33 m. ago Nigel Farage swipes the Tories 'will never recover' following their local elections wipeout

The Tories lost more than 600 councillors and all 15 of the councils they controlled going into Thursday's contest - among the worst results in the party's history.

Politics

9 h. ago Farage: Reform UK has ‘supplanted’ Tories after local elections sweep

The Reform leader said the Conservatives will ‘never recover’.

Politics

11 h. ago Keir Starmer told to 'stop going further and faster' after Labour's local election battering

Labour figures are urging Sir Keir Starmer to change course after Reform UK made sweeping gains in local elections across the UK, as the Prime Minister has said he would go "further and faster" in response to his party's poor result

Politics

13 h. ago Local elections were ‘devastating’ for Labour, says top pollster John Curtice

Exclusive: Professor Sir John Curtice has warned that Starmer’s failings have opened the door for Reform, while fellow pollster Luke Tryl suggests the Tories only have 12 months to turn things around

Politics

13 h. ago Voices: The real problem for Labour is why votes for the party collapsed in its own heartlands

How the votes at the local elections were spread will give concern for Labour as much as Tories, says politics professor and electoral analyst Sir John Curtice

Politics

14 h. ago Where did Labour and the Tories suffer most in the local elections?

As Starmer and Badenoch suffer pressure following their parties’ crushing defeats, data correspondent Alicja Hagopian looks at where Labour and Conservatives performed the worst

Politics

15 h. ago What next for Labour after local elections? Warnings for Keir Starmer from his own party

One of Labour's metro mayors has warned losses in South Yorkshire are the "canary in the coalmine" - while a north east MP said the party needs a "change of plan" more than a "Plan for Change"

Events

15 h. ago New Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns vows to sack county council’s diversity officers

Dame Andrea Jenkyns has doubled down on Farage’s pledge to sack diversity officers in Lincolnshire but the county council has revealed it does not employ any

Events

17 h. ago Labour targets international students claiming asylum after losses to Reform in local elections

Exclusive: Ministers understood to be drafting white paper this month in move to reduce legal migrationMinisters will crack down on international students applying for asylum in the UK in a move designed to tackle migration figures, after a series of bruising losses to Reform in the local elections.An immigration white paper setting out the proposed reforms in mid-May will include measures to bring down the numbers of UK student visa holders who make asylum claims, the Guardian understands. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago Labour targets international students claiming asylum after election losses to Reform

Exclusive: Ministers understood to be drafting white paper this month in move to reduce legal migrationMinisters will crack down on international students applying for asylum in the UK in a move designed to tackle migration figures, after a series of bruising losses to Reform in the local elections.An immigration white paper setting out the proposed reforms in mid-May will include measures to bring down the numbers of UK student visa holders who make asylum claims, the Guardian understands. Continue reading...

Events

17 h. ago 'Britain wants Reform!': Nigel Farage hails 'unprecedented' local election results and says his councils will resist taking asylum seekers

Nigel Farage has declared 'Britain wants Reform' as he boasts of the party's 'unprecedented' results in yesterday's local elections, sparking a political earthquake for Labour and the Conservatives. 

Politics

17 h. ago Local elections in numbers: 677 new Reform councillors – while Labour gets no votes in some wards

The Independent’s data correspondent Alicja Hagopian crunches the numbers from this year’s local elections

Politics

18 h. ago New Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns vows to sack council’s diversity officers

Dame Andrea Jenkyns has doubled down on Farage’s pledge to sack diversity officers in Lincolnshire but the county council has revealed it does not employ any

Events

19 h. ago Voices: Yes, Nigel Farage really could be prime minister in 2029

The magic number of 30 per cent is what really matters in today’s politics – and Reform got there in the latest local elections, putting Nigel Farage in a very new position, writes John Rentoul

Politics

22 h. ago Local elections 2025 mapped: Full results for every council and mayoral race

Reform swept up this year’s local elections, winning 677 seats across all contested councils. While the Lib Dems also saw success, the Tories and Labour faced devastating defeats

Politics

22 h. ago Starmer urged to change course after Reform’s success in local elections

Labour MP Rachael Maskell said her party has ‘special responsibilities’ to serve the needs of people.

Politics

23 h. ago Badenoch apologises for local election results as Reform warned there are ‘no simple answers’ – UK politics live

Shadow chief treasury secretary Richard Fuller says Nigel Farage’s party must do more than just ‘point at problems’‘We can’t just talk to the right’: what will Labour do now?Headteachers are taking legal action against Ofsted, England’s schools watchdog, over fears that its new inspection regime is “even worse than before” and likely to harm the mental health of school leaders.The National Association of Head Teachers said it had lodged a claim for a judicial review against Ofsted “over the potential impact of their inspection proposals” and for inadequate consultation over its new system of grading schools.Somehow the focus on school leader mental health and wellbeing has got lost along the way during Ofsted’s consultation process.We must not forget that the catalyst for these changes was the tragic death of Ruth Perry and widespread acceptance that the inspection regime was placing school leaders under intolerable pressure. However, there appears to have been very little thought g...

Events

24 h. ago Are you worried about the rise of Reform? Take our poll and have your say

Reform UK has stunned us all with more than 600 local election wins, flipping Tory strongholds and claiming its fifth MP. With a booming Gen-Z following and rising poll numbers, the insurgent party is now threatening to upend two-party politics for good. Are you worried?

Politics

24 h. ago Local election results live: Badenoch sorry for Tory ‘bloodbath’ as Farage gloats Conservatives are finished

Reform takes control of 10 councils, snatches dramatic victory in Runcorn by-election and wins two mayoral contests

Politics

24 h. ago ‘No simple answers’ for Reform after local election success, senior Tory warns – UK politics live

Shadow chief treasury secretary Richard Fuller says Nigel Farage’s party must do more than just ‘point at problems’‘We can’t just talk to the right’: what will Labour do now?Labour MP Rachael Maskell has urged her party to scrap winter fuel and welfare policies that she said are pushing voters away, reports the PA news agency.The York Central MP told BBC Breakfast that Labour has “special responsibilities” to serve the needs of people.We’re not any other political party, we were created to serve the needs of people across working areas of our country so that people had a real voice of the kind of change that they wanted to see.I think it’s now time, if Labour are going to go further faster, to pick up that voice, to put our fingers on the pulse and to understand that that responsibility that the 1945 government set out putting that safety net in place at the welfare state is on our watch and is our responsibility.People went cold last winter and that’s not what a Labour government s...

Events