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Reform UK's success in the recent local elections has propelled many councillors with limited or no political experience into council chambers across England.

While Reform UK's rise was the big story of those elections, almost half of the councils up for grabs were not won outright by any single party.

That means many of those newbie councillors are now navigating so-called hung councils, where parties with little in common often work together to get the business of local government done.

But so far, it hasn't panned out that way for Reform UK, which isn't involved in any formal coalitions, pacts or deals in areas where there were local elections this year.

This was despite rampant speculation about Reform-Conservative coalitions ahead of the polls, with party leaders Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage not ruling out council deals.

So, what's going on?

Minority rule

In some places – Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire – Reform UK has enough councillors to form minority administrations and is attempting to govern alone.

In other areas where coalitions were possible, Reform UK has either shunned co-operation or vice versa. Where Reform UK has explored potential partnerships locally, its policies have been viewed with suspicion by the established parties.

In Cornwall, the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives refused to work with Reform UK, even though it was the biggest party and had won the most seats.

Instead, the Lib Dems teamed up with independent councillors to run Cornwall Council as a minority administration.

That infuriated Reform UK's group leader in Cornwall, Rob Parsonage, who branded the coalition deal "undemocratic" and "a total stitch-up".

Did other parties contrive to exclude Reform UK? The newly minted Lib Dem council leader, Leigh Frost, does not think so.

"The reality is our core values at heart of it just stand for two very different things and it makes working together incompatible," Frost told the BBC.

"And then Reform was given two weeks to try to form an administration and chose not to."

Frost said Reform UK's Cornwall candidates mainly campaigned on immigration.

This was echoed in conversations with other local party leaders across the country.

The BBC was told Reform's candidates had little local policy to offer and mostly focused on national issues, such as stopping small boats crossing the English Channel.

Slashing "wasteful spending" by councils, like Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in the US, was also a common campaign theme.

In Worcestershire, where Reform won the most seats but fell short of a majority, the party's supposed lack of local policy was a major sticking point for the Conservatives.

"They haven't got a local prospectus and that was part of the problem," said Adam Kent, Tory group leader on Worcestershire County Council.

"They didn't stand on any local issues. It was on national politics. How can you go into coalition with somebody if you don't even know what they stand for?"

Joanne Monk, the Reform UK council leader in the county, said she only had "a brief couple of chats" with other party leaders but was uncompromising on coalitions.

"I'm damned sure we're not on the same wavelength," she said.

She followed the lead of Farage, who ruled out formal coalitions at council level but said "in the interests of local people we'll do deals", in comments ahead of the local elections.

In Worcestershire, Reform UK's minority administration may need to do deals to pass key decisions and avoid other parties banding together to veto their plans.

Recognising this, she acknowledged other parties were "going to have to work with us at some point".

In Northumberland, the Conservatives retained their position as the largest party and gave the impression they were willing to entertain coalition talks with Reform UK, which gained 23 seats.

"I said I would work with anyone and my door is open," said Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson.

"But Reform the next day put out a press release saying the price for working with the Conservatives would be extremely high. So on that basis, I assumed that was the door closed on me."

No talks were held and the Conservatives formed a minority administration.

Weeks had passed after the local elections before Mark Peart was voted in as Reform UK's local group leader in the county. As a result, he wasn't in a position to talk to anybody.

"Everything had already been agreed," Peart said. "It was too late."

Training ground

Reform UK sources admitted the party was caught a bit flat-footed here and elsewhere as many of its new councillors got the grips with their new jobs in the weeks following the local elections.

A support network for those councillors, in the form of training sessions and a local branch system, is being developed by the party.

But this week Zia Yusuf, one of the key architects behind that professionalisation drive and the Doge cost-cutting initiative, resigned as party chairman, leaving a gap in the party's leadership.

Reform UK's deputy leader, Richard Tice, said the party's success at the local elections "was partly because of the significant efforts and improvements to the infrastructure of the party" spearheaded by Yusuf.

Though Yusuf is gone, the party has considerably strengthened its foundations at local level, after gaining 677 new councillors and two mayors.

A Reform UK source said party bosses will be keeping an eye out for stand-out councillors who could go on to become parliamentary candidates before the general election.

