Reform UK is expected to expand its foothold in local government in England this week. More than 5,000 seats across 136 councils are being contested, making this one of the largest electoral tests in recent years. It builds on Reform’s breakthrough in 2025, when the party took control of ten local authorities – its first real experience of power.

For scholars of populism, this moment could be revealing. Years of research have focused heavily on the rhetoric of populism, its voter base, and the interaction between the two.

But far less attention has been paid to what populists actually do once in office. Where such research exists, it tends to focus on national governments, with only a small body examining local politics. Local government, however, is where political promises get a quick reality check.

The gap between Reform’s “pro-workers” rhetoric and its party elite’s relatively privileged and pro-business backgrounds has been noted. But the party’s first year in local government provides an opportunity to see whether the social groups it claims to represent also tend to benefit from its exercise of power.

While systematic data on the Reform-led councils is yet to be collected, their track record so far has revealed signs of where this party’s interests might lie – and of what a UK government led by Reform might look like.

Energy: big donors or local interests?

According to a recent report, climate commitments have been scaled back across Reform-run councils. Net-zero targets have been scrapped and climate language removed from policy documents. These decisions align with the party’s broader critique of climate policy as economically burdensome.

It also aligns with the party’s fossil fuel donors, who account for more than two-thirds of Reform’s financial backing. However, it does not necessarily align with the interests of the communities in the councils that it runs.

A good case in point is fracking. Despite its well-known risks to water and air quality, as well as concerns over earthquakes and warming effects, Reform’s leadership has endorsed fracking. The party has pledged to legalise it if it comes into government.

The country, however, is not as keen. According to the most recent polling, only 28% of people in Britain support fracking, compared to 46% opposing it. A survey last year found that nothing puts off Reform supporters more than the party’s ties to the fossil fuel industry. Farmers – 40% of whom now support Reform – have a longstanding scepticism about fracking due to its potential impact on their crops.

In fact, in two other Reform council areas – Lancashire and Scarborough, local representatives have broken from the national party line on fracking. This reflects a broader tension between the interests of its elite backers and those of its popular base.

Social care: when ‘populism’ meets the welfare state

Those contradictions also become visible in the field of social care. In Derbyshire, the Reform-led council’s plan to shut eight care homes was called a “betrayal of local people”. Similar plans in Lancashire entailed the closure of five public care homes as well as five day centres, with residents moved to the private sector.

What is striking is not just the direction of policy, but also the political reaction to it. The privatisation plans in Lancashire were eventually abandoned due to strong local opposition, which came not only from rival parties, but also from Reform grassroots members.

This underlines an insight often missing from populism research: the category of “ordinary people” is not a unified social group. It also indicates the unpopularity of an economic agenda that, with its emphasis on further deregulation, privatisation and tax cuts, might seem to be Thatcherism’s unfinished business.

Taxation: from promises to practice

Reform’s neoliberal outlook on the economy is reflected in the range of tax cuts pledged in its 2024 manifesto. Ahead of the local elections last year, several Reform candidates reiterated these pledges, vowing either to freeze or cut council tax.

The opposite has happened, though. As reported recently, nine Reform councils raised Band D council tax for 2026-27 by an average of 3.94%. And while that was lower than the overall average increase of 4.86%, it shows that – when confronted with budgetary constraints – Reform is willing to follow the same fiscal patterns as other mainstream parties. In other words, by increasing what is ultimately a regressive tax that disproportionately affects poorer households.

This dynamic echoes once again the discrepancy between the party’s “populist” image and its neoliberal, austerity-prone policy agenda.

Reform’s track record in these areas of policymaking points to a broader conclusion. Much of the existing literature treats populism primarily as a discursive phenomenon – a way of framing politics in terms of “the people” versus “the elite”.

But Reform’s experience in local government shows that its actual politics might in fact tilt towards the interest of the latter. This is precisely where current research remains scant.

On the eve of a new round of local elections, Reform is likely to extend its presence across councils in England. But its first year in power already suggests that “the people” it claims to represent are not necessarily the same people who benefit from its rise to power.

