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Sophie Wingate

Sophie Wingate is a political correspondent at PA Media. Based in Westminster, she has covered a turbulent period in UK politics including several prime ministers and Tory leadership contests. She has reported on Rishi Sunak's trips to the G20 summit in Bali and Cop27 in Egypt. Her previous roles include UN & New York correspondent at the dpa newswire and video journalist at DW News in Berlin.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has set out an ambition to scrap national insurance contributions (Lucy North/PA)
Money

No 10 denies plan to scrap national insurance is ‘unfunded’ but cannot name cost

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)
Business

Hunt says economic ‘feelgood factor’ will be stronger in autumn

Surfers Against Sewage said everyone in the UK deserves a beautiful coastline (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Business

Waterborne diseases have soared under Tories, Labour says amid sewage anger

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has assured the public that the pensions triple lock will remain in place throughout the next Parliament if the Conservatives win the general election (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)
Business

Sunak pledges pensions triple lock will stay in place throughout next Parliament

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended his Government’s approach to China after accusations it was doing less than other countries to tackle the East Asian superpower (Danny Lawson/PA)
UK Politics

Sunak says UK ‘more robust’ on China than most allies

China has been accused of carrying out cyber attacks in the UK and elsewhere (File/PA)
UK Politics

UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden speaking in Whitehall (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK Politics

Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, centre, and new Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething, right, during a visit to the Port of Holyhead in North Wales (Peter Byrne/PA)
Business

Starmer confirms floating offshore wind will be GB Energy’s ‘priority’

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appearing before the Treasury Committee (House of Commons/PA)
Business

Hunt says plan to scrap national insurance will not happen in next Parliament

<p>Fank Hester allegedly made the remarks about Diane Abbott (CHOGM Rwanda 2022/YouTube)</p>
UK Politics

Frank Hester: The major Tory donor embroiled in racism row

<p>The Mount Pleasant Post Office in London</p>
UK Politics

Law to exonerate wronged subpostmasters introduced by government

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s red box (James Manning/PA)
Money

Personal taxes cut to lowest level since 1975, but gains offset by fiscal drag

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (Aaron Chown/PA)
Business

Hunt promises ‘permanent cuts in taxation’ in pre-election Budget

Business

Hunt promises ‘permanent cuts in taxation’ in pre-election Budget

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (Aaron Chown/PA)
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has been warned of a looming £2 billion gap in NHS spending (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)
Business

Jeremy Hunt warned of £2bn real-term cuts to NHS funding

<p>The bill put forward by Rishi Sunak seeks to severely limit asylum seekers’ ability to appeal against being put on a flight to Kigali</p>
Politics

Rwanda plan ‘fundamentally incompatible’ with UK’s human rights

The Prime Minister is seeking to underscore his commitment to the flagship policy to reduce regional inequalities (Darren Staples/PA)
UK Politics

Sunak touts gigabit broadband rollout on ‘levelling up tour’ of North Wales

Lord David Cameron’s government reportedly knew the Post Office dropped a probe that may have helped wrongly-accused subpostmasters prove there were flaws in the Horizon accounting software (Stoyan Nenov/PA)
Business

Cameron government knew Post Office dropped probe into Horizon IT flaws – report

Lord David Cameron’s government reportedly knew the Post Office dropped a probe that may have helped wrongly-accused subpostmasters prove there were flaws in the Horizon accounting software (Stoyan Nenov/PA)
Business

Cameron government knew Post Office dropped probe into Horizon IT flaws – report

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has revealed his tax returns (Hugh Hastings/PA)
Business

Rishi Sunak earned £2.2 million and paid £508,000 in tax, documents show

Labour will call on the Government to extend its recent ban of dangerous weapons to include ninja swords (Suffolk Police/PA)
UK Politics

Labour urges ministers to close ‘glaring loopholes’ in knife crime plans

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch (Danny Lawson/PA)
Business

