Chris Whiteside's Blog

 Patrick Maguire in The Times

This is the current numbers of councillors elected and net gains and losses, with results from 12 of 136 councils declared (so thirteen councils to go and numbers will rise slightly): This is what Peter Kellner suggested a week ago would be the reaction of the parties to various results: So with a few councils to go, the Conservatives have passed the level Peter Kellner thought would be "Relief,"  Labour, the Lib/Dems and Greens are respectively just on, a little above, or a little below what he suggested would be "Disappointment." And Reform have not quite hit the number of gains Peter Kellner marked down as "Disaster." Kellner himself admitted that in a normal year these assessments would be ridiculous, but this is NOT a normal year, There have been enough Conservative holds - and a few quite significant gains - that I think "Relief" is a pretty accurate assessment of the reaction of most Conservatives. It could have been so much worse. And if ...

 

Kemi Badenoch writes "I know everyone is poring over election results, but let’s not forget… Today is VE Day. It’s still living memory and being able to have elections is one of the freedoms fought for. That freedom was bought by men and women who served our country. Even now our veterans need defending. The battles are different…like stopping brave veterans being dragged through the courts for vexatious claims in their old age. Conservatives continue to fight.  Just yesterday, the Supreme Court reinstated immunities after my Shadow Attorney General, Lord Wolfson stepped in, acted pro bono for veterans, and won. We’re the only party doing the work. On VE Day, we remember their sacrifice. But remembrance is not enough. We should also honour our veterans by looking after them and defending them in Parliament, in the courts just as they defended us."

This is Vivaldi's original - Bach's arrangement of Vivaldi's music tomorrow

Based on the overnight results, here is an extract from what Peter Kellner wrote about wat the elections say about support for the various political parties. "Welcome to multiparty politics. The overnight results from English councils confirm the story told by recent polls: Reform UK is out in front, Labour is in deep trouble, the Conservatives may have begun to recover, the Greens have gained ground, and the Liberal Democrats are doing well where they have a chance of victory. "This morning we can go further. The results so far add new information, and also provoke questions about how politics might evolve between now and the next general election. 1. Behind the impressive tally of Reform’s gains – likely to end up well over 1,000 – Nigel Farage should be privately worried. In last year’s local elections Reform won 41 per cent of all seats contested across England. On the basis of the overnight figures, this year’s tally is around 33 per cent. If there were no polls, and the...

Luke Tyle of he pollster "More in Common" has published a chart on witter showing how the five main parties performed in yesterday's local elections on results declared by 8.25 am this morning  compared to the current opinion polls. It shows the Conservatives outperforming the polls by about 6%, and Reform UK by about 3%, while Labour scored about what you might expect from the opinion polls, the Greens underperformed by about 2% and the Lib/Dems underperformed by about 5%. All the parties seem to have done well in particular places with excellent results for the Conservatives not just in traditional areas of strength such as Westminster, where the party took back overall control from Labour, and Wandsworth where seats regained from Labour have again made the Conservatives the largest party, but also places like Harlow council, which I remember as a former Labour stronghold although the Conservatives have been running it in the recent past. Reform UK were claiming they ex...

The Conservatives have retaken Westminster City Council from Labour.

“I do not know a greater shame and ‘national humiliation’ in all of Russian military history than this current war. And when someone tries to compare it to the Great Patriotic War — despite all the horrors, bloodshed, and butchers on both sides under Stalin’s totalitarian regime — such a comparison is a sin. Because that was a defensive war. The Ukrainians, on the other hand, will always be proud of this current war — for them, it is their Patriotic War, the Great Patriotic War of the Ukrainian people against the invader. Unfortunately, in this case, the invaders are our [Russian] people.” (Prominent Russian historian Yuri Pivovarov )

Polls are now closed for the local elections. To all our volunteers, canvassers, doorknockers, activists, members, supporters and voters... Thank you!

Polls have now closed in the elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd, and for many, though not all, councils in England. Results will come in through the night beginning in the early hours of tomorrow morning. If you stay up to watch a results programme, here is a reminder of what some phrases you are certain to hear from various political guests actually mean.  

 If you are planning to vote in today's local elections, the polling stations are open until 10pm

 

 

REMEMBER - in local elections in England YOU WLL NEED PHOTO ID such as a passport or drivers' licence to vote. Polls are open 7am to 10pm.

Not everywhere has elections tomorrow: Cumbria and North Yorkshire are among the places which don't. But here are elections for the Scottish parliament and Welsh Senedd, and a large number of areas in England are electing councillors, mayors, or both. Here is Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch's take on them. " Today I have been from Wandsworth to Croydon, Bromley to Enfield, and Barnet to Harrow and Hillingdon, and one thing is clear: only the Conservatives have a serious plan to get Britain working again. Tomorrow, vote Conservative for a stronger economy and a stronger country. " Kemi Badenoch

“Today’s guilty verdict is a significant step toward justice, but it does not undo the life-altering trauma inflicted upon Kate. No officer should go to work simply to uphold the law and return home with a fractured spine.” Tom Gent, chair of Avon and Somerset Police Federation, referring to the guilty verdict yesterday against Palestine Action terrorist Samuel Corner who was convicted of causing grevious bodily harm to police sergeant Kate Evans, whom he hit in the back with a sledgehammer.

Four members of Palestine action who broke into a factory in Filton near Bristol and smashed the place up with sledgehammers have been convicted of criminal damage. Charlotte Head, 29; Samuel Corner, 23; Leona Kamio, 30; and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were all found guilty on Tuesday of smashing up property, including drones and computers, manufactured or used by Elbit Systems at its factory in Filton, near Bristol, on 6 August 2024. The jury at Woolwich crown court heard that the activists used sledgehammers and crowbars they had brought with them to destroy computers, drones, and other equipment, and used fire extinguishers to spray red paint across the walls and floor. Corner was also found guilty by a majority of 11 to one of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Police Sergeant Kate Evans, whom he hit in the back with a sledgehammer. Deanna Heer KC, for the prosecution, told the court that Corner hit Evans in the back with a 7lb (3.2kg) sledgehammer – while she was on all fours facing away ...

"If only we had more politicians like Kemi Badenoch." Stephen Pollard on X (4) Stephen Pollard on X: "If only we had more politicians like @KemiBadenoch" / X

" May the 4th be with you " was first used by the Conservative and Unionist party - as a message to it's leader, Margaret Thatcher, who became Britain's first woman Prime Minister on 4th May 1979 after winning the general election the previous day.

 

Kemi Badenoch posted today: "You may not agree with me, but you will always know where you stand  with me. "Today in Billericay, a heckler tried to shout me down as I spoke about the normalisation of hatred towards Jews. I did not back down, because it needs to be said. British Jews are being targeted and too many people are pretending this is the same experience of other minorities. This lady implied Muslims are being similarly targeted. This is simply not true. Let's be honest about what is happening.  Certain groups (in particular but not solely Islamic Extremists) are creating a climate of fear and intimidation that is normalising Jew hatred. I will never stand for that. Governments have spent too long hand-wringing, making excuses and hoping it would go away. It is time to call this what it is: a national emergency in our attitude, our urgency and our response. I will always engage with people who disagree with me. That is politics. But there is a difference between ...

A question particularly apposite to today. Which organisation first coined the phrase " May the 4th be with you " on 4th May 1979 and as a complement to who?  If you want to submit an answer please put it in the comments. The correct answer will be confirmed  tomorrow morning. 

"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent." (Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999).