The actress says she feels grateful to be a woman working in the TV industry now – rather than in the era of Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles

Emily Atack has told how playing Sarah Stratton in Rivals has made her realise how lucky she is to be a woman working in TV with a baby in the present day – rather than in the 80s.

In the show her ambitious, bed-hopping character Sarah is now the co-host of a gossip show, Uncensored, alongside her role on the daytime sofa with lover James Vereker.

But her boss, Corinium TV’s Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), is not happy when he finds out she is pregnant – telling her it is “hugely inconvenient” and suggesting she has a termination.

READ MORE: Secrets of Rivals series 2 – Sex and shocks that will ‘knock your socks off’READ MORE: Cast of Rivals’ heartfelt Jilly Cooper Day tribute ahead of series two launch

In real life Emily, 36, gave birth to baby son Barney, with partner Alistair Garner, in June 2024 and says she feels “lucky” compared to the women of 30 to 40 years ago.

Speaking at a screening of the new Disney+ series last week, she said it had helped her to play the role. “Well, I’m actually so glad that I went through a pregnancy and a baby before doing this because I really, truly, authentically was able to find that emotion. I was still very hormonal!

“Just having a man say those words to you even! David Tennant, loveliest man in the world, but when he’s that character, Tony, he is so terrifying. It really was genuine and I was watching it back and just seeing the panic in my face.

“It makes me feel very lucky in my life and in these times. I mean, we like to think we’ve moved on, not in all areas, but I have had a baby and I am doing TV shows and I’m not being sacked, so that’s good.

“So I do feel very lucky. But I was very much able to authentically go there and be like, ‘oh my God. I can’t believe women have had to go through that’, you know?”

For the second series of Rivals she says that the men, including Tony and MP Rupert Campbell-Black, think they are in control but it’s the women of fictional Rutshire who end up quietly coming up trumps in the power play, particularly TV producer Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) and Tony’s wife Monica (Claire Rushbrook).

She explains: “I think what’s lovely about it is that these men are really, really powerful with their helicopters and their money and their obvious power. But the secret power is with the women.

“That’s where the writing is so beautiful because it’s kind of hidden and it’s not obvious. And I think, throughout the series, you will see that the secret powers of the women really, really kind of come through and f*** all the men up.”

Fans of the Jilly Cooper bonkbuster will also be thrilled to hear that there is more to come for Freddie and Lizzie, played by Danny Dyer and Katherine Parkinson, who started a passionate fling at the end of series one. This is despite a scene at the start where she feels guilty for cheating and says she needs to stay away from him because Its “hurting my heart”.

Katherine, 48, laughed: “Well, they don’t stay away from each other for very long! It’s not just her own situation, her own marriage and her much younger children, but Freddie’s got these children at that tricky teenage age. I think it hits her, what am I doing getting carried away? A woman in her late forties sort of being giddy.”

The actress, who is married with two kids in real life, added: “She sort of pulls herself up. But then, you know, Freddie says things…”

– Rivals returns on May 15, Disney+

EastEnders’ Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) may be estranged from his son Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple), but he steps up to protect him from violent gangsters next week. 

An oblivious Grant has no idea just how deep Mark has fallen in with the criminal underworld, and as Mark’s deadline to repay his debts to his associates approaches, Grant ends up making things even worse for his long-lost child in forthcoming scenes. 

Fans will remember that Mark landed in serious hot water with the gang he’d been working for when he failed to hand over someone who had been ratting them out to the police. 

That someone just happened to be Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara), but after learning of the informant’s true identity, Mark spared Ravi from retaliation from the gang and was slapped with a debt threat. 

Next week, Mark frets about how he is going to repay the £100k, as his aunt Sam Mitchell (Kim Medcalf) tries to convince him to speak to Grant for help.  

While he’s initially resistant to ask anything of his dad, Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) is on hand to offer some words of wisdom that make him reconsider. 

However, he then changes his mind after a run-in with Grant at the caff involving Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). 

As Mark tries to come up with other ways to raise the funds, but a potential lead through his dodgy dealings with Lauren comes to nothing, and he eventually confides in his sister Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig) about his debts – albeit missing out some crucial details. 

