James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
From our UK edition
The local elections results are in, and the Conservatives have lost more than 450 council seats. After a full recount, Labour’s Richard Parker beat Andy Street to become West Midlands mayor, with only around 1500 votes in it. What does his loss mean for Rishi Sunak, and where do the overall results leave him? Katy Balls and James Heale speak to Megan McElroy. Produced by Megan McElroy.
From our UK edition
Andy Street has been defeated as mayor of West Midlands by Labour's Richard Parker in a knife-edge contest. The result was due at 3 p.m this afternoon but was delayed by almost six hours following a recount of all the ballots cast in Coventry. Parker ended up with 225,590 or 37.8 per cent of votes to Street’s 224,082 or 37.5 per cent - so just 1,508 votes separated them. It means that Labour has now won 10 of the 11 mayor elections. Ben Houchen, clinging on in Tees Valley, is the only Tory mayor left. Street had done all he could to distance himself from what he regarded as a toxic Tory brand, removing all traces of the Conservative party from his website. In effect, he ran as an independent. This time yesterday it seemed that he'd done it, with Labour seeming to give up hope.
From our UK edition
'Consolidation' is the word on Lib Dem lips today, as the party mulls its solid, if not spectacular, progress in Thursday's local elections. Ed Davey's troops gained more than 100 council seats and added two more authorities to their existing tally of ten. Sir John Curtice, the elections expert, suggests they 'had only a modest night'. He puts the party's 'disappointing' projected national share of the vote at 17 per cent– three percentage points down on 2023. This, some Lib Dems counter, is unfair. In 2023, there were more than 8,000 council seats up for grabs; this time there were just 2,600. This week's elections tended to be in more 'red wall' or metropolitan areas where the primary challenge to Tory rule is from Labour, not the Liberal Democrats.
From our UK edition
10 min listen
Rishi Sunak can breathe a (small) sigh of relief. Ben Houchen, the so-called ‘patron saint of the red wall’, has won a third term as Tees Valley mayor. Houchen secured 53.6 per cent of the vote with Labour in second place with 41.3 per cent, despite some polls in advance suggesting it was neck-and-neck between the Tories and Labour. The Conservatives have undeniably had one of their worst nights for a generation, but are there some silver linings? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
From Hartlepool in the red wall to true blue Rushmoor, Labour has made gains across the country. But as Keir Stramer chalks up the wins, he also confronts some setbacks. Oldham council has fallen to no overall control due to the election of seven new independents – and the conflict in the Middle East is emerging as a theme. One in four Oldham residents is Muslim, with many protesting against Labour’s support for Israel since October. ‘In some parts of the borough, it’s the Gaza issue that may lose them the seat,’ one outgoing Labour councillor told local journalists. The Manchester Evening News is also citing it as a reason for Labour’s losses at the hands of seven independent candidates.
From our UK edition
It is a thankless morning for Tories on the media round. Faced with the loss of half of their council seats, ministers are resorting to the time-honoured tactic of talking up favourable results as offering useful national lessons. This trick was pioneered by Kenneth Baker, who as Mrs Thatcher’s party chair successfully sold the post-Poll Tax elections of 1990 as a good night, based on the exceptional results of Westminster and Wandsworth. This time, Harlow is CCHQ’s favourite local council, with the Tories winning 17 of the available 33 seats therem and Labour one shy on 16. It is clear from results elsewhere that Harlow is an exception, and not the rule in this election The outgoing MP Rob Halfon was quick to hail the result as the ‘biggest comeback since Lazarus’.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Tomorrow, voters go to the polls for the last set of local elections in this parliament, alongside 11 mayoral elections in England, 37 police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales plus the London Assembly elections. Could Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, help turn Rishi Sunak's fortunes around? You can read James Heale's assessment of the key battlegrounds here. Also on the podcast, a look at rumours that Labour are in talks to water down their employment policies. Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and John McTernan, former adviser to Tony Blair.
From our UK edition
Could Labour really lose London? A new poll out today shows that Sadiq Khan's lead over Susan Hall is down to just ten points, ahead of the capital's voters going to the polls tomorrow. The survey from Savanta for the Centre for London gives Khan 42 per cent of the vote, followed by Hall on 32 per cent and then Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie in third with 10 per cent. It points to the race tightening, with Khan’s lead dropping three points since the last Savanta poll. The findings are a striking contrast with a separate YouGov poll which gives Khan a massive 22-point lead. How best to explain this split? One leading pollster admits that their peers 'are very nervous about London'.
From our UK edition
Tomorrow, voters go to the polls for the last set of local elections in this parliament. After five tumultuous years, Rishi Sunak and his party look set to suffer big losses – including up to half the 985 council seats which the Tories are trying to hold. Some 2,600 council seats are up for grabs across 107 local authorities in England, with much of the attention focused on areas containing key parliamentary marginals. Eleven councils are identified below as being particularly worth watching over the next few days, with results trickling in from Friday morning until Saturday afternoon. Alongside the council elections are 11 mayoral elections in England, 37 police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales plus the London Assembly elections too.
