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☆ Sunak Announces U.K. Elections for July 4, Months Earlier Than Expected
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain on Wednesday called a snap general election for July 4, throwing the fate of his embattled Conservative Party to a restless British public that appears eager for change after 14 years of Conservative government. But the Tories have discarded four prime ministers in eight years, lurching through the serial chaos of Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis. With the opposition Labour Party ahead in most polls by double digits for the last 18 months, a Conservative defeat has come to assume an air of inevitability. “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future,” Mr. Sunak said as pelting rain drenched his suit jacket. The choice for voters, he said, was to “build on the future you’ve made or risk going back to square one.”

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak’s, Barack Obama, ” Mr, Sunak, ” Organizations: Conservative Party, Conservative, Downing, Labour Party Locations: British, Britain

☆ Wall Street worries about revenue 'round-tripping,' after big AI deals by cloud giants including Amazon and Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

These days, this may happen when a big tech company invests in an AI startup, and then that startup buys cloud and AI services from the big tech company. These arrangements are called "round tripping" because the money invested comes right back in the form of cloud spending. When Amazon Web Services invested $4 billion in Anthropic, the AI startup agreed to use AWS as its "primary cloud provider." In recent years, cloud spending growth has slowed as some customers try to save money in the midst of a lackluster economy with high inflation. An Amazon spokesperson declined to say whether AWS revenue numbers include cloud spending by Anthropic or not.

Persons: —, what's, Rishi Jaluria, GCP, Jaluria Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, RBC Capital, RBC, Amazon Locations: Anthropic

☆ UK general election: PM Rishi Sunak calls surprise July vote as his party seeks to defy dire polls
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London CNN —UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a snap general election for July 4 in a statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening, as his Conservative Party faces an uphill struggle to extend its 14 years in power. But a fall in inflation rates, announced earlier Wednesday, provided the backdrop for his announcement. The move will be welcomed by the buoyant Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, which is soaring in the opinion polls and has sought to present itself as a reformed and moderate group that is ready for power. Sunak walks back inside on Wednesday after announcing the July 4 date for the election. But Johnson’s premiership collapsed after a string of scandals, paving the way for his then-finance minister Sunak to emerge as a frontrunner for the leadership.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Downing, King Charles III of, “, ” Sunak, Keir Starmer, Buckingham, Queen’s, Starmer, ”, Carl Court, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, —, Theresa May —, King Charles III Organizations: London CNN —, Conservative Party, Conservative, Labour Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Party, Scottish National Party, European Union, Tories Locations: Britain, Buckingham Palace, Ukraine, Downing, Sunak, United Kingdom, Rwanda, Britain’s

☆ Opinion: Rewatching ‘Notting Hill,’ the truly unbelievable part is Hugh Grant’s house
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Opinion Laura Beers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The Notting Hill of the 1990s was still socially heterodox and shabby chic, a neighborhood where a group of 30-something professionals could plausibly have ended up. Even in the late 1990s, such access to disposable income marked the characters in “Notting Hill” out as privileged. Yet, in the 1990s, Notting Hill, long a center of Caribbean immigrant culture and the site of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, underwent a rapid process of gentrification. Between 1995 and 1999, Notting Hill house prices rose by 75%. The colorful terraced houses of Notting Hill, which these days sell for millions of pounds.

Persons: Laura Beers, ”, George Orwell’s, Richard Curtis ’, Julia Roberts, Anna Scott, Hugh Grant, William Thacker, Roberts, Laura Beers Laura Beers, it’s, —, Curtis, Hill’s, Hugh Grant's, Winston, George Orwell, Orwell, Tony Blair’s Britain, Bill Clinton’s America, Grant’s, Tony Blair, Steve Eason, Notting, Spike, Rhys Ifans, Notting Hill, Mike Kemp, San, Spencer Platt, Rishi Sunak’s government’s, Bill, Rewatching Organizations: American University, CNN, MCA, Everett, Notting, Labour, Hulton, Getty, Movement, Housing, Federal Reserve, New York State, Hill ” Locations: American, London, West London, Notting, West, Britain, United States, Young, Notting Hill, Central London, San Francisco, Manhattan, San Matteo, Redwood City, York

