Kate Forbes has ruled herself out as a candidate in the Scottish National party leadership contest, clearing the way for John Swinney to become the next first minister. In response, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, said: This shady backroom deal won’t cover-up the bitter splits that exist within the SNP – it just applies a sticking plaster to a gaping wound. Kate Forbes famously warned that ‘continuity won’t cut it’ when it came to Humza Yousaf, yet she’s now urging the SNP to go back to the future by imposing John Swinney – a failed former leader, tied at the hip to Nicola Sturgeon – as first minister. Scotland deserves better than someone whose fingerprints are all over 17 years of SNP failure and secrecy. John Swinney has confirmed, via his campaign slogan, that he will ignore the public’s real priorities to obsess about independence yet again. Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, has apologised to former military personnel who have been prevented from using their veterans ID in order to vote in the local elections in England on Thursday. Polls are open until 10pm. Some results will come in overnight, but most of the declarations will be during the day on Friday, or on Saturday. Eleni Courea has a guide to what results to expect when here.
David Cameron, the foreign secretary, personally recommended that the UK should continue to sell arms to Israel two days after three British aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike, it has emerged. Ministers should have to publicly declare contact from lobbyists on WhatsApp or face a ban on its use on official government devices, a committee of MPs has said. Reform UK has chosen to stand by candidates who have promoted conspiracy theories online, called the climate emergency “make-believe” and expressed vaccine-sceptic views. That is all from me for now. But we will be back at 10pm with a blog covering the results of the local elections, and all the reaction they generate. Yohannes Lowe will be writing the blog overnight, and I will be taking over at 6am tomorrow. And the blogging will then carry on into the weekend.