Politics
Met Gala 2026: Madonna’s Dramatic Red Carpet Look Steals The Show
In a year when disappointingly few Met Gala guests stuck to the event’s themed dress code, we’re pleased to see that Madonna definitely got the “Fashion Is Art” memo.
On Monday night, the Queen of Pop singer served up one of the night’s most elaborate and dramatic looks, transforming herself with an ensemble inspired by the Leonora Carrington painting The Temptation Of Saint Anthony (you just knew there’d be a religious connection somewhere with Madonna, didn’t you?).
The Like A Prayer singer’s mysterious and gothic look consisted of a dark brown wig, long gloves, a show-stopping hat (topped with a towering, boat-inspired headpiece) and yards of grey tulle, which looked even more impressive in motion.
As in the original Carrington painting, Madonna’s outfit was supported by an entourage of models in more colourful, eye-catching attire.
Check out the artwork that served as the visual inspiration for Madonna’s look below:
Over the years, the seven-time Grammy winner has been responsible for some of our favourite Met Gala looks ever, including this expansive outfit from 2018’s “Heavenly Bodies” Catholicism-inspired event…
…channelling Bettie Page on the red carpet in 2013…
…and just last year, when she made her way into the event smoking a cigar in a fitted white tuxedo.
We aren’t the only ones who’ve been enamoured with Madonna at the Met Ball, either.
Indeed, who could forget in 2017, when Sarah Paulson was visibly gagged at clocking the music icon across the red carpet from her…?
Madonna is currently gearing up for the release of Confessions II, which will be her first studio album in seven years.
Weeks earlier, she was a surprise guest during Sabrina’s headlining slot at the Coachella music festival, duetting with her on classics Vogue and Like A Prayer in addition to giving Bring Your Love its live debut.
In April, stargazers got to enjoy the Lyrid meteor shower.
But if you missed it, don’t worry: since April 18, the Eta Aquariid meteor shower has also been falling, and it’s set to peak this week.
Here’s why it happens, when it’ll be at its brightest in the UK, and how to catch it:
What is the Eta Aquariid meteor shower?
As with the Lyrid meteor shower, it’s not that the comets are “shooting” towards us.
They’re part of the debris following a comet (in this case, comet Halley); in our journey around the sun, we pass through this space rubble, some of which then enters our atmosphere.
When they do that, they move so quickly that they compress and superheat the air surrounding them.
That leads to a glowing “head” and, sometimes, a streaking “tail” that stargazers will recognise as part of a meteor shower.
Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) said on its site, “the beautiful streaks we see in the night sky can actually be caused by particles as small as a grain of sand.”
The debris of Halley’s comet is associated with two meteor showers. The other one, Orionid, is due in October 2026.
When will the Eta Aquariid meteor shower peak in the UK?
In the UK, your best odds are on Wednesday, 6 May, from midnight to dawn. But don’t despair if you miss it.
One of the things that makes the Eta Aquariid meteor shower distinct is that it doesn’t have a “sharp peak”, RMG said.
Instead, brilliant shows tend to cluster around a particular week. In 2026, that’s this week (May 4-10).
How can I see the 2025 Eta Aquariid meteor shower?
Look towards the Eastern horizon in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Steer clear of sources of light pollution, like street lamps, and wait. (Unfortunately, the peak of this meteor shower occurs alongside quite a bright moon, which might make the display less obvious).
The meteors should be visible to the naked eye, so you won’t need any special tools like binoculars.
President Donald Trump’s power as the GOP’s kingmaker faces a major test with this month’s primaries. So far, he’s on rocky footing.
His revenge tour kicks off Tuesday in Indiana, as he tries to oust eight Republican state legislators who blocked his redistricting effort there. Then it moves on to Louisiana and Kentucky, where he’s backing challengers to two longtime enemies, Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie, who he’s been itching to unseat for years. Trump has also selected his favorite candidates in the crowded GOP primaries for Alabama Senate and Georgia governor.
But his picks have struggled to dominate their fields, with most holding only narrow leads in polling and some failing to pull far ahead in fundraising. In Indiana, even a few allies of the president are tempering expectations of a full eight-lawmaker sweep.
The results will reveal how effective the president’s political operation is at turning out Republicans when Trump is not on the ballot, and how motivated MAGA is to go along with his ongoing retribution campaign. It’s also a potent expression of his power ahead of the likely lame-duck phase of his presidency.
Some Republicans — even those involved in the races — say the shaky standing of Trump’s preferred candidates suggests that his ability to move his base en masse is beginning to slip. MAGA, they note, may be developing a mind of its own as the party begins to look beyond the Trump era.
“He’s hit his max power and now you’re seeing the backside of that power curve,” said former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent target of Trump’s wrath who retired from Congress amid intense backlash for his 2021 vote to impeach the president and a new congressional map that would have left him in a member-on-member primary. “This will be his last competitive election cycle that will have any impact on him. And I think the base is starting to think into the future.”
Trump has a long history of unseating his congressional opponents, backing primary challengers to his critics and wielding his social media platform and his official bully pulpit to create such politically hostile conditions that many of his adversaries simply retire. Republican candidates have long jockeyed — and continue to trip over themselves — for his stamp of approval, hoping not to end up on the wrong side of his anger.
“The Trump endorsement is the most powerful and influential endorsement in the history of American politics,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle. “President Trump’s sterling record with his endorsements speaks for itself.”
Still, he’s produced a very mixed track record in contested races. Trump’s candidates have felled some of his biggest foes in GOP primaries, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and other Republicans who voted to impeach the president in his first term. But he’s also suffered some high-profile losses; he failed to oust Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and has watched several of his picks fall short in congressional races over the years, including Sen. Luther Strange in Alabama and scandal-plagued Rep. Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina.
