Politics

Tory Cabinet member Penny Mordaunt emerged as one of the stars of the coronation as she carried an enormous sword and then presented another to the King during the ceremony. In her role as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, Ms Mordaunt carried the 17th-century Sword of State

If there is a key takeaway from this year’s local elections, it’s that it has been a punishing night for the Tories, with more than 1,000 council seat losses. In his first electoral test as prime minister, Rishi Sunak saw the Conservatives lose control of 50 councils – a result party chairman Greg Hands said

Labour would fall short of an overall majority in parliament, a vote share projection shows following local elections in England. Based on analysis of change in vote share across 1,500 wards Labour is the most popular party with 36%, with the Conservative share 29%, Lib Dems with 18% and others standing at 17%. See full

In 1997, as he celebrated Labour’s landslide, Tony Blair famously declared: “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” In 2023, as they head towards a set of dismal local election results, the Tories will fear this is the darkest hour before another new Labour dawn next year. From Plymouth to Stoke-on-Trent, from the South

Polls have closed in this year’s crunch local elections – with results expected to start rolling in from midnight. Voters are deciding who runs services in 230 (out of 317) local authorities in England, with around 8,000 councillors’ seats up for grabs. Mayors are also being chosen in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough in what

Sir Keir Starmer was wooing Sue Gray to become his chief of staff for at least four months before announcing her appointment, Sky News has discovered. The Labour leader has repeatedly refused to disclose when the first contact between the pair took place. But Sky News understands his first discussion with the top civil servant

Understanding the context of four years ago, when most of these seats were last contested, should help us to follow the council results as they are declared.  The Conservatives were unpopular, suffered a serious loss of councils and more than 1,300 seats. It wasn’t Labour that inflicted such terrible losses – in fact, Labour lost

Voters in parts of England are heading to the polls to cast their ballots for councillors and mayors in this year’s local elections. Elections are being held in 230 of England’s 317 councils, within district, borough, county borough and unitary authority councils, along with four mayoral elections in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough. There are

There are three ways to judge how well the political parties do on election night. First, by the number of council seats gained, secondly by the number of councils won and lost and thirdly by looking at vote shares – the proportion of people who vote for each of the main parties. None of them

A group of unions representing NHS staff – including nurses – has voted to accept a pay offer from the government. It comes despite the Royal College of Nursing and Unite rejecting the offer – as an electoral college of union representatives and members voted en masse as part of the NHS Staff Council. Many

A crucial meeting between unions and NHS employers is expected to pave the way towards a resolution of the long-running pay dispute, which has led to numerous strikes. The NHS Staff Council will today hear reports from unions to decide whether to accept the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise and cash sum for

Labour says there is an emerging “pattern of behaviour” after a company partially owned by the prime minister’s wife was revealed to have received taxpayer cash. It comes after it was revealed that Akshata Murty held shares in a childcare company which stands to benefit from policy announced in the budget. Ms Murty, who is

Liz Truss is disputing a bill she has been asked to pay relating to a country house which she had use of as foreign secretary. The bill is reportedly for £12,000 but the former prime minister’s spokesman claims the actual figure is lower. The invoice, first reported in The Mail on Sunday, covers the period

Striking rail staff should want to stand in solidarity with fellow Ukrainian workers rather than “cynically target” the Eurovision Song Contest, which the UK is hosting on behalf of the war-torn nation, the transport secretary has said. Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Mark Harper argued the stricken country’s train network has

Sir Keir Starmer has denied that a Labour attack advert aimed at Rishi Sunak is racist. A series of recent ads, which have been described as “gutter politics” and criticised by some of Labour’s own MPs, have targeted the prime minister personally. In an interview with Sky News, Sophy Ridge questioned the party leader about

Labour will perform strongest in the Midlands and north of England next week, according to an exclusive new local election projection for Sky News, which suggests the “Red wall” is starting to abandon the Conservatives. The Tories are also likely to struggle in key bellwether seats elsewhere in England – although the pollster did not