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

Don’t let Farage and Reform divide us, Labour’s Sarwar urges Holyrood leaders

The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has warned other Scottish political leaders not to spend the next Holyrood parliament “shouting about Nigel Farage”, saying his job is to ensure there is a credible opposition at Holyrood “that holds the SNP’s feet to the fire”.While the Scottish National party won a fifth successive Holyrood victory and ended up with 58 MSPs, Labour had its worst result since devolution in 1999, tying for second place with Reform UK as both parties secured 17 MSPs.Speaking for the first time since he conceded defeat on Friday, Sarwar said he did not believe it was Reform’s intention to do anything more than create division, and he said he would work with other political parties in the Scottish parliament that shared his views.Interviewed on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Sarwar refused to be drawn on speculation about Keir Starmer’s future as Labour leader and batted away questions about his own position, saying: “I’ve got a job to do and I intend to do it.”He said: “If we think the next parliament is all about shouting about Nigel Farage, that only serves the purpose of those who want to use politics to divide us

Farage trying to avoid scrutiny over £5m gift from crypto billionaire, Labour says

Labour has accused Nigel Farage of attempting to dodge scrutiny as the Reform leader continued to face questions over the £5m gift he received from a crypto billionaire shortly before the last general election.Asked about the gift from Christopher Harborne on Sunday, the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, sought to present it as an irrelevance to voters and said it had complied with all the rules.When questioned about the Guardian’s revelation of the gift, which Farage had not disclosed, Tice insisted it had been a personal gift that did not need to be declared.“Nigel was not involved in politics at the time. He’s complied with all the laws,” Tice told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme

Plaid Cymru leader says he hopes to be made first minister as early as Tuesday

The leader of Plaid Cymru is hoping to become Welsh first minister as early as Tuesday after his party won a historic victory in the Senedd elections, soundly beating Labour and holding off Reform UK.Plaid fell short of winning a majority in the Welsh parliament but Rhun ap Iorwerth said on Sunday he hoped other parties would work with him and told UK Labour not to punish Wales over the result.Asked on BBC Radio Wales when he hoped he would be elected as first minister, ap Iorwerth said: “We’re ready to go as quickly as we can. We hope for it to be Tuesday. If there’s a delay it won’t be much

How could Labour remove Keir Starmer? Four possible routes

Many Labour MPs believe Keir Starmer will not survive as Labour leader for long enough to fight the next election. What they cannot agree on, however – even after a disastrous set of results in this week’s elections – is how his departure might come about.The Labour rulebook makes it notoriously difficult to unseat a party leader: none has been formally ejected in the postwar period, though some, including Tony Blair, have resigned under pressure from their own MPs.A curveball was thrown into the mix on Saturday when the backbencher Catherine West launched a leadership challenge.West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a junior Foreign Office minister until she was sacked in the reshuffle last year, announced that unless a cabinet minister came forward to challenge Starmer for the leadership by Monday morning, she would do it herself

Phillipson: challenge to Starmer would be wrong despite election ‘kicking’

Labour MPs would be wrong to remove Keir Starmer, even though voters have given the party a “real kicking” at the ballot box and people feel “bitterly let down”, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said.Phillipson said Labour had been “too gloomy” and had made a mistake in trying to withdraw the winter fuel allowance, after the party lost control of about 40 councils and 1,500 seats at the local elections on Thursday.However, she said a leadership challenge from the Labour backbencher Catherine West would be “completely wrong”.West, a former minister, said she would begin collecting the 80 necessary names for a challenge on Monday. She is not widely considered a viable candidate but if she triggers a contest then other contenders such as Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband could come forward