69 m. ago Pollster predicts grim local elections for Starmer and Badenoch with Reform surge

The local elections, which will be the first big electoral test since last summer’s general election, will see the Tories lose around 500 seats, a leading pollster has predicted

Politics

2 h. ago Reform and Labour tied at the top ahead of local elections, poll shows

The Conservatives have the most seats to lose in next week’s local elections

Politics

3 h. ago Reform UK candidate at next week's local elections was last year convicted of £5,000 council tax fraud

Martyn Cubitt is standing for Nigel Farage 's party for the Burwell division of Cambridgeshire County Council next Thursday.

Economics

8 h. ago Starmer's EU Brexit 'reset' to include 'one in, one out' version of free movement for youths ... but he won't unveil it until AFTER local elections

The Home Secretary is said to be willing to consider a limited operation, having previously been opposed to any type of exchange over fears it would affect migration figures.

Politics

13 h. ago Scottish Labour accuses SNP of 'parachuting' candidate into Hamilton by

EXCLUSIVE: SNP candidate Katy Loudon does not live in the Hamilton constituency - but has promised to run a by-election campaign "centred on local values".

Politics

14 h. ago Local elections 2025: Guide to every council and mayoral contest

A total of 1,641 council seats are up for grabs across 23 local authorities.

Politics

23 h. ago Farage accused of being ‘out of touch’ after ‘overdiagnosis’ comments

The Reform leader told a local elections campaign event that overdiagnosis is ‘creating a class of victims’ in the UK.

Politics

25 h. ago Nigel Farage clashes with charities as he claims GPs are 'massively overdiagnosing' children with special educational needs and disabilities

Ahead of next week's local elections , the Reform UK leader said there was a 'massive problem' among councils due to soaring demand for SEND services.

Politics

25 h. ago Starmer pushes for his Brexit 'reset' but at what price? PM hosts EU's von der Leyen in No10 amid fears he will cave on 'youth free movement', fishing rights and Brussels rules

Keir Starmer has welcomed Ursula von der Leyen to Downing Street amid intense negotiations over a new package.

Politics

27 h. ago Jenrick letter intensifies speculation he is preparing Tory leadership bid

The speculation comes just a week before the local elections where the Tories are set to lose hundreds of seats

Politics

29 h. ago Tories face 'losing 500 seats' in election hammering by Reform in North and Lib Dems in London commuter belt

The town hall polls are a test of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage’s leaderships

Politics

30 h. ago Starmer pushes for his Brexit 'reset' but at what price? PM meeting EU's von der Leyen in No10 TODAY amid fears he will cave on 'youth free movement', fishing rights and Brussels rules

Keir Starmer is meeting Ursula von der Leyen in Downing Street later amid intense negotiations over a new package.

Politics

30 h. ago Tories 'face losing 500 councillors' in local elections next week as Kemi Badenoch dismisses Robert Jenrick's hint at 'coalition' with Reform

Lord Robert Hayward, a Conservative peer and top pollster, said he expects the Tories to lose between 475 to 525 councillors at next Thursday's elections.

Politics

43 h. ago Tory peer and pollster predicts local election wipeout for his own party

The local elections, which will be the first big electoral test since last summer’s general election, will see the Tories lose around 500 seats, a leading pollster has predicted

Politics

49 h. ago Reform UK council candidate helps Nigerians get UK study visas

Christopher Adegoke is standing as Reform's candidate for the Hucknall West ward on Nottinghamshire County Council at next month's local elections .

Politics

53 h. ago Cabinet war over 'youth free movement' deal with EU: Rachel Reeves 'backs relaxing visa rules' to boost stalling growth

A youth mobility scheme has been among the key demands of EU member states as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer bids for closer post-Brexit ties with the bloc.

Economics

58 h. ago Are there any local elections in Greater Manchester this year?

May 1 will be a big polling day in many areas of England

Politics

59 h. ago Nigel Farage thinks net zero is the new Brexit. Starmer can prove him wrong | Rafael Behr

Labour must deliver the green transition voters want, leaving Reform and the Tories on the side of economic decline and dictatorsWhich former British prime minister described the climate emergency as “a clock ticking to the furious rhythm of hundreds of billions of pistons and turbines and furnaces and engines quilting the Earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2”?The florid style gives it away. You’d guess Boris Johnson even if you’d forgotten that the master of Brexit bombast also had a sideline in net zero evangelism. It wasn’t the most memorable part of his repertoire and it didn’t catch on as a Conservative catechism.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

60 h. ago The left is rising, and the far right is reeling. Will I finally see the Finland I dreamed of? | Mike Watson

My adopted home has been a dark place of late. But in last week’s local elections, voters turned against cruel politics – and raised hopes of a more progressive futureThe Finns say “spring comes in swinging” – when winter gives way to spring, and green shoots meet the final flurries of snow, often well into April. In Finnish politics, too, some hope is beginning to emerge after a long, dark winter.In municipal, regional and mayoral elections held across the country last week, rightwing populist parties were roundly defeated, while parties on the left gained ground. In particular, the far-right Finns party saw its vote share collapse, from 20% in the general election of 2023 to as low as 7.6% now. This leaves the coalition government of which it forms a part severely weakened and the centre-left Social Democratic party (SDP) with the biggest vote share nationwide (23%). When the Finns party leader, Riikka Purra, admitted defeat on results night, she complained that a punainen aalto, ...

Politics

65 h. ago Last chance to apply for emergency photo ID for upcoming local elections

The deadline is fast approaching for voters in England to secure the necessary photo identification to participate in next week's local and mayoral elections.

Politics