Markus Andrews

Angela Rayner has been sacked as the chair of the Labour Party and national campaign coordinator by Keir Starmer in the wake of last week’s disastrous election results.The move is the first step in a shake-up of Labour’s top team by Sir Keir after he promised changes in response to the “super Thursday” bloodbath.Ms Rayner, the deputy leader, has been criticised by some MPs for her stewardship of the campaign in the largest round of ballot outside a general election for many years.But her removal threatens to escalate a civil war over the future of the party in the wake of the defeat in the Hartlepool by-election — a town held since the 1960s — to Conservatives and the loss of more than 225 councillors.“Keir said he was taking full responsibility for the result of the elections – and he said we need to change,” a Labour source said.“That means change how we run our campaigns in the future. Angela will continue to play a senior role in Keir’s team.”It is understood that Ms Rayner will be offered another senior position within Sir Keir’s team, but her office declined to comment, fuelling speculation over whether she will accept an alternative role.She cannot be sacked as deputy leader, as it is a role directly elected by party members. Her predecessor Tom Watson hung on to the job for four years despite being at loggerheads with Jeremy Corbyn.Two other senior female MPs, Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds, have also been tipped for demotion in what is expected to be a major shadow cabinet reshuffle. One Labour insider told The Independent Ms Nandy may be the “next northern woman to carry the can”.The move to sack Ms Rayner from the role as party chair and national campaign coordinator has led to accusations that Sir Keir is “scapegoating” the senior MP, blaming Labour’s dismal showing on his failure to offer voters a compelling vision.Speaking on Friday, Sir Keir said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the results and vowed to take responsibility and to fix Labour’s election woes.Seizing on the comments, former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said: “Keir Starmer said yesterday he took full responsibility for the election result in Hartlepool and other losses. Instead today he’s scapegoating everyone apart from himself. This isn’t leadership it’s cowardly avoidance of responsibility.”Co-chair of the left-wing organisation Momentum, Gaya Sriskanthan, echoed the view, saying: “Angela Rayner’s sacking is blatant scapegoating.“It is his failed strategy that has brought us to this point, and he said he would take responsibility. Yet again he has gone back on his word.”Speaking to Sky News on Saturday evening, Wes Streeting, a member of the Labour frontbench, said he hadn’t heard anything officially from the party regarding Ms Rayner being sacked from the roles.“Angela Rayner is the deputy leader of the Labour Party, she’s not going anywhere, she’s a formidable campaigner, socks it to the Tories,” he said. As well as the shock defeat in Hartlepool, Labour had a net loss of six councils and more than 200 seats in the local elections, losing control of the likes of Harrow, Essex, and Plymouth local authorities in the process.The party also failed to topple Tory mayoral incumbents in the Tees Valley and the West Midlands, although did produce a surprise victory in the West of England mayoral contest and the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough race.One bright spot for Labour was the overwhelming first-round victory in the vote for Greater Manchester mayor for Andy Burnham, who did little to quell speculation that he is jockeying for position in an eventual leadership contest.“In the distant future, you know, if the party were ever to kind of feel that it needed me, well I’m here and they should get in touch,” he told Sky NewsMr Burnham said that there had to be “substantial change in the way the Labour Party is working”.He said: “They have lost an emotional connection with parts of the country that is going to take a lot of work to get back.“I think the party has to do a lot of soul-searching about these results and understand why we’ve done well in places like Wales, places like Greater Manchester, and it really needs to then buy into English devolution and build from the bottom up. “That’s what these results are telling them.” More