They said in areas where Reform UK runs councils as a minority administration, it's going to take some compromise with other parties and independents to pass budgets and key policies.

In the messy world of town halls and council chambers, that could be a tough apprenticeship.

A Gavin & Stacey postbox topper has appeared to mark an appearance by the stars of the show, James Corden and Ruth Jones, at the Hay Festival.

The second day of the literary festival will see the pair talking about their book to be published later this year, on the backstage story behind the hit programme.

Reet Prendergast knitted the topper to mark the occasion in the Powys market town, which borders Herefordshire and is famous for its book shops.

Thousands of people are flocking there for more than 600 events over 11 days.

Visitors attending the talk with Corden and Jones will hear about the origins of the award-winning show, its meteoric rise and all about the actors, including their friendship and working relationship.

This month, Jones said the show was "definitely over" but hinted she and Corden could work together again in the future.

She and Corden created and wrote the show, playing Nessa and Smithy, with the first series airing in 2007.

The series officially ended with a grand finale Christmas Day episode last year and became one of the most watched scripted TV shows of the century.

When Friday's talk was announced, Hay Festival chief executive Julie Finch promised fans "a joyful discussion about friendship, creativity and perseverance".

When Gavin met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story of Love and Friendship, is due out in October.

A man in his 50s has died following a crash near Boston involving a lorry and a van.

Lincolnshire Police was called at about 12:55 BST to the A16 between Algarkirk and Sutterton Dowdyke, close to Church Lane.

The man who died was from Holbeach.

Police have appealed for anyone with information or dashcam footage to get in touch with them.

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

Nearly 6,000 people took part in a consultation exercise on the new East West Railway line that will ultimately link Oxford to Cambridge.

There were events at 16 locations along the proposed route between November 2024 and January 2025.

At the events, East West Rail presented information on work to upgrade the existing line between Oxford and Bedford, as well as the proposed new line between Bedford and Cambridge.

It is the third non-statutory consultation that has been carried out, and will help inform the final design, which will be presented for consideration next year.

The highest level of interest came from people who attended the events in Comberton, Great Shelford and Cambourne in Cambridgeshire.

People largely saw the new route as good for the UK's economic development and felt it could drive up local property values, especially in areas like Bicester and Cambourne.

They also felt it could address housing shortages, with more development near the new stations in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

There was concern about the demolition of homes, disruption and negative impacts on businesses and house prices during a prolonged construction phase, as well as the visual impact of the line.

There were questions too about some station designs, changes to major roads and bridges in Bedford and Bicester, and the environmental impact of a viaduct over the River Great Ouse floodplain.

East West Rail said its technical team would now be going through the comments in detail to see if there were any refinements that could be made to the designs.

The creation of a new adult social care team has helped to reduce waiting times for people seeking support in Wolverhampton, the council has said.

City of Wolverhampton Council recently established the front door team as part of its programme to transform adult social care in the area.

It acts as a first point of contact for vulnerable adults who need directing to what support is available, and the authority said it had helped to simplify the process for residents.

According to the council, it has helped to cut the time it takes for people to get support from months to fewer than five days in most cases.

The number of people needing help from social workers has also reduced by half due to the front door team being able to resolve their issues.

'Top priority'

The authority's transformation programme, which includes providing more community-based services outside of care homes, came amid rising demand for adult social care in the city, with an increase of 31% over the last five years.

Its budget for care packages has also increased by £44.6m in that time, with a further £1m approved for 2025 to 2026.

Councillor Paula Brookfield, the council's cabinet member for adults, said adult social care was a "top priority" for people in Wolverhampton.

"We are determined to ensure adult social care services are the best they can possibly be, but we must also be mindful that the increase in costs which we have seen in recent years is not sustainable in the long term," she said.

The Scottish FA is updating its gender policy in order to ban transgender women competing in women's football, BBC Scotland has learned.

From next season, only those born biologically female will be allowed to take part in competitive matches in the women's game.

The current policy allows transgender women to compete in their affirmed gender category on a case-by-case basis, with testosterone levels also taken into account.

The new policy will apply to all competitive football in Scotland, including the grassroots game from under-13s and over.

