Voter turnout seems to have gone up in many areas. But is that also to do with the number of other elections going on?
We make it twelve net Conservative council gains, Labour up by three mayoralties…and one LibDem council gain.
These elections were very good indeed for the Conservatives – though there are warning signs of a potential Blue Wall effect in the south.
In terms of parliamentary seats, CCHQ now needs to be targeting the North East of England much more broadly for the next election.
In England, the Tories have monopolised support on the Right, while the Left vote is split between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
Plus: Starmer needs to bring Cooper and Benn into his top team. But will they even want the jobs?
The moment calls for urgently aligning the agenda for devolution and decentralisation with that of growth and recovery.
Jihyun Park was beaten, tortured, used for sex and put in a North Korean labour camp – before escaping, and making a new life for herself here.
Labour councils hurt the poor the most. It is the Conservatives who offer practical improvements.
We controlled Covid in our prisons, kept the courts running throughout lockdown, and were the first in the western world to resume jury trials.
The centre isn’t where he or ConservativeHome or anyone else wants it to be. It’s where it is – “Far From Notting Hill”.
Some may scoff at the Green Party being included as a “main political party”. By next week this classification may not seem so far-fetched.
The Shadow Foreign Secretary feels people realise that Labour is “under new management” – but the Party “has a big mountain to climb.”
The harrowing personal story of Jihyun Park, followed by her selection as a Tory candidate in Bury, puts current political obsessions in perspective.
It despises the very values of patriotism and economic self-improvement that made people like my grandparents vote for them.