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The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Will Reform dominate the local and devolved elections? – podcast

Pippa Crerar is joined by the election analyst Prof Rob Ford to look at the upcoming local and devolved elections. Will Reform dominate across England? Can the Greens remove Labour’s longstanding hold over London? And will the nationalists win in Scotland and Wales? Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that | George Monbiot

As revelations about Reform UK’s donors emerge, it’s clear that increasingly complex forms of patronage can’t be regulated effectively. We need a clean sweep How do we know whether political funding is corrupt? Mostly, we don’t. A plutocrat delivers a sack of cash to a political party. A few weeks later, it announces a policy that happens to favour the donor’s business. Are the events linked? We might suspect it; we cannot prove it. But the suspicion itself is corrosive and demoralising. The cur

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Chaos within Labour has paused for now, but after the May elections the leadership contest begins in earnest | Morgan Jones

A different kind of stasis waits after the polls: a candidate gridlock where all Starmer’s potential successors are problematic in their own way Westminster politics is currently consumed by the fact that the May elections are next week. On Tuesday night Labour MPs voted down a Tory proposal that would have seen the prime minister referred to the privileges committee over his handling of the Mandelson scandal. Just 15 Labour MPs – mostly long-term critics of the PM – voted for the Tory motion; 5

PoliticsHousing
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Labour calls on Jenrick to give £37,500 campaign donation to charity amid electoral law investigation

Electoral Commission is investigating claims money given to MP came from US businessman now convicted of wire fraud UK politics live – latest updates Labour has called on Robert Jenrick to give up almost £40,000 donated to his campaign to be Conservative leader in 2024 following allegations that the sum came from an impermissible foreign donor now convicted of fraud. The party called for Jenrick to make a donation to charity after the Guardian revealed the Electoral Commission has been investi

Politics
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Could Lib Dems become the biggest party in English local government?

With voter loyalty a distant memory, the Lib Dems’ cost of living policies and criticism of Trump could gain them ground It has been an election buildup dominated by the rise of Reform UK and the Greens, and the contrasting woes of Labour and the Tories. But there is a chance that on 8 May the Liberal Democrats, largely ignored in recent weeks, could wake up as the biggest party in English local government. This is just one of several paradoxes for the party’s leader, Ed Davey, and his team. T

PoliticsEconomyEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Local election campaigning enters final week as forecaster warns Labour could lose 1,850 English seats –UK politics live

Robert Hayward predicts Reform will be big winner, taking seats from both Labour and the Conservatives Good morning. We are now into the final week of campaigning for the Scottish parliament, Welsh Senedd and English local elections. Keir Starmer had been planning a big speech today, but he, and other political leaders, are today focusing on their response to the Golders Green stabbing and the antisemitism threat facing Britain’s Jewish community – described as a “national security emergency” by

PoliticsDefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Could Starmer bring back Rayner to steady ship – and would she get onboard?

Former deputy PM has walked a line between loyalty and interventionism since resigning last September It is nearly eight months since Angela Rayner quit the cabinet because of her tax arrangements, but some might argue her influence on the government has not gone away. And soon she might return, whether as Keir Starmer’s saviour or, perhaps, his usurper. There is increasing speculation that the prime minister could carry out a small-scale reshuffle, primarily to bring back Rayner, his former dep

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Why is Britain’s economy so stuck? It’s the tension between what voters want and what the bond markets allow | Larry Elliott

There is no such thing as the Bond Dealers party, but there might as well be – the people who trade in UK debt exert a stranglehold over our politics The days of two-party politics are over. When voters go to the polls in England next week, they will have five main contenders to choose from. In Scotland and Wales, the nationalists make it a six-strong race. This fragmentation reflects the deep discontent with Labour and the Conservatives. One thing in common between the Greens and Reform UK is t

PoliticsEconomyEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics30 Apr 2026

Labour is facing wipeout in its final stronghold. Why? It’s housing, housing, housing | Aditya Chakrabortty

In the 1980s, Labour-controlled London built 52,000 council homes. During the Tony Blair decade, just 280. It’s brought this local-election catastrophe on itself Over the week to come, journalists will repeat three things until they, and you, are sick: that local elections fall next Thursday; that the results will decide the fate of Keir Starmer; and that he is set to do badly. But just how badly, and where? Last week, Starmer’s own party dropped a big clue. The most popular politician in Britai

PoliticsHousing
The Guardian Politics29 Apr 2026

The Guardian view on assisted dying reform: now try a citizens’ assembly | Editorial

Parliament’s failure to change the law on a difficult issue should be the spur to democratic innovation The prorogation of parliament on Wednesday signals the end of the road for the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill. The proposal to allow some patients in England and Wales, under very specific circumstances, to have medical assistance in ending their own lives was still at committee stage in the Lords when the house rose. Since it was introduced as a private member’s bill, it cannot be c

Politics
The Guardian Politics29 Apr 2026

Rachel Reeves’s plan to mandate how pension funds invest was always a mistake | Nils Pratley

You can understand the motivation – more UK investment by UK funds means faster UK growth – but fiduciary duty trumps all A simple principle lies at the heart of pension investment: the pension manager must invest in the best interest of the client. UK ministers have often wished UK funds would show more home bias by channelling more pensioners’ cash towards domestic assets in the interests of economic growth, but the fundamental rule of the game has always been understood. You don’t mess with t

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics29 Apr 2026

Leasehold ban in England and Wales unlikely before next general election, minister says

Matthew Pennycook says ending system must be done slowly to avoid hitting housing supply and legal pitfalls A ban on new leasehold properties in England and Wales is unlikely to come into force until after the next election, the housing minister has said, as he defended the government’s piecemeal attempts to dismantle the system. The long-promised end would take years to “switch on”, Matthew Pennycook said, even though the ban of leaseholds on new houses was passed in 2024 and the government int

PoliticsHousing