☆ Tech giants pledge AI safety commitments — including a ‘kill switch’ if they can’t mitigate risks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A slew of major tech companies including Microsoft , Amazon , and OpenAI, on Tuesday agreed to a landmark international agreement on artificial intelligence safety at the Seoul AI Safety Summit. The agreement will see companies from countries including the U.S., China, Canada, the U.K., France, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, make voluntary commitments to ensure the safe development of their most advanced AI models. In those sorts of extreme circumstances, companies say they will implement a "kill switch" that would see them cease development of their AI models if they can't guarantee mitigation of these risks. "It's a world first to have so many leading AI companies from so many different parts of the globe all agreeing to the same commitments on AI safety," Rishi Sunak, the U.K.'s prime minister, said in a statement Tuesday. "These commitments ensure the world's leading AI companies will provide transparency and accountability on their plans to develop safe AI," he added.

Persons: Rishi Sunak Organizations: Microsoft, Seoul AI Safety, United Arab Locations: Seoul, U.S, China, Canada, France, South Korea, United Arab Emirates

☆ Opinion: What I noticed immediately about King Charles’ portrait
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —King Charles III’s first official portrait was unveiled this week, and I’m sure his majesty would agree it’s a stirring sight. Unfortunately for Yeo, Charles and the butterfly, nothing about the portrait has garnered nearly so much comment as its dominant color. Besides these ceremonial outings, Charles has recently been less prominent in British public life than ever, particularly following the announcement in February of his cancer diagnosis. Charles’ private wealth dwarfs that of any other member of his family. Join us on Twitter and FacebookIn the last 10 years alone, that system has reportedly made King Charles more than £60 million ($76 million) richer.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN — King Charles III’s, I’m, Jonathan Yeo, Charles, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas Yeo, Charles ’, Yeo, ” Yeo, King, “, He’s, I’ve, ”, Queen Elizabeth II’s, Rishi Sunak’s, Tina Brown, Prince of Wales, Buckingham, Lancaster, King Charles, Queen Camilla, you’ve Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Royal, Guardian, Twitter, Facebook Locations: London, Iraq, Rwanda, Duchy, Cornwall, Lancaster

☆ Britain’s election campaign hasn’t started yet, but the mudslinging is well underway
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He lost two general elections as Labour leader in campaigns that focused heavily on his views regarding national security. The context for Sunak’s attack on Starmer is that the UK will vote in a general election at some point this year. “Of course Rishi doesn’t believe that Starmer himself is a threat to national security,” a senior Conservative told CNN. It’s just ridiculous and it clearly winds him up when we point it out.”No one knows for sure when the election campaign proper will start. Until then, Britain is braced for months of mudslinging between Sunak and Starmer.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Sunak, Starmer, –, Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn, Toby Melville, Rishi doesn’t, ”, ” David Gauke, ” Gauke, ” Starmer, “, ” Keir Starmer, Leon Neal, cynically, won’t, It’s Organizations: CNN, British, Labour Party, Labour, PM, NATO, Conservative, Conservative Party, “ Locations: Britain, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Rwanda, Gaza, Sunak

☆ Opinion: Putin’s lightning assault jolts Europe awake
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

View more opinion on CNNCNN —It was a carefully choreographed show of force in Beijing Thursday as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived for yet another meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Frida Ghitis CNNOn Wednesday, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and gravely wounded in an assassination attempt. Russia’s lightning assault, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who cancelled all his foreign travel, aims to force Ukraine to stretch its defenses. Security officers move Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a car after the assassination attempt in Handlova, Slovakia, on Wednesday May 15. Every day, the stark reality that what began in Ukraine will change Europe for years to come becomes more inescapable.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Robert Fico, Fico, Putin, —, Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s, David Cameron, “, Fico —, Radovan Stoklasa, Sergei Shoigu, Andrey Belousov, laughably, Rishi Sunak, Mark Rutte, Russia's, Alexander Ryumin, Emmanuel Macron, ”, Mikko Heiskanen, Xi Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, CNN CNN, Frida Ghitis CNN, Wednesday, Slovakian, Kyiv, British, Putin, Kremlin, Moscow, European Union, Reuters, Europe, Russia, Republicans, Russian, West, NATO, Institute for, ” Locations: Beijing, Europe, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Russia, Georgia, Soviet Republic, Moscow, Moldova, Slovak, Slovakia, “, Handlova, Iran, North Korea, China, Norway, London, British, Netherlands, ”, Germany, Berlin, Finland

