How sectarian is London’s politics? Opinion If the by-election in Gorton and Denton is a seismic event, then the aftershocks will be felt by Londoners in borough elections across the capital in May, writes James Ford By-elections are often exceptional, aberrant outliers from normal politics. The full attention of party campaign strategists and the national press are ruthlessly trained on a [...]
Keir Starmer U-turns on plans to cancel 30 local elections Politics The government has shelved plans to postpone local elections in May for 30 councils in England. Communities secretary Steve Reed says the decision comes “in the light of recent legal advice”, and ahead of a planned High Court hearing that was set for Thursday. According to a letter from the Government Legal Department, shared by [...]
High Court to hear Reform’s challenge on cancelled council elections Legal Reform UK’s legal challenge against the UK government over plans to delay local elections is set to go to a two-day trial next month. The case focuses on the government’s plan to allow 63 councils to postpone their local elections that were scheduled for May 2026. So far, more than a third of local authorities [...]
Reform UK: Kent local authority poised to hike council tax October 6, 2025 Reform UK-run Kent County Council is likely to raise council tax next year, with a cabinet member suggesting that a five per cent hike is on the cards. Diane Morton, the council lead for adult social care, told the Financial Times: “We’ve got more demand than ever before and it’s growing.” “We just want more [...]
Immigration rules to be ‘tightened up’ in Labour white paper May 12, 2025 The prime minister has unveiled sweeping reforms to the UK’s immigration system in a bid to curb levels of net migration. In a speech on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer declared that securing indefinite leave to remain in Britain is “a privilege that must be earned, not a right” as he lays out a series of [...]
Tories take note: Reform will come at Labour from the left May 6, 2025 As the dust settles on the local elections, party leaders will be busy trying to identify the right lessons. For the Conservatives, the picture is both clear and complicated. As Kemi Badenoch put it, her party faced a “bloodbath” in councils across the country. That’s the clear bit. The complicated bit concerns what she should [...]
Kemi Badenoch must quit now to save the Conservative Party May 5, 2025 Last week’s local election results were an extinction-level event for the Conservative Party. To prevent Nigel Farage becoming the real leader of the British right, Kemi Badenoch must resign now, says William Atkinson Amid stiff competition from their Canadian and Australian counterparts, the Conservatives’ local election disaster was the worst performance for a centre-right party [...]
Reform’s local election sweep puts Starmer and Badenoch in hot seat May 3, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch face pressure to reverse their parties’ fortunes after the local elections saw Reform UK make major gains across England. Nigel Farage hailed the results as “the end of two-party politics” and “the death of the Conservative Party” as Reform picked up 10 councils and more than 600 seats in [...]
Live results: Reform takes ten county councils in local elections landslide May 2, 2025 Reform is set to pick up hundreds of council seats around the country both from the Conservatives and Labour, in a significant electoral breakthrough. So far, the party has gained more than 500 seats, with the vast majority still to be counted and formally announced. In a major coup for Reform, it has taken control [...]
New powers to tackle fake immigration lawyers ‘unworkable in practice’ April 29, 2025 Crackdown on fake immigration 'lawyers' is said to be a "positive step" by the head of Law Society, but he warns it will be "unworkable in practice"