Good morning, and if you hate being awake this early, imagine how I feel. It’s local election night in England, an occasion best summarised by putting the TV on at 3.14am to hear Jonathan Ashworth MP say “Tamworth, Redditch, Ashby-de-la-Zouch”.
The first thing to say is that it’s much too soon to draw firm conclusions about how the vote has gone, with only a quarter of councils declaring overnight. But the early read, as the Tories lose control in places like Tamworth and Plymouth, is: this looks like a very bad night for them, and a fairly good one for Labour, who are on course to take the lead in the total number of councillors for the first time in 20 years – though the Liberal Democrats are also playing a key role in the Conservative decline.
For the very latest, head to the live blog. You can search for results in your area here. For a summary of what we know so far, read on after the headlines.
Five big stories
Serbia | At least eight people have been killed and 13 injured in Serbia in a series of shootings south of Belgrade, state-run media has reported, just one day after a school shooting saw nine killed in the capital. A 21-year-old suspect is believed to be in hiding.
Artificial intelligence | The UK and US have intervened in the race to develop ever more powerful artificial intelligence technology, as the British competition watchdog launched a review of the sector and the White House advised tech firms of their duty to create safe products. The news capped a week of warnings about the speed of advances in the field.
Russia | The White House has dismissed as “ludicrous” claims by Russia that Washington orchestrated drone strikes on Moscow, saying the US was not involved in the attack and accusing Russia of lying. Russia said the US had “dictated” the plan of an attack it claimed was intended to kill Vladimir Putin.
Slavery | The prime minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, has criticised Rishi Sunak’s refusal to apologise for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and told the Guardian that it was “quite likely” Belize would soon become a republic. Briceño argued that the British government had a moral responsibility to apologise for the atrocities of slavery.
Music | A jury in New York has ruled that Ed Sheeran is not liable for copyright infringement in a case that has been closely watched by the global entertainment industry. The case centred on whether Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On and will be seen as a major victory for recording artists.
In depth: Key takeaways from the results so far
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Key results | Tories losing councils from Medway to Stoke-on-Trent
So far, 57 out of 230 councils have been called, with the majority to be confirmed later on Friday. (All of yesterday’s ballots were in England, with none across the rest of the UK.) As of a few minutes ago, the Tories has lost seven councils, while Labour had gained three, with one going to independent control and three to no overall control (NOC). Overall, Labour have so far gained 110 seats, the Lib Dems 53, the Greens 28, and the Conservatives losing 196.
After 23 years, Medway council became the first to flip directly from Conservative to Labour. Local leader Alan Jarrett said that it was “very disappointing” and said that “it’s not the best grounding for the general election to come”. He blamed “the relative unpopularity of some of the government’s decisions”, in particular “housing targets that we’ve seen centrally imposed”.
Labour have gained Plymouth from minority Conservative control, an important battleground for any future Westminster contest, in part because of the council’s controversial felling of 110 trees in the city centre against overwhelming public objections. (A Tory candidate told the BBC: “They’ve been drawing trees on the ballot papers, which makes a change from phallic symbols.”) Labour’s local MP Luke Pollard said that that result indicated his Conservative neighbour Johnny Mercer was “toast” at the next general election.
Labour took the symbolically significant council of Stoke-on-Trent back from NOC after eight years out of power, largely because of a big decline in independent councillors there. Labour’s Ruth Smeeth told the BBC it was an “incredible stepping stone”, saying the result indicated the world “has moved on” from Brexit and that on the doorstep, “for the first time [people] are prepared to have a conversation with us about what the Labour party can offer.”
In a surprise result, the Conservatives lost Tamworth to NOC, with Labour picking up seven seats. It was a similar story in North West Leicestershire, which went to NOC after Labour gained ten seats, and where ousted local councillor Virge Richichi said that “on a national level, we have been let down”. And it was a good night for the Lib Dems in Brentwood, which saw that formerly Tory council also move to no overall control. The Lib Dems and Labour both gained seats to push Hertsmere into NOC from Conservative control.
There were also some good results for the Greens: for example, in Worcester, Conservative leader Chris Mitchell lost his seat to their local activist Tor Pingree, and the Tories slipped from largest party in NOC to third, behind Labour and the Greens – who gained four seats.
