Category Archives: Local politics

‘You can’t rule out a complete panicked meltdown’: Tories fear wipeout after another disastrous week

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Infighting, suspensions and bizarre allegations have dogged efforts to restore order as the party prepares for May’s byelections

Less than two weeks before local elections that some senior Tories fear could unleash another party meltdown and an attempted putsch against Rishi Sunak’s leadership, Downing Street had hoped that Friday’s prime ministerial speech on the weighty issue of welfare reform might finally begin to restore the party’s reputation for competent governance.

It was a potent sign of Sunak’s struggles in keeping his party on track that, soon after his speech had concluded, some of his MPs found themselves discussing whether or not one of their colleagues had deliberately intoxicated a friend’s dog. “How can somebody possibly get a dog pissed?” wondered one. “Bizarre.”

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Tory candidate for London mayor has Trumpian attitude to climate, says Khan

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London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching panels on school roofs

Sadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London’s next mayor of being “Trumpian” over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.

Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to “go further”.

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Sadiq Khan aiming to create 150,000 ‘high-quality, well-paid jobs’ by 2028

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Exclusive: London mayor to launch plan on Wednesday alongside Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor

Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, is to launch a plan to create 150,000 “high-quality, well-paid jobs” by 2028.

The plan will be unveiled by Khan on Wednesday alongside the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who will declare that a Labour administration will “reset” the relationship between national government and London.

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Sadiq Khan pledges new Erasmus-style overseas study scheme for London youngsters

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City’s mayor outlines ‘internationalist’ vision in manifesto as he bids for third term in May

London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan is to offer young people studying in the capital a new version of the EU’s Erasmus scheme of student exchanges as part of his bid for a third term.

He will unveil plans under which students would receive grants and other help to study and undertake work experience, not just in the EU but other major world cities, with reciprocal arrangements for students from overseas to do the same in London.

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Tories delete Sadiq Khan attack ad showing New York instead of London

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Footage of people panicking, designed to attack the London mayor’s record on crime, was filmed in a New York subway station

The Conservatives have deleted an online video that used scenes of a panicked crowd at a New York subway station to criticise Sadiq Khan’s record on crime in London.

The attack ad, posted on X in support of Susan Hall – Khan’s rival for the London mayoralty, showed people panicking and rushing through New York’s Penn station after false reports of gunfire in 2017.

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Birmingham council approves biggest budget cuts in local authority history

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Up to 600 council jobs to be lost, arts grants scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly

Councillors in Birmingham have approved what are thought to be the biggest budget cuts in local authority history, with residents warning that the consequences could be “disastrous” for the city.

Birmingham city council met on Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on a proposed set of cuts that will see the loss of up to 600 council jobs, arts grants scrapped, libraries closed and bin collections reduced to fortnightly.

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Starmer allies gripped by fear of Labour complacency amid byelection triumphs

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Despite victory in two Conservative safe seats, a Labour government is not a foregone conclusion, say party hawks

For the past few months, with Labour enjoying a stubbornly large double-digit lead in the polls, close allies of Keir Starmer remained obsessed with the notion that complacency will slip into the mindsets of MPs, advisers and activists.

In a breathless week that saw Labour veer from having to abandon one byelection before scooping previously safe Tory seats in two others, the obsessives were given three opportunities to drive their point home.

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Labour overturns 18,000 Tory majority to win Wellingborough byelection

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Gen Kitchen takes seat for party for first time since 2001 general election to temper fears after testing week

Labour has overturned a Tory majority of over more than 18,000 to secure victory in the Wellingborough byelection, winning the seat for the first time since the 2001 general election.

Labour’s candidate, Gen Kitchen, won with 13,844 votes, beating the Conservatives’ Helen Harrison who received 7,408 votes in the largest swing from the Tories to Labour since 1994 and second largest since the second world war. It was Labour’s fifth byelection gain from the Conservatives overall in this parliament. The party also gained a Tory seat in Kingswood, dealing a double blow to an embattled Conservative party that has lost 10 byelections in a single parliament, more than any government since the 1960s.

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Kingswood byelection: Labour overturns big Tory majority to win

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Blow for Rishi Sunak as former Lewisham mayor Damien Egan elected in South Gloucestershire seat

Labour has overturned an 11,000-plus Tory majority to win the byelection in the South Gloucestershire constituency of Kingswood.

Damien Egan, who resigned as the mayor of Lewisham in south-east London to contest the seat even though it is being abolished at the next general election, is celebrating victory after a professional and energetic Labour campaign. He won with 11,1176 votes, to 8,675 for his nearest rival, the Conservatives’ Sam Bromiley, a majority of 2,501. Labour won on a swing in the share of the vote of 16.4 percentage points – some way above the 11.4 point swing needed.

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The grassroots Labour meeting at centre of party turmoil

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Gathering of councillors in north-west England has resulted in suspensions of candidates Azhar Ali and Graham Jones

After the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, local Labour party meetings became the source of major headaches for the party leadership.