Sturgeon says SNP majority ‘has always been a very, very long shot’Labour has retained control of the Welsh Senedd, matching its best-ever result of 30 seats out of 60 after all votes were counted. It means Mark Drakeford will remain in power as the country’s first minister. It comes as Boris Johnson has rejected a second referendum on Scottish independence as “reckless and irresponsible,” with the prospect of a SNP majority still on a knife edge.SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she would push ahead with legislation for another referendum “when the time is right” – claiming Mr Johnson “would have to go to court” to block another vote.Polling guru Prof John Curtice has said the SNP’s path to an outright majority has “narrowed” after the party failed to gain target constituency seats on Saturday.Sir Keir Starmer is to embark on a re-shuffle after Labour’s local election losses and devastating by-election defeat in Hartlepool.Labour said it was “too early” to say if London mayor Sadiq Khan will be re-elected, with Mr Khan on 39 per cent of first preference votes and Tory challenger Shaun Bailey on 37 per cent.Show latest update

1620484908SNP path to majority ‘narrows’The Scottish Conservatives have held onto Galloway constituency seat, holding off the SNP.It makes Aberdeenshire West all the more important. If the SNP fails to make a gain there, it makes the path to a majority hard to see. Or it could pick up the extra seat it needs from the regional list.“This outcome narrows further the SNP path to an overall majority, but it doesn’t put a complete barrier across it,” says polling guru Prof John Curtice. He said the odds of the SNP gaining a seat through the list system “less than 50 per cent”.Adam Forrest8 May 2021 15:411620483755Tory ahead in West Midlands mayoralty – goes to 2nd roundThe Conservative candidate Andy Street is ahead of Labour’s Liam Byrne by about 55,000 votes on the first preference round in the West Midlands – but it’s short of 50 per cent, so it goes to a second round.Street got 299,000 first preference votes (almost 49 per cent) and Byrne got 244,000 votes (almost 40 per cent).Byrne would need to scoop a massive proportion of second-preference votes to stand a chance of overhauling the incumbent mayor.Adam Forrest8 May 2021 15:221620482803SNP majority? ‘Absolutely on knife-edge,” says Tory leaderScottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross admits the prospect of the SNP winning an outright majority is “absolutely on a knife-edge”.“Whether or not the SNP gets an overall majority now rests on the outcome in just a handful of seats,” said polling guru Prof John Curtice.If the SNP fails to get Aberdeenshire West, then “they then need either to win Galloway, another Tory-held marginal, or to win a list seat in the South of Scotland – a neither of these currently looks probable,” says Prof Curtice.Adam Forrest8 May 2021 15:061620482302All eyes on Aberdeenshire WestMore SNP constituency seat holds to report: Glasgow Provan, Uddingston and Bellshill, Mid Fife & Glenrothes, Almond Valley and Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley.But the big one we’re waiting for is Aberdeenshire West – with the result now expected at 3pm. If the SNP can take the seat it looks set for an outright majority, but if the SNP fails to make a gain there, it makes the path to a majority hard to see.Adam Forrest8 May 2021 14:581620480859Sturgeon has ‘responsibility’ to get indyref2, says SalmondAlex Salmond has prematurely congratulated Nicola Sturgeon “on her victory” in the Scottish parliament elections, but said she had a “responsibility to carry forward the independence argument”. Although his Alba party looks set to leave the election empty-handed, he also said his newly-formed organisation would be there to “urge things on”. “I know that the SNP have been a little bit nervous, sending people letters saying if they are associated with Alba they might be disciplined by the SNP, or all sorts of things,” he said on Saturday.“But I put that down to over-enthusiasm of some people who just joined the SNP and are perhaps not aware of the politeness with which the SNP normally conducts its operations.” More

The government has officially launched a pet theft taskforce to investigate the rise in dognapping since lockdown first began last March. It comes after research from Direct Line Pet Insurance in April revealed that reports of dog theft increased by a fifth in 2020, with an estimated 2,438 dogs reported stolen to police across the UK – up from 2,026 the year before and 1,774 in 2016.Various sales platforms reported spikes in puppy and kitten prices in the past year, with charity DogsTrust suggesting the cost for five of the UK’s most sought-after breeds grew by as much as 89 per cent in some cases. Figures from the Pets4Homes website, based on around 150,000 adverts, showed the average price being asked for pets from March to September 2020 was £1,883. During the same period last year, the average price was £888. Meanwhile, Google searches for “buy a puppy” increased by 166 per cent in the same period. Police have put it down to demand for pets growing as people spend more time at home during the pandemic, and organised crime groups stepping up pet thefts