Lib Dems accuse Badenoch of being willing to ‘put Farage in No 10’ after she hints she would approve council pacts – UK politics live

For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

Kemi Badenoch has been reprimanded by the UK Statistics Authority for presenting misleading information to parliament.

She misused a statistic only a day after holding a debate in parliament on a motion calling for Keir Starmer to be referred to the Commons privileges committee on the grounds that he had allegedly misled parliament in what he told MPs about the vetting of Peter Mandelson before he was made ambassador to the US.

In her speech in the privileges committee debate, Badenoch was not able to quote an independent authority to back her claim about Starmer having misled MPs, and Labour MPs voted down the call for an inquiry.

At PMQs a day later Badenoch asked Starmer: “How many more people are out of work and claiming universal credit since he took office?”

When the PM failed to reply, Badenoch said:

The prime minister does not want to say how many more people are out of work and claiming universal credit since he took office; perhaps he does not know. Let me tell him: it is 1.5 million people.

In an open letter to Badenoch released today, Penny Young, the interim chair of the UK Statistics Authority, suggests the Tory leader seriously misrepresented the situation when she use the 1.5m figure. She explains:

While it is accurate to state that welfare spending has increased, we are concerned that the way the statistic was presented could lead to a misunderstanding. In particular, the statement may be interpreted as suggesting that the growth in universal credit caseloads began with, and is primarily attributable to, the policies of the current government.

In practice, the increase in universal credit claims over the period you referred to is not solely the result of additional people entering the benefits system. A substantial proportion reflects the ongoing transfer of claimants from legacy benefits to universal credit. This process has been a longstanding policy and has been implemented at scale by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) since May 2022, predating the current administration.

Data from the DWP show that the number of people out of work claiming universal credit (from July 2024 to February 2026) increased by 1.46 million people, which is, when rounded, in line with the 1.5 million figure used in your statement. However, around 1.1 million people who were already out of work moved across to universal credit from other benefits: this is key context to the interpretation of the statistics.

Young does not directly accuse Badenoch of misleading MPs. But she clearly thinks that this description does apply, because she tells Badenoch that people speaking in parliament should present statistics “in ways that are clear and transparent, and that minimise the risk of the public being misled”.

Andy Burnham’s decision to appear at a progressive rally alongside prominent Green and Liberal Democrat figures has sparked anger among some Labour MPs, who have accused him of undermining their local election message, Kiran Stacey reports.

Chris Osuh is a Guardian community affairs correspondent.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said “there’s much more work to be done” to tackle racism in the Green party of England and Wales.

Last month Hamza Egal, chair of Global Majority Greens, said in an open letter that the party had a “racism problem,” claiming internal processes were being “weaponised” against members, that scrutiny of bias was being limited because diversity data was not being properly collected and that an anti-racism motion that had passed at party conference in October 2025 had not been implemented.

In an interview with The Voice, Britain’s longest-running Black newspaper, Polanski said:

I’m not going to sit here and be disingenuous and pretend there’s no racism in the Green party, because there is.

And there’s much more work to be done. I want to support Black people in their communities to make sure we’re getting them across the line, so we can see them representing their community.

Polanski added:

What I want to avoid is what you see with other parties when they say, ‘look, we’ve got lots of Black candidates.’ What I’m interested in is how many Black councillors and, in the future, how many MPs do you have.

We know the disparities that exist across society that impact Black people – these outcomes are by design and are the result of political choices and we must make different political choices.

Labour advisers have been summoned to No 10 for Friday in case they are needed to see off a leadership challenge to Keir Starmer, Kevin Schofield reports in a story for HuffPost UK. He says:

A special team of government advisers will base themselves in No.10 amid speculation that a leadership challenge to the prime minister could be launched as early as Friday.

Their job will be to shore up Starmer’s position in the wake of what are expected to be devastating results for Labour …

A senior government source said: “A team of spads are going in to No.10 on Friday to basically help protect the prime minister from any potential leadership challenges.

“The original plan was for them to be based in Labour HQ, rather than their departments, but the feeling now is it’s better to have them in Downing Street working for the PM.”

Kemi Badenoch has suggested she would be happy for Conservatives councillors to govern in cooperation with Reform UK councillors.

In an interview with Sky News, asked about the possibility of Tory/Reform pacts at local level, she at first said that in the councils where Reform won last year, there were no coalitions with the Conservatives.

But she went on:

We are willing to work with people who will help deliver Conservative policies.

Commenting on this answer, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:

Lifelong Conservative voters across the country will be appalled that Kemi Badenoch is opening the door to coalitions with Reform.

This is a dress rehearsal for the next general election when the Conservatives are preparing to put Nigel Farage into Number 10.

It is not unusual for parties which fight each other aggressively to end up cooperating in local government if no one has a majority and if they can agree a shared agenda.

At national level, Badenoch and Nigel Farage have both rejected talk that they could go into the next election with some sort of electoral pact.