However, it is understood there are currently no transgender women playing competitive football north of the border.

The revised policy was given the go-ahead at a recent board meeting but discussions aimed at updating the current guidelines had been ongoing for some time.

The final decision was taken after the recent Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

The SFA rule change will see the governing body bring football into line with other sports like rugby, swimming and athletics.

In England, the FA rules state that transgender women can compete in the women's game if they show low enough testosterone levels and they are assessed by a match observer.

There are 20 transgender women registered to play amateur football in England among the millions who play at that level.

A 39-year-old man and 34-year-old woman have been injured following a one-vehicle crash in Lochaber.

The Toyota Rav4 Excel landed in a ditch near to the Locheilside train junction on the A830 Fort William to Glenfinnan road at about 13:30 on Wednesday.

The male driver was taken to Belford Hospital in Fort William while the female passenger was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow by air ambulance.

About 300 children a year are admitted to A&E in the UK after swallowing magnets, a new study has found.

The University of Southampton research revealed that one in 10 children required life saving operations after consuming the items, which are commonly used in toys.

It also found 6% of swallowing cases were linked to a viral social media trend, where the children – mostly girls – were trying to imitate tongue piercings by placing small magnets in their mouths.

Lead author and professor of paediatric surgery Nigel Hall, who works at the University and Southampton Children's Hospital, said retailers must do more to increase warnings on magnetic toy labels.

"Having an unplanned emergency operation is a traumatic experience for any child and their family," he said.

Mr Hall added that some of the young people ended up "with serious problems, like needing part of their bowel removed or requiring a stoma".

The data was provided by 66 UK hospitals between May 2022 and April 2023.

Mr Hall stressed that children should be taken to emergency departments early if they swallow a magnet.

"Most children who have swallowed a magnet do not show any symptoms, so it is really important that all cases have an x-ray to find out for certain," he said.

The research has been welcomed by the Child Accident Prevention Trust which focuses on preventing death and serious injury to young people from avoidable accidents.

Its chief executive Katrina Phillips said: "These super strong magnets can rip through a child's guts and leave them with life-changing injuries. One boy has died.

"Take a moment to check who you're buying from. Don't assume that, just because you can buy something, it must be safe."

When Sophie Walker graduated and became a teacher 10 years ago, she felt excited for the future.

But this week the science teacher walked out on strike with 50 colleagues at her Ipswich school in protest at pupil behaviour.

Teachers at Westbourne Academy are having chairs and scissors thrown at them, and many are struggling with their mental health, Ms Walker says.

Some students are refusing to attend lessons and are disrupting other classes, and even exams, she adds.

"They go and collect other students from classes and roam around in large groups. They come in with no intention of attending any lessons."

Ms Walker, a representative for the National Education Union (NEU), admits it has made her consider quitting both the school, and teaching altogether.

"I'm only still here because of the students who want to learn. They deserve an education," she says.

Another teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, says she resigned from the school, which has just over 1,000 pupils, after being pushed by students and sworn at more times than she can remember.

The trust that runs the school acknowledges there is a "small but significant minority whose behaviour does not yet meet our high expectations" and says it is "actively addressing" this.

'Kicking doors and throwing water'

Disruption is not dealt with consistently, according to several teachers, who say there is a lack of support from the senior leadership team.

Marc Emmanuel, who has taught English there for 24 years and is also an NEU representative, says four very experienced teachers have left in the last year.

While it is unusual for teachers to strike over pupil behaviour, he says it is a "last and desperate resort" to get some support.

"Pupils are running down the corridors for up to five hours a day. It can be 30 to 40 of them.

"They're kicking doors, throwing bottles full of water into classrooms and going into exam rooms and shouting.

"It's not being adequately dealt with. We want robust systems put in place that are followed through. We need to address this to stop it from spreading further."

'They think they don't have to work hard'

Social media and mobile phones play a big part in the poor behaviour at Westbourne Academy, Ms Walker says.

Students are not supposed to have phones in school but she says it is difficult to stop them.

"They see these people on social media making a lot of money and they think they don't have to work hard," she says.

"The content they are exposed to doesn't encourage good behaviour."