She encourages him to speak to his uncle Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), who agrees to give him £30,000 to buy some time with the gang. But when Grant then learns about what’s been going on from Sam, he is determined to help. 

Knowing the complicated relationship between Mark and Grant, Phil tries to dissuade his brother from getting involved, but he fails to listen and wades in by arranging a meeting with Mark’s boss Russell, who he is familiar with. However, things soon go from bad to worse when their past differences resurface. 

Angered by Grant poking around in his business, Russell breaks into No.43 and tells Vicki the truth about Mark’s dealings, leaving her stunned. 

When she confronts her brother, Mark is more furious to learn of Grant’s meddling, and orders his father out of his life for good. 

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But with Grant determined to build bridges with his son, will his attempts at reconciliation actually place Mark in even more deadly danger?

EastEnders airs these scenes from Monday 11th May at 7.30pm on BBC One or stream first from 6am on iPlayer. 

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Asked to explain this statement by Craig Carr, counsel for the chair of the inquiry, Robinson said: “I suppose, from previous experience, I’m worried about how that’s looked – that we’ve got somebody that’s open to us, and perhaps we’ve not been able to treat them for nine months, or find them.

On his first visit of the day in the national park, the prince chatted with farmers from across Swaledale at Adam and Leanne Hunter’s family farm, near Muker, to learn about their experiences on multi-generational farms, opportunities and challenges shaping modern farming and how they had diversified, transforming their roadside stone barn into a bunkhouse.

Offering the farmers first choice of some cakes he had bought at a cafe en route to the engagement, the prince said he would avoid what he described as the “Twix mountain of calorie grenade” as it would result in him having to do a lot of exercise to work it off.

The Prince of Wales passes round a selection of cake during a visit to Crow Tree Farm, a family farm in Richmond, North Yorkshire, to hear about multi-generational farms and the opportunities and challenges shaping modern farming today (Image: owen humphreys)

He said: “I’ve been to Yorkshire quite a few times and this dale I know reasonably well, but it’s always nice to come up at different times of the year. You see the country changing so much.”

The prince then asked whether the Tour de France Grand Depart he attended in 2014, that passed by the farm, had left a legacy.

He was told while thousands of people visited nearby Muker to see the meadows, Muker farmer Philip Metcalfe said he had invested money raised from 18 fields of campers into a new shower block.

Mr Metcalfe said: “Since then it’s snowballed. We get a lot of people on return visits saying they saw it on the telly.”

Mr Hunter told the prince: “And now with social media that’s keeping the area on the map. It was James Herriot originally.”

It was not long before the prince steered the conversation towards farming and mental health.

He said: “People forget how much time you have to spend on the farm. If you’re not careful you could spend weeks, months without even going off the farm at all.

“Sometimes the remoteness of the job gets forgotten about. Once you get into that rut, that isolated cycle, it’s very hard to come out of it.

“Internally you are a bit like I’ve lost touch, I don’t want to do that, I want to do more work and before you know it you are completely cut off.”

The Prince of Wales speaks to Adam Hunter (right), owner of Crow Tree Farm, during a visit to the family farm in Richmond, North Yorkshire, to hear about multi-generational farms and the opportunities and challenges shaping modern farming today (Image: owen humphreys)

The farmers told the prince how the Upper Swaledale community was “close-knit”, spending time on each other’s farms to complete labour-intensive jobs such as drystone walling and that they would regularly meet in the pub for a chat and game of darts.

“We’ve got a pretty good close-knit community in our dale,” Mr Hunter said.

“The fact that you are all helping each other out makes such a difference,” William said. “I worry about the farmers who don’t have support around them. You just get very much in the moment of your problems and can’t see your way out of it.”

The farmers added they had launched a social media group chat which regularly featured a competition over who is having the worst day.

The Prince of Wales talks with Adam Hunter (second right), owner of Crow Tree Farm, and farmers from across Swaledale during a visit to the family farm in Richmond, North Yorkshire, to hear about multi-generational farms and the opportunities and challenges shaping modern farming today (Image: owen humphreys)

Mr Hunter said: “In farming you sometimes think it’s just you having a problem, but there’s always somebody else who’s having the same problem or worse.”

