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Chris Webb wins back ‘red wall’ Blackpool South seat held by Tories since 2019Local elections 2024: full council results for EnglandAnalysis: Blackpool verdict looks like electoral death sentence for ToriesThe results of the London mayoral contest and London assembly elections are due on Saturday. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term and polls have put him comfortably ahead of Tory Susan Hall, despite...

Full results likely to point to drubbing for Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives at the general electionLocal and mayoral election results – live updatesIt was a grim night for the Conservatives and the pain seems likely to extend over the weekend, even if there may be moments of consolation from some mayoral elections.The Blackpool South byelection was not a routine mid-term setback for the party of...

With fewer than a third of council elections declared, the Conservative party appeared on course to lose up to 500 seatsLocal and mayoral election results – live updatesAt the start of a long weekend of election results, the first outcomes have been every bit as dire for the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak as analysts had predicted. With fewer than a third of the council...

Find out who’s up and who’s down in the latest polls – and how many seats each party is likely to win in the next general electionUK general election: find your new constituency – and see how it would have voted in 2019UK general election: the seats the Tories will lose if the polls are rightSupport the Guardian’s UK election coverage todayThe next UK...

Pollsters say early results suggest Tories could lose half of council seats contested, putting party on course for as many as 500 lossesLocal and mayoral election results – live updatesKeir Starmer has hailed Labour’s “seismic” win in Blackpool South in a night of local elections that provided further evidence that the party is heading for a large majority at this year’s general election.The Labour...

Civil servant Josie Stewart spoke to media after government presented ‘dishonest account’, tribunal toldA Foreign Office civil servant felt “morally compelled” to speak to the media about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after the government presented a “dishonest account” of what happened, an employment tribunal has heard.Josie Stewart was sacked by the Foreign Office (FCDO) after blowing the whistle on the failures of the...

Polls open in last big elections before general elections as John Swinney expected to announce run for SNP leader and Scotland’s first ministerAccording to ITV’s Harry Horton, the Conservative MP Tom Hunt told colleagues last night that he would have difficulty voting today because he does not possess the right photo ID.It was this government, of course, that introduced the legislation saying photo ID...

Ex-chancellor and Truss were close political allies and friends before he was sacked over a crisis stoked by the mini-budgetKwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor of the exchequer for 43 of Liz Truss’s 49 days as British prime minister, has said Truss “essentially” sacked him “on Twitter”, a dismissal he called “kind of Trumpian” in its swiftness and brutality as Britain fell into crisis.Kwarteng said: “One...

Business secretary defends move, saying it ‘puts to bed myth that Rwanda is not a safe place’Kemi Badenoch, who is minister for women and equalities as well as business and trade secretary, is launching a move to root out “bad guidance” on access to single-sex spaces. The initiative seems intended to restrict the extent to which trans women use these facilities.She said:Single-sex spaces are...

Susan Hall became member a day after an exposé about its contents – much of which is directed at Sadiq KhanTory staff running network of anti-Ulez Facebook groups riddled with racism and abuseSusan Hall, the Tory candidate for London mayor, has joined a Facebook group which contains Islamophobic hate speech and abusive comments about her opponent Sadiq Khan, the day after an exposé about...

Timeline for scheme comes after government accused of trying to ‘wriggle out’ of move to speed up payouts to victimsUK politics – latest updatesMinisters in the UK have agreed to a three-month deadline to establish a compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal but warned it could be “unavoidably” delayed if parliament was not sitting.While making no mention of an election, the...

Polling puts Ben Houchen on course to win in Tees Valley with Andy Street just ahead of Labour’s Richard Parker in West MidlandsKeir Starmer said his views on gender issues “start with biology” as he backed blocking trans women from female-only hospital wards and prisons in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, PA Media reports. PA says:The Labour leader was speaking as the...

Scotland’s first minister set to resign after failing to muster enough votes to survive a no confidence vote this weekHumza Yousaf is holding a press conference at noon, Sky News and the BBC are reporting.Mandy Rhodes, editor of the Holyrood magazine, says she was due to interview Humza Yousaf this afternoon, but he’s cancelled. Continue reading...

Decision to step down could come within hours as SNP leader faces no-confidence vote at HolyroodUK politics – latest updatesHumza Yousaf is expected to stand down as Scotland’s first minister on Monday lunchtime after failing to muster enough votes to survive a vote of confidence later this week. Yousaf is due to make a statement at noon at Bute House, his official residence in...

Rumours of an early election, despite Labour’s lead in opinion polls, being used to keep unruly Conservative MPs in checkSenior Tories believe the threat of a summer general election is being used by Downing Street to deter a rebellion against Rishi Sunak’s leadership, before a perilous set of local elections this week.Westminster has been abuzz with rumours of an early election, despite the persistent...

UK PM points to Irish deputy PM’s claim that threat of being deported led people to cross border from Northern IrelandAn increase in asylum seekers heading to Ireland proves that the Conservative party’s Rwanda plan is working, Rishi Sunak has claimed.In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that will air on Sunday morning, the prime minister said the “deterrent is already having an...

Allies of Scottish first minister say he ‘will come out fighting’ after Greens say they would back no-confidence motionUK politics – latest updatesScotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has cancelled a speech he was due to give in Glasgow amid speculation over his political future.Yousaf had been due to speak about the labour strategy in an independent Scotland, take part in a Q&A session and...

First minister cancels event as Strathclyde University as he faces no confidence voteStephen Flynn is viewed by some people as the most talented politician in the SNP and, in his interview on the Today programme, he was asked if he would stand for the leadership if Humza Yousaf were to resign. He replied:I have been asked this question previously the last time there was...

Chris Philp gets confused over neighbouring countries when discussing government’s Rwanda deportation policyUK politics – latest updatesThe policing minister, Chris Philp, appeared to confuse the countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on BBC Question Time on Thursday.When discussing the government policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, the MP for Croydon South responded to an audience member’s question during the...

Exclusive: Action by organisation supporting migrants argues new rules are discriminatoryAn organisation that supports migrant workers has launched a legal challenge against the government’s new policy to bar care workers from bringing children and partners to the UK, warning that it is “tearing families apart”.According to Migrants at Work, care workers have to choose between family life with their children and partners or getting...

Co-leader of party says Humza Yousaf can ‘no longer be trusted’ as first minister reportedly plans to run minority administrationHumza Yousaf, the SNP leader and Scottish first minister, is holding a press conference now.He says he has been in the post for little more than a year.We are investing record [sums in the NHS], ensuring it can employ record numbers of staff delivering the...

Cabinet votes to leave historic Bute House agreement after government abandons emissions targetUK politics – latest updatesThe historic power-sharing agreement between the Scottish National party and Scottish Greens is to end after a crisis over the government’s climate strategy.The Bute House agreement was signed in August 2021 by the then SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, and the Scottish Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie, bringing the Greens...

Home secretary visits Lampedusa in Italy as National Audit Office says scheme could surpass £580m by 2030Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the £1.8m a person cost of the scheme was justified.James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had...

Tributes paid to former Labour minister and welfare campaigner Frank Field, who has died at the age of 81Keir Starmer has said the death of Frank Field is “a profound loss to politics and to our nation”. In a tribute to the former minister, Starmer went on:Frank dedicated his life to being a voice for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in the country.Frank...