Small business council will give firms ‘voice at the table’, Badenoch says

<p>Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (PA)</p>
Business

Jeremy Hunt vows to make tax cuts and likens himself to Nigel Lawson

Mark Drakeford had requested an urgent discussion with Rishi Sunak (PA)
Business

Sunak ‘not available’ for talks with Drakeford on steel job losses

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has requested a meeting with Fujitsu over the Post Office Horizon scandal (Aaron Chown/PA)
Business

Badenoch seeks talks with Fujitsu on Horizon compensation

AI could replace thousands of civil service fraud detection jobs, a Cabinet Officer minister has said (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
UK Politics

AI could replace thousands of civil service fraud detection jobs, minister says

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is in talks with members of the judiciary about the Horizon scandal (Lucy North/PA)
UK Politics

Ministers in crunch talks with judges to overturn Horizon convictions

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has requested a meeting with Fujitsu over the Post Office Horizon scandal (Aaron Chown/PA)
Business

Badenoch seeks talks with Fujitsu on Horizon compensation

AI could replace thousands of civil service fraud detection jobs, a Cabinet Officer minister has said (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
UK Politics

AI could replace thousands of civil service fraud detection jobs, minister says

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is in talks with members of the judiciary about the Horizon scandal (Lucy North/PA)
UK Politics

Ministers in crunch talks with judges to overturn Horizon convictions

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)
Business

Hunt: Falling government borrowing costs may pave way for spring tax cuts

Business

Hunt: Falling government borrowing costs may pave way for spring tax cuts

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted top bossed at Downing Street (Kin Cheung/PA)
Business

Sunak hosts bosses for Business Council gathering

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer both declined to commit to the continuation of the triple lock (Hannah McKay/PA)
Business

Sunak and Starmer refuse to commit to pensions triple lock beyond election

Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron will attend the OSCE gathering in North Macedonia (Dan Kitwood/PA)
UK

Cameron condemns Moscow ahead of OSCE summit including Russian counterpart

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said it would be ‘sensible’ to look at alternative countries to Rwanda to host UK asylum seekers (Danny Lawson/PA)
UK

Looking at alternative countries to Rwanda to take deportees ‘sensible’ – Stride

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said it would be ‘sensible’ to look at alternative countries to Rwanda to host UK asylum seekers (Danny Lawson/PA)
UK

Looking at alternative countries to Rwanda to take deportees ‘sensible’ – Stride

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove gave evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry at Dorland House in London (Yui Mok/PA)
UK

Michael Gove apologises for Government’s ‘errors’ during pandemic

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove floated the theory at the Covid-19 inquiry that the virus was ‘man-made’ (UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA)
UK

Michael Gove suggests to Covid-19 inquiry that virus was ‘man-made’

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey (Niall Carson/PA)
Business

Economy above expectations, No 10 says despite Bank governor’s growth concerns

Athens has long demanded the return of the Parthenon Sculptures (Matthew Fearn/PA)
UK Politics

Sunak to reject Greek leader’s appeal for return of Elgin Marbles

People in Tel Aviv, Israel, react as they hear the news of the release of 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip (Ariel Schalit/PA)
UK

Israeli safety depends on long-term Palestinian ‘security’, warns Cameron

An Israeli bulldozer makes a roadblock at Salah al-Din road in central Gaza Strip as the temporary ceasefire went into effect (Hatem Moussa/AP)
UK

Sunak welcomes ‘critical’ pause in Israel-Hamas war

Jeremy Hunt (right) is shown the Airbus A350 wing manufacturing process during a visit to the Airbus North Factory in Chester (Oli Scarff/PA)
UK

Tax cuts give voters ‘clear choice’ at election – Hunt

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced a number of tax cuts in his autumn statement (Aaron Chown/PA)
UK

Hunt’s tax cuts based on ‘implausible’ public spending squeeze

Rishi Sunak meeting Yoon Suk Yeol during at the G7 summit in Japan in May (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK

UK and South Korea to launch trade talks during presidential state visit

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opens the Global Food Security Summit in London (Dan Kitwood/PA)
UK

