TODAY’S WEATHER

☁️ Don’t let the bright start fool you (or, at least, not entirely) - it’ll get a more cloudy in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen as the day goes on, before a flourish later. Rain is unlikely throughout. London is a different story - sunny and very warm again, with a high of 25 degrees. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Farage celebrates by-election win ahead of expected big council wins |

📣 Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is celebrating a 5th MP this morning, after former Conservative councillor Sarah Pochin won Runcorn and Helsby for his party, overturning a 14,696 Labour majority in the Cheshire seat. It was a close-run thing: her victory came down to only six votes, in the end, after a full recount. (BBC)

• This is a big moment for Reform, says Professor Sir John Curtice. It won a big share of the vote in the by-election, and it’s rare for such a large majority to be overturned. Labour will struggle “to argue this is anything other than a serious defeat”. (BBC)

• It’s not entirely bad news for Labour: it won mayoral races in North Tyneside, the West of England and Doncaster. But Reform came in second in all the contests, and won in Greater Lincolnshire.

• Votes are being counted in council contests across England later today. Reform won more than half of the first 100 seats to be counted, but that pattern is expected to shift as other regions declare.

• BBC’s live coverage | Sky’s live coverage

📣 Three major British companies are now dealing with cyberattacks: Harrods said it had “restricted internet access” at its premises after an attempted attack. They join the Co-op, which shut down parts of its IT systems and warned remote colleagues to keep their cameras on during meetings, to make it clear who they were. And Marks & Spencer is continuing to deal with the impact of a cyber attack which has cost it millions in lost sales on its website, and hampered operations in its stores. (BBC)

• The incidents appear unconnected and isolated, at least for now, but experts worry they are “symptomatic of a broader, escalating risk landscape”. (City AM)

📣 Scottish schools have become a “battleground of blame and violence” because of the influence of fair-right and populist movements on young people, the incoming president of teaching union the NASUWT will tell a conference today. (The Scotsman)

FROM THE WEEKLY MAGAZINES
Diagnosing Britain’s malaise, and profiling England’s “radical barristers”

🗣️ The weekly magazines went to press before last night’s election drama so they have to resort to some time-served tricks to appear relevant on the newstands - such as, effectively, predicting some form of upset and seeking to explain it.

That’s the tack of The Economist, which paints a bleak picture of the state of Britain in one of its leaders. “Increasingly,” says the newspaper, “the British state is reneging” on its half of a grand bargain which saw citizens pay ever-higher taxes in exchange for “a safe, orderly public realm” with “broad, universal services” run to a high standard.

“Police forces have stepped back from dealing with petty crime,” it continues, “shoplifting has octupled over the past decade; a well-oiled network ferries stolen phones to shopping malls in Shenzhen within a fortnight. Prosecution rates have plummeted and the prisons are full. The National Health Service rations care, with waiting-lists running into the millions. Roads are crumbling faster than local councils can fix them. Behind each of these woes lies a shift in the priorities of the state, which has slowly been reshaped over the past decade or two.”

What is to be done? Politicians need to be clear about the trade-offs they face, the newspaper suggests. Filling potholes and calling big companies to heel might help. Such measures won’t cure the malaise , but it’ll help: “visible decay is politically corrosive, as the compaign for local elections held on May 1st has shown”. (The Economist £)

🗣️Keir Starmer must attack now to see off Nigel Farage and Reform, says Andrew Marr in The New Statesman. “Britain is experiencing a violent political fracturing that we haven’t seen for some time,” he writes. “The political sage John Curtice compares it to a century ago, the 1920s, and the great Liberal split, which allowed the emergence of Labour in the first place. That would suggest a complete reshaping of British politics.”

What does “attack” look like? Marr skates a bit over this. But persuading Rachel Reeves to look “beyond cheerless, repeated raids on welfare” to change the constraining fiscal rules and cut taxes would be a start. Reforming the NHS, curbing migration and making people richer would help too. And some optimism too, suggests Marr. (New Statesman £)

🗣️The Spectator decides not to take the risk: one suspects, given its right-wing affiliations, it’ll have the most to write about Reform’s rise - and the Conservatives’ collapse - today and in the days ahead. No need to rush now. Instead, the magazine’s cover features Ros Clark’s long read on the “radical barristers who really lay down the law in Britain”. “The public might understandably think that our legal system is not operating with the impartiality it should,” suggests Clark. (The Spectator £)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 The SNP is still on track for a sweeping win in next year’s Scottish Parliament election, according to a new poll. It’s on 36% in the constituency vote and 28% on the list, while Labour is at 22% for both. Reform sits on 14%, ahead of the Conservatives on 13%. (Holyrood)

📣 Scotland’s Women’s Health Minister has been criticised after she appeared to backtrack on improving abortion provision in Scotland. (The Herald has the exclusive £)

📣 Anti-social teens face losing their free bus passes, First Minister John Swinney said, admitting flaws in a scheme that has cost £223 million in its first two years. (The Times £) (STV)

AROUND THE UK

📣 Pharmacists are to start handing out weight-loss injections on the NHS, in a move which could dramatically increase access to the revolutionary drugs. The move will mean patients could get the likes of Ozempic or Mounjaro without having to visit the doctor, and for only £9.90 a month, rather than hundreds of pounds via online suppliers.

A pilot scheme is being planned first, with a view to rolling it out more widely later. More than a quarter of adults in England are overweight, and a further 36% are obese. (The Mail has the exclusive)

📣 How long will the warm weather last? It’s already peaked, for now, with today being a bit cooler and temperatures expected to dip across the UK over the weekend. (Independent)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 The US national security advisor, Mike Walz, has finally lost his job, a month after he accidentally included a journalist in a group discussing military operations, and amid widespread criticism of his performance in the role.

But Walz is not being cast into the wilderness: Trump wants him as the next US ambassador to the United Nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubia becomes interim national security advisor. (Semafor)

• The US is readying the first sale of military equipment to Ukraine since the re-election of Donald Trump, after a minerals deal between the countries was signed. (Guardian)

🌎 Donald Trump has signed executive orders which will dramatically cut funding to PBS and NPR, the (rough) US public broadcasting equivalents to the UK’s BBC, after he alleged “bias” in their reporting. (AP)

🌎 After his big election win last weekend, Canada’s Prime Minister has a meeting with Donald Trump looming within a week. What kind of deal might be struck between the two nations? Carney is seeking a comprehensive deal on trade and security - but there’s a lot of work to be done, first. (CBC)

SPORT

⚽️ It looks like we’ll have an all-English Europa League final later this month. after Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur won the first leg of their semi-finals. The winner secures not only a trophy, but Champions League football next season - which neither Manchester United or Spurs have a chance of via the league.

• Manchester United made light work of Athletic Bilbao in Spain, with a 3-0 win, including light-hearted comparisons between Harry Maguire and Barcelona star Lamine Yamal. (Report & highlights from TNT Sports)

• Even Spurs managed a win, beating Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in North London. Many pundits think only a Europa League win will save Ange Postecoglou after a grimly poor domestic season. (Report & highlights from TNT Sports)