- Aug 16
Reform UK unveils £50bn welfare cut plan targeting disability benefits and foreign nationals
Reform UK will detail plans to cut £50bn from Britain's welfare bill, abolishing PIP for 2.89 million disabled claimants and barring foreign nationals from almost all benefits, at a press conference on 17 August.
- Aug 14
Farage wins Clacton by-election against Count Binface as donation probe restarts
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage regained his Clacton-on-Sea seat on 14 August 2026 in a by-election he triggered, winning between 62.8% and 63.3% of the vote against satirical candidate Count Binface, while a parliamentary probe into a £5 million undeclared donation restarts.
- Aug 14
Farage reclaims Clacton seat with 22,239 votes, defeating Count Binface in boycotted by-election
Nigel Farage won 22,239 votes in the Clacton-on-Sea by-election on August 14, 2026, defeating satirical candidate Count Binface and returning to Westminster after resigning in July over undeclared donation scandals.
- Aug 12
Farage regains Clacton seat with 62.8% as standards probe into £5m gift resumes
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage regained his Clacton parliamentary seat with 62.8% of the vote on August 14, but the parliamentary standards probe into a £5 million undeclared gift resumed hours later. Comedy candidate Count Binface secured a record 26.7%.
- Aug 10
Record 230 migrants cross English Channel on single boat as smugglers shift to mega-dinghies
A 15-meter inflatable dinghy carrying 230 people reached Dover from France on Monday, setting a record for the most passengers on a single Channel crossing as smugglers adopt larger vessels to evade beach patrols.
- Aug 4
157 migrants rescued from burning boat in English Channel, one of the largest operations since 2018
French and British coastguard vessels took 152 people off an overloaded migrant boat whose engine caught fire, after five others had been evacuated overnight on the France-UK water border early Tuesday, in one of the largest Channel rescue operations since crossings began in 2018.
- Aug 2
Reform UK proposes Royal Navy-led 'Operation Fortress' to stop Channel migrant boats
Nigel Farage's party says it would launch the 'largest military operation in the English Channel since World War Two' to intercept small boats and return asylum seekers to France, drawing immediate criticism from naval experts and political rivals.
- Jul 29
Green leader Polanski refuses to apologise to Farage over guillotine T-shirt post as police investigate
Green Party leader Zack Polanski says sharing a guillotine T-shirt image on Instagram was an inadvertent mistake, but refuses to apologise to Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party reported him to police for incitement to murder.
- Jul 21
Former UK minister Ann Widdecombe killed by 21 hammer blows to the head, court told
Camera footage shows 28-year-old Joshua Kerry entering her southwest England home, demanding bank cards, then striking her 21 times after she failed to appear for a live interview on 8 July.
- Jul 20
Andy Burnham appointed UK prime minister after Keir Starmer resigns: 'We must be better'
The former Greater Manchester mayor took office following a formal audience with King Charles III, becoming the sixth prime minister in a decade.
- Jul 10
Former UK minister Ann Widdecombe, 78, murdered at her Dartmoor home; 26-year-old suspect arrested
Devon and Cornwall Police launched a murder investigation after the Brexiteer and former Conservative junior minister was discovered with serious injuries on Thursday. A 26-year-old British man was arrested on Friday afternoon.
- Jul 10
Ann Widdecombe killing was 'targeted attack', UK counter-terror police say; foreign interference not ruled out
Counter-terrorism police confirmed on Tuesday that the killing of former Conservative minister and Reform UK figure Ann Widdecombe, 78, was a targeted attack, and said investigators are keeping an open mind on whether foreign state interference played a role.
- Jul 10
Met Police launch criminal investigation into £500,000 of Reform UK donations from fraudster’s mother
Metropolitan Police detectives are investigating £500,000 in donations made to Reform UK by Fiona Cottrell, mother of convicted fraudster George Cottrell, over potential breaches of political donation laws after a referral from the Electoral Commission.
- Jul 5
Nigel Farage's Clacton by-election becomes two-man race against comedy candidate Count Binface as all main parties boycott
Nigel Farage's triggered by-election in Clacton has turned into a one-on-one contest with satirical candidate Count Binface after Labour, the Conservatives, and other main parties refused to field candidates, calling it a farce.
- Jun 23
Ten years after Brexit referendum, young Britons overwhelmingly back EU return as economic costs mount
A decade after the UK voted to leave the EU, polls show 60% of 18-28 year olds would vote to rejoin, while a new report estimates the economy is 6-8% smaller than it would have been.
- Jun 22
Starmer resigns as UK PM after Labour rebellion, Burnham emerges as frontrunner
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned on Monday after a Labour Party rebellion ended his short premiership. Former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is now the frontrunner to replace him.
- Jun 21
Ten years after the Brexit vote, 63% of Britons want to rejoin the EU, but political and diplomatic barriers remain
A decade after the 2016 referendum, multiple surveys show a clear majority of British people now consider leaving the European Union a mistake and support rejoining, though UK politicians and EU diplomats remain cautious.
- Jun 20
Andy Burnham wins Makerfield by-election, opening door to Labour leadership challenge against Keir Starmer
Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, won a decisive by-election in Makerfield, returning to Parliament and clearing the way to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour Party leadership and the UK premiership.
- Jun 19
Burnham wins Makerfield seat as cabinet ministers urge Starmer to quit
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham won a decisive by-election in Makerfield on Friday, clearing the path for a leadership bid against a weakened Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
- Jun 18
Makerfield by-election: Burnham vies for seat that could end Starmer's premiership
Voters in Makerfield, a former coal-mining constituency near Manchester, are casting ballots in a by-election that could install Andy Burnham as a Labour MP and set the stage for a challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
