Factionalism, farce and chaos dog Reform UK in the garden of England

When Reform UK swept to power in Kent at the local elections this year, Nigel Farage arrived in the county by helicopter for a victory party marked by champagne and fireworks.Just over 25 weeks on from what the Reform leader described as one of the most significant days of his career, the sparks flying are of a very different kind.Farage has returned to national campaigning and left the running of Kent county council and its £2.5bn annual budget to its newly installed leader, the combative former journalist and ex-Tory Linden Kemkaran.Last week the Guardian published a recording of an incendiary meeting in which she told dissenting colleagues they had to “fucking suck it up” if they didn’t like her decisions

Lucy Powell wins Labour deputy leadership election

Lucy Powell has won Labour’s deputy leadership election, beating her rival Bridget Phillipson, as she said the party would not win by trying to “out-Reform Reform”.Powell, who was the Commons leader until she was sacked in Keir Starmer’s reshuffle at the start of September, was seen as the favourite throughout the contest. She won 87,407 votes, 54% of those cast, while Phillipson received 73,536. Turnout of eligible voters was 16.6%

Rishi Sunak only politician sent witness statement in China spy case

Rishi Sunak was the only politician to be sent a witness statement by the deputy national security adviser at the centre of a controversy about the collapse of a case against two British men accused of spying for China.According to letters sent to the joint committee on the national security strategy, the statement from Matthew Collins in December 2023, which was sent to the then prime minister and his advisers, did not describe China as an enemy, another key element of the case.The letters also set out that by this point, the start of the prosecution process, police and prosecutors were told that Collins would not call China an enemy as this was not the policy of the then Conservative government.The case against the men, Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry, was dropped in September after prosecutors concluded that a conviction under the Official Secrets Act was not realistic without government evidence China posed a threat to the UK’s national security. Both Cash and Berry have consistently denied any wrongdoing

Local election wipeout would see off Starmer, MPs say after Caerphilly rout

A wipeout for Labour in next May’s local elections would spell the end of Keir Starmer’s premiership, MPs have said, after the party suffered a crushing defeat in its traditional heartland in Wales.Though Plaid Cymru beat Reform UK to capture the Senedd seat in Caerphilly, the result highlighted a striking collapse of Labour’s vote, prompting fears in Westminster that Labour could be reduced to third place in Wales, a loss that would leave the leader’s position unrecoverable.In a town that Labour has controlled for more than a century and where it still has an MP, it secured just 11% of the vote, a negative swing of 27%. The humiliating result showed that the party is highly vulnerable to challenges from other progressive parties, as well as from Reform.It provoked renewed anger and concern from some Labour MPs, with one condemning what they called a “totally incoherent” strategy within No 10

When hearts were in the Home Office | Brief letters

The home secretary says that the Home Office is not fit for purpose (Report, 22 October). It was not always so. When Alice Bacon was a minister at Education, having moved there from the Home Office in the late 1960s, she told me, then Guardian education correspondent, that it was like moving from a Rolls‑Royce to a Mini.Richard BourneLondon Marilyn Rowley’s problem of being woken up by the irritating BBC Sounds jingle (Letters, 17 October) can be solved by setting the sleep timer in the Sounds app to turn the programme off after 45 minutes (In Our Time lasts 50).Tim MartineauPrenton, Merseyside So, Reform councillors in Kent have been told by their leader to “suck it up” (Report, 20 October)

No 10 accepts people are ‘disappointed with the pace of change’ as Plaid Cymru celebrates Caerphilly byelection win – as it happpened

The prime minister’s press secretary has responded to the Caerphilly Senedd constituency byelection, which saw a huge swing away from Labour, by saying that “Byelections are always difficult for incumbent governments,” PA Media reports.It quotes them saying:This one is no different, but we are determined to show the people of Caerphilly and working people across Wales the change the UK Government is delivering hand in hand with the Labour government in Wales.(We are) determined to go further and faster, understand people are disappointed with the pace of change, and that is what the Government is relentlessly focused on delivering for working people in Wales and across the UK.The prime minister’s press secretary has responded to the Caerphilly Senedd constituency byelection, which saw a victory for Plaid Cymru with Reform UK in second place and a huge swing away from Labour, by saying “By-elections are always difficult for incumbent governments. [We] understand people are disappointed with the pace of change”Lindsay Whittle has been sworn in as the Plaid Cymru Senedd member for Caerphilly in Cardiff after taking 47% of the vote with 15,961