UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has conceded the Conservatives may not win the next general election, but made the extraordinary claim there would be a hung parliament. The prime minister is braced for continued fallout after the weekend’s local election results, with Tory rebels warning him to change course after a dire set of local election results. But Mr Sunak claimed the performance shows Britain is on course for a hung parliament, claiming voters would not want to see Sir Keir Starmer “propped up in Downing Street” by the SNP or smaller parties. The most recent YouGov poll puts Labour 26 points ahead of the Tories.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed there would be a hung parliament after the election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has called in Tory MPs for two mini summits in a desperate bid to calm nerves after last week’s local election drubbing.As furious plotters accused their colleagues of “giving up on beating Labour” and “accepting their fate”, as efforts to topple Mr Sunak stalled, the PM invited backbenchers to attend “local elections presentations” later this month.The summits will be held by Mr Sunak, Tory chairman Richard Holden and Conservative campaign director Isaac Levido.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will try to calm the nerves of Tory MPs after dire local election results More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTrade union leaders have warned Sir Keir Starmer that Labour cannot take their members’ votes for granted in the upcoming general election if promises of a new package on rights have been betrayed.The warning is an ominous message for Sir Keir despite Labour’s successes in the local elections last week, amid claims the party may struggle to form a majority. Splits have already emerged with some Labour voters either staying at home or backing alternative leftwing candidates over their leader’s support for Israel with the war in Gaza. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, TUC president Matt Wrack, who is also general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), revealed that he and other union leaders have arranged a crunch meeting with the Labour leader.It follows reports that Labour has “watered down” a policy document on workers’ rights, denied strongly by the party.Matt Wrack, new TUC president, is set to hold a crunch meeting with Sir Keir (Clive Gee/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Liberal Democrats made “historic and stunning” gains in the local elections, Sir Ed Davey has said.The Lib Dem leader travelled to Dorset to greet winning councillors, as the party eyed up its chances at Tory-held constituencies ahead of a general election.In the councils which went to the polls on May 2, the Lib Dems won more seats overall than the Conservatives did.Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey alongside Tory ‘dinosaurs’ in Winchester (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA combination of 18 months of bad weather, Brexit and other international events have left confidence in British farming at an all-time low, the National Farmers Union (NFU) has revealed.NFU President Tom Bradshaw has warned that the collapse in confidence has seen 7,000 agricultural businesses close down since 2019 and is now imperilling food security in Britain.The NFU’s annual Farmer Confidence Survey was taken between November 2023 and January this year, and Mr Bradshaw noted that if it had been taken today the word “crisis” would need to be added.He described a “perfect storm” including volatility caused by the war in Ukraine and the effects of covid. While he did not mention Brexit by name Mr Bradshaw listed a number of post-Brexit changes including to the subsidy regime and new international trade deals.Food security could become a problem in the UK More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLabour is to launch a new series of attack videos badged “Conflix” as a spoof of Netflix to mark what it claims has been “14 years of Tory chaos”.The new Conflix website will be launched at 7am on bank holiday Monday as Sir Keir Starmer and party activists celebrate huge gains at the local elections including victory in the West Midlands mayor race.Labour said that it “is proud to share the world-exclusive trailer of Chaos & Decline – a story of 14 years of Tory chaos, told over 5 long seasons.”The story begins against a backdrop of a rose garden where David Cameron promised to deliver “strong, stable, determined leadership.”But Labour will highlight what it sees as the damaging austerity of the Tory/ Lib Dem coalition “gutting our public services and creating chaos for working people.” The account then picks up with the EU referendum as Cameron’s party began to fold in on itself and he “called it quits” following his Brexit defeat.Rishi Sunak and then prime minister Boris Johnson at a cabinet meeting (Leon Neal/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak faces a Tory political power struggle as he tries to recover from disastrous results in the local elections.As tensions mounted, Labour warned that Mr Sunak risks becoming “a prisoner” of those on the right wing of his party “with dangerous views” as he tries to cling to power after calamitous local election results.It came as former home secretary Suella Braverman led right-wing calls for the prime minister to take a tougher stance on issues like immigration. But Andy Street, the Tory defeated in the West Midlands mayoral contest, urged him not to drift to the right.The prime minister spent Sunday hunkered down in No 10 after his party lost almost 500 council seats in the local elections, suffered a stunning defeat in the West Midlands mayoral race, and was humiliated by Labour in London, where Sadiq Khan was easily re-elected.However, he vowed to shrug off the “disappointing” local election results and to “redouble” his efforts to stick to his political targets.Rishi Sunak is facing a challenge to stave off a rebellion on the right More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailOne of the youngest councillors ever to be elected in the UK has won her seat just a week before she is due to take her A-level exams.Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, 18, was elected to Peterborough City Council after beating the sitting Tory councillor Andy Coles in the Fletton & Woodston ward.The Labour candidate said she was “overwhelmed” by the local support when she gained 940 votes to beat her opponent by 282 ballots.Just one day after her victory, she told The Independent that she had thrown herself into her new role and had already begun to carry out her new duties – despite having to sit exams next week.“I wasn’t expecting to win as it was quite a short campaign, so I was feeling very overwhelmed when it happened,” she said. “My priorities as a councillor are supporting the community – especially those who are the most disadvantaged.”Blakemore-Creedon’s campaign team with Labour candidate Andrew Pakes More