Cameron vows to put development ‘back at heart’ of Foreign Office

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has welcomed the cash (PA)
UK

More than 50 projects to benefit from £1bn in third tranche of levelling up fund

UK

More than 50 projects to benefit from £1bn in third tranche of levelling up fund

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has welcomed the cash (PA)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak opens the Global Food Security Summit in London (Dan Kitwood/PA)
UK

Sunak tells food summit no parent should ever watch their child starve

Rishi Sunak has faced growing calls to sack Suella Braverman as Home Secretary (James Manning/PA)
UK

Sunak seeks clampdown on protests as pressure grows to sack Braverman

Home Secretary Suella Braverman attended the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph (Jonathan Brady/PA)
UK

Braverman attacks ‘sick’ antisemitic chants as police charge seven over protests

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK

Labour to put plans for strengthened OBR to Commons vote

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK

Labour to put plans for strengthened OBR to Commons vote

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the violence in central London (Daniel Leal/PA)
UK

PM condemns ‘wholly unacceptable’ violence of far-right and ‘Hamas sympathisers’

The King led his first Remembrance Day service as monarch last year (Aaron Chown/PA)
UK

King to lead Remembrance Sunday service at Cenotaph

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under fire from all sides after accusing police of bias (Justin Tallis/PA)
UK

Calls for Sunak to sack Braverman mount as she is accused of spawning ‘hatred’

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove was mobbed by protesters in London (James Manning/PA)
UK

Michael Gove mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters

Nigel Farage is launching a legal battle with NatWest over the debanking saga (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Business

Nigel Farage to launch legal action against NatWest over debanking row

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visits the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in London ahead of Armistice Day (Daniel Leal/PA)
UK

Sunak issues plea for ‘unity’ amid tensions over Gaza march on Armistice Day

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has expressed her support for police (Joe Giddens/PA)
UK

Braverman gives police ‘full backing’ after widely-criticised claim of bias

Peter Bone has been suspended from the House of Commons (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
UK Politics

Suspended Tory Peter Bone faces by-election as recall petition opens

Rishi Sunak said he will hold the Metropolitan Police Commissioner ‘accountable’ for his decision to greenlight a Gaza rally on Armistice Day (Joe Giddens/PA)
UK

Sunak to hold Met chief ‘accountable’ for giving go-ahead to Gaza rally

Former prime minister Boris Johnson wanted to be injected with Covid on TV to show it did not pose a threat, the official inquiry was told (Aaron Chown/PA)
UK

Boris Johnson wanted to be injected with Covid to show ‘it didn’t pose a threat’

Sir Keir Starmer visits soft drinks manufacturer Clearly Drinks in Sunderland (Owen Humphreys/PA)
UK

Starmer vows to ‘bulldoze through barriers to British success’

UK

Starmer vows to ‘bulldoze through barriers to British success’

Sir Keir Starmer visits soft drinks manufacturer Clearly Drinks in Sunderland (Owen Humphreys/PA)
Rishi Sunak shakes hands with Elon Musk (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)
UK Politics

Sunak branded ‘out of touch’ for saying people should give up pay to start firms

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough, has been suspended by Labour for what the party said were ‘deeply offensive’ comments at a pro-Palestinian rally (Peter Byrne/PA)
UK

Suspended Labour MP to sue Tory who said he ‘sought to justify’ Hamas attack

The Labour leader will say the speech should be about ‘a national mission to get Britain building again’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK

Starmer warns King’s Speech will be ‘manifesto for stagnation’

The head of the government’s so-called nudge unit spoke of ‘arrogance’ in the government’s early handling of the pandemic (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
UK

Hubris and overconfidence hampered early Covid response, says nudge unit chief

The head of the government’s so-called nudge unit spoke of ‘arrogance’ in the government’s early handling of the pandemic (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
UK

