Author: James Carter

The Conservative Party has recaptured Westminster City Council, winning 32 of 54 seats to end Labour’s historic four-year control of one of Britain’s most symbolically significant local authorities — a result that stands out as a rare bright spot for the Tories in an otherwise punishing night for the party nationally. The Conservatives made gains in Bayswater, West End and Lancaster Gate wards, while support for Labour declined, mirroring broader results across the capital. Labour finished with 22 seats, having entered the election holding 28. Reform UK had also held two seats on the council going into Thursday’s vote, but…

Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting calls from within his own party to set out a timetable for his departure from Downing Street, after a catastrophic set of local election results left Labour MPs in open revolt — with even senior figures refusing to rule out the Prime Minister’s imminent end. Starmer insisted on Friday morning that he was “not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos,” but his defiant language was swiftly seized upon by critics who noted he had stopped short of ruling out an orderly, planned exit — leaving the door open to precisely…

Reform UK has seized control of Essex County Council in one of the most dramatic results of the 2026 local elections, ending 29 consecutive years of Conservative dominance in a county that had never been won by any other party since the council was created in its current form in 1973. Of the 43 divisions declared overnight, Reform won 28 — a haul that set the tone for the rest of the count. The elections were held across all 78 electoral divisions of Essex County Council following major boundary reforms that increased the total number of seats from 75 to…

Angela Rayner has deleted a video showing her telling schoolchildren that Reform UK would end free NHS treatment — a claim that misrepresents the party’s stated policy — after it sparked immediate accusations of political campaigning in schools and potential breaches of education law. The footage, which circulated widely on X before being removed by the former Deputy Prime Minister, showed Rayner responding to a pupil who raised the possibility that Nigel Farage’s party might perform better on certain issues. She told the children that Reform would introduce an insurance-style NHS system under which people would have to pay for…

Keir Starmer is fighting for his political survival this morning after Labour suffered a devastating defeat in local elections across England, with a union boss becoming the first to publicly demand his removal and Nigel Farage declaring a “truly historic shift in British politics.” The scale of the damage is stark. Labour has lost control of Redditch, Hartlepool, Tamworth, Exeter and Tameside councils — the last after 47 consecutive years — with Reform UK sweeping through former Red Wall heartlands across the North and Midlands. In Wigan, Reform took all but one of 25 available seats, snatching 20 from Labour.…

Green Party candidates who won council seats in Thursday’s local elections delivered victory speeches in Bengali and Arabic rather than English, in scenes that have sparked debate about identity politics and community representation in British civic life. Footage from Newham in east London, one of the areas where the Greens made gains, shows a newly elected councillor opening with “As-salamu alaykum” — the traditional Arabic Islamic greeting meaning “peace be upon you” — before switching to Bengali to address what he described as “our Bangladesh community.” Supporters holding Green Party banners and Vote Green placards cheered throughout. The speech was…

The Kremlin has publicly acknowledged that security around Vladimir Putin has been significantly strengthened, amid mounting reports that the Russian president has abandoned his usual residences and retreated to bunkers over fears of both a Ukrainian assassination attempt and a potential coup from within his own inner circle. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the additional measures on Thursday, attributing them to what he described as “the rather complex operational situation against the backdrop of the terrorist threat posed by the Kyiv regime,” with a major military parade scheduled for Saturday. He made no comment on the coup speculation or reports…

Tony Robinson, the 79-year-old actor best known for playing Baldrick in Blackadder, has been widely ridiculed on X after posting a video urging people to vote Labour on the day of a major set of local and devolved elections across the UK. The clip, shared on polling day and amplified by broadcaster Patrick Christys among others, shows Robinson energetically dancing and jogging down a street in a green shirt, arms flailing, with bold red text overlaid reading “Vote TODAY Vote Change Vote Labour.” He points at the camera, grins and spins toward a polling station sign at the end. The…

A man has been arrested in connection with the theft of a mobile phone belonging to Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, in a case that has raised serious questions about transparency at the heart of Downing Street. The Metropolitan Police confirmed to The Times that a 28-year-old man was detained on Wednesday 29 April at an address in Peckham on suspicion of handling stolen goods. He is suspected of receiving the phone after it was stolen and attempting to sell it on. A Scotland Yard spokesperson was clear that he is “not suspected of any involvement…

Iran has publicly mocked Donald Trump after the United States suspended its “Project Freedom” mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in less than 48 hours — as a French container ship came under attack in the critical waterway, leaving crew members injured and the vessel damaged. Iranian state media outlet INSA wasted little time in framing the pause as a humiliation for Washington. “Following Iran’s firm positions and warnings, and the failure of the United States to achieve its objectives in the so-called ‘Freedom Project’, Trump announced the suspension of this project,” the outlet said in a statement, describing…