Politics

It was a wafer-thin victory, but a huge win. The symbolism of Labour taking the West Midlands mayor, a jewel in the Tory crown, could be felt in the room as Labour activists gathered in Birmingham to celebrate the win with their new mayor Richard Parker and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. There are moments

Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the villagers who Sky News revealed turned him away from his local polling station when he tried to vote without a valid photo ID – under rules he introduced. The former prime minister has said he had attempted to cast his ballot using a magazine sleeve with his name

We went into this set of local and mayoral elections with two big questions: Is Labour on course for a majority and how bad is it going to be for Rishi Sunak?  On the Sunak question, it’s a very clear-cut story. The Tories are having as bad a night as their worst nightmare. There is

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has renewed his demand for Rishi Sunak to go to the polls after the prime minister suffered a by-election drubbing and bruising council losses across England. But while Mr Sunak said the the grim early results were “disappointing” for the Conservatives, he insisted he was focused completely on the job

Vote counting is under way after polls closed in local elections taking place across England and Wales. More than 2,600 council seats across 107 councils are up for grabs in England, alongside 11 mayoral elections, a parliamentary seat and police and crime commissioners throughout England and Wales. Polls opened at 7am and closed at 10pm.

John Swinney has announced his bid to take over from Humza Yousaf as SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister. The Perthshire North MSP has spent a year on the backbenches after he stepped down as deputy first minister when Nicola Sturgeon resigned in 2023. Announcing his intention to run for first minister during a visit

Polls are to open for the local elections across the country, with the added extra of a by-election on the same day. Over 2,600 council seats are up for grabs across 107 councils in England, along with 10 mayoralties in major cities and combined authorities, and 25 London Assembly seats. A total of 37 police

The Tory mayor of the West Midlands is sending voters an endorsement from Boris Johnson which urges people to “forget about the government”, Sky News can reveal. Andy Street’s campaign website makes no mention of Rishi Sunak on its homepage and is coloured in green rather than Conservative blue, suggesting the mayor is trying to

The UK has sent the first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda – under a voluntary scheme. The scheme is for those who have gone through the asylum process and had permission rejected, rather than for migrants who have illegally entered Britain by crossing the Channel on small boats. The migrant was sent on a commercial

Ireland’s prime minister has insisted the UK must respect an existing arrangement between the two countries to take back asylum seekers. Simon Harris told Sky News the UK must honour a deal that has been in place since 2020 as a row escalates over the Irish government’s new plans to return to the UK asylum

The next leader of the SNP could be “crowned… with no contest”, the Scottish Conservatives have claimed, after Humza Yousaf stepped down from the role on Monday. Mr Yousaf – who has been leader and first minister of Scotland for just over a year – announced his resignation after his decision last week to cut

Humza Yousaf has resigned as Scotland’s first minister after cutting ties with his government’s power-sharing partners. The leader of the SNP, who only took on the role in March last year, has been at the centre of a chaotic few days in Holyrood after he made the surprise announcement to end his power-sharing deal with

Thursday’s local elections have been pencilled in as a day of peril for Rishi Sunak for so long, it’s hard to remember when Tory turbulence – and maybe even a leadership challenge – was not expected after 2 May. Most council seats up for election were last contested in 2021, the high watermark of Boris

Rishi Sunak has failed to rule out holding a general election in July, as speculation remains rife over the timing of the national vote. The prime minister has repeatedly said his “working assumption” is the election would take place in the second half of this year – with the law stating January 2025 is the

I’ve known Rishi Sunak slightly for almost a decade, having first met him after he penned a thoughtful, comprehensive, well-received report on Britain’s minority communities, which I’d say is still the best of its kind. Sitting down to interview him in a state-of-the-art defence facility this week, I could still see the same energetic, likeable problem

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf claims a Holyrood election could be called as he refuses to say if he will resign if he loses a looming vote of no confidence. Speaking exclusively to Sky News in Fife on Saturday, the SNP leader said it was “really disappointing” to learn the Greens will refuse to enter

A defiant Humza Yousaf has told Sky News he will not resign as Scotland’s first minister. Pressure has been building on the SNP leader after he tore up the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens – prompting a no-confidence motion in his leadership and a threatened knife-edge vote. However, Mr Yousaf, on a visit to

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf is to cancel a speech he was due to deliver on independence in Glasgow this lunchtime, Sky News undertands. Sources say Mr Yousaf will “come out fighting” after the Greens said they will join the other opposition in a vote of no confidence next week. Mr Yousaf announced his plan

Voters in Grimsby – one of Sky News’s election Target Towns – have been offering their views on politics, politicians and “broken promises”. The electoral battle in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, the Target Towns, will be fierce. Labour will need an 11.7 point swing to win this newly-merged constituency back from the Conservatives. In 2019, residents

The SNP and Scottish Greens power-sharing deal has formally ended following a row over a climbdown on climate targets, Sky News understands. It comes after First Minister Humza Yousaf summoned a meeting of his Cabinet – usually held on a Tuesday – this morning following speculation over the future of the Holyrood deal, first struck