☆ Rishi Sunak has a new target: Sex education
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Ben Birchall/PA‘Utterly disgraceful’The new draft guidance from the government, published Thursday, takes aim at the way sex and relationships are taught to English children in both primary and secondary schools. Under the new approach, children can’t be taught sex education before the age of nine, while “explicit discussion of sexual activity” will be delayed until children are 13. Gender identity, or the fact that people can change gender, is meanwhile “highly contested and should not be taught” at all, according to the Department of Education. But education specialists worry that school pupils have become the latest victim of that push. “But when a political ideology comes into it, it becomes more difficult for the whole of the education world to move behind it,” he added.

Persons: Rishi Sunak’s, “, –, Sunak’s, Pepe Di’lasio, ”, ” Di’lasio, Ben Birchall, can’t, ” Paul Whiteman, Di’lasio, Sam Freedman, Britain’s, Gillian Keegan, Keir Starmer, Jane Barlow, Sunak, Brianna Ghey, ” Whiteman, Keegan, it’s, we’ve, we’re Organizations: CNN, Association of School and College Leaders, Department of Education, National Association of Head Teachers, Institute, Government, The Sun, Labour, BBC Locations: England’s, England, Starmer

☆ Royal Mail: Meet Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský who wants to buy Britain’s postal service
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It has been operating a postal service in England since the reign of Henry VIII. EP Group has until May 29 to convert its £3.5 billion ($4.4 billion) non-biding offer into a formal bid for IDS. The likely sale would come after a difficult few years for Royal Mail, which was privatized in 2013. ‘As British as it gets’The potential buyout of Royal Mail has stirred anxieties about the consequences of the iconic British institution coming under foreign ownership. “Royal Mail is an important national asset that would benefit from being able to take a longer-term view,” the firm said.

Persons: Henry VIII, Daniel Křetínský, Křetínský, Patrik Tkáč, Rishi Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Dave Ward, ”, ” Ward, Jonathan Reynolds, ” Ivana Kottasová Organizations: London CNN — Royal Mail, Distribution Services, IDS, Royal Mail, UK Department for Business, Trade, CNN, Bloomberg, Equity Investment, Newsweek, West Ham United Football Club, Reuters, Communication Workers Union, Labour Party, Royal, Labour Locations: England, Czech, British, United States, FNAC, France, United Kingdom, West

☆ Britain faces its 'most dangerous' years in history, PM Rishi Sunak to warn in pre-election bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"I'm convinced that the next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet most transformational our country has ever known," he will add. Aides told the Guardian that Sunak has wanted to deliver the speech for some time. "I have bold ideas that can change our society for the better, and restore people's confidence and pride in our country." It is unclear exactly when Britons will head to the polls, but Sunak has indicated that a vote could be called in the autumn. By law, the next U.K. general election must be held no later than 28 January 2025.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, I'm, Downing Organizations: Conservative Party, Sky News, CNBC, Guardian, Conservatives, Labour Party, Labour, Tories Locations: Britain, London

☆ Gen Z is getting hit hard by inflation
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

For Gen Z, it was the Covid-19 pandemic. Why are we seeing that Gen Z is tapping into their credit more than their Millennial counterparts 10 years ago? Most Gen Z consumers are not homeowners. And so I think that’s been a big cause of what’s been driving a lot of that financial strain that Gen Z consumers have seen. The key is to not use the personal loans to pay off credit card debt and then run your credit card bills right back up after you do that.

