Chris Mason: Elections this week a smorgasbord of competitiveness

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Chris Mason: Elections this week a smorgasbord of competitiveness Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Chris Mason Political editor Ian Forsyth via Getty Images There are now just days left before a vital set of elections around Britain on Thursday, which will determine who spends billions of pounds of taxpayers' money and will shape the mood and career prospects of political leaders in town halls, in Holyrood, in the Senedd and in Westminster. Depending on where you are reading this, your doormat may have been carpeted with colourful leaflets for weeks and your TV and social media feeds chocca with political promises. You may already have voted - postal votes have been arriving with people and been posted back for some time now.

Or perhaps you are in Northern Ireland or the parts of England without elections this year and this is all stuff happening elsewhere. Wherever you are, these elections matter and tell us something about the British political tussle of the mid-2020s. In recent years, the palette of popular political parties has widened.

The Details

For decades, Labour and the Conservatives were the primary colours of British politics. Not the only parties, for sure, but - most of the time at least - standing tall compared with their Westminster rivals. Now, almost wherever you look, politics feels like it is changing.

As well as Labour and the Conservatives, in the English local contests there are the Liberal Democrats, there is Reform UK, there is the Green Party of England and Wales and there are often competitive independents too. In the devolved elections, in Wales there is Plaid Cymru, which would one day like to see an independent Wales, and in Scotland, there are the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish National Party, both of whom would like to see Scotland become independent. Most of these parties have been around for a long time, Reform UK less so.

But what has changed is they all appear more competitive in more places than they used to be. And this has coincided with Labour and the Conservatives both being unpopular at the same time, which is rare. This fracturing was clear at the last general election two years ago, even if the make-up of the House of Commons afterwards didn't really reflect it.

What Experts Say

Labour won a huge majority of seats, but did so with the smallest ever vote share for a government with an overall majority in the House of Commons. And it was simultaneously the first time since 1832 that the Conservatives had won less than 30% at a general election. Of course, the popularity or otherwise of all parties ebbs and flows over time, and as recently as the 2017 general election Labour and the Conservatives managed 82.

4% of the vote between them. But the longer-term trend is clear.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.