Asked whether they felt positive about farming, the group told the prince they were optimistic, but facing uncertainty on a number of fronts, particularly following the loss of the Basic Payment Scheme, which is being phased out.

Mr Hunter said: “Unfortunately most farms up here now need some sort of other income to support the farm.”

The prince responded: “The hard thing is you’ve got to be farmers, accountants, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment. Do you feel that pressure?”

Mr Hunter said: “We’re farmers at heart, that’s what we really want to be doing. It’s all the other stuff that you have to you have to learn to do.”

James Metcalfe, 23, told the prince he was more hopeful for a bright future for farming than his father, Philip.

The Prince of Wales during a visit to Crow Tree Farm, a family farm in Richmond, North Yorkshire, to hear about multi-generational farms and the opportunities and challenges shaping modern farming today (Image: owen humphreys)

Philip Metcalfe said: “The reason I am sceptical is because I think we have just come out of the golden age of agriculture.”

The farmers told the prince they were feeling the loss of the Single Farm Payment and the abrupt closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive to new applicants had hit them hard as they needed to plan years ahead.

The group told the prince they feared they could be the last generation to farm the dale, but “at the moment that could be a possibility”. 

Mr Hunter said: “On our hill farm our accountant said the BPS is your profit figure and it isn’t there now. It’s a subsidy to keep us here. We want to look after this landscape. We’re proud of where we live.”  

The company has announced that it will be shutting the doors to its Teesside Park store on Thursday, May 14, after just less than ten years. 

The store is the final Charles Clinkard shop on Teesside following the closures of its original Middlesbrough shop on Corporation Road and the Redcar branch in 2024. 

A statement confirming the Teesside Park closure on its website states: “We regret to announce that our Teesside Park store will be permanently closing Thursday, May 14. 

Charles Clinkard at Teesside Park (Image: GOOGLE)

“We would like to sincerely thank all our customers for their support and custom over the years.”

The reason behind the closure has not yet been confirmed. 

This means that there will no longer be a Charles Clinkard shop on Teesside, with the nearest now being Darlington and Northallerton. 

The first Charles Clinkard was opened by Charles and Eveline Clinkard in 1924 in Middlesbrough, with the Redcar store following in 1959. 

The Middlesbrough store closure came as a huge blow to shoppers in 2024, with the firm saying it was “responding to shifts in the North East high street” as the reason behind the call. 

The firm’s 4,500sq ft Teesside Park branch was opened in 2014 following a huge £300,000 refit of the closed HMV store. 

Former managing director Colin Clinkard, whose parents opened the first Charles Clinkard in 1924, cut the ribbon on the site, which delivered 20 new jobs.

Shoppers have already voiced their disappointment over the closure.

One person said: “Shame. They have nice shoes and bags, and shoe shops are few these days.”

For funeral directors, being visible at that moment has never been more important – yet many are finding it harder than ever to stand out online.

To support funeral directors through these changes, LOCALiQ UK is hosting a free 45‑minute online seminar designed specifically for the funeral profession called Increase Your Google Visibility: Five Easy Wins for Funeral Directors. 

The session will take place at 12 pm on Thursday, May 7, and you can sign up for it on the LOCALiQ website.

Brandon Griffin, Head of B2B Marketing at LOCALiQ UK, and Sarah Harvey, Sales Excellence Manager, will be hosting the seminar (Image: LOCALiQ)

It will explore how changes in local search, reviews and online trust signals are affecting funeral businesses and, crucially, what practical steps can be taken to improve visibility without technical expertise.

The seminar is hosted by Brandon Griffin, Head of B2B Marketing at LOCALiQ UK, and Sarah Harvey, Sales Excellence Manager, who works closely with independent funeral directors across the UK.

Together, they will share real‑world examples and simple actions that can make a meaningful difference locally. 

Rather than focusing on complex marketing jargon, the webinar centres around five easy wins — practical improvements that funeral directors can realistically implement alongside their day‑to‑day responsibilities.