Persons: TransUnion, Zers, Millennials, Gen Zers, Bell, Charlie Wise, we’ve, haven’t, You’re, Rishi Sunak, Hanna Ziady, Anna Cooban, Philip Jefferson, Loretta Mester, Jack, Neel Kashkari Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Gross, Office, National Statistics, Bank of England, P, Federal, Cleveland Fed, Depot, US Labor Department, Cisco Systems, US Commerce Department, National Association of Home Builders, Index, Minneapolis, Walmart, Applied, Co, Baidu, Board Locations: New York, Kingdom, Wells Fargo

☆ UK GDP growth: Country exits recession as services bounce back
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Hanna Ziady | Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The increase follows falls of 0.3% in the fourth quarter and 0.1% in the third quarter of last year. The Bank of England now expects UK GDP to expand by 0.5% this year, double the pace forecast in February, according to projections published Thursday. A growing economy could, however, delay the interest rate cuts widely expected this year. “Stronger GDP growth raises the risk of stronger demand pressures on inflation,” analysts at Nomura wrote in a note, adding that Friday’s GDP release “casts doubt” over a cut in June. Annual UK inflation came in at 3.2% last month, a sharp slowdown from a rate above 10% about a year ago.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Nomura, ”, Andrew Bailey, Bailey Organizations: London CNN, Gross, Office, National Statistics, Conservative Party, Labour Party, The Bank of England, P Global . Service, Bank of England Locations: United Kingdom

☆ Britain’s Conservative Party Is Being Held Captive by Bad People - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Geoffrey Wheatcroft | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At 3 a.m. one day last December, a 78-year-old volunteer for the British Conservative Party was reportedly woken by a call from Mark Menzies, the Conservative lawmaker she worked for. The volunteer, a former campaign manager for Mr. Menzies, paid the sum out of her own savings. Mr. Menzies, who was suspended from the party last month, denies that allegation and others, which include using £14,000 from party funds for personal medical bills. Yet the affair epitomizes a Conservative Party in crisis. Lord Salisbury, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher led the Conservative Party for more or less 15 years.

Persons: Mark Menzies, ”, Menzies, Rishi Sunak, Mr, Sunak, Lord Salisbury, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, — Organizations: British Conservative Party, Conservative, Conservative Party, Tories, Conservatives, Labour Party, Tory Locations: England, Wales

☆ Sunak to Urge University Leaders to Protect Jewish Students on Campus
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Stephen Castle | Isabella Kwai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain will tell university leaders on Thursday to do more to combat antisemitism on college campuses, in a sign of rising dissatisfaction within government about the recent growth of encampments set up by students protesting the war in Gaza. Vice chancellors from some of Britain’s prominent universities have been invited to Downing Street to discuss “escalating antisemitic abuse toward Jewish students in the U.K.,” Mr. Sunak’s office said in a statement issued in advance of the meeting. But small-scale, largely peaceful protest encampments have sprung up recently around several universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester. “Universities should be places of rigorous debate but also bastions of tolerance and respect for every member of their community,” Mr. Sunak said the statement released by his office ahead of the meeting. “A vocal minority on our campuses are disrupting the lives and studies of their fellow students and, in some cases, propagating outright harassment and antisemitic abuse.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, ” Mr, Sunak, “, ” Organizations: “ Locations: Britain, Gaza, Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester

☆ The UK could need an Israeli-style Iron Dome air defense system, says former US national security advisor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewFormer US National Security Advisor General HR McMaster has said the UK must prepare for possible future conflicts by building an Israeli-style Iron Dome air defense system. Indeed, the UK is considering developing its own Iron Dome air defense system amid growing tensions with Russia and its allies. The Israeli modelMissiles launched from the Iron Dome defense system attempt to intercept a rocket fired from Gaza strip. Related storiesIsrael's short-range Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather air defense system that has been in service since 2011. Aside from internal discussions on an Iron Dome, the UK is in talks to join Europe's aerial defense system.

