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VOTE counting is underway in many parts of England after today’s local elections, with Rishi Sunak bracing himself for humbling results amid the worsening cost-of-living crisis.
The Tory Prime Minister predicted a “hard night” for his party before the polls closed at 10pm, but optimistically predicted that the Conservatives are now moving away from “box-set drama” politics.
The vote, which will decide 8,000 councillors in 230 local authorities as well as four local mayors, are likely to be the final set of polls before the next general election, due in the spring or autumn of 2024.
Once derided by Farage as a ‘fraud,’ Jenrick has defected to Reform, bringing experience and political ruthlessness to the populist right — and raising the unsettling prospect of a Farage-led movement with a seasoned operative pulling the strings, says ANDREW MURRAY
Every Starmer boast about removing asylum-seekers probably wins Reform another seat while Labour loses more voters to Lib Dems, Greens and nationalists than to the far right — the disaster facing Labour is the leadership’s fault, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
‘People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer: not workers,’ Unite general secretary Sharon Graham says
