Thursday briefing: ​What’s at stake for every party in​ England​’s local ​elections​?

<p>In today’s newsletter: ​With more than 1,600 council seats and key mayoralties in play, Reform UK eyes its first chance at governance</p><p>Good morning. You may not be terribly excited about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/30/tactical-voting-to-stop-reform-may-hamper-farage-in-local-elections">today’s local elections in England</a>, but let me tell you: a significant cadre of political dorks are swivel-eyed with anticipation.</p><p>In play today are more than 1,600 council seats in 37 councils, six mayoralties, and a byelection in Runcorn for good measure. Those choices will give us the first real-world measure of how the public’s view of the parties has shifted since the general election – and for Labour and the Conservatives, it’s likely to be a very stern test indeed.</p><p><em><strong>US news </strong></em>| The US’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/30/economy-gdp-q1-trump-tariffs">economy has shrunk</a> in the first three months of Donald Trump’s second term, triggering fears of an American recession and a global economic slowdown. Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, and comes alongside a huge fall in consumer sentiment, which dropped 32% in April.</p><p><em><strong>Climate crisis </strong></em>| Tony Blair <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/30/downing-street-forces-tony-blair-to-row-back-from-net-zero-strategy-criticism">has faced a storm of criticism</a> over his claims that the political case for phasing out fossil fuels is “doomed to fail”. As Downing Street officials accused Blair of undermining Keir Starmer on a key issue, his thinktank issued a statement saying that the government’s net zero policy was “the right one”.</p><p><em><strong>Ukraine </strong></em>| The US and Kyiv have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/30/us-ukraine-minerals-deal-russia">signed an agreement</a> to share revenues from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defence and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.</p><p><em><strong>Health </strong></em>| Scientists have used living human brain tissue to mimic the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/30/scientists-use-living-human-brain-tissue-mimic-early-stages-alzheimers">in a breakthrough that will accelerate the hunt for a cure</a>. The groundbreaking move could make it easier to test new drugs and boost the chances of finding ones that work.</p><p><em><strong>UK news </strong></em>| Video footage of what prosecutors say is the moment the Sycamore Gap tree was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/30/jury-shown-video-of-sycamore-gap-tree-being-felled">felled</a> has been shown to the jury in the trial of the two men accused of illegally cutting down the famous tree on Hadrian’s Wall, which stood in a gap in the wall for over a century.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/01/thursday-briefing-whats-at-stake-for-every-party-in-englands-local-elections">Continue reading...</a>