The Tories are still on life support – so why is Badenoch in celebratory mood?

By any sane person’s reckoning, the Conservative party had a night to forget in Thursday’s local, mayoral and devolved elections. It lost about 500 councillors in England and ceded control of three local authorities to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK – losing to the rightwing upstarts in England, Wales and Scotland. Why, then, is Kemi Badenoch hailing these results as proof that “the Conservatives are coming back” – and why do many Tory MPs appear to agree with her?The Conservative leader was vocal on Friday about the eye-catching gains her party made in politically atypical London, where the Tories won back the totemic council of Westminster, took the most seats in Wandsworth council and saw off the threat from Reform in Bexley and Bromley.But it was hard to ignore the damage in her own back yard of Essex, where Badenoch and five other shadow cabinet ministers are MPs. Reform ended the party’s 25-year reign at the local authority, as well as taking the Tory-held Newcastle-under-Lyme and Suffolk, as well as making inroads in East and West Sussex

Angela Rayner calls blocking Andy Burnham’s return to parliament a mistake as pressure mounts on Keir Starmer – as it happened

Angela Rayner has just released a statement on the fallout from Thursday’s elections. The most significant passage is one in which she calls the decision to block Andy Burnham from parliament a mistake and says Keir Starmer ‘must now meet the moment’. Here is the key extract:double quotation markThis is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake. We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for - that means bringing our best players into Parliament - and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.These are the fights we need to have, and the change in direction we need to see

Plaid Cymru leader plans minority Welsh government built on cooperation

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has vowed to form a stable minority government in the Senedd and said he would seek out mature cooperation from all opposition parties.Ap Iorwerth said his administration would press the UK government for extra powers over policy areas such as policing and justice and focus on results rather than engaging in political rows with Westminster.Asked if Plaid’s win meant the country had taken a step closer to independence – a key Plaid aspiration – ap Iorwerth replied that a “more confident” Wales felt closer.“The people of Wales didn’t begrudgingly decide to give us a go,” he said. “They said: ‘We believe in your belief in Wales

Give Starmer the chance to carry out his promises | Letters

As a local Labour activist, I understand the general wailing and gnashing of teeth that has beset the party after our drubbing in the local elections. But amid the panic about who should or shouldn’t resign, or what may or may not happen in three years’ time, I’d like to propose a philosophy that I’m calling “positive defeatism”.For only the fourth time in a century, a Labour prime minister has won a general election with a large majority – with a mandate that takes us to July 2029. What if we stop worrying about a second term and just get on with making consequential changes in this term?Here’s my list for starters: Locking in the great transition so that climate deniers can’t undo it; reducing the voting age to 16 so young people get a chance to vote for their future; and reforming party funding laws so that shadowy cryptocurrency barons can’t hijack our democracy. There are other priorities of course – cost of living, housing, inequality…So let’s make the most of the time we have now

PM must resign to save Britain’s future | Brief letters

Keir Starmer’s word salad of banal platitudes – “we will deliver the change that people are desperate for” (which change?) – exemplifies his inability to capture the imagination (These election results don’t mean tacking left or right…, 8 May). If he stays on as PM, it is extremely likely that Nigel Farage will succeed him. While I’m uninspired by any potential Labour successor, it is possible one of them might step up into the role and succeed. Starmer must resign to give us that chance for the future.Dr Kimon RoussopoulosCambridge If Keir Starmer is seeking to reassure voters that he is really the man to deliver change, it seems bizarre to bring in Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman (9 May)

What’s behind surge in support for Reform and Greens across England? Five key takeaways

Local elections have fundamentally reshaped the political landscape in England. Labour suffered heavy losses, losing ground to the Green party and Reform UK, while the Conservatives also sustained significant losses to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.Reform and the Green party made significant gains, in results that laid bare an increasingly fragmented political system. Reform gained 1,349 council seats and control of 14 councils, while the Green party won 376 council seats, control of five councils, and took two mayoralties.With both insurgent parties making inroads, what is behind the surge in their support?So far, Reform’s vote in English council seats has grown the most in areas with greater socioeconomic deprivation, early analysis shows