Michael Thrasher

The new multi-party politics is having a noticeable impact on the proportion of seats changing hands and the low share of the vote often needed for victory.

Ten key councils to look out for when the results of May 2026 local elections are declared, as selected by the honorary professors at the University of

The Tories face difficulties in postponed county contests while substantial Reform gains are inevitable, write the honorary professors at the University

Anne-Marie Fink, who oversees investments with external managers at the ‎State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), says her three-decade career has followed a consistent path. “The arc of my career has been to establish a foundation of knowledge and then build on it to become ever broader. I started by working at individual companies before business school, and then my first finance job was analyzing equities within specific sectors. From there, I went on to manage funds and then entire portfolios. That progression has served me very well because I understand the building blocks that you need to construct a portfolio.”

The final quarter of 2025 established a record, with 62 per cent of by-elections lost by the defending party.

With almost a third of all English council seats falling vacant on 7 May, and nearly half the electorate able to cast a vote, there is scope for quite radical change to the pattern of local government.

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Because there is no overnight counting in Scotland and Wales, it will be English council results shaping the breakfast headlines on 8 May.

It has become clear from the overnight declarations that the Labour Party is on course to suffer one of its worst-ever electoral defeats.

Reform almost doubled the number of seats it captured last year while the Green party made a net gain of 440 seats, write psephologists Colin Rallings and