to cash in on the soaring costs as a result. The new Taskforce – made up of government officials, police and campaign groups – will gather evidence to understand the factors that might contribute to any perceived rise in thefts, and to recommend any necessary measures to tackle the problem, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Its three main objectives are to work with police, law enforcement, and experts to understand and tackle pet theft; consider the issue from end to end, including causes, prevention, reporting, enforcement and prosecution; and to make clear and timely recommendations on ways to reduce pet theft.Environment secretary George Eustice announced the plans on Friday, reassuring pet owners they would no longer need to “live in fear” while recommitting the Conservative Party’s intention to strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in animal welfare standards.“Pets are much loved members of the family, and these reports will be distressing for all pet owners,” Mr Eustice said.“Pet owners shouldn’t live in fear so we’ve set up this Taskforce to thoroughly investigate the issue and ensure that we have the measures in place to stop these criminals in their tracks.”Stealing a pet is already a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and increases if there are signs of animal cruelty. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, a person who causes an animal to suffer in the process of stealing it from its owner is liable to further prosecution.Recent police investigations into dog theft have resulted in numerous raids and arrests on suspicion of theft, fraud and animal cruelty. At the end of April, Surrey Police rescued 26 stolen dogs after officers raided an illegal kennel in Epsom. Three women, aged 20, 23, and 30, were arrested on suspicion of fraud offences.As well as tackling pet theft, the Taskforce forms part of government plans to reinforce the UK’s position as a global leader in animal welfare standards. Ministers have set out various measures already, including taking steps to end live animal exports and cracking down on the illegal smuggling of dogs and puppies. Further proposals to improve animal standards and eradicate cruel practices are to be set out later this month, Defra confirmed, while the Taskforce will aim to publish its findings and recommendations by autumn this year.Pledging to ensure pet theft criminals “feel the full force of the law,” Lord chancellor Robert Buckland QC said: “We are a nation of animal lovers and many of us have sought the companionship of pets during the pandemic, which makes the reported spike in thefts especially cruel and shocking to many people.”“This Taskforce will examine every option available to protect families from this appalling crime,” he added.Pet theft has become a popular crime not just in the UK but around the world during the pandemic, with perhaps the most well-known example being the shooting and robbery of pop singer Lady Gaga’s dog walker in February. Ryan Fischer was tailed by a gang as he walked Gaga’s three French bulldogs in Los Angeles, before being assaulted, choked and then shot. Two of the singer’s dogs were stolen and sold on for $950 (£680) each, though the woman who made the purchase later turned them in with hopes of collecting the $500,000 (£358,142) reward offered by Gaga. She was later charged. Mr Fischer survived the attack and returned home from hospital after having part of his lung removed.Deputy Ch Const Amanda Blakeman, who is part of the Pet Theft Taskforce, said its formation will support police in understanding “this risk and identifying trends involving serious and organised crime”.“We hope that this is a step forward in providing reassurance that we are committed to understanding any risks fully, and challenging related criminal behaviour,” she said.Police forces across the country have issued guidance for dog owners to avoid becoming victims. They advised that pets should not be left unattended in public, walkers should vary their routs, and owners should take basic security steps at home such as checking locks on doors and garden gates. More