Success will be even trickier this cycle: The May contests come as he continues an unpopular war in Iran that’s causing voters pain at the gas pump, as people sour on his economic and immigration agenda and as his approval ratings continue to sink.
“The [Trump] endorsement just isn’t moving voters. It just isn’t,” said a GOP operative working on the Alabama Senate race who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “When you’ve endorsed more than 800 people in 10 years, the potency of an individual endorsement wanes.”
May 5: Indiana
As the redistricting wars become a defining element of the midterms, Tuesday’s election will illuminate the president’s ability to maintain his grip on the Republican coalition.
While the White House and its allies have deployed the full force of its political operation against eight Indiana legislators — spending nearly $10 million across the races — they’re beginning to downplay the likelihood they will sweep all of them. Critics of the revenge effort say the strategy has been scattered and undisciplined.
How many incumbents survive will be an important piece of evidence predicting how the rest of May will go for the White House.
“We’ve tried to be helpful, as we always are, with our colleagues that are incumbents right now and will continue to be,” Rodric Bray, Indiana’s Senate President Pro Tempore who led the charge against Trump’s redistricting push, told POLITICO. “The challenge, of course, is that money matters in politics. When $9 million is spent, that has a huge impact, and we’ll see what the result is.”
May 16: Louisiana
Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow is struggling to dominate the polls in her primary challenge to unseat Cassidy, who earned MAGA’s ire for voting to convict Trump on impeachment charges in 2021. The latest Emerson College poll shows Letlow locked in a close three-way race, with her at 27 percent, State Treasurer John Fleming at 28 percent and Cassidy at 21 percent. Nearly 1 in 4 likely GOP primary voters are undecided.
Letlow entered the race at Trump’s urging. She boasts endorsements from Louisiana’s GOP Gov. Jeff Landry and national groups like the Make America Healthy Again PAC, which has promised $1 million in support like distributing mailers — a needed financial boost given her middling war chest compared with Cassidy’s.
But Trump has not sent the calvary for Letlow, withholding his own war chest and not making any trips to Louisiana on her behalf. The president recently doubled down on his campaign against Cassidy, telling GOP primary voters to kick the incumbent “OUT OF OFFICE” — but Trump notably did not name-drop Letlow or urge voters to back her.
May 19: Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia
Trump faces two very different tests of his influence in Kentucky, where he is simultaneously boosting Rep. Andy Barr as retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell’s successor and pushing to oust a longtime thorn in his side in Massie.
The president waded in late for Barr, endorsing the representative less than three weeks before the primary while also offering one of his two rivals, businessman Nate Morris, a job in his administration — a move that could help propel Barr past former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
But it is Massie’s 4th District race that may prove more troublesome for Trump. The president finally fronted a challenger to the renegade Republican after Massie voted against the party’s signature tax-and-spending package last year, and Trump’s allies have now poured over $10 million into sinking the incumbent.
So far, Massie has withstood the onslaught. He leads his rival, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, in polling, fundraising and name ID. One recent survey showed half of likely voters in his deep-red district with a libertarian bent preferred an independent-minded lawmaker, compared to 37 percent who wanted a strong Trump supporter.
Massie, who threads that needle by saying he’s with Trump “91 percent of the time,” argues that supporting him and the president aren’t “mutually exclusive things.” And he thinks the Trump-directed flood of outside money against him has its limits.
“If outside billionaires spend millions of dollars, they can change somebody’s profile,” Massie said in a recent interview. “But I think what they’re going to find out is that my brand is established well enough … that [they] can persuade some of the people, but they’re not going to be able to persuade enough of them.”
The president isn’t being driven by revenge in Alabama. But even there, his chosen candidate is battling to break through a crowded GOP primary field for Senate: The Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore has a slight lead in public polling, while Attorney General Steve Marshall, who has been in office for nearly a decade, is holding his own.
Meanwhile in Georgia, Trump’s backing of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones’ gubernatorial run is a rebuke of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who rose to national prominence by defying the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and is himself running for governor.
Still, Trump’s endorsement has its limits: Rick Jackson, a health care executive, has a slight lead over Jones in most polls for the GOP primary as he also makes a play for the MAGA base. He’s been pummelling the lieutenant governor with millions spent on attack ads.
“If any other candidate had received that amount of negative, they would be polling within the margin of error of zero,” said a Georgia-based Republican strategist who is unaffiliated with any candidate and was granted anonymity to speak openly. “When you’re looking at the reasons why [Jones] is now in a toss-up race, I would say the President’s endorsement is by far the top reason why.”
As both Jackson and Jones compete for the same slice of voters, some Republicans see Jones’ inability to dominate the race as evidence of Trump’s waning influence.
“It’s not just Donald Trump — Georgia candidates historically have not benefited very much from endorsements from out-of-state celebrities,” said Jason Shepherd, former Cobb County GOP Chair.
May 26: Texas run-off
After Sen. John Cornyn finished ahead of Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas’ March primary, Republicans in Washington were on standby for Trump’s expected endorsement. It never came.
Perhaps in the clearest example of MAGA beginning to make decisions without Trump’s explicit approval, Texas Republicans have rallied around the scandal-plagued Paxton. Polling now shows that a Trump endorsement for Cornyn, at this point, likely wouldn’t sway voters significantly — and Paxton would maintain his edge.
GOP Texas consultant Vinny Minchillo that if Trump does decide to weigh in, he “will have to sell this to the faithful and tell them exactly what to do. Especially if he endorses Cornyn.”
