| Dear Reader,
On Thursday, polling day for local elections finally arrives in England, after a year-long delay due to Covid-19. We provide all the details, including what time polls open and which councils are taking part, in this helpful summary.
More than 5,000 seats will be fought over, but in few places will the candidacy be as tightly contested as in Hartlepool, where a furious turf war has erupted. But are voters in the northern town’s by-election concerned by the recent Downing Street affairs or will local issues be the deciding factor? Sherelle Jacobs explores whether voters will be sticking to old allegiances in this thought-provoking piece.
May 6 also marks the date of the Scottish elections, when 129 MSPs will be elected to Holyrood. Boris Johnson is expected to launch a "desperate counter-offensive" to head off Nicola Sturgeon and forestall an independence bid, should the SNP gain ground on Thursday. Ahead of the contest, Christopher Hope looks at how the Prime Minister plans to spend billions of pounds on road, rail and other transport infrastructure to help save the Union.
The ban on foreign holidays is set to be lifted and replaced with a much-discussed "traffic light system" in two weeks. Further details are expected in the coming days, but the European Commission has today proposed that Europe should reopen to vaccinated travellers, raising hopes for summer holidays abroad. You can follow the latest updates on our liveblog.
Finally, novelist Hilary Mantel is a "woman of quite extraordinary drive", with two Booker prizes to her name alongside award-winning TV adaptations and a RSC play. Here she talks to Jessamy Calkin about penning the final pages of the Wolf Hall trilogy, her quiet life in seaside Budleigh Salterton and what it is like to manage a debilitating illness for more than 40 years.
Chris
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