While they were spaces for people to share their difficulties navigating rising levels of Islamophobic and antisemitic abuse, it was also where people expressed frustration at Keir Starmer’s handling of Labour’s position on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

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Starmer says he took ‘tough’ action to pull support from Rochdale candidate

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Labour leader says he acted decisively after further information on Azhar Ali’s comments about Israel

Keir Starmer has defended his handling of the controversy surrounding Labour’s candidate in Rochdale, who was suspended by the party on Monday night after days of revelations about remarks he made about Israel soon after the Hamas attacks.

The Labour leader said on Tuesday he had taken tough and decisive action against Azhar Ali, who will now campaign for the Rochdale seat with no official support for the party.

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We’ve given up the fight, say top Tories as byelection defeats loom

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Senior Conservative says party has descended into ‘death spiral’ as poll losses set to fuel fresh attacks on Sunak’s leadership

Conservative MPs on Saturday night predicted fresh attacks on Rishi Sunak’s leadership within days, as they accused their own party of surrendering to Labour without a proper fight in two formerly safe Tory seats where byelections will be held this week.

MPs from across the party complained that losses in Wellingborough and Kingswood on Thursday had already been “priced in”, as one senior figure said defeatism had set in, with the party having descended into a “death spiral”.

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Local authority leaders criticise Sunak’s call for ‘restrained’ council tax rises

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Prime minister’s comments ‘remarkable’ given government cuts to town hall funding in England, say LGA bosses

Council leaders in England have criticised Rishi Sunak for demanding that local authorities show “restraint” in putting up council tax bills, saying the government is to blame for underfunding.

The prime minister on Friday called for authorities to be “restrained in the council tax rises they put in place”, saying it was “incumbent on local councils to be respectful of the demands on people’s family budgets”.

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Wellingborough byelection gives Labour another chance to humiliate Rishi Sunak

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Recall of MP Peter Bone opens up Brexit-leaning former safe seat where defections from Tories in any direction could help Labour win

The public’s dissatisfaction with Rishi Sunak’s government runs deep. In his first year in No 10, the prime minister led the Conservatives to six byelection defeats – though many Tories believed they never stood a chance with the vote in West Lancashire.

On paper the results show that national polling, which puts the Labour party ahead of the Conservatives with a 20-point lead, is pretty accurate. Labour figures believe the anti-Tory sentiment that is radiating from the polls is very reflective of the mood in Wellingborough – which will become the latest site for a byelection showdown.

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Cheshire East council says it faces bankruptcy due to HS2 link cancellation

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Local authority covering some of richest areas in England says it spent £11m preparing for rail line

A council in one of the wealthiest parts of the UK has warned it faces potential bankruptcy due to the “devastating” impact of cancelling the northern leg of HS2.

Leaders of Cheshire East council in north-west England said the authority had spent £11m preparing for the high-speed rail link, and this would now have to be written off. Most of this money – £8.6m – had been funded by borrowing and would now have to be funded from the council’s already stretched revenue budget.

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Stockton MP rejects Cleverly’s claim that insult referred to him, not his town

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Home secretary under pressure over abusive comments in Commons, with Tory mayor among those condemning them

James Cleverly is coming under pressure over abusive comments he made in the Commons after his explanation that he was insulting the local MP, not calling a Labour-held constituency a “shit-hole”, was met with scepticism.

After Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor for Tees Valley, condemned what he called Cleverly’s “childish and unprofessional language”, the Labour MP concerned, Alex Cunningham, said he simply did not believe the home secretary.

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One in 10 biggest English councils risk bankruptcy over child protection bill

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County Councils Network says local bodies facing insolvency after increase in children being taken into care and ‘out of control’ costs

“Out of control” increases in child protection spending since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic have put one in 10 of England’s biggest councils at risk of effective bankruptcy in the next few months, a survey has revealed.

Many county councils and unitary authorities are “running out of road” to avoid insolvency as they grapple with high inflation, increases in children being taken into care, and massive bills for children’s homes, the County Councils Network (CCN) said.

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‘People are just so fed up’: Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire voters on a mood for change

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On the streets of Labour’s new constituencies, there was anti-Tory feeling – but also much apathy

It was a stunning pair of victories – and among the most damaging byelection nights any government has suffered in living memory, according to the celebrated psephologist John Curtice.

The question in the newly minted Labour constituencies of Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth the morning after was whether the opposition party can repeat the success at a general election.

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Byelections live: Tory seats under threat as voting begins to replace Nadine Dorries and Chris Pincher

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Formerly safe Tory seats in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth could fall to opponents in test of Sunak’s electoral fortunes

Rishi Sunak has arrived in Tel Aviv. As mentioned earlier, the British prime minister is due to meet his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli resident. Sunak is also expected to ask for aid to be allowed into Gaza and for Britons stranded there to be allowed to leave the area.

Reuters has these early remarks from the British prime minister.

Above all, I’m here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you.

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Byelection spending suggests tacit Labour and Lib Dems deal on fighting Tory-held seats

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Figures released before Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire contests hint at opposition parties making space for each other

Labour and the Liberal Democrats appear to have made space for each other in byelections held in Conservative seats, spending figures acquired by the Guardian show.

The figures also show Labour lost the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection despite outspending the Conservatives by more than £21,000 in the campaign.

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