These include getting more value from Google Business Profiles, building trust through reviews, ensuring websites clearly reflect services offered, and strengthening local authority signals that search engines now prioritise.

Importantly, the session also addresses a concern many funeral directors are quietly expressing: “Nothing has changed — but something feels different.” 

Families are still searching, but how and where those searches are surfaced has evolved.

Understanding those shifts can help protect call volumes and enquiries now, not months down the line. 

The webinar is free to attend, lasts just 45 minutes, and is designed to leave attendees with clear takeaways they can act on immediately.

LOCALiQ won Standout SEO Agency of the Year at the 2026 UK Digital Excellence Awards. 

Reuben Owen and his girlfriend Jessica Ellwood have been together since October 2024 and are starring in the new series of Life in the Dales on Channel 5

Reuben Owen and girlfriend Jessica Ellwood are back on our screens for another series of Life In The Dales.

The Channel 5 show chronicles the young farmer’s journey through the ups and downs of managing a machinery business at Ravenseat, the sprawling 2,000-acre family farm in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, where he honed his skills under the guidance of his parents, Clive and Amanda Owen.

Reuben, 22, first captured the nation’s hearts on Our Yorkshire Farm before Life In The Dales launched in 2024.

Beyond showcasing his farming exploits, he regularly offers fans a peek into his personal life with Jessica.

Jessica herself comes from a farming background, working on her parents’ Brough Castle farm, which houses hundreds of animals, reports the Express.

The couple got together in October 2024, and have since shared some loved-up posts on social media, marking Valentine’s Day, their anniversary and spending Christmas together.

They met at a young farmers’ convention, with Jessica later sharing on the show: “Ever since we first met, we just clicked. I think it’s because I’m from a farming background, so’s Reuben.”

She added: “I just love him to bits. Love his family, get on great with them.”

Reuben meanwhile told OK magazine: “It took me a while to ask her out, I wasn’t that brave but I just asked her one night, we went out for some tea one night and I’d lost my wallet and she had to pay for my dinner!”

In a previous interview with The Mirror, Reuben shared how his family reacted to Jessica, saying: “Mum and Jess get on well, they talk about sheep together, they all approve and they all get along really well.”

The couple are also planning on moving in together soon, as he added: “We’re just waiting for something to come up. I’ve got to try and get a nice place, get a bit of a farm somewhere one day.

“It would be ideal to have a farm where I can park my diggers and she can have her sheep and cows.”

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When probed on the prospect of starting a family, referencing his parents’ large brood, he quipped: “I don’t think I fancy nine of them, I don’t fancy nine at all. We’ll have to wait and see.”

In a 2023 article for Farmers Guardian, Jessica, then 18, spoke about growing up on Brough Castle Farm in Cumbria.

She said: “Farming is in my blood: I grew up on Brough Castle Farm and remember helping my mum and dad in the fields from a young age. Since then, it is all I have ever wanted to do.

“I am now working full-time alongside my dad and taking on more responsibilities for different parts of the farm, which is really exciting. I have always loved working with animals too, particularly cows and sheep; they have their own personalities and I feel like I know them all. Because I have grown up with them since I was very little, I see all the animals as part of our family.”

Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales airs Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 5.

Paul Page has also spent time in prison after admitting making indecent images of children

A former British soldier who stockpiled more than 600 weapons in his “man cave” after developing a fascination for Nazi Germany has been jailed for six years. Paul Page, 52, a convicted paedophile, collected landmines, grenades, rifles, ammunition, and chemicals in a shed he also described as a “personal museum” .

Page, of Littleport, admitted a string of terrorism, explosives, and firearms charges. He was jailed at the Old Bailey for six years with a further year on extended licence.

During sentencing on Tuesday, May 5, Judge Richard Marks KC said Page had an “obsession with weapons and tools”. He also said Page was capable of repairing and making firearms, ammunition, and functioning explosives.