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Early indications | Possibility of 1,000 lost Conservative seats
In advance of yesterday’s vote, the Conservatives had been using the figure of 1,000 lost seats as a barometer of their expectations – but that appears to have been intended as a yardstick which they would have every chance of beating, so that they declare the night a success. They could still outperform that figure, to be clear. But shortly before 2am, the man whose name has presumably been changed by deed poll to Polling Expert John Curtice said that “the Conservatives cannot be sure they won’t lose 1,000 seats”.
The early results showed that on the first 520 council wards, there was a 9.6% increase in Labour’s share against the last time they were contested in 2019, and a 2.4% shift away from Conservatives. That would be enough to force Rishi Sunak out of office, but not enough for an overall Labour majority at a general election, Sky News’ Sam Coates said.
Another important measure is “equivalent vote share”, which seeks to give a sense of how these results would translate to a general election. “Experts have been telling us that Labour needs a 10 point lead on that measure to be on course for a majority,” said the Guardian’s political correspondent Kiran Stacey. “Labour are saying they’re at about 8 points based on what we know so far and saying that’s enough to win based on anticipated gains in Scotland. That tells you how close this is, because Scotland is up in the air.”
One really interesting finding from Professor Will Jennings of the University of Southampton: “Labour is making its largest gains in areas that voted Leave in 2016, while the Conservatives are suffering their largest losses in areas that voted Remain”. In other words, Brexit now looks like a less toxic issue among Leave voters who left Labour than it is for Remain voters who might otherwise back the Tories.
Some big councils with lots of seats are due to report this morning, so it’s too early to draw firm conclusions from these early signs. The overall reading of the results will depend, to a considerable extent, on results in Tory-Lib Dem contests coming later today. But Labour indicated ahead of yesterday that they hoped for their results to improve as the day went on, as well. While there is still work to do, Keir Starmer can say he is charting a plausible path to a Labour government - but not quite an inevitable one.
“It’s very on brand for Starmer,” Kiran said. “It’s solid, but unexciting – it might be enough, it might not.” As for Rishi Sunak: “Tory MPs are all over broadcast this morning talking about how they’ve heard from voters on the doorstep about Johnson and Truss. They’d have liked to hear a bit more about Sunak. He can still say that he’s stopped the bleeding and he has time to set his stall out for voters. But this is a warning that if the brand is so badly damaged, it will be very hard.”
“I’ve had the feeling for a while that this feels like 2009, when one party has lost energy but the other hasn’t sealed the deal,” Kiran said. “Nothing we’ve seen tonight changes my mind on that.”
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Voter ID | Anecdotal evidence of issues, but no clear picture of impact yet
Around lunchtime yesterday, Peter Stanyon, the chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said there had been “no reported incidents of any major concern” as the UK rolled out new voter ID requirements for the first time. And Peter Walker and Jessica Murray report that fears of widespread chaos did not materialise.
But by the end of the day, there were anecdotal reports of a number of people, many from marginalised groups, being unable to cast their ballots. The Electoral Reform Society said there were “countless examples”. ITV News reported that polling station tellers in Oxfordshire estimated that 10-25% of would-be voters had been turned away. The Electoral Commission said that the election was “well run” overall but “some people were regrettably unable to vote”. (Meanwhile, one voter issued her dog Ruby with a homemade ID card, pictured above. No word on whether she was allowed in.)
A report on the change is due in September, with initial findings published in June. The Financial Times reported last night (£) that ministers plan to widen the forms of photo identification that will be valid in future if turnout is shown to have fallen – a U-turn in government policy.
What else we’ve been reading
Finding the right period products can be difficult and for a long time the market remained relatively stagnant, ruled by a few familiar players. Alaina Demopoulos examines the new crop of startups trying to shake things up. Nimo
It’s not just the unimaginable number of goals Erling Haaland has scored this season that have captured our imaginations; Morwenna Ferrier takes a look at the silky PJs and luscious golden locks that have made him an icon. Toby Moses, head of newsletters
AI generated art is a hot topic at the moment as fans turn musicians into performing monkeys by sticking their vocals on any song they please. Ismene Ormonde spoke to artists and more about what these advancements in tech mean for the future of music. Nimo
Vin Diesel is a one-man film genre at this point, but this ranking of his oeuvre reminds us it hasn’t always been that way. Whether he’s starring in the latest Fast movie or the singular voice of Groot he is always an unmistakable presence. (Pitch Black should be top though.) Toby
Ruchi Kumar’s report on the situation for journalists in Afghanistan is illuminating. In recent years the state of affairs have deteriorated significantly with reporters unable to do their jobs, fearing harassment and imprisonment. Nimo
Sport
Premier League | A dramatic late penalty from Alexis Mac Allister (above) after a handball by Luke Shaw secured a 1-0 victory for Brighton over Manchester United. The victory leaves Brighton in sixth and strengthens their hopes of European football next season. Reflecting on the crucial penalty given Brighton’s recent FA Cup semi-final loss to United in a shootout, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said: “There is a god of football.”