Labour has retained control of the Welsh Senedd, matching its best-ever result of 30 seats out of 60 after all votes were counted.Mark Drakeford will remain first minister and may be able to govern without the support of a coalition partner, as the presiding officer does not vote.Labour’s performance in Wales was in marked contrast to the party’s fortunes in England, where Keir Starmer lost the Hartlepool by-election and shed more than 180 councillors.The difference may reflect voters’ approval of Mr Drakeford’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, in which he has repeatedly taken an independent line from the UK government.Labour gained one seat to match the tally of 30 which it previously achieved in 2003 and 2011.Conservatives gained five seats, leapfrogging Plaid Cymru to become the second-largest party at Cardiff Bay with 16 MSs. Plaid gained one seat to end on 13, while Liberal Democrats took just one.Ukip was left with no representation in the Senedd, losing all seven seats it won in 2016 in the run-up to the EU referendum, including that of party leader Neil Hamilton.Mr Drakeford said he had offered “a radical manifesto with a host of ideas that are ambitious for Wales”.“I’ll be very keen to ensure that we give that the most powerful sense of momentum behind it to get those things happening here in Wales,” he said.Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds, who won a regional seat in Mid and West Wales after her party lost the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency to the Conservatives, said she has yet to be approached by Mr Drakeford to help form the next government.She told BBC Radio Cymru: “I need to speak to other people within the party and we shall have to see.” More

Labour’s Steve Rotheram has been re-elected for a second term as the major for the Liverpool City region, as he comfortably defeated his rivals in the contest.Mr Rotheram, a former MP, won 198,726 votes, compared to his closest contender in the race, the Conservative candidate Jade Marsden, who secured 66,702 votes in first preference votes.His considerable victory, with 58 per cent of the vote share, came on a turnout just shy of 30 per cent in the region he was first elected to represent in 2017.“It’s a massive vote of confidence in the power of devolution and the work I’ve done so far,” Mr Rotheram said. “Now the government has to back further devolution.”It comes after Joanne Anderson became the firstly directly elected black female mayor in the UK, as Labour retained the Liverpool mayoralty after the resignation Jo Anderson — no relation — last month.The former mayor decided not stand again for the role at the end of 2020 following his arrest as part of a Merseyside Police investigation into corruption allegations. Mr Anderson has denied wrongdoing.After her victory on Friday, Ms Anderson apologised for the previous administration, referring to a report by the local government inspector Max Caller that outlined a culture of bullying, intimidation, “dubious” deals, patchy scrutiny and “jobs for the boys”.“The first thing I want to do is apologise to the city for what’s happened in terms of the Caller investigation and what’s happened under the previous administration,” she said.“I’ve stood up because I want to make this right and I will do everything in my power to make it right.”In Salford, the incumbent Labour mayor Paul Dennett was re-elected on the first count, with a thumping victory, securing 59 per cent of the overall vote in the city — way ahead of his closest Tory rival on 23 per cent.Labour also held onto North Tyneside, with Norma Redfearn securing a second term as mayor with 33,119 votes (53 per cent). “Honoured to have been re-elected as your mayor on the first ballot,” she tweeted.The results — alongside those of Welsh Labour — will be consolation for the UK Labour Party, which has otherwise suffered from disappointing results in England, including losing the Hartlepool by-election to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives — an area the party has held for more than 60 years.On Saturday, results are also expected in the Greater Manchester mayoral race, with the incumbent, Andy Burnham, widely expected to win the vote for Labour. In 2017, he won over 63 per cent and turnout is up around five per cent on the last election.The outcome of the first round of voting is expected around 3pm, although with Mr Burnham running for a second term and nine candidates in all, the election could go to a second round, with second preference votes also then counted to decide the winner.Both Mr Burnham and Mr Rotheram clashed with Boris Johnson’s administration in the autumn of 2020, as the northern leaders demanded further financial support as the areas were placed under tough Covid restrictions by central government. More

