Keir Starmer accuses Nigel Farage of being on side of Putin ahead of local elections

The biggest risk is succeeding, winning mayoralties, perhaps winning control of county councils, and not delivering."

Asked what the biggest risk to his party was, Mr Farage said

I think national vote share, we're going to do very, very well. I think mayoralties, I think we'll win two, maybe three."

As for the rest of the votes, Mr Farage said

We’re focusing really hard on an almost postcode-by-postcode campaign in places where we think there is a stop Reform vote,

a Lib Dem official said

A big part of our operation has been to try to squeeze the Tory vote there,

a Labour source said

Lots of the more traditional Tories don’t like the way their party has been dragged to the right. In Runcorn, some people like Farage, but they are tribally anti-Conservative. For both groups these sort of links can be a red line,

they added

If we look all around Europe, the idea that you are best off tackling these radical right insurgencies by copying some of their policies and some of their rhetoric isn’t borne out by reality,

Bale said

This is one of the big hurdles that we have to clear en route to the next general election,

Farage told The Associated Press about the upcoming vote at a cafe in the steel town of Scunthorpe

The last six months has been really hard for small businesses. Everyone’s feeling the pinch,

Blow said, citing the rising cost of ingredients like chocolate and butter, a hike in payroll taxes for employers imposed by the Labour government and hard times in Scunthorpe, a town trying to shake off decades of post-industrial decline

They’re a party that thrives on division,

said 37-year-old Joe Richards, who plans to vote Labour in Scunthorpe and claimed Reform offers simplistic solutions to complex problems

We are hearing that the Government’s thinking is about the big cities that produce big growth

Sir Stephen Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council, said

This is a disillusionment election, it’s also a bit of a rolling the dice election and trying to send a signal to the powers that be election as well.”

He added

I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that the groups that we did over the past week are some of the most disillusioned, disappointed, disaffected that we've run

He added

In focus groups conversations conducted in recent days and weeks, the mood has ranged from resigned to apocalyptic

He said

Ann Murrayold retiree

Labour’s rubbish. They tell lies. They’re the same as the Tories. We need someone different,

70-year-old retiree Ann Murray, who will vote Reform, told AFP inside the Runcorn Shopping City mall

The flip side is that they can sometimes cause party leaders embarrassment,

said Queen Mary University of London politics professor Tim Bale, a reference to Reform previously dropping candidates for offensive comments

A Labour loss would be symbolic, and it would give Labour MPs a reason to pressure the leadership to go more to the right,

he told AFP

Something has to be done, you cannot sustain a society like this,

said 54-year-old retiree Eddie Sweeney, complaining of cost-of-living constraints and right-wing claims that police treat ethnic minorities more favourably than white people

Welcome to Runcorn and Helsby. 750 illegal boat migrants housed here,

read another flyer

They’ve still got time to turn things around,

the 61-year-old told AFP

It’ll be tight, I know that ... we are fighting for every vote,

he said