Trump’s endorsement still matters, he said, but “less so with each day that passes.”
Every year, the Met Gala gathers together some of the most famous faces from across the world of music, cinema, sport and, of course, fashion for a star-studded fundraiser in aid of the Metropolitan Museum Of Art’s Costume Institute.
This year’s event was held on Monday night, and proved to be as A-list as ever.
Co-chaired by Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and, as ever, Anna Wintour, the themed dress code of 2026’s Met Ball was “Fashion Is Art” – really allowing the famous guests to think outside the box and let their imaginations run wild when putting together their red carpet looks.
And what do you know – some of them actually did.
On that note, we’ve pieced together some of the must-see looks from this year’s Met Gala, from some of the biggest stars on the planet…
Beyoncé
As one of the organisers of the Met Gala this year, Beyoncé will have known that all eyes were on her on the red carpet.
Leaning into the elaborate theme, the Break My Soul singer sported this glittering, skeletal-inspired look on the red carpet, where she was joined by her husband Jay-Z and eldest daughter Blue Ivy Carter, marking the 14-year-old’s Met Ball debut.
Sam Smith
Sam Smith has become renowned for their dramatic approach to fashion in recent history, and this year’s Met Ball really afforded them the chance to go all out.
Channelling Norma Desmond, the British star gave us old school Hollywood glamour in a floor-length black dress complete with bejeweled adornments, billowing sleeves and a feather headpiece.
Madonna
Madonna’s Met Gala look was a real departure from what we’re used to seeing the Queen of Pop in, opting for something more gothic, dark and, frankly, weird that we’re totally here for.
The Bring Your Love singer’s ensemble was directly inspired by a Leonora Carrington painting, in one of the night’s more literal interpretations of “Fashion Is Art”.
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe brings it every single Met Ball, and a theme like “Fashion Is Art” was always going to be in their wheelhouse.
The 10-time Grammy nominee mixed the old and new with their imaginative look, which incorporated elements of nature and technology, merging moss and butterflies with wires and microchips.
Luke Evans
Dressed in head-to-toe leather, Luke Evans’ look was an obvious nod to Tom Of Finland.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on the Met Ball red carpet, the Welsh actor said that “playing such an iconic character on stage” in the current Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show made him want to put a “twist” on an “iconic gay artist who has influenced so much”.
Gwendoline Christie
Former Game Of Thrones star Gwnendoline Christie has never been one to shy away from leaning into a Met Gala theme.
On Monday night, her look consisted of a massive feathered hat and a floor-length red dress nodding to faded glamour – but our favourite part of the whole ensemble was the hand-held mirror, adorned with a recreation of her own face.
Katy Perry
John Salangsang/Shutterstock
Perhaps inspired by her own trip to space last year, Katy Perry’s Met Gala look consisted of what appeared to be a fencing mask, with a shiny and opaque face covering on the front.
As she made her way down the red carpet, Katy revealed that the mask also swung open, adding even further to its futuristic elements (and putting us slightly in mind of a Star Wars villain).
Emma Chamberlain
We’re going to be very honest and say that content creator Emma Chamberlain was not exactly the person we thought was going to turn it out the hardest at Monday night’s event – but you can’t argue with this look can you?
In fact, the influencer may have just given us our favourite Met Gala look of 2026, with the dripping paint effect creating an optical illusion that really served the night’s theme.
Chase Infiniti
Fresh from her Oscar nomination and leading performance in the new Handmaid’s Tale spin-off The Testaments, Chase Infiniti’s Met Gala debut was also one of our favourites from this year’s event.
The One Battle After Another star’s colourful dress almost put us in mind of painting-by-numbers (in the best way!), with its graphic design.
Sarah Paulson
On its own, Sarah Paulson’s expansive, red carpet look would have been show-stopping enough, putting us in mind of a presidential ball as much as an event like the Met Gala – but that dollar bill blindfold accessory really gives it something extra.
Sadly, even though Madonna was there too, we didn’t get a recreation of one of our favourite moments in Met Ball history.
Ben Platt
One of the more literal “Fashion Is Art” ensembles came from Ben Platt, wearing a colourful suit inspired by one of Georges Pierre Seurat’s most famous works.
The Seurat painting, of course, was also the basis of the iconic Stephen Sondheim production Sunday In The Park With George, which makes Tony winner Ben wearing it all the more fitting.
SZA
SZA’s Met Gala look consisted of a layered gown in this absolutely gorgeous yellow colour, as well as a floral headpiece and some beaded face jewellery for the evening.
Our favourite part of the whole look, though, was just how much of a blast the Good Days singer was clearly having wearing it.
Lisa
Extra body parts always go down well on the Met Ball red carpet, and Lisa’s look was no exception.
The jury’s out on whether “Fashion Is Art” really came into play here, but we just think the Blackpink and White Lotus star looks really cool, to be honest.
Skepta
Another big name doing the UK proud on the Met Gala red carpet was Brit Award nominee Skepta.
The rapper made a big impression in this matching white co-ord, which he later revealed was adorned with embroidery inspired by his own tattoos, as well as his own song lyrics.
Nicole Kidman
Listen, Nicole Kidman never misses on the red carpet, but given how imaginative some people were with their looks, this feels a little out of place.
We’ve mostly mentioned it in this round-up so we can include her explanation for it.
“Fashion is art and I wanted something red, because I wanted to embrace the way in which red has been used in art through the years,” she apparently claimed.
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian’s latest Met Ball look consisted of a molded bodysuit in an eye-catching shade of orange.
Again, it wasn’t exactly our favourite outfit of the evening, but given just how synonymous with the Met Gala that Kim K has become, we just had to include her, alright.
