Ministers withdrew four council reorganisation decisions on 7 September after legal advice and froze the rest, so May 2027 elections run on existing boundaries. Reform UK announced £72m from two donors days before peers began debating donation caps that, as tabled, would not reach it. Labour promised electoral Reform, Holyrood's Labour MSPs backed Scotland's right to decide, and Reform lost two Northumberland seats to Labour with Restore Britain, a party to its right, on the ballot.
Councils, donors and parties are moving before the courts, the Lords or Labour's manifesto fix the rules.
Jim McMahon withdrew the Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk reorganisations on 7 September, citing updated legal advice, and put every July decision under review.
Jim McMahon, the local government minister, scrapped the council merger plans for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk on 7 September. Next May's council elections in reorganising areas will use today's boundaries.
The July decisions for 14 other counties were paused, not cancelled. That leaves councils such as Lancashire deciding by about 16 October whether to go to court to protect their position.
Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne each gave Reform UK £36m on consecutive days in September, according to PA Media, as the Met weighed reports about the party's polling.
United KingdomFranceReform UK took two gifts of £36m each in September. Ben Delo's was announced on 11 September and Christopher Harborne's a day later, PA Media reported.
PA Media, citing The Telegraph, said Delo's gift was paid upfront to cover the years to 2029. The Metropolitan Police says reports about donations and polling involving a party need investigating, after a Channel 4 News programme about Reform.
The Lords gave the Representation of the People Bill its Second Reading on 14 September; four of the 73 amendments since tabled would limit how much one donor can give.
Peers gave the Representation of the People Bill its Second Reading on 14 September. By 5 October, 73 amendments were waiting for a committee stage with no date set.
Four of them would cap donations, from Lord Cromwell's £100,000 every five years to Lord Carlile's £5m a year. As written, none would touch gifts made before the new law starts.
Three days after Michael Marra won the Scottish Labour leadership, all 17 of his MSPs backed John Swinney's motion on Scotland's right to decide its own future.
Michael Marra is Scottish Labour's new leader, elected on 19 September by 4,266 votes to Joe Fagan's 2,485. On 22 September all 17 Labour members of the Scottish Parliament backed John Swinney's motion on Scotland's right to decide its future.
Labour first added its child-poverty goals to the text. The vote passed 84 to 18 but does not commit Labour to an independence referendum.
Andy Burnham told Labour conference on 29 September that the next manifesto will commit to a new electoral system, and announced a cross-party commission to design it.
Andy Burnham told Labour's conference in Liverpool on 29 September that the party's next manifesto will promise a new voting system. He did not say which one.
He also launched a National Commission on Electoral Reform, which has no chair yet. Kemi Badenoch rejected the idea on 2 October, saying Burnham wanted to lock in the left.
Labour won Hirst and Amble from Reform UK on 1 October, the first contests of the autumn in which Restore Britain also stood.
Labour took two Northumberland County Council seats, Hirst and Amble, from Reform UK on 1 October. They were among the first council by-elections this autumn with Restore Britain on the ballot.
In Amble, Labour won on 38.8%, while Reform and Restore together took 40.2%. Four Reform councillors in Plymouth, Dudley and Gloucestershire also moved to Restore in September.
The Plaid Cymru government's programme names six priorities, with no targets for waiting times or child poverty and no partner party, as Reform's MSs narrowly chose Helen Jenner to lead Reform UK in Wales.
Rhun ap Iorwerth's Welsh Government set out six priorities for 2026 to 2030 on 22 September. It set no targets for waiting times or child poverty and named no partner party in the Senedd.
Reform UK's leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, resigned on 15 September after Gwent Police arrested him. He was released on bail and has not been charged, and says he has done nothing wrong. Reform's MSs narrowly elected Helen Jenner on 21 September.
Three Durham councillors left Reform UK on 15 September and a fourth followed, leaving the party one departure from losing its outright majority on paper.
Reform UK holds 50 of 98 seats on Durham County Council, with 97 councillors sitting, the council's member list showed on 7 October. Reform won 65 seats there in May 2025.
Three councillors left the party on 15 September and Aaron Hillam followed later that month. Losing one more member would cut Reform to 49, level with every other councillor combined once the empty seat is filled.
The elections regulator has opened a review of party and candidate spending limits, at ministers' request, with recommendations due in July 2027.
The Electoral Commission has opened a review of how much parties and candidates may spend on election campaigns. Ministers asked for it in July, and it will report in July 2027.
Vijay Rangarajan, the Commission's chief executive, linked spending levels to public trust in the rules. Caps on donations are a separate argument, now running in the House of Lords.
Camden Council's statement of persons nominated lists 15 candidates for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, which polls on Thursday 8 October.
Voters in Holborn and St Pancras, the London seat Keir Starmer used to hold, elect a new MP on Thursday 8 October. Camden Council's official list names 15 candidates.
In August the Clacton by-election had 34 names on its ballot. Under election law, nobody may publish an exit poll or any forecast based on how people voted until polls close at 10pm.
Luton Borough Council's Labour leader Tahmina Saleem lost a no-confidence vote, and Liberal Democrat Amjid Ali now leads a coalition.
Councillors in Luton removed Tahmina Saleem, Labour's council leader since May 2026, in a vote of no confidence, the BBC reported on 16 September. Amjid Ali of the Liberal Democrats has taken over, at the head of a coalition.
Luton Liberal Democrats describe him as the town's first council leader of Kashmiri heritage. The change came mid-term, with no election held.
Up on litigation, sideways on party finance. If Lancashire County Council or any council that sent a pre-action letter files a claim before about 16 October, ministers face a court timetable on top of their own review, and Rayner has already declined to publish the advice behind the March withdrawals. On donations, the trigger is the Lords committee stage on the Representation of the People Bill: no date was set as of 5 October, and the Government has not said which of the Hayter, Carter of Haslemere, Cromwell or Carlile designs, if any, it backs. As tabled, none would reach the £72m announced in September. In Durham, one more Reform UK departure would leave the party on 49 of 98 seats.
