Keir Starmer makes late pitch to voters turning to Greens and Reform
Labour is braced for record-breaking losses in Thursday’s local elections in England, which could be decisive for Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister.In a message to voters on Thursday, Starmer said Reform’s Nigel Farage and the Greens’ Zack Polanski were “not fit to meet this moment of great global instability” and that only Labour was putting the national interest first.“Today when you put your vote in the ballot box, you face a clear choice,” he said.“Progress and a better future for the community you call home, with a Labour council working with a Labour government.Versus the anger and division offered up by Reform or empty promises from the Greens.
“In tough times, you need politicians who will always stand up for you and your family,Time and again Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have shown they are not fit to meet this moment of great global instability,Today I pledge firmly to you: whatever the pressure, Labour will always back you and your family and we will never waver from doing what is in Britain’s national interest,”MPs told the Guardian that any result in which the party lost more than 1,500 council seats would be existential,But polling experts have said significantly worse results are possible – including the University of Oxford’s Stephen Fisher who has predicted the party will lose more than 75% of its seats, or about 1,900.
Labour hopes to be able to point to early holds in London, including Westminster and Wandsworth, which were traditionally Tory councils, to set the narrative that results have not been as bad as predicted.But that message is unlikely to endure given that Reform is expected to take historically Labour councils such as Barnsley and Sunderland, while the SNP looks set for a fifth victory in the Scottish parliament elections, where Labour is also likely to lose ground, having once been on course to take power.YouGov’s final MRP model of the 2026 Holyrood election suggests the SNP will fall just short of the 65 seats needed for a majority in the 129-member Scottish parliament, probably needing a coalition with the independence-backing Scottish Greens.Labour is tied for second place with Reform and the Greens in most polling and predicted to lose five of its MSPs.In elections to the Welsh Senedd, Labour is on course to lose power to Plaid Cymru and record its worst ever result.
Peril for Starmer could come if the Welsh first minister, Eluned Morgan, who may lose her seat, calls for him to quit on the back of the election, following Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar who did so in February.MPs hoping to see a change of leadership believe that regional mayors and council leaders – among them Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham and even the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan – may join calls for a change of prime minister.Allies of the mayors said an immediate call for resignation was unlikely.But Starmer’s position may be safeguarded by leftwing MPs who want to see Burnham return to the Commons before a challenge.Other potential leadership contenders – Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner – are said to be unwilling to be the first to challenge Starmer.
Starmer is said to be weighing up giving a speech setting out the next steps in the government’s direction before the king’s speech next Wednesday.Over the coming days, MPs from across the party will hope to shape the narrative for the coming months, with some expected to call for a more radical economic vision.On Tuesday, MPs from the centrist Labour Growth Group will launch a report, An Honest Day – A New Economic Settlement for Britain, calling for stronger government action on living standards and housing, as well as proposals on regulation, investment and state capacity.Public research for the report will show that high numbers of those leaving Labour for the Greens and Reform favour a more radical approach to what they view as deeper structural problems than the government has identified.“The message tomorrow will be the same one the country has been sending for years,” a source from the group said.
“People keep working harder for less, watching the basics of a decent life slip out of reach and thinking ‘this system isn’t built for me’.The scale of the results will show how impatient voters are now.“The question afterwards is whether we are finally prepared to face up to it and confront what’s gone wrong.If we aren’t, we will lose this country to the populists for a generation.”
The Parallax View: remember when Hollywood made potent political cinema?
Watching Hollywood cinema in 2026 can make for a curious experience. Take a look out the window and you’ll notice that the US, and indeed the world, is in a polycrisis – though you’d hardly know it from the films at the multiplex. The odd timely picture aside, Hollywood today directly engages with the present moment only rarely; more Minecraft Movie than One Battle After Another.In the 70s, when things were arguably last in a comparably sorry state – Kent State, Vietnam and Watergate for the US, economic crises and violent acts of world revolution globally – popular cinema responded very differently. Out of the establishment-sceptical New Hollywood that emerged after the demise of the Hays code, there came a wave of confronting social and political dramas, strongly allegorical sci-fi and paranoid thrillers, including one of the most deliriously entertaining examples of the latter ever made: The Parallax View
‘We got a drive-by egging in Baltimore’: Super Furry Animals on making The Man Don’t Give a Fuck
Gruff was the first person I ever met who could just churn out songs – good, catchy ones. I joined his band Ffa Coffi Pawb, but by 1992 they’d split and Gruff and I were living in Cardiff, as were Bunf, Guto and my brother Cian, the other future Furries. We started out doing techno sets, and I had a little home studio where we demoed ideas for songs. Our first singer, the actor Rhys Ifans, slept on a mattress in the corner.I had this Steely Dan album, Countdown to Ecstasy
Arts Council England is focused on investment outside London | Letter
In response to recent letters (26 April) about the Arts Everywhere Fund, it is important to note that this programme was heavily oversubscribed, reflecting the acute need for capital investment across the cultural sector. We are pleased that there will be further rounds of the fund, with details to be published in the coming months.While we are always mindful of the geographic spread of the investment we make, this fund had a clear purpose: to prioritise organisations facing critical capital need. On that basis, the north received more than £40m – approximately 31% of the £128m awarded in total – supporting 45 museums, libraries and cultural organisations, the highest number of awards made to any area.Arts Council England recognises the historic imbalance in cultural funding and has been working to invest more outside London, increasing investment beyond the capital to approximately 70% of our total investment since 2022
Ittai Gradel obituary
With a doctorate in Roman religion and a university chair, Ittai Gradel, who has died of cancer aged 61, might have confined his achievements to a successful scholarly career. However, in 2008, bored with routine bureaucracy, he left his post at Reading University, and returned to his native Denmark to deal in antiquities.His disillusionment with academia was reinforced when, a few years later, he discovered that large-scale thefts had been taking place from the British Museum’s collections. At first reluctant to believe the accumulating evidence, Gradel contacted the museum in 2021 only when it became impossible to deny – and was told nothing was missing.Ill and increasingly impatient, he took his cause to the museum’s trustees, and at last the police were called
Man charged over bomb hoax after Peter Kay show evacuated
A man has been charged over a bomb hoax after a live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham was stopped when a “potentially suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening.On Saturday, the force said: “A man has been charged in connection with the events which led to the evacuation of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last night.“Omar Majed, 19, has been charged with false communications relating to a bomb hoax,” a police spokesperson said. “Majed, of Washwood Heath, Birmingham, has been remanded to appear before magistrates in Birmingham on 4 May
Guy Montgomery: ‘One fan took us back to his house and showed us all his guns’
Have you ever won a spelling bee?No! I don’t think I’ve entered any formalised spelling competition. When I was eight or nine, there was a guy who I used to copy during tests. We were doing a spelling test and the word was “vehicle” and he made an absolutely terrible attempt at it. I knew he’d spelled it wrong and was like, wait – have I been copying someone who’s more stupid than me this whole time?Which word do you hate the most?None! That’s crazy! I love all words. They’re just out there, doing their best
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