The 31-year-old says she hopes the leadership team can start to communicate better and that staff, including the pastoral team, can be more consistent in handling poor behaviour.

"We got a new principal in September and he is trying hard but things need to change quickly."

Her mental health has recently been "at an all-time low", she says.

"I've worked hard to get where I am and I don't want to walk away from the students who want to learn, but I don't know how much longer I can cope."

What do parents say?

One mother says smaller issues, such as with school uniform, are punished while bigger ones are often not dealt with.

She says her son was attacked twice outside the school by older students and threatened with a knife.

She was told it was being investigated but heard nothing back, she says.

Yet she claims her other child at the school has been sanctioned for minor breaches of the rules.

One father says he removed his autistic daughter from the school to home educate her after she was bullied and threatened with sexual violence.

"The leadership took no accountability," he says.

"They said they would do something about it but instead they made my daughter feel like she was in the wrong by putting her in a room on her own to learn.

"They let the perpetrator get away with it."

Some parents say they have lost all faith in the school. One father says the best teachers have left, with more due to leave in September.

"It's absolutely diabolical. Relationships have broken down between teachers and students and the strike will not help build back trust," he says.

"I have decided to move my daughter, who has special educational needs, to another school. She has been suspended several times for verbally lashing out but she can't regulate herself in that environment."

He says he disagrees with the strike, finding it unfair that teachers are allowed to walk out while he would be fined if he took his children out of school.

'I don't blame the teachers'

But other parents say they support the action and hope it leads to improved behaviour.

Rebecca, 40, whose daughter attends the school, says she is "fully behind" the strike.

"We had a period where she wouldn't go to her class because behaviour was so bad but she's happy going in now and that's all we can ask for," she says.

"I don't blame the teachers for going on strike. They shouldn't be getting abused. Parents need to work alongside them to improve behaviour.

"These pupils are pushing boundaries with how far they can push these teachers and it's not fair on those that want to learn."

Some parents say they were shocked when the school was rated as "good" by Ofsted last summer.

Inspectors noted the school "has not ensured that some pupils behave well enough around the school site and to a much lesser extent in lessons".

But they said the Academy Transformation Trust, which runs the school, had taken "decisive action" to address "unacceptable standards of behaviour and internal truancy".

'Behaviour in schools has deteriorated'

Vic Goddard, who featured on TV show Educating Essex and runs a multi-academy trust of six schools in the county, says behaviour has declined in schools since the Covid pandemic.

An increasing number of young people get into a "spiral of behaviour", he says.

"As school leaders, our job is to support teachers to manage behaviour while allowing others to continue to learn, and that's where the battle is."

He points out that current Year 9 and 10 students missed the start of Key Stage Two in primary school and were affected by the closure of Sure Start centres.

He believes funding cuts to schools are also having an impact on behaviour.

"Once you've recruited, you've got to retain. Because the only way you can improve your school is by keeping people in it," he says.

What do the school and the Department for Education say?

In a statement, the trust says it takes the wellbeing of staff seriously, and supports their "desire to teach in disruption-free classrooms".

Many parents are happy with the education, it adds, and says the trust is providing assistance to improve special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision and pastoral support.

"The majority of pupils at Westbourne behave well, are respectful, and want to learn," it says.

"But we acknowledge there is a small but significant minority whose behaviour does not yet meet our high expectations. We are actively addressing this.

"We encourage any parent who feels unheard to get in touch directly — we want to work together to ensure every child at Westbourne thrives."

A Department for Education spokesperson says it is "committed to turning the tide on poor behaviour" and that new regional improvement teams will work with schools to improve standards.

A day of remembrance and celebrations has been held in Alderney to mark the 80th anniversary of when the island was liberated from Nazi German occupation at the end of Word War Two.

Held at the harbour and conducted by the Reverend David Knight, a morning service saw the police, RNLI and other emergency services come together with islanders on the anniversary of liberation on 16 May.

It was followed by a parade, performed by the Force 135 living history group, through the town to Royal Connaught Square before an address was delivered by President of the States William Tate.

In his speech, he paid tribute to the islanders who had returned to Alderney several months after liberation.