Even though Page said he kept the stash under lock and key, the judge said it was in a residential area and potentially within reach of children if he was not “100% vigilant”. Had the shed been burgled and the items got into the wrong hands, “the consequences could have been very serious”, the judge added.

Judge Marks also noted Page’s post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and history of sexual offending in the United States and UK. The defendant had been monitored by dedicated officers after he was previously convicted of child abuse in the US in 2006.

The weapons offences emerged after a separate investigation by Cambridgeshire Police into reports that Page had downloaded child abuse images in 2023. Officers uncovered more than 250 illegal images on Page’s devices.

In August 2023, he was jailed for 20 months after admitting three charges of making indecent images of children. During a search of his home in May 2023, officers had also discovered a hoard of Nazi flags, Second World War weapons, and chemicals in an outbuilding.

It led to a separate investigation by Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (Ersou). Counter-terrorism officers found that Page had more than 600 weapons and other military items linked to Nazi activity during the Second World War.

Police said that although much of this was legal memorabilia, he was in possession of prohibited items including landmines, grenades, rifles, and ammunition. A book was seized containing instructions on how to produce a sub-machine gun.

Component parts of firearms, bullet casings, and shells were recovered. There were also several chemicals that, if combined, were precursor materials useful for the manufacture of explosives. Page had also downloaded a banned document containing instructions to make viable explosives.

In interview, Page had denied holding an extreme right-wing mindset, despite having an email address which referenced numbers associated with Adolf Hitler and a tattoo linked to white supremacy, police said. He described the outbuilding as his “man cave” and “personal museum”, saying he had a deep fascination with anything military.

Bethan David, head of counter terrorism for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Paul Page stockpiled weaponry, chemicals and ammunition in a shed at his family home. He had previously manufactured explosive powder and admitted to an obsession with weapons. The seriousness of his offending has been reflected in the sentence passed down today.”

Page pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a document or record likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism; two counts of possessing an explosive substance; four counts of possessing a firearm without a certificate; two counts related to the possession of a prohibited firearm; possession of prohibited ammunition; and possession of ammunition without a certificate.

Daniel Simpson told a jury that he was not aware of what was going to happen before the car he was in was rammed into a parked VW Passat.

Teesside Crown Court has watched harrowing CCTV footage of the four accused males jumping out of their black Chevrolet 4×4 and attack the occupants of the VW with machetes and a BB gun.

The 32-year-old told the court: “I didn’t know that was about to go on. If I knew that was going to go on, I would have gotten out of the car.”

Anthony Lee Dickons (Image: Cleveland Police)

Anthony Dickons was fatally injured when he was slashed with a machete in a car park on Orme Court, Middlesbrough, on November 6, last year.

The security footage captured the defendants block in the car before they all rushed out of the vehicle and launched what the prosecution say is a “ferocious” attack while someone was shouting ‘where’s the f****** gear?’.

During cross examination, John Elvidge KC, prosecuting, asked Simpson why he got out of the car ahead of the attack, Simpson said: “I made a stupid decision to get out of the car.

“There was no purpose to me getting out of the car, I shouldn’t have even been involved in it.”

The defendant claimed he was told to get out of the car, but said he didn’t go there to support them or help them and didn’t realise what was going to happen as he was ‘too busy sniffing coke in the back of the car’.

He said he was simply ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’.

Orme Court, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough (Image: Google)

Morgan Caldwell has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Anthony Dickons and causing grievous bodily harm to a second man, Stephen Law, during the violent attack.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service rejected the 26-year-old’s plea, and he remains on trial for murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, to Mr Law.

Caldwell and Simpson travelled to Scotland, and days later they boarded an early ferry to Belfast, in Northern Ireland, where they were arrested on November 11.

The court heard how Simpson made a number of internet searches on his phone, including ‘cheap flights to Dubai’ and ‘non-extradition countries’.

Simpson, 32, of Coledale Road, Berwick Hills, 24-year-old Dominic Hall, of Greencroft Walk, 26-year-old Caldwell, of Cannock Road and the teenager, all of Middlesbrough, deny the murder of 44-year-old Mr Dickons.

They also deny a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against Mr Law.

The trial continues.