Persons: —, McMaster, Adm, Sir Tony Radakin, Michael Clarke, Clarke, MAHMUD HAMS, Rishi Sunak, Israel, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, Putin, Vladimir Solovyov, I've, T6GN35UGtG — Anton Gerashchenko Organizations: Service, US National Security, McMaster, LBC, Business, Britain's Armed Forces, Iron, Getty, UK, Newsweek, Design, Sky, UK Ministry of Defense, NATO Locations: United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Russia, Europe, China, Iran, North Korea, Gaza, AFP, London, Ukraine, British, Russian, Baltic

☆ Rishi Sunak’s Dismal Task: Leading U.K. Conservatives to Likely Defeat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few days before Britain’s Conservative Party suffered a stinging setback in local elections on Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recorded a short video to promote some good news from his government. In the eight-second clip, Mr. Sunak poured milk from a pint bottle into a tall glass, filled with a steaming dark beverage and bearing the scribbled figure of 900 pounds on the side. “Pay day is coming,” Mr. Sunak posted, referring to the savings that an average wage earner would supposedly reap from a cut in mandatory contributions to Britain’s national insurance system. However partisan her jab, loser is a label that Mr. Sunak is finding increasingly hard to shake, even among his members of his own party. In the 18 months since he replaced his failed predecessor, Liz Truss, Mr. Sunak, 43, has lost seven special parliamentary elections and back-to-back local elections.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, ” Mr, Sunak, He’d, Angela Rayner, Liz Truss Organizations: Britain’s Conservative Party, Labour

☆ Sadiq Khan wins third term as London mayor, Labour sources say, capping strong showing for opposition in English elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Sadiq Khan has won a third term as London’s mayor, Labour Party sources claimed on Saturday, capping a round of local elections across England that confirmed the political supremacy of the main opposition party. Sunak has resisted calls to outline when he will hold that vote, and Labour leads opinion polls by a huge margin. Keir Starmer’s opposition party won control of eight councils, and also stormed to victory on Thursday in a Westminster by-election in Blackpool. In particular the loss of Oldham council, a north-west English town, where around a quarter of the population is Muslim. If his victory is confirmed, Khan would become the first mayor of London to serve a third term since the post was created in 2000.

Persons: CNN — Sadiq Khan, Khan, Susan Hall, Rishi Sunak, –, Sunak, Keir Starmer’s, Yvette Cooper, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN, Labour Party, Conservative, England, Labour, Conservatives, Tories, BBC Locations: England, West Midlands, Tees, Westminster, Blackpool, Gaza, Oldham, London

☆ Labour's Sadiq Khan wins re-election as London mayor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan hopes to convince U.S. tech firms to invest more in London. Sadiq Khan was re-elected as London's mayor, final results showed on Saturday, helping to cement the Labour Party's commanding lead over the governing Conservatives in local elections ahead of Britain's national vote later this year. For Labour, London is the latest of a number of councils and mayoralties it has won in the local elections, which took place on Thursday, inflicting heavy losses on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives. Opinion polls predict that Labour will win the next national election, propelling its leader Keir Starmer to power and ending 14 years of Conservative government in Britain. Khan, 53, who became the first Muslim mayor of the British capital in 2016, has pledged to build more social housing and work with a future national Labour government to boost police capacity.

Persons: London Sadiq Khan, Sadiq Khan, Rishi Sunak's, It's, Khan, Susan Hall, Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak Organizations: U.S, Labour, Conservatives, Tory, Conservative, Labour Party, Labour government Locations: London, Britain

☆ Britain’s Conservatives suffer heavy losses in a sign that Rishi Sunak is in real trouble
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Britain’s governing Conservative Party suffered heavy losses in local elections, a sign that they could be in real trouble when the country holds a general election at some point later this year. It also means that if a general election were held tomorrow, the opposition Labour Party would almost certainly win power. What these results don’t tell us is when the general election will take place. Conservatives are divided on when they think Sunak should bite the ballot bullet. Others think Sunak should look toward the end of the year, as it allows the most time for things to improve.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, Sunak, Rwanda –, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Johnson, Truss Organizations: CNN, Conservative Party, Labour Party, Conservative, Labour, Reform, Conservatives Locations: Rwanda

