Keir Starmer to ‘look at’ voting rights for EU citizens and 16-17 year olds May 14, 2023 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will “look at” expanding the franchise to EU citizens living in the UK and lowering the voting age to 16, a party frontbencher has confirmed. Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said the proposals are “something we will look at”, amid reports over Labour being keen to bring in the [...]
First Big Oil, now the Government feels God’s wrath: Justin Welby slams ‘unacceptable’ small boats bill May 10, 2023 Justin Welby launched a stinging attack on the government’s Illegal Migration Bill, branding it “isolationist, morally unacceptable and politically impractical”. The Archbishop of Canterbury made the withering intervention as the flagship legislation on plans to tackle the small boats crisis faced its first test in the House of Lords. It came just a day after [...]
London Mayor: Two Tories officially throw their hat in the ring to take on Sadiq Khan May 9, 2023 Ex-Boris Johnson advisor Samuel Kasumu and former City Hall Tory chief Susan Hall have announced they plan to stand as Conservative candidate to run against mayor Sadiq Khan. The news came as the party opened the race to decide its mayoral pick ahead of a July 19 deadline, giving the chosen name 10 months to [...]
Starmer refuses to rule out Lib Dem coalition May 9, 2023 Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to rule out a coalition with the Liberal Democrats if he does not secure a majority at the next general election. The Labour leader on Tuesday refused to rule out a pact with Sir Ed Davey’s party despite emphatically saying he would not team up with the Scottish National [...]
Local elections: Labour now largest party of local government – but predicted to fall short of outright Westminster majority May 6, 2023 Labour have said the Tories’ dire local election results marked a “clear rejection” of Rishi Sunak as they became the largest party of local government since 2002. Sir Keir Starmer was celebrating wins in key battlegrounds as an indication his party was on course to win the next general election. The prime minister was under [...]
Are the Conservatives on course to lose the next general election? May 5, 2023 Local election results are seen as a crucial test for governments – and oppositions. They provide parties with a sense of momentum; a narrative about the country’s direction; and vital data for political number crunchers to pore over. One particularly key metric we can extrapolate from them is the estimated national vote share. Not all [...]
Local elections analysis: Do results suggest fear of complacency was misplaced? May 5, 2023 Poll leads can be a tricky thing for opposition parties, as Labour has shown in recent weeks. Lean in too far and risk appearing complacent. But downplay it too much, and you could fail to capitalise on a popularity boost. What everyone – from activists to frontbenchers – really want is cold, hard evidence of [...]
Local elections: Tories suffer big losses including commuter belt councils Hertsmere, Brentwood, Windsor and Maidenhead May 5, 2023 The Conservatives have been hit by major losses in the local elections – losing over a third of their council seats so far. Losses include key commuter belt councils Hertsmere, Brentwood and Windsor and Maidenhead – which includes former prime minister Theresa May’s constituency. It was prime minister Rishi Sunak’s first significant electoral test since [...]
Sunak: Politics no longer ‘box set drama’ as local elections open May 4, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said politics is moving away from a “box set drama” style following months of turbulence. His comments came on the eve of local elections across England today (4 May) with requirements for voters to present photo ID at the ballot box coming in for the first time. Sunak is facing [...]
Half of Londoners think Sadiq Khan doing ‘badly’, new poll finds April 27, 2023 Half of Londoners say they think Sadiq Khan is doing “badly” at City Hall, polling has found. Exactly 50 per cent rated him as doing “badly” while almost a third (32 per cent) – think the mayor is doing “very badly”, pollsters at YouGov said. Over a third of Londoners – 35 per cent – [...]