Split vote: Why councils in the Midlands could be divided in the local elections
But Kemi Badenoch in Westminster was one of the first to admit that her party is destined to be counting losses on Friday - not gains. Currently the tories are in charge of all eleven midlands counties and unitaries being contested on Thursday - how many might they comfortably control when the votes are in?
But as the Badenoch team prepares for questions about her authority - imagine the pressures on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour team. When I was checking out opinion recently at the Newark Pensioners Luncheon Club there was still widespread disgust about the Labour's cut to Winter Fuel Allowances and the 'freebies' declared by winning cabinet members.
Rightly or wrongly these national concerns may take precedence over decisions about who is best to run planning transport and social care.
For the first time in many years - voting intentions will be split in many directions. Disaffected Conservatives may switch to Nigel Farage's Reform UK - as will disaffected Labour voters.
The Liberal Democrats are starting from a low base -but they are well aware that the Green Party could scoop up gains at their expense. And there is a big array of Independent candidates to choose from. A grouping forms the main opposition in Nottinghamshire.
Reform's poll ratings are impressive - and the fall-out for defeated parties could be huge if the party manage to take control of a council. They have focussed electioneering in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
But of course were they to become winners - as Labour have discovered- it's often harder to stay so popular as the tough reckoning begins with tight budgets and ever increasing demands.
Nigel Farage has been out on the election trail and drawing big crowds in the midlands. I remember the last man who did that. His name was Jeremy Corbyn.
The biggest issues for voters remain the cost of living and the perennial problem of potholes in the roads. Turnout is never big at local level. But the fall-out could be big - for the party leaders who now realise they are just one of three four, five or six.
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The Herald Scotland
16 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Donald Trump: The highs and lows of his relationship with Scotland
Though Trump has said he "feels Scottish", his relationship with the country has had its ups and downs. Here are the highs and the lows. Read More: Trump's Scottish connection The President is connected to Scotland by blood, his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was from Stornoway. Born in the village of Tong in 1912 to Malcolm, a crofter and fisherman, and Mary Ann hers was a tough upbringing, the Hebrides at the time being described by historian James Hunter as "where I always considered human wretchedness to have reached its very acme" and by the President as "serious Scotland". She grew up speaking Gaelic, only learning English when she went to school, but Tong didn't have much to offer a young woman. Mary became one of the roughly half a million Scots who emigrated between 1919 and 1938, with over three-quarters of those heading to North America. The day before her 18th birthday, May 11 1930, she arrived in New York City under immigrant visa 2669191. As she arrived on the RMS Transylvania, Mary would have passed the Statue of Liberty on her way to the immigration centre on Ellis Island. Records show she had never visited the U.S before and was carrying the sum total of $50. Inscribed on the statue, the first thing new immigrants from Europe would see, is a poem which concludes: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me/I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Those lofty sentiments clearly haven't rubbed off on the President who declared in October last year: "We're a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world. Every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country I get angry and angrier." A few years later Mary met property developer Fred Trump and the rest is history. Donald, who was born in 1946, may have been named after her maternal grandfather, who died at sea aged 34 but he's visited Lewis just twice in his life, once as a toddler and once for around 90 minutes on the way to one of his golf courses. Highs Donald Trump with The Wee Red Book at Turnberry (Image: Colin Templeton) While most of Trump's dealings with Scotland and in particular the Scottish Government have been adversarial, there have been some moments of harmony along the way. When the future President first purchased the land which would become Trump International Aberdeen, he was welcomed with open arms by First Minister Jack McConnell. The Scottish Labour leader invited Trump to become a 'Globalscot', a network of overseas Scots and friends of Scotland who served as business ambassadors. McConnell said: "Donald has shown me a real passion for Scotland. He is a globally recognised figure who can help us to promote Scotland. I am delighted that he has taken up my offer. This is a good bit of business for all concerned." Indeed, the First Minister wanted to go further by making him a 'platinum member' of the Globalscot club, a unique status which would have been reserved only for The Donald. Such was the love-in, Green MSP Patrick Harvie quipped: "It's beginning to look embarrassing that the leader of the government is behaving like a teenager with a crush." Things continued in much the same vein with McConnell's successor, Alex Salmond - at least initially. In 2007 Aberdeenshire Council rejected planning permission for Trump's golf course and, rather than submitting a new application, the Apprentice host announced he would look elsewhere. In an unprecedented move, the Scottish Government called in the proposal, saying it "raises issues of importance that require consideration at a national level". Trump had met with Salmond the day before. Holyrood eventually approved the proposal, with Trump saying: "I hardly know [[Alex Salmond]], but what I know is that he's an amazing man. "Alex Salmond and I have virtually never even talked about this job but I know for a fact that he - and anyone else who's representing Scotland, unless they're the enemy - wants billions of pounds to come into Aberdeenshire and Scotland." It was on the way to a public hearing about that golf course in Balmedie that Trump visited his mother's croft on Lewis - for a grand total of 97 seconds - and declared "I do feel