Politics

All eyes are on Sinn Fein as counting takes place in the Northern Ireland Assembly election. For the first time ever, an Irish nationalist party could emerge as the largest at Stormont. For a century, one of the pro-British Unionist parties has held sway in the devolved government. But the Democratic Unionist Party’s 20 years

Votes are starting to be counted in a set of elections that will help us gauge the political fortunes of Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer. Although people have cast their ballots for local representatives who will be responsible for planning issues, housing and rubbish collections, these local elections give voters a chance to have

Sinn Fein is braced for a historic victory as the first votes are counted in the election of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Voters are choosing a new 90-seat Assembly, with polls suggesting the Irish nationalist party, and former political wing of the IRA, could win the largest number of seats – and the post of

The SNP has retained its position as Scotland’s biggest party in local elections while Labour has pushed the Tories into third place. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told Sky News her party – in government at Holyrood for 15 years – had won the poll “by a country mile”. The results showed the SNP on 453

The main parties will put entirely different spins on local election results declared overnight. Labour will highlight historic gains in London with Barnet, Westminster and Wandsworth front and centre of its soundbites. And make no mistake these are historic gains. Politics Hub: Live updates as Labour win Westminster for first time ever The Conservatives had

The big picture is still taking shape, with a lot more results to come in, but we’re getting a sense of the mood within the political parties. Labour have achieved a morale-boosting triple whammy in London, taking Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet councils – all Conservative strongholds in the city where Boris Johnson used to be

This is not an easy election to analyse: the picture is mixed and messy. As dawn breaks on Friday, nobody – perhaps with the exception of the Lib Dems – should be overly happy with the results. Tories suffered losses – perhaps not as many as they might. Two losing council leaders, one in the

Sir Keir Starmer will be investigated by police over “beergate” – the allegation he broke lockdown rules while drinking with colleagues. The Labour leader has come under pressure since footage emerged of him drinking a beer and having curry with colleagues in Durham during campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election in April 2021. At the time,

It has been a “tough night” for the Conservative party, after the loss of some key local councils in London to Labour – but the opposition party has seen mixed results outside the capital. The Tories have lost Wandsworth, Margaret Thatcher’s “favourite council”, Westminster and Barnet to Labour. Boris Johnson faces losing his Commons majority

The Conservatives face losing their Commons majority if local election results are replicated at a general election, according to a Sky News projection. Analysis suggests that it would mean a hung parliament with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Tories remaining the largest party at Westminster but falling 48 seats short of an overall majority. The projection

An MP under investigation for allegedly watching pornography in the Commons said he opened a file by mistake but would step down if he is found guilty. Conservative MP Neil Parish referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on Friday, days after two female Tory MPs said they witnessed him watching pornography on his

The MP accused of watching pornography in the Commons is Conservative Neil Parish, the chief whip has told Sky News. A spokesman for the chief whip said: “Having spoken to the chief whip this afternoon, Neil Parish MP is reporting himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. “Mr Parish has been suspended from the Conservative

Labour MP Liam Byrne should be suspended from the House of Commons for two days for bullying a member of his constituency staff, a report has recommended. Following an investigation by an independent investigator, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone upheld the allegation of bullying against Mr Byrne made under Parliament’s Independent Complaints and

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has described sexist behaviour in Parliament as “shameful” and said “the culture of Westminster needs to change”. Mr Javid made the comments on Twitter after an allegation surfaced that an unnamed Conservative MP was spotted watching pornography on his phone in the House of Commons. He becomes the latest cabinet minister

Annual MOT checks could be scrapped under government plans to ease the cost of living for households across the country, Sky News understands. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson held a cabinet meeting in which he asked his top team to come with “innovative” ideas to help ease the pressure on household finances which do not require

The Conservative Party’s chief whip is investigating reports that a Tory MP watched pornography on his phone in the Commons chamber. The party’s whips office said “the chief whip is looking into this matter” in a statement released on Wednesday. “This behaviour is wholly unacceptable and action will be taken.” It is believed the accusation