Heidi Klum
This year, Halloween came early, with Heidi Klum unveiling one of her trademark dramatic transformations six months before her usual spooky season bash.
For the 2026 Met Ball, Heidi transformed herself into a living artpiece, paying homage to 19th century sculpture with the aid of prosthetics and unconventional materials to deliver one of the night’s most talked-about looks.
Bad Bunny
And speaking of prosthetics – Bad Bunny’s look was certainly an unconventional one, too.
The recent Super Bowl headliner walked the red carpet as an older version of itself, which it’s been pointed out was a probable nod to “The Aging Body”, a key element of the Met’s Costume Institute’s exhibit this year.
Rihanna
Rihanna’s position as Queen of the Met Gala is safe for another year.
Her latest Met Ball look was another mix of the old and new – offering an unconventional silhouette and undoubtedly the night’s most intricate adornments.
We absolutely love what she did with her hair, too, with her partner A$AP Rocky also joining her on the red carpet later on, sporting a baby pink overcoat and tuxedo.
As Labour MP for Doncaster Central, Sally Jameson reflects on the 250th running of the St Leger in her constituency, celebrating its economic and cultural importance while warning that poorly designed Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) risk undermining British racing and the communities it supports
This year, Doncaster Racecourse will host the 250th running of the St Leger, a milestone woven into the history and identity of our city.
As the MP for Doncaster Central, I am proud to have the racecourse in my constituency. It is far more than a sporting venue. It is part of our local economy, our culture and our story. The St Leger brings people together. It fills our hotels, pubs and restaurants, supports local jobs and puts Doncaster firmly on the national stage.
Last year’s festival welcomed more than 52,000 people across four days, including over 26,000 on the Saturday alone. This year’s 250th anniversary should be a moment of real pride, not just for Doncaster but for British racing as a whole.
But it should also be a moment to reflect on how we support a sport that matters to so many communities.
Horseracing and betting have always gone hand in hand. This is not a niche pastime. Racing supports livelihoods across towns, cities and rural areas, from stable staff and trainers to hospitality workers, broadcasters and local businesses. The betting industry contributes around £350m a year to racing through the levy, media rights and sponsorship.
For many people, having a small bet is simply part of the experience. It sits alongside studying the form, catching up with friends and cheering a horse home from the stands.
Of course, betting must be properly regulated. People must be protected, and there must be more support for those who experience harm. Licensed operators have clear responsibilities and already operate under strict rules, including age checks, anti-money laundering requirements and safer gambling measures.
I have seen this first-hand, both through taking part in the Betting and Gaming Council’s Grand National Charity Bet and during a visit to my local betting shop in Doncaster. Staff take their responsibilities seriously, and there are safeguards in place to support customers.
Regulation must also be proportionate and based on evidence. It should protect people without pushing them away from the regulated market altogether.
That is why there is growing concern about proposed Financial Risk Assessments from within the horseracing industry.
These checks were presented as frictionless. Customers were not meant to be asked to hand over payslips, bank statements or other personal financial documents as a routine condition of enjoying a legal leisure activity. But the evidence from the pilot has raised serious questions about whether that promise can be met in practice. Operators have reported inconsistencies in the data returned by credit reference agencies, meaning more customers may face account restrictions or requests for further information. Before this is implemented across the board, we must iron out the issues so that we have a system that works as it was intended to.
Someone having a bet on the St Leger should not feel they are being treated as a financial risk for taking part in a legal activity that more than 22.5 million adults enjoy safely every month.
Racing fans may be particularly affected because of the seasonal nature of the sport. People might not bet regularly all year round but may choose to place a few more bets during major events like Cheltenham, Aintree, Royal Ascot or the St Leger itself. That kind of pattern should not automatically trigger intrusive checks.
There is also a wider risk. If people are faced with checks that feel intrusive or unreliable, some will turn to the illegal online black market. Those operators offer none of the protections we expect, no safeguards, no support, no tax contribution and no funding for racing.
The regulated betting and gaming industry supports over 109,000 jobs, contributes £6.8bn to the UK economy and raises £4bn in tax each year. Betting shops alone support 42,000 jobs across Britain, contribute £140m a year to horseracing, pay around £1bn in direct tax to the Treasury and provide a further £60m in business rates to local councils.
Racing is more dependent than many other sports on the funding it receives through betting. If flawed checks reduce activity in the regulated market, racing will feel the consequences quickly, not just by the sport but by communities like ours.
No one is arguing against protecting vulnerable people. That must always be part of the system and continually supported and improved. But those protections need to be targeted, proportionate and based on solid evidence.
Before any further steps are taken, the Government must ensure the Gambling Commission properly evaluates the pilot. If the data is inconsistent and customers may still face disruption or intrusive checks, then the case for moving forward simply has not been made and there is more work to be done.
This year, Doncaster will host a once in a generation celebration of the St Leger. It will showcase the very best of British racing, its history, its energy and its value to communities like ours.
We should be backing that success, not putting it at risk.
Aerial view of Milton Keynes (Alexey Fedorenko/Alamy)
5 min read
As a teenager, she couldn’t wait to get out. Now Lucia Hodgson has come to love Milton Keynes, the everyman city that is the perfect backdrop for every political offer
Over the course of a few weeks, my hometown hosted Nigel Farage, Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch. Zack Polanski and Ed Davey are surely on their way.
Growing up in Milton Keynes, I couldn’t wait to head in the opposite direction. Teenage afternoons in the shopping centre were spent hanging round a large tree, known as ‘the tree’.
It was roughly 250 years older than Milton Keynes itself and sadly died about a decade ago.