But, during the election campaign, both of them have offered hints that they might be open to a rethink.

In an interview with the Times last month, Farage did not rule out a pact. In his write-up of the interview, Steven Swinford said:

Given the potential for a hung parliament, can Farage rule out a confidence and supply arrangement with the Tories after the next election? Reform’s leader is coy. “You’re talking about a scenario that is so far down the road.” He says it is “highly undesirable” but does not rule it out. “Well there’s never a no, is there,” he says. “There’s never a no to anything in life, but it’s highly undesirable on the basis of trust.”

And, when Badenoch was asked about this for an interview with the Sunday Times at the weekend, she did not rule it out either. This is how Josh Glancy wrote this up.

In recent interviews, Badenoch has been unequivocally opposed to this idea. “I have ruled out a coalition with Reform in Westminster, and I rule it out here,” she told The Times last month.

But today? It’s no longer a no. “I just think it’s too soon to even be talking about stuff like that,” Badenoch says. “Right now, I need people to understand what this new Conservative party is. If you start talking about deals, it sounds like you’re trying to stitch up jobs.” Later she seems more unequivocal: “I meet Conservatives every day who say, ‘If you go to Reform, then we’re done’.” The door appears to be ajar then, but only just.

YouGov has released polling that confirms what More in Common figures suggested yesterday – that Zack Polanski’s approval ratings have taken a big hit since he reposted a social media message implying the police used excessive force when they arrested the Golders Green suspect.

47% of Britons now have a negative opinion of Zack Polanski, up 8pts from just prior to the Golders Green attack, and his worst rating since becoming Green leader

Favourable: 22% (-2 from 28-29 Apr)

Unfavourable: 47% (+8)

Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar whipped up a crowd of activists at an eve of poll rally in Glasgow – and by the end of the morning he had everyone chanting his party’s core message: reject Reform, beat the SNP, change Scotland and vote Scottish Labour.

Believe it or not, Scottish Labour is not acting like a party heading for its worst Holyrood result in history, as some polls have predicted.

But Sarwar was clear that everything rests on this ground campaign.

He told supporters that “in the next 24 hours every conversation matters”. Sarwar said 38 seats were on a knife-edge across Scotland, all straight fights between SNP and Labour, which would decide the result of the election.

Asked about the jailing of former SNP council leader Jordan Linden for sexual assaults against young men and boys this morning, Sarwar said that it exposed “the rotten culture at the heart of the SNP”.

Witnesses at the Linden’s trial told the court that the SNP had “downplayed and ignored” their concerns.

On the subject of Keir Starmer, Steven Swinford from the Times says he is said to be planning a “big offer” after the elections to help keep his job. Swinford says:

Keir Starmer is up for the fight. One ally says he will need to be dragged out of No 10. Another talked about how it would look to launch a putsch when we’re on the cusp of rationing jet fuel

Starmer lining up speech. There’s talk of a ‘big offer’ but what does it look like? Genuine discussion around moving on manifesto red lines – ie manifesto outdated for times we are now in – but Starmer thought to be v wary. It carries huge risks in and of itself.

Meanwhile, in the Mail, Jason Groves and Dan Hodges say there is talk of a “Trojan horse” plot – with ministers agreeing to keep Starmer in office, on condition that he drops his opposition to Andy Burnham returning to parliament. Groves and Hodges report:

Preparations are in place for a sympathetic north west Labour MP to step aside as soon as next week to open up a potential route back to Westminster for the Great Manchester mayor.

Ministers would then demand that Sir Keir drop his opposition to Mr Burnham’s return as the price of their continued support.

In return, Mr Burnham would be asked to make a public statement of loyalty to Sir Keir, which would prevent him from mounting an immediate leadership challenge.

Supporters of the idea argue it would avoid plunging Labour into a chaotic snap leadership contest – and give the PM a final chance to show whether he can turn round Labour’s fortunes.

But it would also leave Labour MPs with a ready-made successor if Sir Keir falters in the coming month.

YouGov has also released its final MRP poll for the Senedd election. It suggests Plaid Cymru is on course to be the biggest party, with 43 seats. But, without reaching 49, the number needed for a majority, it would rely on Labour support to govern.

Polling organisations normally produce figures that very roughly align, but in Wales the firms polling this contest have produced results that differ considerably. Survation has just released the results of its final poll and it has produced this seat projection – with a much lower figure for Plaid than in YouGov’s.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, which has made the paper’s splash, Eluned Morgan, the first minister and Welsh Labour leader, suggested Keir Starmer would be to blame for the party losing power in Wales, where it has been the biggest party in elections for 100 years. Asked if Labour could lose because of anti-Starmer protest votes, Morgan said there was “a danger that could happen”.

Morgan also said that beyond “this point in time” she did not want to say she wanted Starmer to stay on as Labour leader.

