Minister says elections to ‘zombie councils’ pointless as dozens of authorities request delays – UK politics live

From 3m agoKemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick for plotting to defectKemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, for plotting to defect.She has posted this on social media. I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect. I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party. The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in THIS government. I will not repeat those mistakes. Key events3m agoKemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick for plotting to defect1h agoStreeting ‘shocked’ police chief behind Maccabi Tel Aviv ban still in post1h agoLiz Kendall welcomes Elon Musk acting to stop Grok creating sexualised deepfakes, and thanks those who spoke out1h agoUK economy grew by better-than-expected 0.3% in November despite budget uncertainty1h agoStreeting welcomes second biggest monthly drop in hospital waiting lists in England in 15 years2h agoSteve Reed claims elections to 'zombie councils' pointless, as at least 22 authorities request elections delay for MayShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureBadenoch says Robert Jenrick was planning to defect. She does not say to which party, but it is likely to have been Reform UK. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, had scheduled a press conference in Westminster this afternoon, and Reform did not tell us what it was for.Kemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick for plotting to defectKemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, for plotting to defect.She has posted this on social media. I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect. I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party. The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in THIS government. I will not repeat those mistakes. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is holding is press conference in Scotland. There is a live feed here.Streeting ‘shocked’ police chief behind Maccabi Tel Aviv ban still in postWes Streeting, the health secretary, has said he would be “horrified” if the chief constable of West Midlands police remains in his post “by the end of the day”, describing his behaviour as a “stain on his character”. Neha Gohil has the story.Liz Kendall welcomes Elon Musk acting to stop Grok creating sexualised deepfakes, and thanks those who spoke outLiz Kendall, the technology secretary, has welcomed the news that Elon Musk’s X announced it had stopped its Grok AI tool from letting users, including for premium subscribers, digitally undress images of women and children.As Sky News reports, Kendall said: I welcome this move from X, though I will expect the facts to be fully and robustly established by Ofcom’s ongoing investigation. Our Online Safety Act is and always has been about keeping people safe on social media - especially children - and it has given us the tools to hold X to account in recent days. I also want to thank those who have spoken out against this abuse, above all the victims. I shall not rest until all social media platforms meet their legal duties and provide a service that is safe and age appropriate to all users. We will continue to stand up for British values and to uphold the laws of this land. Here is the announcement about the news from X.And here is our story about it, by Robert Booth and Dara Kerr.UK economy grew by better-than-expected 0.3% in November despite budget uncertaintyThe UK economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 0.3% in November despite uncertainty around Rachel Reeves’s budget, official figures show. Heather Stewart has the story.Streeting welcomes second biggest monthly drop in hospital waiting lists in England in 15 yearsNHS England says November saw “the second biggest drop in the waiting list for 15 years outside of the early days of the pandemic”.As PA Media reports, the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has fallen to its lowest level since early 2023. PA says: An estimated 7.31 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of November 2025, relating to 6.17 million patients, down from 7.40 million treatments and 6.24 patients at the end of October. The number of treatments waiting to be carried out is now at its lowest level since February 2023, when it stood at 7.22 million. The list hit a record high in September 2023, with 7.77 million treatments and 6.50 million patients. Commenting on the figures, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said: For too long, patients were promised change in the NHS but saw little of it. This government is turning promises into change people can actually feel. Waiting lists are down by more than 312,000 and more patients are being treated within 18 weeks. November saw the second biggest monthly drop in waiting lists in 15 years. That means faster care, less anxiety for families and people back on their feet and back to work. Steve Reed claims elections to 'zombie councils' pointless, as at least 22 authorities request elections delay for MayGood morning. Before Christmas the government announced that 63 councils in England (there is a full list of them here) would be asked if they wanted to postpone local elections due in May. They are all in areas where local government is being reorganised, and the government said, because reorganisation takes up time and money, some of them might find running elections at the same time difficult. Alison McGovern, the local government minister, wrote to council leaders saying they had until midnight on 15 January (tonight) to reply. The government will take the final decision, but McGovern said, if councils request a delay, it will be minded to agree.Most councils have now taken a decision and a BBC survey says that 23 of them have decided to ask for a delay, and 34 will let the elections go ahead as planned. The other seven have not said. Max Kendix from the Times has done the same exercise and he says, by the end of the day, he expects 27 councils to have come out in favour of a delay – and ministers to approve all 27 of those applications. He says: The councils cover more than 5.2 million people and 3.7 million registered voters who will no longer get to choose their local councillors this year. Almost 600 councillors, including just under 200 Labour councillors, will not have to defend their seat this year. Two thirds of the Labour councils which were asked whether they wanted to delay chose to say that they did, compared with just under a third of Tories. This is in line with what the Daily Telegraph found when it carried out a survey last week.The Conservatives have strongly criticised the decision to allow elections to be postponed and, according to the Telegraph, Reform UK plans to try using a judicial review to ensure all the elections have to go ahead. Nigel Farage’s party is currently doing very well in local council byelections, and so it is no surprise that he wants as many people to vote in the May council elections as possible.The Telegraph has also launched a campaign to scrap the clause in the Local Government Act 2000 that allows ministers to delay elections using secondary legislation. Before that, if ministers wanted to postpone elections, they needed an act of parliament, which is much harder to pass.But, in an article for the Times, Steve Reed, the housing, communities and local government secretary, has defended the decision to allow councils to delay elections. He argues that the reorganistion is essential and that councillors could be elected in May for local authorties that would soon cease to exist anyway.He says “running a series of elections for short-lived zombie councils will be costly, time consuming and will take scarce resources away from frontline services like fixing potholes and social care”.He also accuses the opposition parties of being hypocritical, or self-interested. The Conservatives, who themselves delayed elections in North Yorkshire, Somerset, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, are confused. On the one hand they won’t stand in the way if their local leaders want delays, but on the other they accuse Labour of being “scared of voters”. The Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, called delays a “breach of human rights” despite his party requesting one in Cheltenham. And of course Reform UK, who will take any issue and try to use it to benefit themselves, regardless of whether it will benefit the public. They want pointless elections, Labour wants to fix potholes. Outside of Westminster it’s obvious what’s more important. Here is the agenda for the day.9.30am: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, takes questions in the Commons.9.30am: NHS England publishes its monthly hospital performance figures.11am: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, holds a press conference in Scotland where he will say who’s been chosen as the party’s leader in Scotland.11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.Morning: Keir Starmer is on an energy-related visit in Scotland with Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, and Douglas Alexander, the Scottish secretary.Afternoon: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in Edinburgh, where she will be joined by Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, and Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary.4.30pm: Farage holds a press conference in London.And Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is on a visit to the Arctic Circle region of Norway.If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.