Remember when we all thought Susan Hall had won the London mayoral election because some 'journalists' were told what to say on WhatsApp? We should remember that.

Andy Street: From a groundbreaking devolution deal to rejecting his own party’s line on HS2 and culture wars. But still, ultimately, a crushing defeat:
on.ft.com/3ULuIPZ

I’m sure Sir Robbie Gibb will be looking into this …

Westminster completely lost its mind during the news vacuum waiting for the London mayoral results. Here’s why:

In London the Britain First candidate was beaten by a guy with a bin for a head whose main policy is to reinstate Ceefax

Bravo

Now that we have an actual swing from the Conservatives to Labour, I’d be interested in the sourcing of “it is clear tonight”. (The final Savanta poll got the result pretty much right.)

100%

'Senior sources are telling me' 🤡

With Andy Street's loss, the locals starting to look like a real shoeing for the Conservatives now:

❌ Lost half the seats they held
❌ Lost 10/11 mayoral races
❌ Lost control of 12 councils
❌ Lost by a mile in Blackpool South
❌ Lost to Lib Dems on council seats won

Labour won by just 1,508 votes in the West Midlands - incredible how politics can turn on just a handful of votes

And about journalists repeating unverified claims (not Faisal).

Quite something to recall that autumn relaunch

Canned hs2 p2 against wishes of Andy Street, Conservative with the biggest personal mandate in the UK.

To replace with promised funding for local projects across English council areas…

- WM looks lost
- half council seats lost

Labour say they have beaten Andy Street in the West Midlands mayoral contest.

Huge blow for Rishi Sunak, needless to say.

BREAKING: Labour's Richard Parker has defeated Tory incumbent Andy Street in the West Midlands, Sky News understands

Beth Rigby has the latest from the count in Brimingham ⬇️

#PoliticsHub trib.al/ftpea6d

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube

This has been a bad couple of days for UK political journalism. So much self-referential, unsubstantiated gossip. I got the gossip too, but you don't have to publish it. So much attention to undeclared results, so little analysis of policy. Such bad extrapolation.

The Everton sale that stalled over the finances of the bidder, 777 Partners? Don't expect a quick resolution after the lawsuit that was filed yesterday. nytimes.com/2024/05/04/wor…

Major fraud claim against prospective Everton owners 777 filed last night. Story on Bloomberg.

Leadenhall, London based co, claims 777 borrowed $350m by pledging assets that it either didn’t own, or didn’t exist.

(E.g. borrowing $$$ against a home that you don’t own)

Will Sadiq Khan’s victory in the mayoral election be seen as indicative of a wider mandate for climate policy, in the same way that the Uxbridge by-election result last year was seen as indicative of the opposite?

In the North East London constituency the 'Britain First: No to Immigration' candidate was beaten by the Animal Welfare Party, Count Binface, and a random independent.

God I love my city.

Sadiq Khan claims victory in quest for third term as London mayor ft.com/content/e9a597… via @ft