit with Joe Biden ahead of 2024 elections.
Daily Express: Esther Rantzen — I may “buzz off” to Dignitas for sake of my family.
Daily Mail: NHS dentists on the brink.
Daily Mirror: Why I’ve joined Dignitas.
Daily Star: Shane’s been in contact from beyond the grave.
Financial Times: Adobe and Figma drop $20 billion tie up after balking at regulators’ remedies.
i: New Brexit fingerprint checks for U.K. travelers start in 2024.
Metro: Killer nailed in two year sting.
The Daily Telegraph: Schools told to presume children can’t change their gender.
The Guardian: “They all knew” — Mone hits back at PM in row over PPE deals scandal.
The Independent: Sunak calls for Gaza ceasefire — “too many civilians have died.”
The Sun: Happy to be home.
The Times: New homes to be forced through.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: Heavy rain with a gentle breeze. Highs of 13C.
SPOTTED … at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Christmas drinks for the Lobby in 10 Downing Street: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt … Home Secretary James Cleverly … Defense Secretary Grant Shapps … Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho … Transport Secretary Mark Harper … Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott … Director of Strategy Jamie Njoku-Goodwin … the PM’s official spokesperson Max Blain … Director of Communications Nerissa Chesterfield and her Private Secretary Antonia Shakespeare … Press Secretary Lucy Noakes … Head of Research and Messaging Aidan Corley … No. 10’s Sophia Falkner … Home Office SpAd Callum Price … CCHQ’s Alex Wild … and lots of political hacks.
Also spotted … at the Conservative Environment Network’s Christmas Reception at the Terrace Pavilion with speeches from Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho and Tory MP Vicky Ford: Environment Minister Rebecca Pow … MPs Thérèse Coffey, Robert Buckland, Philip Dunne, Peter Bottomley, James Davies, Jerome Mayhew, Bernard Jenkin, Damian Green, Matt Warman, Selaine Saxby, Peter Gibson, David Duguid, John Penrose, Tim Loughton and Flick Drummond … Peers Malcolm Sinclair, Andrew Robathan and David Maclean … Hacks Zoë Crowther, Helena Horton, Anna Moloney and Steph Spyro … former Tory MP Laura Sandys … Green Alliance’s Shaun Spiers … Britain Remade’s Sam Richards … and the Conservative Environment Network’s Sam Hall, Max Anderson, Sam Payne, John Flesher, Tara-Jane Sutcliffe, Lynsey Jones, Isabel Goodwin, Caitie Gillett, Kitty Thompson, Fin McCarron, Jordan Lee, Megan Batchelor and Philippa Broom.
Also spotted … at a standing-room-only carol service in aid of the Journalists’ Charity at St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street: BBC Pol Ed Chris Mason … Sun Pol Ed Harry Cole … the Atlantic’s Helen Lewis … GMB’s Susanna Reid … the Sunday Times’ Ben Taylor … GB News Pol Ed Christopher Hope … the Daily Telegraph’s Philip Johnston … PA Media’s Pete Clifton … former Downing Street Director of Comms James Slack … Luther Pendragon’s Beany McLean and Callum Nimmo … and actress Lucy Boynton.
ONWARD GOES ON: Center-right think tank Onward announces numerous hires including former Health Minister Neil O’Brien rejoining as an advisory board member, former government adviser Tim Leunig becoming chief economist, former Bright Blue researcher Phoebe Arslanagić-Little leading a “New Deal for Parents,” academic Ben Caldecott chairing an Inflation Reduction Project, Public First’s Jess Lister becoming a policy fellow, Shivani H Menon promoted to senior researcher and Laurence Fredricks and Ellie Craven joining as researchers.
MOVING ON: DfE SpAd Guy Miscampbell joins tech and polling startup Focaldata as head of social and political research, via a month of rock climbing in Spain. Jamie Montieth-Mann replaces him at the DfE.
JOB ADS: The Greater London Authority is hiring a senior communications officer.
ANOTHER RIZZ RANKING: Former Downing Street aide Cleo Watson has compiled the definitive “Westminster Rizz List 2023” in the House magazine, inspired by Oxford University Press labeling “rizz” the word of the year — Labour’s Harriet Harman has “old school rizz,” Commons leader Penny Mordaunt’s sword carrying “kicked things up a few notches” and Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts is, apparently, the “female Jeremy Irons.”
UNIVERSALLY CHALLENGED: Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell’s King’s College London team triumphed over Tory MP hopeful Sebastian Payne’s City, University of London team by 155 points to 120 on last night’s festive University Challenge. Powell’s chemistry background came in handy while Payne proved to have an impressive knowledge of Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Surprisingly, neither answered a starter question on the name of the coalition formed under Ramsay MacDonald in 1931 (answer: National Government). Well done to all.
NOAH’S CULTURE FIX: Start the Christmas recess right by watching classic 1994 drama The Shawshank Redemption on BBC One at 10.40 p.m.
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Emilio Casalicchio.
WRITING PLAYBOOK WEDNESDAY MORNING: Dan Bloom.
BIRTHDAYS: Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson turns 40 … West Bromwich East MP Nicola Richards … St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double … Shadow Media Minister Stephanie Peacock … West Tyrone MP Órfhlaith Begley … the Daily Mail’s Claire Ellicott … former Tory MP Tim Eggar … Treasury Chief Economic Adviser Sam Beckett.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editor Zoya Sheftalovich, reporter Noah Keate and producer Seb Starcevic.
CORRECTION: This newsletter was updated to correct an error in David Richards’ name.
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