Counting resumed Saturday in Scotland’s parliamentary election with the governing Scottish National Party very close to securing a majority that would see it make a push for another independence referendum.With 49 constituencies counted, the SNP had won 40 seats and is clearly on course to win its fourth straight term in office. However, given the country’s electoral system, which also allocates some seats by a form of proportional representation, it may fall short of the 65 seats it would need in the Edinburgh-based parliament to have a majority.Ballots also continue to be counted in the Welsh parliamentary election and a swath of local elections in England But it’s the Scottish election that could have the biggest U.K.-wide implications as it could fast-track another referendum on its future within the U.K.Were the SNP to win a majority, its leader, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon would argue that she has a mandate to call another referendum. Were the party to fall short, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has the ultimate power to allow a referendum, could argue that she didn’t. On Saturday, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper that another referendum would be “irresponsible and reckless” in the “current context” as Britain emerges from the coronavirus crisis.Speaking after winning her seat in Glasgow on Friday, Sturgeon said her immediate priority would be to deal with the pandemic and “then when the time is right to offer this country the choice of a better future.”Scotland has been part of the U.K. since 1707 and the issue of Scottish independence appeared settled when Scottish voters rejected secession by 55%-45% in a 2014 referendum. But the U.K.-wide decision in 2016 to leave the European Union ran against the wishes of most Scots — 62% voted in favor of staying within the bloc while most voters in England and Wales wanted to leave. That gave the Scottish nationalist cause fresh legs. Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney, said that the party would still have the right to call an election if it fell short but enough other pro-independence members were elected, such as from the Scottish Greens.“I’m very confident that will be the case,” he told the BBC.So far the elections in England have been largely positive for Johnson’s Conservatives, notably its victory in a special election in the post-industrial town of Hartlepool for a parliamentary seat that the main opposition Labour Party had held since 1974. The win extended the party’s grip on parts of England that had been Labour strongholds for decades, if not a century. Many of these seats that have flipped from red to blue voted heavily in 2016 for Britain’s departure from the European Union. The speedy rollout of coronavirus vaccines also appears to have given the Conservatives a boost.On what was dubbed Super Thursday, around 50 million voters were eligible to take part in scores of elections, some of which had been postponed a year because of the pandemic that has left the U.K. with Europe’s largest coronavirus death toll.For the Labour Party and its leader, Keir Starmer, the Hartlepool result was a huge disappointment and has led to another bout of soul-searching in the party.Hopes had been high that Starmer would help Labour reconnect with its lost voters in the north of England when he took the helm a little more than a year ago after succeeding the more left-wing Jeremy Corbyn, who led the party in 2019 to its worst election performance since 1935.Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, said he took full responsibility for the party’s defeat in Hartlepool, adding that he would soon be setting out a strategy of how it can reconnect with its traditional voters. He didn’t give further details.Starmer and Labour should have some results to cheer over the weekend with Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham expected to win second terms as the mayors of London and Manchester, respectively. The Labour government in Wales has also done better than anticipated and is set to hold onto power. More

Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford has heralded “an extraordinary set of results in extraordinary times” after a strong showing that bucked the trend of the party nationwide.Mr Drakeford, who has been the face of the region’s coronavirus response as Welsh first minister, looked set to remain in government on Friday night after his party held its ground in key Senedd seats that had been targeted by the Tories.Early in the campaign the polls had hinted at the potential for a dire showing for the Labour Party in the region, with suggestions they were at risk of winning as few as 22 of the devolved parliament’s 60 seats.However, on Friday evening the party had held firm to its 27 constituency seats, losing the Vale of Clwyd to the Tories while taking the Rhondda from Plaid Cymru – unseating the Welsh nationalist party’s high-profile former leader Leanne Wood in the process.The party had initially attempted to play down expectations, with sources saying retaining its hold on the Senedd would be “a massive challenge”.However, commenting on the “remarkable turnaround” on Friday evening, a Labour spokesperson said: “It is increasingly clear that people across Wales have put their faith in Welsh Labour and Mark Drakeford to lead the next Welsh government and lead Wales out of the pandemic.”Vaughan Gething, the Welsh health minister, said Mr Drakeford’s handling of the pandemic was a “major factor” in the results after he saw his share of the vote in Cardiff South and Penarth grow by 4,879 compared to the last election.He said: “We’ve had to make life-changing choices that affected every single family in the country. The pandemic has thrust the first minister in the spotlight, and most people like what they’ve seen in the way he’s handled the pandemic.