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London authorities are calling for the establishment of a 'Combined Board' - of the London Councils' Executive Committee and the Mayor of London - to be enshrined in the English Devolution Bill:

Reading the results of the 1964 London elections - 12 months before the new boundaries took effect in 1965. Lewisham and Barking & Dagenham have no political opposition today, whereas it was Hackney and Islington in 1964. Labour secured 1,112 seats versus the Conservatives' 668:

In the Planning and Infrastructure Bill the Government will introduce powers to establish a national scheme of delegation (b) require training for planning committee members and (c) control the size of planning committees. Here's what the Government anticipates it'll address:

Tomorrow 8 per cent of England's local authorities will be up for election. Here's the Institute for Government's map of which political parties run those authorities:

According to Shelter, 206,000 children will be living in temporary accommodation by 2029 – a 26 per cent increase over five years – while the cost to the taxpayer is set to rise by 71 per cent to £3.9 billion a year. Eye-watering.

If I were creating a chronology of Special Economic Zones - Development Corporations, Enterprise Zones, University Enterprise Zones, Freeports and Investment Zones - what would be the most significant dates? If you're aware of a chronology already in existence, even better.

Yesterday Reform was the sixth largest party in local government in England and Wales with 128 councillors. Plaid Cymru was fifth with 201 councillors and the Green Party was the fourth largest with 810 councillors. Reform has overtaken Plaid but shouldn't overtake the Greens.

The Conservatives have recorded their worst performance in local elections. From the FT:

Our Labour Together analysis (h/t Jack Shaw) reveals Reform now oversee £10 billion of public cash. There is now no hiding place for Nigel Farage. Labour must put Reform under an intense spotlight. The next general election looks like it’s shaping up as Labour versus Reform.

In light of Reform suggesting that Reform-led local authorities will frustrate the Home Office, it might be worth reading this article I wrote in 2023 about authorities' appetite for resistance. Are the rules of the game being re-written? newstatesman.com/spotlight/econ…

New town showdown! I'm going to be in Bristol discussing the government's plans for #NewTowns on evening of 29 May, together with Jack Shaw Biljana Savic and Pippa Goldfinger. Tickets on sale now. designwest.org.uk/whats-on/new-t…

On how much Reform authorities control, I estimate circa £10 billion - rather than £13.6 billion reported elsewhere. It's higher than £10 billion if the strategic authorities are taken into account - but Hull & East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire have small annual budgets.