From two-horse race to five-way power dogfight

THE local elections on May 1 take place in unprecedented circumstances.

- SIR JOHN CURTICE

Never before have both Labour, whose average poll rating is just 24%, and the Tories, on 22%, been so unpopular at the same time.

Both are struggling to keep pace with Reform on 25%.

British politics was once a two-horse race between Conservative and Labour.

Now it is a fragmented five-way battle.

Even the Greens (9%) are at a record high in the polls, while the Liberal Democrats (14%) are a force again.

The council seats being contested were last fought over four years ago.

Riding high on the back of a successful Covid vaccine rollout, Boris Johnson's Conservatives were on 42% in the polls, nine points ahead of Labour.

Reform UK barely registered at all.