Rugby | Former All Blacks coach John Mitchell has been appointed as head coach of the England women’s team, and will take up the role after the men’s World Cup ends on 28 October. Mitchell is leaving his position as defence coach for Japan’s men’s team.
Football | With news that Lionel Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season and angry fans demonstrating against club chiefs and outside Neymar’s house, the biggest club in France are at crisis point, reports Angelique Chrisafis. The “Ultras” supporters’ collective issued a long statement criticising the club’s management and “parasite players” and asking: “Is there still a pilot flying the plane?”
The front pages
The Guardian leads today with “UK and US challenge of tech firms over growing power of AI”. “Send him HICtorious” – the Metro pokes fun at Williams and Kate having a pint of cider to “get coronation party started”. “‘Huge burden’, but king ‘relaxed’” says the Express. “Coronation anthem ‘is made for churches’” is the Daily Telegraph’s angle. “China’s coronation ‘insult’ to Britain” – that’s what the Daily Mail thinks of Beijing sending along the “architect of brutal Hong Kong crackdown” rather than Xi Jinping.
Elsewhere – “Prisoners to plug labour shortages under plan” is the Times’ splash. “OBSCENE” says the Daily Mirror, about “Shell’s £7.6bn profit in 3 months”. It calls it the “energy fatcat scandal”. The i has “Shell force-fitted 4,000 prepay meters in the UK while making £32 billion profit”. The Financial Times has a front-page picture marking the England local elections, while its top story is “ECB slows rate rise campaign but warns fight against inflation not over”.
Something for the weekend
Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read and listen to right now
TV
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix)
Welcome to the Bridgerton extended universe in the gorgeous six-episode romp from Shondaland, written almost entirely by Rhimes herself, that is Queen Charlotte. The series is a rare exception to the rule of prequels (generally substantially worse than the originals) and will hopefully set many of its younger stars on the road to success, notably India Amarteifio as young Charlotte (above). Lucy Mangan
Music
Ed Sheeran – Subtract
Subtract is a noticeably different prospect to Sheeran’s previous albums: it was initially meant to be an album of acoustic songs he had spent a decade sculpting, an idea he scrapped after the death of his friend Jamal Edwards, his wife Cherry Seaborn’s brush with cancer and a bruising copyright lawsuit over Shape of You. He started again, and the rush-written result is resolutely downcast – but easily his best yet. Alexis Petridis
Film
Return to Seoul
The implacable forces of nature, nurture and destiny are what this movie grapples with; it is a really emotional and absorbing drama about adoption with terrific performances (many from nonprofessional first-timers). Franco-Cambodian film-maker Davy Chou directs, co-writing the screenplay with artist Laure Badufle, a Korean adoptee brought up in France whose personal story inspired the film. Gripping storytelling, and a great performance from Park Ji-min. Peter Bradshaw
Podcast
Pod Save the UK
Widely available, episodes weekly
This take on the popular US leftwing look at politics Pod Save America is inevitably great, thanks to hosts Nish Kumar – one of our foremost political satirists – and Guardian journalist Coco Khan, who is unfailingly witty about current affairs. It’s less a play for laughs than genuine analysis that’s full of withering putdowns on topics such as the immigration bill. Alexi Duggins
Today in Focus
Cost of the crown part 5: the coronation of Charles III
Charles III will be crowned in Westminster Abbey on Saturday in a ceremony steeped in centuries of history. Jonathan Freedland examines what the event means to the modern-day UK
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Free Movement Skateboarding is a grassroots charity based in Athens that gives free lessons to children across the city. The organisation particularly encourages refugees and girls to join, and has used public spaces to help them connect with other people their age who share their hobbies and interests. Erato Chatira teaches for them and has experienced a fair amount of offhanded sexism from fellow skateboarders, though things have been getting better in recent years, she says.
Chatira has noticed more and more girls, some as young as six, coming to the skate parks and participating. “It’s amazing to see how children grow in confidence in the classes and connect with each other. We have kids from Greece, Georgia and Egypt all skating together,” she says.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until Monday.