Scottish". In 2010, Trump was given an honorary degree by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen raising a chuckle when he was introduced as "the highest-paid speaker in the world" and replied "not today". Speaking of his mother he said: "She was very thrifty. The Scots have this reputation for watching the dollars, so she really had a natural business instinct. "She loved everything that this great place stood for and she'd be very proud today." Lows Donald Trump at Turnberry (Image: Colin Templeton) Trump would not have such an easy relationship with Scotland for long, indeed he was stripped of that degree in 2015. The process of building that first golf course in Aberdeenshire was long and controversial with one local farmer, Michael Forbes, refusing to sell his land to the billionaire. An exasperated Trump ultimately offered £450,000 and a £50k per year job for the small farm. The response? "He can take his money and shove it up his arse." Trump did, of course, finally get his course built but was soon on a collision course with the Scottish Government over one of his pet peeves - wind turbines. As well as objecting to them aesthetically, the President appears to genuinely believe that the noise made by the rotating blades causes cancer. When permission was granted for a wind farm off the coast of Aberdeenshire - in full view of his new course - the future leader of the free world was apoplectic. He wrote a furious letter to Salmond asking: "Do you want to be known for centuries to come as 'Mad Alex - the man who destroyed Scotland'?" So incensed was The Donald he appeared before the Scottish Parliament to give evidence, drawing laughs from the public gallery when asked for his evidence of the negative impact of turbines and responding: "I am the evidence." "He came, he saw, he blustered," said CBS News. Trump threatened to withdraw all investment in Scotland if the plans went ahead, but ultimately decided to expand his portfolio with the acquisition of the Turnberry course in South Ayrshire. He abandoned the Republican primary in 2016 to open the course, where he famously predicted that the UK would vote for Brexit, stunning the political pundit class with his foresight. As he told The Sun: "I predicted Brexit. I was cutting a ribbon for the opening of Turnberry - you know they did a whole renovation, it is beautiful - the day before the Brexit vote. 'I said, 'Brexit will happen'. The vote is going to be positive because people don't want to be faced with the horrible immigration problems that they are being faced with in other countries. I said Brexit will happen, and I was right.' The only slight flaw in this story is that Trump arrived in Ayrshire the day after the vote when the result had already been announced. He did not meet with Salmond's successor, Nicola Sturgeon, on that visit with the First Minister later telling ITV: "I expect the people of the United States will have the good sense not to elect him." The two may not share much in common, but it appears prognostication skill is one of them. Sturgeon was forced into something of a climbdown with what the White House described as "a short congratulatory call" and a letter, though the First Minister made clear she would "not maintain a diplomatic silence" in the face of "abhorrent comments". When Trump was defeated by Joe Biden in 2020, she offered a "cheerio" and "don't haste ye back", with the businessman commenting on the former First Minister's own travails on a trip to Turnberry in 2023 as he said "she has not been a great person for Scotland". John Swinney then caused a stooshie of his own when he urged American voters to back Kamala Harris in November's election, only for Trump to win in a landslide. Son Eric Trump said: "My father adores Scotland, and you have a First Minister coming out and just being fairly nasty in the days leading up. 'I mean, who did that benefit? Did that benefit Scotland?" The First Minister is expected to meet with Trump on his short visit to Scotland - things may be a little frosty.
Daily Mirror
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismisses 'daft' wealth tax - 'be serious'
It is the first time a Government minister has explicitly ruled out a wealth tax since plans to cut disability benefits were gutted, leaving Chancellor Rachel Reeves with a battle to balance the books The Business Secretary has hit out at "daft" demands for a "magic wealth tax" to plug holes in the public finances. Jonathan Reynolds rubbished speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could balance the books after U-turns on disability benefit cuts and winter fuel with a levy on the wealthiest Brits. Ms Reeves has refused to rule out a tax on wealth, which has been backed by Labour figures, including former leader Lord Neil Kinnock and Wales's First Minister Eluned Morgan. But Mr Reynolds dismissed the idea and told supporters to "be serious", in comments likely to anger some on the Labour left where support is growing for the move. It is the first time a Government minister has explicitly ruled out a wealth tax since Keir Starmer was forced to gut his plans to cut disability benefits last month. The Chancellor has been left to make up the shortfall, while battling sluggish growth and higher than expected borrowing. Experts believe she may be forced to put up taxes in the autumn if she wants to avoid making cuts to public services - triggering calls for a new tax on wealth. But Mr Reynolds told GB News: "This Labour Government has increased taxes on wealth as opposed to income - the taxes on private jets, private schools, changes through inheritance tax, capital gains tax. "But the idea there's a magic wealth tax, some sort of levy... that doesn't exist anywhere in the world. "Switzerland has a levy but they don't have capital gains or inheritance tax. "There's no kind of magic (tax). We're not going to do anything daft like that. "And I say to people: 'Be serious about this.' The idea you can just levy everyone... What if your wealth was not in your bank account, (what if it was) in fine wine or art? "How would we tax that? This is why this doesn't exist." The Chancellor recently told the Mirror that ordinary workers won't see their VAT, income tax or national insurance contributions rise. And Ms Reeves signalled a lack of enthusiasm for a dedicated wealth tax, saying she had already asked the wealthiest and businesses to pay more in last year's Budget, which included a £40billion tax raid to fund cash-strapped public services like hospitals and schools.
