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 [...]
Reform picks up new MP and first ever mayoralty May 2, 2025 Reform UK has crystallised months of strong polling data into substantial gains at the local elections, winning a knife-edge by-election and securing its first mayoralty. Nigel Farage’s party won in Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes, with Sarah Pochin elected as its new MP – replacing former Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who was convicted [...]
Solar panels must be fitted on all new homes from 2027 in net zero push May 1, 2025 New rules will mandate that housebuilders fit solar panels on the roofs of almost every new-build home from 2027, in a move slammed as an “ideological crusade”. According to a report in The Times, the policy change would add around £3,300 to the cost of building a semi-detached or terraced house, with a £4,000 premium [...]
Local elections 2025: Final polls show fractured public opinion April 30, 2025 Thursday is the first major electoral test of a new political reality, with Reform UK looking to surge and the Conservatives facing crushing losses. These councils, last contested at the height of Boris Johnson’s post-Covid vaccine powers in 2021, present Kemi Badenoch’s party with a staggering number of seats to defend. Based on the current [...]
Tony Blair calls for Net Zero ‘reset’ in break with Miliband April 30, 2025 Sir Tony Blair has called for a reset of “irrational” Net Zero plans, with an extended critique of the current state of the climate debate that has been seen as a direct rebuke to the energy secretary Ed Miliband. Blair, the last Labour leader to win an election before Sir Keir Starmer, cautioned in a [...]
Trump’s first 100 days: From stock market carnage to electing Carney April 29, 2025 Tuesday marks President Trump’s second first 100 days. On 29 April 2017, pundits looked back at the opening of the then 45th President’s term as a period that had shaken presidential norms and perhaps lowered the tone. In comparison, these first three months have been an earthquake. Trump has shown himself willing to execute the [...]
Treasury to scrap valuation quango amid efficiency drive April 28, 2025 The Valuation Office Agency will be folded into HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the tax minister has said, in the latest sign of the government’s efforts to trim away fat from the operations of the state. The arms length body responsible for valuing properties to determine tax rates, which spans £60bn worth of valuation each [...]
New data reveals VAT on school fees could hike costs by £75,000 April 28, 2025 The government’s policy of VAT on school fees would introduce a price hike in excess of £75,000 for families sending children to independent schools, according to new analysis by wealth manager Rathbones. According to the data, the average cost of sending a child to an independent day school for the duration of their time at [...]
As FTSE 100 pharma firms wait for a tariffs decision, what would drugs levies mean for consumers? April 22, 2025 For FTSE 100 businesses navigating the shifting sands of Trump’s trade war, the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs has been almost as painful as the stock market shocks. The pharmaceutical industry has been left in a particularly agonising limbo: free, for now, from the 10 per cent baseline import tax, but the US President keeps making [...]
A game of chlorinated chicken: What is the price of a US-UK trade deal? April 17, 2025 An economic deal between the UK and the US could be just weeks away. The Trump administration has made sweeping promises of a “90 deals in 90 days” package of bespoke arrangements. While deals with India, Japan and South Korea are expected to be done first, the UK is understood to be not far behind [...]
