What’s at stake for UK in May’s elections: six key questions
On 7 May, three of the UK’s four nations go to the polls in a series of elections with much potential significance, not just for who ends up governing various bodies, but also for the future political direction of the country,Here is what is at stake,In Scotland, voters will select 129 members of the country’s parliament, via a mix of first-past-the-post constituency voting and proportional regional voting,In Wales, a revised proportional system will pick 96 members of an expanded Senedd,In England, there are first-past-the-post votes for members of more than 130 councils of various types – metropolitan, unitary, county, district and 32 London boroughs – as well as for six mayors.
Some authorities are re-electing all councillors, some a third of them.The obvious answer is that with the elections still six weeks away, plus the vagaries of electoral systems and polling, we don’t know.But there are a series of broad themes appearing.In Scotland, what has been billed as a battle between the SNP and Reform UK has seen the SNP keep a lead, with a decent chance of winning an overall majority.For Wales, Reform are seen as level with or just behind Plaid Cymru in the polls.
Across England, the councils are so varied that the picture is much more mixed, but Reform are predicted to win heavily, especially in the north of England, while the Greens could take a large number of councillors, with some inner London councils seen as fertile ground for Zack Polanski’s party.For both Labour and the Conservatives, it is a case of damage limitation.Labour are resigned to losing control of Wales for the first time since devolution, and will most likely lose ground in Scotland, if less dramatically.The situation for Keir Starmer’s party across English councils could be particularly grim, shedding seats to both Reform and the Greens.While there is less focus on the Conservatives, it is likely to be a tricky election for Kemi Badenoch.
As well as yet more council losses, in Scotland and Wales the party is defending seats it last won during the Boris Johnson “vaccine bounce” of spring 2021, and their support is forecast to more than halve in both.Major Labour losses could see internal opponents of Starmer finally break ranks and challenge him as prime minister.Most Labour MPs believe this is very possible, if not inevitable, particularly if the UK is still struggling with the impacts of the US-led war against Iran.And while Badenoch is seen as fairly secure, with her MPs mainly believing she has improved in the job, May’s elections are likely to illustrate how the Conservatives are still struggling in the polls and on course to be largely replaced by Reform, which could focus some minds in her party.The vote could also see Scotland and Wales governed by nationalists, with Northern Ireland potentially following if Sinn Féin win the Northern Ireland assembly elections in 2027.
This would be a historic first for the UK and a challenge to its status as a union of four nations.One potentially significant indicator for the next general election is whether the rise of Reform sharpens voters’ minds when it comes to tactical voting – in particular whether those vehemently opposed to Nigel Farage’s party club together to support whoever is seen as most likely to defeat them.With the lower stakes of council elections, tactical voting tends to be less of a factor, but parties will be looking out for this.It will also be notable to see how the Greens perform, particularly beyond urban areas.If they do well, will it come at a cost to the Liberal Democrats, who have previously ruled out a leftwing alliance, or will they be able to make big gains, too?Even if you’re an elections geek, it’s probably not worth pulling an all-nighter.
Hardly any votes are being tallied on Thursday night, with the bulk of counts taking place on Friday, and some going on into Saturday.Beware also seeking to divine trends and lessons soon after the polls close.Only time will tell.The headline of this article was amended on 23 March 2026.An earlier version referred to the UK’s local elections; however, Scotland and Wales are holding parliamentary elections.
iPhone 17e review: Apple upgrades its cheapest new smartphone
The cheapest new iPhone has been upgraded for this year with a faster chip, double the storage, automatic portraits and MagSafe, providing even more of the core Apple smartphone experience for less.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.The iPhone 17e is an upgraded version of the mid-range “e” line launched last year with the first iPhone 16e and is the latest member of the iPhone 17 family
Palantir extends reach into British state as it gets access to sensitive FCA data
Palantir is to be granted access to a trove of highly sensitive UK financial regulation data, in a deal that has prompted fresh concerns about the US AI company’s deepening reach into the British state, the Guardian can reveal.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has awarded Palantir a contract to investigate the watchdog’s internal intelligence data in an effort to help it tackle financial crime, which includes investigating fraud, money laundering and insider trading.The Miami-based company, co-founded by the billionaire Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel, has been appointed for a three-month trial, paying more than £30,000 a week to analyse the FCA’s vast “data lake”, which could lead to a full procurement of an AI system.The deal is part of the FCA’s drive to use digital intelligence to better focus resources on rule-breaking among the 42,000 financial services firms it regulates, from major banks to crypto exchanges.There was only one other, unnamed competitor for the contract
Campaign groups rail against Palantir, but the UK contracts keep coming
Palantir’s latest UK contract takes the AI and data analytics company into the heart of one of Britain’s biggest industries: financial services, which accounts for 9% of the economy.The Miami-based company embedded its technology in the NHS in 2023, the police in 2024 and the military in 2025. Land and expand, they say in the tech industry. Palantir has followed the script, building contracts worth more than £500m.Now in 2026, its deal with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to dive into the terabytes of information it gathers gives it yet another unparalleled view of the inner workings of the British authorities
New crypto regulations likely to be big favor to the Trump family, industry insiders say
On Tuesday, major US financial regulators published rules for the cryptocurrency industry that may reduce regulatory requirements and that insiders believe will benefit the Trump family’s ventures.The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry to answer the longstanding question of what does or does not qualify as a security, a classification that entails strict oversight. SEC chair, Paul Atkins, has dubbed the framework a “token taxonomy” for the sector. Published jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the guidelines classify most of crypto-based assets as commodities, collectibles, payment tokens or “digital tools”, exempting them from the SEC’s more stringent oversight and disclosure requirements. Only blockchain-based representations of existing securities, such as stocks and bonds, remain classified as securities under this new framework
‘Thank God they’re still alive’: Kaiser therapists claim its new screening system puts patients at higher risk by delaying their care
Ilana Marcucci-Morris is worried about the patients she treats and how long it took for them to arrive in her office. At Kaiser Permanente’s psychiatry outpatient clinic in Oakland, California, she says she increasingly finds herself assessing people experiencing more severe mental health issues than two years ago. For those who do make it to their appointments, she thinks: “Thank God they’re still alive.”It wasn’t always this way, according to Marcucci-Morris, a licensed clinical social worker. Licensed professionals used to almost always be the first point of contact for patients with behavioral health issues at Kaiser, she said
US man pleads guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions using AI
A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to defrauding music streaming platforms and his fellow musicians out of millions in royalties by flooding the services with thousands of AI-generated songs – and using automated “bots” to artificially boost the number of listens into the billions.As part of a deal with federal prosecutors in New York’s southern district, 52-year-old Michael Smith pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.The case against the Cornelius, North Carolina, resident is one of the first successful prosecutions of AI-related fraud in the music business, which is being hammered by fake music that threatens to swamp streaming services and deprive earnings from human musicians and copyright holders.“Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times,” US attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.“Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real
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