Local Election

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey are calling on Boris Johnson to cut taxes for small firms as he kicks off the party’s local elections campaign. Sir Ed wants the government to slash national insurance contributions for small firms to help aid the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and spark a recruitment boom. In […]

Sir Keir Starmer said a senior Labour MP has apologised after describing business as “the enemy”. The Labour leader said Alex Sobel, a member of his shadow ministerial team, “knows what he said was wrong”. Starmer stressed that under his leadership, Labour was “very clearly pro-business”. Sobel’s comments, made to a podcast, were reported by […]

The Conservatives will warn supporters that Labour could experience a “post-Corbyn bounce” in the May elections. Party co-chairman Amanda Milling will launch its campaign on Saturday, calling on voters to choose the Tories to help “build back better from the pandemic”. Addressing the Conservatives’ virtual spring forum, the MP will warn of a tough fight […]

A former MP ousted by Boris Johnson’s landslide win in 2019 has been announced as Labour’s candidate in the Hartlepool by-election. Dr Paul Williams, formerly the MP for Stockton South from 2017 until 2019, has been chosen to contest the seat after incumbent Mike Hill resigned this week amid sexual harassment allegations. Hill’s sudden departure […]

A Tory candidate contesting the May 6 local elections has stood down after tweets emerged of him calling two female MPs “vile”. Stuart Brown, who planned to stand for the council seat of Ryde West on the Isle of Wight in the upcoming elections, said he did not want to be a “distraction” and that his words […]

This May will see the country’s largest round of contests outside a general election, in an extraordinary day of democracy and crucial contests Election buffs are in for an exciting spring; and for every party it will be unusually tense. For the first time since Brexit and the outbreak of Covid, millions of real votes, […]

Sir Keir Starmer will target the government’s controversial 1% pay rise for NHS workers during the campaign for the May elections, declaring “a vote for Labour is a vote to support our nurses”. The Labour leader is to launch the party’s campaign for the local and mayoral elections by demanding key workers are given “a […]

Rights and democracy groups are urging the government to rethink its ban on political leafleting during England’s current coronavirus restrictions. Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith said in a letter to members of the Parliamentary Parties Panel that leafleting and door-to-door campaigning was “not considered (an) essential or necessary activity” in lockdown. But rights and democracy […]

Voters will reportedly be required to bring photo ID when casting their ballots in elections from 2023. The proposal is part of a new Electoral Integrity Bill which will form part of the Queen’s Speech in spring and be in force by the time local elections are held two years from now, according to the […]

Labour has accused Boris Johnson of deliberately trying to delay the local elections beyond May for his own advantage. Downing Street is considering plans to delay the elections until June, arguing it would be too dangerous to proceed. The elections had been set for May 6 and will take place alongside the mayoral elections – […]

The Tories in Scotland have won a by-election to hold on to a seat – and increased their vote share in the process. Clackmannanshire East will remain with the Tories after candidate Denis Coyne won 51% of the vote – up 10 percentage points from the previous election. Due to be held in March, the […]

Brexiteer Tory MPs are hatching a plan to topple Boris Johnson if he does not resign in the spring before local elections. Opponents of Johnson, including Iain Duncan Smith, John Redwood and Esther McVey, have created a Whatsapp group entitled “Lockdown Loons” and are plotting against the government, the Mirror reports. At least one is […]