“What we now need to do is understand what that means for the future government for Wales, how we handle this next phase finishing up the pandemic response, and then the difficult task of recovery – one that I think we’re in the best possible place for.”Welsh government deputy transport minister Lee Waters, who had seen his seat targeted by Plaid before he was re-elected, told the BBC Mr Drakeford had been an “asset to the ticket”, adding: “He may not be flashy, he may be a bit nerdy, a bit boring, he’s a university professor, but thank God for him.”Wrexham, Clwyd South and Delyn, were all held despite being targeted by the Tories after they flipped them from Labour in the 2019 Westminster election.Welsh Tory leader in the Senedd Andrew RT Davies said his party’s taking of Vale of Clwyd from Labour was a “brilliant result”, but suggested traditional Labour voters who voted Tory in the 2019 general election had now “come home”.Mr Davies told the PA news agency: “It does seem from other seats that have been declared in other parts of Wales that the Labour voters have come home to it after the, shall we say, Brexit election of 2019.”Labour are on 25 seats, the Tories on eight, and Plaid Cymru on five with two more constituency declarations to go, including Mr Drakeford’s Cardiff West constituency.The Lib Dems, who lost Brecon and Radnorshire to the Conservatives, will now have no constituency seats in the senate.The final make-up of the next Senedd will not be confirmed until the weekend with final regional results expected on Saturday.Additional reporting by PA More

The SNP is gaining momentum and has just over 30 seats left to win a fourth term in government, but it is still too early to call whether the party will enter Scottish Parliament with a majority or rely on support from allies such as the Scottish Greens. Nicola Sturgeon said earlier the prospect “hangs in the balance”, admitting it was always going to be a “very, very long shot” for her party to achieve a majority at Holyrood after early results suggested swings to Labour and the Conservatives in key Scottish seats.Scotland’s first minister did however say she was “extremely happy and extremely confident” that her party was on course for a victory after some major successes including gaining East Lothian from Scottish Labour, and Ayr and Edinburgh Central from the Conservatives respectively. Meanwhile, London’s mayoral election, seen as a two-man race between Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Conservative Shaun Bailey, is a lot closer than initially predicted. So far, it has been announced that Mr Bailey received more votes in the West Central constituency than Mr Khan, with 53,713 votes to 51,508. Mr Khan’s party are blaming a low turnout for the close margins. In Wales, the Tories gained the Vale of Clwyd for the first time in the seat’s history. It was previously held by Labour’s Ann Jones since 1999 before she stood down ahead of this election, but was taken today by Conservative Gareth Davies.Earlier, Boris Johnson’s party took Labour’s “red wall” stronghold seat of Hartlepool, winning the constituency for the first time since it was created almost 50 years ago.Tory candidate Jill Mortimer won a stunning majority of almost 7,000 at the crucial by-election contest. Mr Johnson credited “bouncing back” from the Covid crisis, and “getting Brexit done”, for the early election successes.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to “change direction,” as he faces a furious backlash from the left. “Not possible to blame Jeremy Corbyn for this result,” said Diane Abbott, a close ally of the ex-leader.Show latest update

1620283455Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of today’s local and devolved elections.Conrad Duncan6 May 2021 07:441620284286Who is standing in my area? How to find list of candidatesThere are a lot of different votes going on today, with ballots to be cast for mayoralties, devolved governments, district, borough and unitary councils, county councils and police & crime commissioners.With all that going on, you would be forgiven for not knowing exactly what is happening in your local area.Our reporter, Vincent Wood, has put together a guide below to how to find the details on your local candidates:Conrad Duncan6 May 2021 07:581620285081It is an early start for some this morning as polling stations open across the country: More