Britain’s Conservative Party suffered striking early setbacks on Friday in local elections that are viewed as a barometer for how the party will perform in a coming general election and a key test for the embattled prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Only a minority of the results had been announced by early Friday, but already the signs were ominous, if not unexpected, for Mr. Sunak’s Conservatives, who have trailed the opposition Labour Party by double digits in national polls for 18 months. The Conservatives have lost more than 120 seats so far, including six in Hartlepool, in northeast England, where the Conservatives had made inroads after Brexit but have more recently lost ground to the resurgent Labour Party. Labour also won a special election for a parliamentary seat in Blackpool South, a seaside district, in a huge swing of votes away from the Conservatives, who had held the seat but narrowly missed finishing third, behind Reform U.K., a small right-wing party. The previous Tory member of Parliament, Scott Benton, resigned in March after becoming embroiled in a lobbying scandal.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Scott Benton Organizations: Britain’s Conservative Party, Sunak’s Conservatives, Labour Party, Conservatives, Labour, Blackpool, Reform Locations: Hartlepool, England

☆ UK local election: Former PM Boris Johnson turned away from polling station after forgetting ID
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Christian Edwards | Alex Hardie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Boris Johnson was turned away from a polling station while trying to vote in the United Kingdom’s local elections after forgetting to bring photo ID – a requirement he introduced while prime minister. Polling station staff were forced to turn the former prime minister away as he tried to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire on Thursday, PA media reported. New rules requiring photo ID to vote were introduced by Johnson’s Conservative government in the Elections Act 2022. Veterans minister Johnny Mercer apologized to Diver. “The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year.

Persons: Boris Johnson, Johnson, Adam Diver, Johnny Mercer, ” Mercer, Rishi Sunak Organizations: CNN, United, Johnson’s Conservative, Labour Party Locations: South Oxfordshire

New Labour Party MP for Blackpool South, Chris Webb (C) reacts as his win is announced at the count centre in Blackpool, north-west England on May 3, 2024, during the Blackpool South by-election. The opposition Labour Party won a Blackpool South by-election, taking the seat from the Conservatives. The Reform UK party, founded by Brexit proponent Nigel Farage, came in third. Labour leader Keir Starmer posted on the social media platform X that the "swing towards Labour in Blackpool South is historic." Angela Richardson, deputy chair of the Conservative Party, told the BBC the result "was not unexpected," especially given the circumstances that sparked the by-election.

Persons: Chris Webb, Rishi Sunak's, David Jones, Nigel Farage, Scott Benton's, Keir Starmer, Angela Richardson Organizations: New Labour Party, Blackpool South, Blackpool, LONDON, Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party, Labour Party, Conservatives, New Labour, Conservative, Reform UK, Labour, Conservative Party Locations: Blackpool, England, Britain

☆ UK local election results deal blows for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUK local election results deal blows for Prime Minister Rishi SunakPhilip Rycroft, the former permanent secretary for exiting the European Union, joins Squawk Box to discuss the results from the U.K. local elections.

Persons: Rishi Sunak Philip Rycroft Organizations: European Union

☆ England’s Local Elections and Their Wider Significance, Explained
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Megan Specia | More About Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Voters in England and Wales will cast ballots for mayors, council members and police commissioners on Thursday. And while the elections will, of course, focus on local issues like garbage collection and public safety, this vote is expected to have broader significance. Local elections, by their nature, are about who leads communities and ensures the delivery of certain public services. The Conservatives face a fierce challenge from the opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer. About one-third of England’s council seats are being contested on Thursday, and 10 mayoral seats in major English metro areas, home to about a third of Britain’s population, are also up for election.

Persons: Rishi Sunak’s, Keir Starmer Organizations: Conservative Party, Conservatives, Labour Party, Labour Locations: England, Wales

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