Speaking to BBC Wales today, Morgan gave the same answer. Asked if she would want Starmer to stay on as Labour leader if the party lost in Wales, she replied:

I’m certainly not getting involved in any speculation about what happens tomorrow or the day after.

The SNP is set to “gobble up” constituency seats at Holyrood but the “odds are against” John Swinney’s party winning an overall majority, the polling expert John Curtice has said. The Press Association says:

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s breakfast programme this morning, Curtice said studies show the Tories may “just hang on to a handful of constituency seats and the Liberal Democrats will just make a handful of gains”.

This, combined with the prospect of parties such as the Greens and Reform UK winning in some areas, could mean “there are just a relatively small number of contests where the other parties are going to hang on, or in one or two instances make a gain, and that is going to stand between the SNP and victory”, he said.

But he added: “The truth is, trying to forecast exactly what is going to happen in individual seats is very, very difficult.

“If the cookie were to crumble just slightly in the SNP’s favour, the Greens just miss out on some of their hopes, then maybe the SNP might still make it.

“But if the polls are right the odds are against it and the SNP will need a lot of luck.”

Curtice said support for the SNP is “well down” from the last Holyrood election in 2021 – when the party, then under Nicola Sturgeon, polled almost 48% of the constituency votes.

But he also said: “Support for the Conservatives is also well down on what it was in 2021 and perhaps support for Labour is also edging down as well, that would mean the SNP would still gobble up most of the constituencies that they won back in 2021.”

He said polling suggests “Reform have a narrow lead over Labour” in the race for second place. “I don’t think any of us can be sure what is going to happen but we might have a new party being the second largest party in the new parliament, he said.

Curtice was speaking as YouGov issued its final MRP poll of the campaign. It suggests the SNP is on course to win 62 seats – just shy of the 65 it needs for a majority.

Nigel Farage has also claimed that Reform UK will be “the only true national party” after the elections tomorrow.

Speaking to journalists at Westminster, Farage said:

The only way to get rid of this awful, unpatriotic prime minister is to go out and vote Reform tomorrow …

I hope and believe we will emerge over the course of the next couple of days as the only true national party.

Reform UK has had a clear lead over all the other parties in GB voting intention for at least a year. But after this week’s elections Farage should be able to make the “national party” claim on the basis that, unless polling is very wrong, Reform UK is the only party likely to come either first or second in the English local elections, in the Scottish parliament election, and in the Welsh Senedd election.

Nigel Farage has claimed he has “no case to answer” in relation to claims that he broke Commons rules when he did not declare the £5m donation he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

The Conservative party has reported Farage to the parliamentary commissioner for standards over the donation, which he got shortly before the 2024 election that led to him becoming an MP for the first time.

Farage and Harborne have both said that was a personal gift, to fund Farage’s security, not a politically motivated donation. Harborne also gave £12m to Reform UK in 2025 that was declared.

Speaking to broadcasters today, Farage said:

I have been physically under attack since 2013. I can’t catch the Underground and I’ll never be able to as long as I live.

And that money was given to me with the knowledge that the state in this country have never, ever wanted to help me.

Asked whether he would refer himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Farage said:

Because why would I? I mean, honestly, we’ve looked at this with lawyers and everything.

There is no case to answer. Of course, the other parties will try and make hay out of it – there’s no case to answer.

Although Farage received the £5m before he became an MP, the donation was made less than a year before the election and the Commons rules say that registerable benefits received less than 12 months before the election must be declared.

Although there is an exemption for gifts that are purely personal, the rules say that gifts should be registered if people might reasonably assume there could be a political motive behind them. The relevant section says MPs do not have to register:

Benefits which could not reasonably be thought by others to be related to membership of the house or to the member’s parliamentary or political activities; for example, purely personal gifts or benefits from partners or family members. However, both the possible motive of the giver and the use to which the gift is to be put should be considered. If there is any doubt, the benefit should be registered.

Harborne has said the gift was just personal. He told the Telegraph: “I wasn’t expecting anything in return apart from ensuring [Farage’s] safety.”

But if the parliamentary commissioner for standards is trying to work out whether the donation might “reasonably be thought” to be related to Farage’s political activities, he might want to read this Guardian investigation by Tom Burgis.

The Labour MP David Taylor is one of many people on social media saying that Zack Polanski was wrong when he told the Today programme this morning that it was traumatising seeing the Golders Green suspect being kicked when he was handcuffed. (See 9.33am.) Posting an image from the footage to make his point, Taylor says:

Polanski is at it again – the attacker was not handcuffed, he still had a knife in his hand!

Steve Reed, the housing secretary who has been leading Labour attacks on the Green party during the local elections campaign, also issued this statement responding to the Polanski interview on Today.

Polanski is still refusing to sack candidates who have shared disgusting antisemitic posts despite saying he takes full responsibility for them.

Following the horrific knife attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green he continues to show concern for the suspected attacker. And his response to allegations that he lied about his past job and qualifications shows he simply can’t be trusted.