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Could Jeremy Corbyn's new party shake up politics?
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he is launching a new political party, promising to "build a democratic movement that can take on the rich and powerful".It doesn't have a name yet but the MP for Islington North says the plan is for the group to fight May's local elections ahead of the next general election, which is likely to take place in four years' new venture has the potential to shake-up the political landscape, with Labour and the Greens appearing to be the most at risk of losing votes. Polling of around 2,000 Britons by More In Common last month - on whether they would vote for a hypothetical Corbyn-led party - suggested it could pick up 10% of the vote. This would potentially take three points off Labour's vote share and extend Reform UK's lead in the polls by the same pollster's UK director, Luke Tryl, says that if this plays out at a general election Labour risks losing seats outright to Corbyn's party, while a splintering of the left-wing vote could also allow Reform UK or the Conservatives to make gains."In an era of very fragmented politics, small shares could make the difference across the board, and it is totally conceivable that the performance of this left-wing party could be the difference between a Labour-led government and a Nigel Farage Reform-led government on current polling," adds Mr party could gain support in parts of the country where pro-Gaza independents have performed strongly such as Birmingham, parts of east and north London and north-west England. More In Common's research suggests a Corbyn-led party would be most popular with those aged under 26 so inner-city student areas could also be key of these urban areas are holding local elections in May, which will mark the first real test for the new party. However, polling suggests the Green Party - where many disgruntled former Labour voters have already turned - stands to lose the most support from a Corbyn-led Greens were second to Labour in 40 constituencies at last year's general election but an insurgent left-wing party could eat into their depends on whether the Greens form electoral pacts with the new party, with both sides agreeing to stand down in seats where the other has a stronger chance of winning. The four pro-Gaza MPs who formed an independent alliance with Corbyn after the general election are expected to make up the core of the new party, along with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana. But how could they work with the Greens?Corbyn has suggested he will cooperate with the Greens but whether they will agree a formal deal remains to be Schneider, a close ally of Corbyn who is involved in the new group, tells the BBC it would make "perfect sense for our new party to have some form of pact with the Greens".Green Party leadership candidate Zack Polanski has also said he will "work with anyone who wants to take on Reform and this government". However, his rival, Green MP Adrian Ramsay, warned his party must not become "a Jeremy Corbyn support act" and maintain its "distinct" identity and broad appeal beyond the traditional Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, says a Corbyn-led party is a big threat to the Greens."Corbyn has a level of name recognition, a level of celebrity, that no one in the Green Party can possibly match," he tells BBC Radio 4's PM programme."Now, they have one big advantage which is that they have a core issue, the environment, which is one that Corbyn doesn't necessarily seem particularly interested in."So there is a world in which they could divide up the pie, so to speak, but they're going to need to think hard about that or they risk being pushed aside." Another poll of more than 2,500 Britons by YouGov earlier this month found that while 18% say they are open to voting for a new left-wing party led by Corbyn, just 9% of these would not consider voting for any of the five existing significant national the fractious and unpredictable state of politics, 11% of this group were also open to voting for Reform UK.A lot could change in the four years there is likely to be before the next general Tryl argues that if Labour presents that election as a choice between Sir Keir Starmer and Reform UK's Nigel Farage as prime minister, many on the left may choose to vote tactically. In this scenario, voters who are sympathetic to Corbyn's party could hold their nose and back Labour to stop a Reform candidate winning in their has also been a chaotic start for the party, with confusion over the name and who will lead it, after Sultana appeared to jump the gun by announcing her intention to form a new party with Corbyn earlier this sources have dismissed their former leader's latest venture, saying "the electorate has twice given their verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party" at the 2017 and 2019 cabinet minister Peter Kyle went on the attack on Times Radio, accusing Corbyn of "posturing" and of not being "a serious politician". Mr Schneider argues the impact of the new party will not be limited by how many MPs it manages to claims more than 200,000 people have already signed up to get involved in less than 24 hours. There's no guarantee all of them will go on to join the party but it suggests some enthusiasm for the idea amongst sections of the public."We're going to be having a huge outside influence on the political debate in this country," Mr Schneider says."Of course the long-term goal is to win elections and enter office and be really in power. "But in order to have real sustainable power you need to have people coming with you and have your foundations in the society you want to be building up." Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