Hubris and overconfidence hampered early Covid response, says nudge unit chief

Former cabinet secretary Lord Sedwill (House of Commons/PA)
UK

Cummings: Sedwill’s departure ‘set off bomb’ across Whitehall

Sir James Dyson said he had been trying give a grant to a primary school through his charitable foundation (David Parry/PA)
UK

No 10 denies blocking James Dyson’s £6m donation to state primary school

Home Secretary Suella Braverman called child sexual abuse images generated by AI an ‘online scourge’ (Joe Giddens/PA)
UK Politics

Tech firms vow to tackle ‘shocking’ AI-generated child sex abuse images

South Thanet Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay was put into a coma after developing sepsis (Victoria Jones/PA)
UK

Messages of support for MP who was in a coma with sepsis and organ failure

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak does not feel his AI summit is being snubbed by world leaders, No 10 said (Peter Nicholls/PA)
UK Politics

Downing Street denies AI summit being snubbed by world leaders

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer forcefully condemned the bloodshed unleashed by Hamas in Israel (Peter Byrne/PA)
UK

Starmer condemns ‘senseless’ killings unleashed by Hamas ‘terrorists’

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves (Peter Byrne/PA)
UK

Reeves rejects suggestions Hamas attack caused by Israel’s ‘occupation’ of Gaza

Shadow international development secretary Lisa Nandy speaks at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)
UK

Restoring 0.7% aid target not day-one priority for Labour government, Nandy says

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour will improve public services (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Business

Labour may borrow to invest while following fiscal rules with ‘iron discipline’

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out Labour’s plans to get Britain building again’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Business

Labour would speed up planning for major infrastructure, Reeves to say

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK

Labour’s position on China would not boil down to the word ‘threat’ – Lammy

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy has said Labour must communicate its policies clearly (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
UK

David Lammy: Voters do not want razzmatazz of Blair era

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner will open the Labour conference in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)
UK

Angela Rayner to open Labour conference with pledge to ‘make work pay’

Labour’s win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West has been described as ‘seismic’ by Sir Keir Starmer (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Key questions around Rutherglen by-election win Starmer hails as ‘seismic’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party ‘blew the doors off’ the by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Starmer paints Labour as ‘party of change’ after Rutherglen victory

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar with candidate Michael Shanks (left) at the count for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, at South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters in Hamilton (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Labour poses ‘serious challenge’ to SNP’s dominance – Sir John Curtice

Labour’s win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West has been described as ‘seismic’ by Sir Keir Starmer (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Key questions around Rutherglen by-election win Starmer hails as ‘seismic’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party ‘blew the doors off’ the by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Starmer paints Labour as ‘party of change’ after Rutherglen victory

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar with candidate Michael Shanks (left) at the count for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, at South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters in Hamilton (Jane Barlow/PA)
UK

Labour poses ‘serious challenge’ to SNP’s dominance – Sir John Curtice

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will not apologise for cancelling the northern leg of HS2 (PA)
UK

Sunak refuses to apologise for axing HS2 amid backlash from former PMs

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt conceded that he flew from London to Manchester (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Business

Jeremy Hunt admits he flew to Manchester Tory conference from London

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Hollie Adams/PA)
UK

Rishi Sunak denies people feel betrayed by wavering over future of HS2

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho was asked to provide clarity on the Government’s new approach to climate change-fighting policies (Aaron Chown/PA)
UK

Rishi Sunak accused of using climate as ‘party political football’

Junior doctors from the British Medical Association have staged walkouts (Danny Lawson/PA)
Business

Sunak: NHS strikes ‘holding back progress’ on cutting waiting lists

Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s speech was criticised (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
UK Politics

Suella Braverman hits back at Elton John over migrant speech criticism

Tory London mayoral candidate Susan Hall (James Manning/PA)
UK

Susan Hall shrugs off liking Enoch Powell tweet saying offence ‘wasn’t intended’

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer defended Tory colleagues who host GB News shows (Victoria Jones/PA)
UK

Frazer defends Tory MPs who host GB News shows after ‘unacceptable’ comments

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