The tree may be gone, but memories of languorous weekends hanging out with all the other ‘treebos’ (greebos) remain. If you liked Pizza Hut and had the money to go indoor skiing, you were in luck. But 16-year-old me wanted it to give us something more – a bit more edge, cachet, culture. I actually used to tell people I was from Buckinghamshire.
So, what exactly is it about the city of roundabouts that politicians have been so much keener on? The boring answer is that MK is – literally – Middle England and stuffed with bellwether seats. It’s the perfect ‘everyman’ – somewhere without deep political roots or class identity, where voters are unencumbered by an expectation to vote a certain way. The visiting day-trippers know that success in MK is likely to reverberate far beyond the concrete cows. Each of them has seen something that is worth exploiting for political gain.
Serving up fish and chips, Farage used his visit to lament rising crime in the area – a particularly sensitive topic following the recent murder of a security guard in the city centre.
Badenoch launched her regional local campaign with a focus on high streets, with the manifesto describing MK as ‘shabby’. For Starmer, his visit frankly could have taken place anywhere – it was particularly low-key and his local media interview focused on Iran and the cost of living. But, so persuaded by the success of MK as a new town, his government has announced it as one of the ‘renewed towns’ where 40,000 new homes will be built.
Reducing crime, renewing high streets, building houses – whatever your political ambition, MK is the tabula rasa to lay out your plans and policies. Its bellwether history bears that out.
When a party has won or lost in MK, it has pretty much done the same everywhere else. MK voted Labour during New Labour, Tory under the Cameron and Johnson years, and swung back to Labour under Starmer’s 2024 landslide. It also voted to leave the EU by a slim margin. Like carefully choreographed footwork, MK election results have always been in sync with the national picture.
Ahead of May’s council elections, then, Labour knows it has a lot to lose. This is the only patch of red amidst a sea of blue, turquoise, orange and grey. It took the party 18 years to wrestle it from no overall control, in a battleground area for both Lib Dems and Tories. In 2024, the Greens polled a respectable 4,900 votes in MK. With two Reform-controlled councils to its north in Northampton, both Green and Reform will undoubtedly want to see just how much they can tempt Middle England away from the status quo and towards change.
It’s the perfect ‘everyman’ – somewhere without deep political roots or class identity, where voters are unencumbered by an expectation to vote a certain way
YouGov’s last MRP poll showed every seat with an MK postcode (five, just one less than seats with a Manchester postcode) turning turquoise. In 2024, Reform UK came third in all of those seats. The question for the party is whether its primary electoral pitch will work here – a place built on domestic and foreign migration. Like thousands of other families, my parents moved out of London for a back garden. Others, from India and Japan, moved with tech and services companies with aspirations to live in a futuristic town designed to “attract young men with bright ideas”. When Jeremy Corbyn attracted a huge crowd to his Milton Keynes rally, 10 years ago, he declared it the largest ever political meeting in the town’s history. Perhaps the Greens will look to pick up his mantle.
The test for either of the fringe parties is whether their appeal can extend to an ordinary place like Milton Keynes – somewhere that doesn’t do radical, or different, the things I so badly wanted from it as a teenager. I have, however, learned to love Milton Keynes more over the years. When I go back, which I frequently do, I love the open green spaces, the decent charity shop hauls, and watching the Starship delivery robots pootling around the red-ways. I’m now quick to defend it: “That’s my place to ridicule, not yours.” It will be genuinely cool to watch it become more of a political kingmaker – because whichever party does well at a local level in MK will know national success is not far away.
Across the UK, more and more dogs and cats are being bred to look fashionable or cute. But this can come at a serious cost to their health and welfare.
Flat faces, excessive skin wrinkles, folded ears, very short legs. They might look cute, but they are design choices with consequences.
I am supporting Battersea’s Cost of Cute campaign to make sure anyone thinking about getting a pet understands those consequences before they choose.
Because this is not just about fashion. It is about suffering.
Challenging what we think is “cute”
Scroll through social media, and you will see them everywhere. Flat-faced dogs that snort and struggle for breath. Cats with folded ears and wide eyes. Puppies with exaggerated features that look almost cartoon-like.
We have normalised this.
Many people simply do not realise that the very features they find cute are often the source of pain, discomfort and disease. The look is the problem.
This is the cost of cute.
What it means for animals
Take breeds like Pugs, French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs. Their flattened faces and compressed airways mean that something as basic as breathing can be a daily struggle.
As a vet, I have seen the reality up close. Dogs coming in for surgery not because of injury or illness, but because they cannot breathe properly as they are. Owners sitting in front of you, worried and upset. Vets having to operate just to give an animal a chance at a normal life.
It is heartbreaking. For the owner, for the vet, and most of all for the animal.
We need to be honest about this. Breeding a dog that may need surgery simply to breathe is not unfortunate. It is unethical.
And it does not stop there. These same features can affect eating, sleeping, exercise, or even the ability to play or communicate normally.
Other popular breeds bring different but equally serious risks. Miniature Dachshunds, now the most bred puppy in the UK, have a high risk of spinal disease and even paralysis. Shar Pei dogs, known for their wrinkles, can suffer from chronic and painful skin conditions when those features are exaggerated.
Cats are not immune. Traditional mixed-breed cats are being replaced by pedigree breeds with extreme traits. Scottish Fold cats, popular online and in films, owe their folded ears to a cartilage defect that affects their whole body. Many go on to develop painful joint disease. The very feature people love is a warning sign.