From our UK edition
17 min listen
As figures now show there are 2.8 million people claiming out-of-work benefits, Rishi Sunak gave a speech looking at welfare reform. But with more and more people off work for mental health related issues, could the Tories’ focus backfire if the public think they’re trivialising mental health? Also on the podcast, a look ahead to the mayoral elections. James Heale discusses with Isabel Hardman and Luke Tryl, UK Director at More in Common. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
From our UK edition
It is fashionable within Westminster to criticise the Rwanda plan. The likes of Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Reform on the right can often be found echoing Labour's criticisms on the left that the current scheme is both flawed and unworkable. Yet one place where Rwanda is credited with having a deterrent effect is across the Irish Sea. Micheál Martin, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, is now explicitly blaming the scheme for an increase in asylum seekers entering his country from Northern Ireland. 'I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland', he said on Wednesday night. 'It is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in the UK.
From our UK edition
British politics in recent years has sometimes resembled a waltz. Both main parties show little compunction in mirroring each other's plans, stealing their opponents' popular policies and playing down the differences which characterised the Corbyn years. So it was striking to see Labour's reticence this week to sign up to Sunak's much-vaunted plan to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030. Both Keir Starmer and John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, have invested much time and effort over the past four years in trying to nullify the Tories' traditional lead in this area. At the last election barely one in ten voters trusted their party on defence and national security; now polls suggest that Labour leads on this issue.
From our UK edition
Rishi Sunak’s good week in politics just came to an end. Buoyed by a successful defence spending announcement and the passage of the Rwanda Bill, there had been rumours that the run-up to Thursday’s local elections would see the announcement of the general election date. But in a shock move, Tory backbencher Dan Poulter this afternoon announced that he is defecting to Labour, citing the depleted state of the health service. The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich previously said he was standing down at the next election but will now sit for the Labour party until parliament is dissolved. In an interview with the BBC, the former health minister told Laura Kuenssberg that he could no longer look his NHS colleagues and patients in the eye and stay on as a Conservative.
From our UK edition
10 min listen
With Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer away, Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner stepped in for PMQs today. Questions quickly turned to the long running row about Rayner's tax affairs. Did she redeem herself? Also, the prime minister has announced further UK military spending, confirming it will rise to 2.5% of national income by 2030. Does the move cause problems for Keir Starmer? Katy Balls speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Megan McElroy.
From our UK edition
13 min listen
After eight hours of debate on the Rwanda Bill, peers finally threw in the towel shortly after midnight. And with that, the Rwanda Bill became law, pending Royal Assent from the King. The two chambers have been engaged in a mammoth game of ping-pong for the past week, culminating in yesterday’s showdown on two final amendments. What comes next? Kate Andrews speaks to James Heale and Katy Balls. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
After eight hours of debate on the Rwanda Bill, peers finally threw in the towel shortly after midnight. The two chambers have been engaged in a mammoth game of ping-pong for the past week, culminating in yesterday's showdown on two final amendments. On the first of these – Lord Browne's exemption for Afghan interpreters – the government made a concession shortly before 9 p.m. But on the second – Lord Anderson's proposed monitoring committee to judge whether Rwanda – they did not. The crossbench peer eventually relented at 11:53p.m, conceding the time was nigh to 'acknowledge the primacy' of the elected chamber. And with that, the Rwanda Bill became law, pending Royal Assent from the King.
From our UK edition
Chris Cash, the parliamentary aide accused of spying for China, is to be charged with espionage offences, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said today. Nick Price, the head of the CPS special crime and counter-terrorism division, confirmed that it has has now 'authorised the Metropolitan police to charge two men with espionage offences'. Price said Cash, 29, and his alleged accomplice Christopher Berry, 32, would be charged with providing prejudicial information to a China. They will appear at Westminster magistrates court this Friday. 'Criminal proceedings against the defendants are active,' Price declared in a statement. 'No one should report, comment or share information online which could in any way prejudice their right to a fair trial.
From our UK edition
12 min listen
This morning Rishi Sunak delivered a press conference making the case that the Rwanda Bill should become law today – and the government is ready for when it does. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about what could be an all-night parliamentary showdown on the Rwanda vote, and whether an early summer election is on the cards. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
From our UK edition
The Rwanda Bill should become law today – and the government is ready for when it does. That was Rishi Sunak's message at a No. 10 press conference this morning, ahead of what could be an all-night showdown of parliamentary ping-pong. The House of Lords last week mounted a tougher-than-expected resistance to Sunak's flagship legislation, with frustrated Tory MPs aiming to overrule peers on the last outstanding amendments later today. The number of small boat arrivals from Vietnam is up ten-fold the previous year As well as keeping the heat on Labour and the Lords, Sunak's press conference was intended to look ahead to what happens after the legislation becomes law.
From our UK edition
Better late than never. In Washington, the House of Representatives last night voted to approve £49 billion funding in aid for Ukraine by 311 votes to 112. It came after months of wrangling in the Republican party, with the situation in Kyiv continuing to deteriorate. The extent to which the GOP is split was shown in the final voting tally: 101 Republicans voted for the package while 112 voted against. The Speaker, Mike Johnson, who helped marshal the package to passage, said after the vote: ‘We did our work here, and I think history will judge it well.’ Trump’s silence can be a powerful thing But Johnson’s decision to rely on Democrats’ votes to clear procedural hurdles and get the final deal through may prompt a move to trigger his removal.
