First Past the Post: how it works and why it's controversial
Labour won 63% of the seats with 34% of the vote in 2024. Three voting systems ran simultaneously on 7 May. Here is what the contrast reveals about electoral reform.
Policy Breakdown
The Hidden Truth Behind the Leasehold Crisis: What You Need To Know
8 months after being elected on a promise to end the feudal leasehold system, the Labour government is quietly delaying reforms and weakening commitments.
No party has fixed Britain's housing crisis in 30 years, or looks ready to now
Three decades of missed targets, developer-friendly policy, and political cowardice. Britain's housing crisis is not a natural disaster. It is a choice.
Where the parties stand
Latest polling · April 2026
YouGov for The Times · 12–13 April 2026
Next General Election
Latest by 28 August 2029
Starmer can call it earlier.
Most Read
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Why Reform UK's Kirklees Council victory exposed its fatal flaw
Local Government · 14 min
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Britain's political class divide has found a new address: Reform
The Long View · 20 min
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First Past the Post: how it works and why it's controversial
Explainers · 7 min
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The 30-year housing failure no party will fix
Long View · 20 min
Westminster
The legislative sprint is over: what Parliament passed before prorogation
UK Parliament prorogued last week ahead of the King's Speech on 13 May. Here is what made it through the final rush, and what comes next.
State Opening 13 May: the new session after Thursday's results
Parliament prorogued last week and restarts with the King's Speech on 13 May. The content of that Speech will be the government's first policy statement post-election.
The Long View
Britain's political class divide has found a new address: Reform
The voters who once made Labour's majority now form Reform UK's core. On 7 May, Reform gained 1,453 council seats. Labour lost 1,496. This is the thirty-year story behind those numbers.
Scotland's Election Results 2026 – Why Independence Never Dies
The SNP has governed Scotland for eighteen years. It has been rocked by scandal, lost Westminster seats, and changed leader. Yet on 7 May it won 58 seats. Why independence remains the permanent Scottish question.
Explainers
First Past the Post: how it works and why it's controversial
Labour won 63% of the seats with 34% of the vote in 2024. Three voting systems ran simultaneously on 7 May. Here is what the contrast reveals about electoral reform.
The lost generation warning that the government can no longer ignore
Today the government-commissioned Milburn Review published its interim findings on youth unemployment. 957,000 young people are NEET. Without urgent intervention, that figure could rise to 1.25 million.
Local Government
What Happens When a Council Loses Its Planning Powers? 9 Just Found Out
On 15 June 2026, nine local authorities were designated under Section 62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, removing their power to decide major planning applications with immediate effect. A tenth council, Torbay, faces a separate intervention over a 10,980-home local plan shortfall. Full analysis of what it means, who's affected, and what comes next.