Case study: Yoda
Yoda, the French Bulldog, arrived at Battersea as a stray. After a thorough medical check, Battersea’s clinic team found that she had sore ears, skin issues and warts that needed immediate treatment. As a French Bulldog, Yoda also had Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), a condition common in flat-faced breeds. This meant that she required surgery to help her breathe easier and enjoy a better quality of life.
Yoda was experiencing ongoing medical issues with both of her ears, so the best option for her was surgery. French Bulldogs have narrower ear canals due to being brachycephalic, which can result in frequent ear infections. In such cases, TECA surgery (removal of the ear canal) is performed to stop the recurrent infections and give them a better quality of life.
Yoda underwent the procedure and took her treatments in her stride. She also needed eye drops to treat her dry eyes, along with cream to help soothe her skin – issues that are associated with the bulging eyes and wrinkled skin of her breed.
Fortunately, Yoda has found a loving new home, where she is flourishing and continuing her recovery.
What it means for owners
For any owner, watching a pet suffer is distressing. When that suffering is built in from the start, it is even harder.
These animals often need ongoing care, repeated vet visits, and major surgery. That brings financial but also emotional strain. Anyone who has sat up at night worrying about their pet knows how heavy that can feel.
Rescue centres see the impact, too.
Organisations like Battersea care for animals that need complex treatment because of how they were bred. Some owners, faced with costs they cannot manage, make the painful decision to give their pet up. Those animals often stay longer in rescue because their needs are greater.
This is a human cost as well as an animal welfare issue.
Changing course
The good news is this is not inevitable.
Most people are not choosing suffering on purpose. They are choosing what they think is cute, without knowing the consequences. That means awareness matters.
If people understand the risks, many will make different choices.
That is why campaigns like Cost of Cute are so important. They shine a light on what is really going on and help people choose pets that can live healthy, happy lives.
You can learn more at battersea.org.uk/costofcute and help spread the message.
And we need to go further. As policymakers, we should be challenging the demand that is driven by appearance at the expense of welfare. The government is consulting on dog breeding as part of its Animal Welfare Strategy, but it is a mistake not to include cats.
If we are serious about animal welfare, tackling extreme breeding must be central to that work.
We should not be intentionally breeding animals with extreme conformations that we know will struggle to breathe, to walk, or to live without pain. This must be the bare minimum we expect when it comes to animal welfare.
This Thursday will present the largest test of the Labour government – and its rival parties – since the last general election nearly two years ago.
Around 5,000 seats across 136 local councils, along with six mayoral contests, are up for election in England.
Voters in Scotland and Wales will also go to the polls for elections to Holyrood and the Senedd.
Labour are widely expected to suffer a catastrophic night, piling fresh pressure on Keir Starmer.
The Tories are expected to endure significant losses too, with the Greens and especially Reform UK on course to make huge gains as voters deliver a damning verdict on the two main parties.
Here, HuffPost UK assesses how the main parties are shaping up ahead of the biggest test of public opinion since July, 2024.
Labour
Peter Nicholls via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? Top forecaster Lord Hayward warned Labour will lose 1,850 council seats. That means the party could be left with barely a quarter of the 2,550 councillors they currently have in the areas which are up for re-election.
YouGov does not expect Labour to win any constituency seats in Scotland at all, with their predicted 15 seats coming from the regional top-up lists.
Labour is also expected to lose power in the Welsh parliament for the first time since it was established in 1999, with YouGov predicting the party’s vote share will drop to 13% – down 23 points on the 2021 election.
That means Labour could end up with just 12 of the Senedd’s 96 seats.
What’s the mood within the party? Understandably bleak.
Starmer is actively calling for his party to support him amid rising fears of a leadership challenge from his main rivals Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting.
One party insider said: “We’re resigned to taking a significant knock, but are still standing and trying to get out as many votes as possible.”
“I just think Labour are fucked either way,” another source said candidly.
In a rare moment of optimism, campaigners also said voters have been “disinterested” rather than actively hostile to Labour activists – which was an improvement on what they were expecting.
One insider told HuffPost UK that deputy prime minister David Lammy had told activists over the weekend that the row which hit Zack Polanksi in the wake of last week’s Golders Green attacks could damage the Greens.
This sparked some hope that the party could claw back some of their supporters.
Conservatives
Ian Forsyth via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? The Tories are expected to lose 600 councillors in England, according to Lord Hayward.
YouGov expects the Tory vote to fall to just 8% of the vote in Holyrood – that would be the worst ever result for the party at any election within Scotland.
Predictions suggest the Tories would go from having 31 seats in 2021 to just seven.
The pollster also predicts the Tories will end up with just three seats in Wales.
What’s the mood within the party? Not very optimistic.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s own leadership has been strengthened in recent months as she’s improved her PMQs appearance – and her main challenger, Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform.
But that does not necessarily translate to votes – especially as the Tories are still being punished for their 14 years in power.
One traditionally Conservative voter stunned the public this week by announcing she would be backing Labour instead, just to keep the Greens out.
Anecdotally, HuffPost UK has heard other Tories telling door-knockers they planned to do the same. The party did not respond when approached for comment.
Reform UK
Pollsters’ prediction? Hayward expects Reform to gain 1,550 seats in England.
The party is expected to make a bmajor reakthrough in Scotland, according to YouGov, winning 20 MSPs in total and replacing Labour as the official opposition to the SNP.
Reform is also in a close fight with Plaid Cymru to be the largest party in the Welsh Senedd.
What’s the mood within the party? Understandably upbeat.
Reform are set to win their first seats in Wales and Scotland after more than a year of leading in the national opinion polls.
Nigel Farage told The Sunday Times he expected the party to do “stunningly well”.
He claimed Reform would be taking “Labour heartlands” in the local elections – Yorkshire, the northwest, the northeast, parts of the Midlands and the Welsh Valleys.
But there are suggestions that support for the party has already peaked, with its polling numbers declining over the past six months.
Farage also skipped a grilling from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. That came after reports he accepted an undisclosed £5 million donation from a billionaire supporter before he ran to be an MP.
His team said he decided to pull out last minute to campaign in his Clacton constituency, but critics suggested he was dodging scrutiny.
The party courted further controversy on Sunday by announcing plans to put detention centres for illegal migrants in constituencies and councils which vote Green.
Greens
Kymberley Apiro via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? The Greens are set to see its number of councillors in England increase by 500, according to Hayward, mainly in London and other middle class areas of major cities.
The Greens are predicted to enjoy a small boost in Scotland, up from their current eight seats to 11, according to YouGov.
YouGov also expects the party to win seven seats in Wales, meaning it could come in fourth place behind Labour in the Senedd.
What’s the mood within the party? Hopeful – but cautious.
Leader Zack Polanski was forced to apologise last week after sharing a social media post which criticised the police response to a terror attack in Golders Green.
While Labour are hopeful this will reduce the number of voters willing to support their left-wing competitors, a Green insider suggested it would not have too much cut-through.
One senior figure in the party also insisted it was all “very positive” on the doorstep, but campaigners have been more cautious behind the scenes.
“There’s been a lot of hype about us wiping out Labour in London, and we’re definitely going to have a record-breaking result. At the same time, I think people forget the base we’re coming from,” they said, pointing to Greens’ poor performance at London’s last local elections in 2021.
“It’s going to be very good for us but perhaps some of the more apocalyptic predictions forget the context we’re coming from,” the source claimed.
Lib Dems
Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? The Lib Dems are on course to gain 150 seats in the local elections, according to Hayward.
YouGov expects the centrist party to take nine seats in Scotland (up from its current four) but secure just three seats in Wales.
What’s the mood within the party? Surprisingly upbeat.
The Lib Dems have been trailing in the national opinion polls for some time, outshone by the traditional parties and the populist groups.
Behind the scenes, MPs have been unhappy with Ed Davey’s leadership for months, frustrated with his “gimmicks”.
But, with these elections, the party has developed a clear strategy – focusing on local council issues in the hope of taking more seats in England.
There’s even been some speculation they could become the largest party in English local government, especially with Labour and the Tories expecting to endure major losses.
SNP
Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? The SNP is once again on course to comfortably win the Scottish Parliament election.
YouGov predicted the SNP could win 67 seats in Holyrood – giving the party an overall majority. But More in Common and Lord Hayward have both said they will fall short.
What’s the mood within the party? Very happy.
If the polls are correct, the SNP is heading for a remarkable third decade in power, after first being elected way back in 2007.
This is despite criticism of their handling of the Scottish NHS, education system and other public services during nearly 20 years in power.
While questions remain over whether the party will be able to clinch a majority, they are set to benefit from the major splits between Scottish Labour and the Westminster government.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Starmer to step down earlier this year in the hope of distancing himself from Downing Street’s disasters, but the move does not seem to have won over voters.
The Nationalists have also pledged to call for a second Scottish independence referendum if they win a majority.
Plaid Cymru
Matthew Horwood via Getty Images
Pollsters’ prediction? The pro-independence party is only standing in the Welsh devolved election. Hayward predicted it will be the largest party in terms of votes and seats in Senedd.
However, YouGov predicted it will secure 36 seats – making it just one representative away from Reform’s lead.
What’s the mood within the party? Nervous.
Like the SNP, Plaid Cymru are hoping to capitalise on Labour’s downfall.
Unlike the Scottish Nationalists, they’ve never been in power before and so do not have to contend with their own record in office to win over voters.
But, they do have the new kids on the block to compete with: Reform UK, who are making gains in Wales – and who look set to be the largest unionist party in the Senedd after Thursday.
How Important Will May 7 Actually Be?
Steve Akehurst, director of research initiative Persuasion UK, warned against seeing this set of results as the ideal test of how the public feels.
He told HuffPost UK: “Local elections are an imperfect way of attempting to measure national sentiment.
“In terms of predictions, I think it’s best to wait for the national equivalent vote share later in the weekend.”
The specialist said analysing Reform’s performance will be particularly difficult “given the party basically didn’t exist in 2022, the last time many of these seats were contested.”
But, Akehurst warned: “It’s important to remember that Labour losing seats to Reform is not the same as Labour losing votes to Reform.
“Around the country we have seen the same patterns since the general election – where votes shifting from Reform to Tory, or Labour to Green or Liberal Democrat, led to Labour seats becoming Reform seats with little direct loss of votes from one party to the other.
“That is likely to be the case again at these elections.”
Subscribe to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
On Monday night, Sam was among the A-list guests at the annual fundraiser in New York, in aid of the Metropolitan Museum Of Art’s Costume Institute.
This time around, the theme of the evening was “Fashion Is Art”, with the British star channelling some old school Hollywood glamour as they walked the red carpet.
Sam was pictured making their way into the star-studded in a floor-length, black velvet gown, complete with intricate beading, fur trim and a feather headpiece.
Looking like Norma Desmond herself, they were clearly enjoying playing up to the persona presented by the outfit, striking some fabulous poses for the photographers outside the Met Ball early on in the evening.
The Unholy singer’s look was created by their partner, fashion designer Christian Cowan.
Sam and Christian have been together for around two years, previously hard-launching their relationship on the Met Gala red carpet back in 2024.
Last year, Sam concluded their sold-out To Be Free residency at Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York, which proved to be so popular that they then carried it on at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California.
During the intimate shows, the five-time Grammy winner performed songs from throughout their career, as well as debuting new music expected to be featured on their upcoming fifth album.
In honour of the performances, Sam unveiled the one-off single To Be Free, named after the residencies, late last year.
Monday night’s Met Gala was co-chaired by Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, music legend Beyoncé and tennis aficionado Venus Williams, alongside regular organiser Anna Wintour.
Politics
Politics Home | “We Can’t Be Going Backwards”: Tories Warn Party Against Local Elections Complacency
5 min read
This week’s local elections will be painful for the two main parties. The scale of the Labour losses and the implications for Keir Starmer’s future mean the Conservatives will avoid being the main headline this weekend. However, there is concern among some Tories that their party is complacent about its own electoral situation.
“There is not a world in which these elections are not going to be tough in terms of numbers,” Conservative MP Jack Rankin told the most recent episode of PoliticsHome podcast The Rundown.
The MP for Windsor, widely seen as one of the party’s brightest talents, spoke frankly about what likely awaits the Tories when voters in England, Scotland and Wales go to the polls for a highly anticipated set of local elections on Thursday.
Two years on from their devastating general election defeat, the Conservatives are braced for more electoral discomfort later this week. Tory peer Lord Hayward recently predicted that the party would lose around 600 council seats on 7 May, losing votes to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to its right and Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats to its left. The party also faces dramatic collapses in support in Scotland and Wales.
In Westminster, Conservative MPs are generally in a more upbeat mood about the state of their party than they were a year or so ago, when there were questions over how long Kemi Badenoch would last as Leader Of The Opposition. There is now a belief that Badenoch is clearly growing into her role, particularly in her Prime Minister’s Questions performances, while her personal ratings have steadily improved in recent months. Appearing on The Rundown last week, Rankin described the mood as “buoyant but realistic”.
It’s partly for this reason that very few Conservatives believe that Badenoch’s position will be put at risk by the results of these local elections.
A senior Tory MP acknowledged that they are “going to be very bad” but said “there is nothing that can be done” given the situation the party is in, namely, still in the process of repairing its brand after being emphatically removed from office less than two years ago. “I see this as something we have got to live through to get to the other side,” they told PoliticsHome.
But there is some concern with this approach, particularly in parts of the country where the party is expected to suffer major losses on Thursday, like Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Conservative MPs in those areas make up more than a fifth of the total parliamentary party. “In reality, it’s highly likely we’ll lose control of all those councils,” said one Tory MP.
In Hampshire, the Conservatives currently have 50 of 78 council seats, having held overall control of the local authority since 1997. Seven of the county’s MPs are Tories. One of them told PoliticsHome that losing the council “would stop the small recovery that the party has made over the last nine months, and it would show that actually, we have a lot more work to do before we’re anywhere near winning the next election”.
There is a similar picture of Essex, where 49 of the council’s 79 councillors are Conservative. A more pessimistic Tory MP said “it could be a total wipeout” in Essex, where Reform, like in Hampshire, is eyeing significant gains. Speaking to PoliticsHome, Hayward pointed out that the county is home to “a string of Tory front benchers” including Badenoch herself.
There is nervousness in these areas that Tory losses on Thursday could resemble what happened in Kent at last year’s local elections, when the number of Conservative councillors was dramatically reduced from 62 to 5, with Farage’s party being the beneficiary.
Results that bad would “pose real questions over the party’s direction”, according to one Tory MP, who told PoliticsHome it would “cause a huge amount of soul searching in the party, especially as there is a feeling that there has been a lot of gain over the last year, with conference seen as the turning point”. Another Tory backbencher said: “If Reform does as well as in Kent, it’s obviously problematic for the Tory party and would be really bad news.”
A different Conservative MP stressed that losing councillors has “very serious” practical consequences, as it means a weakened “grassroots campaigning force”. They added: “[We] can’t be going backwards at this stage. We’re nearly halfway through the Parliament.”
Badenoch denied being “complacent” in conversation with The Times at the weekend, and insisted that the public was starting to listen to what the Tories have to say. In an interview with The House magazine in the run-up to last year’s Conservative Party conference, she said that she would be a leader who peaks in time for the next general election, rather than “on day one”.
However, speaking on the most recent episode of the Political Currency podcast, former Tory chancellor George Osborne said his party required an “ethical reset” before it can win again, arguing that it was yet to “really confront” the reason why it lost in such devastating fashion in July 2024.
He added that Badenoch had not yet answered the fundamental question of “what do the Conservatives offer, which is distinct and better for the country than Reform”.
While major losses later this week are unlikely to raise questions about Badenoch’s leadership, they could put her under more pressure to produce an answer.
And while there might be almost six months to go until spooky season, Heidi decided that Halloween should come early at the Met Gala on Monday night, giving us another of her jaw-dropping transformations to mark the occasion.
The dress code for the 2026 Met Ball was “Fashion Is Art”, which the Project Runway host took literally, metamorphosing into a marble statue for the evening.
Heidi’s custom look was put together by designer Mike Marino, taking inspiration from Roman statues by ancient Italian sculptors.
According to Variety, the “living sculpture” look was achieved using materials like spandex and latex to give the impression that the unrecognisable statue was a stone creation come to life.
The Met Gala is held each year on the first Monday in May as a star-studded fundraiser for New York’s Metropolitan Museum Of Art’s Costume Institute.
A-listers in attendance are asked to dress to a theme which usually corresponds to a new exhibit being showcased at the Costume Institute, with this year’s chairs including Oscar winner Nicole Kidman, tennis aficionado Venus Williams and music icon Beyoncé, alongside the event’s regular organiser, Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
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