The theme of earth’s biggest art extravaganza – spiritual rest – felt wildly wrong for our crisis-hit planet. Thank goodness for the pavilions, from fake babies to hi-tech sperm banks to a chocolate Russell Crowe

It was almost over before it even started. This year’s Venice Biennale has been tearing itself apart for months: countries not showing up, artists getting fired, exhibitions being cancelled, funding getting pulled. There were petitions and protests months before a painting was on a wall. The jury quit in the days leading up to the opening, then Iran quit, then the European Commission quit. There were protests against Israel and Russia during the preview, artists went on strike and artworks were replaced with installations of Palestinian flags.

The whole thing was a massive mess of conflicting politics, personal tragedy and unresolvable ideological differences from the very beginning. And all this without even mentioning that the curator, Koyo Kouoh, died last year and wasn’t able to see her artistic vision through to completion. In a sense, the 2026 Venice Biennale never stood a chance.

From devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales to councils and mayoralties in England, find out what happened in your area

• Latest news updates and analysis from election night

Local elections appear to signal end of two-party politics with five parties in the game in England

• Elections 2026 – live updates

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

It all panned out pretty much as everyone had expected. Nigel Farage was insufferably pleased with himself. Keir Starmer looked hunted while insisting he was going to remain prime minister for ever. Longer possibly. Kemi Badenoch grinned wildly, saying the Tories were back in the game as they slumped to insignificance everywhere but the south-east. Ed Davey became supreme leader of the People’s Republic of Richmond upon Thames where the Lib Dems won all 54 seats. Zack Polanski chose not to make an appearance before lunchtime. And Huw Irranca-Davies, Labour’s erstwhile deputy first minister in Wales, conceded defeat before a vote had been counted. Business as usual.

Except it wasn’t. These were the local elections that appeared to signal the end of two-party politics. There were now five parties in the game in England. That’s before we had got to Plaid Cymru in Wales and the SNP in Scotland. And by the end of the night, Labour and the Conservatives were lying in ruins. Their only consolation being that their losses weren’t even worse. If their election campaigns had taught them anything, it was how to manage expectations.

Former David Cameron adviser says a vote for him will make California ‘Califordable’ – not everyone is convinced

He “knows how to wind people up like Trump”, according to friends, and made his name in the UK with zany policy ideas including making the country sunnier using state-owned cloud busters.

Now the controversial strategist Steve Hilton, named the “pint-sized Rasputin” of Conservative politics, has become an unlikely frontrunner in the primary race for California governor.

You never change the pilot halfway through a flight, says a clearly rattled David Lammy. Can’t he see that his party is in a tailspin?

A couple of days ago on a Swiss flight from Seoul to Zurich, a pilot experienced a medical emergency. Three doctors on board assisted, one of the other pilots assumed the controls, and the plane ended up landing without harm to life. Like me, you will be absolutely appalled that David Lammy wasn’t also on the passenger manifest, hammering furiously on the cockpit door and offering that timeworn advice: “You don’t change the pilot during a flight!”

I mean … don’t you? Ever? I’m quite a nervous flyer and can definitely envisage a fairly significant number of situations in which you would, in fact, very much change the pilot mid-flight.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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Adolescence writer Jack Thorne’s romantic new drama Falling is quite the gear shift. Its stars open up about what it’s like to research a love so controversial that the church couldn’t allow it

The scene is the convent garden of a closed order of nuns, the place is somewhere in the UK with a maelstrom of social problems – which, let’s be real, could be any of it. Keeley Hawes’s Anna, a nun, isn’t self-righteously cloistered; she makes regular forays into the real world to do good works at food banks. But she’s not of this world. She moves with such unobtrusive poise it takes a beat to work out what it reminds you of: obedience. Bride of Christ, remember? She wears her faith lightly: when she’s in the walled garden, it’s to grow cabbages not praise God’s creation, but she still radiates peace, and her vegetable patch radiates it right back at her.

In the 90s, Hawes slayed one period drama after another: Wives and Daughters, Our Mutual Friend. For Falling – the surprising project from writer-creator Jack Thorne, who made such a strong statement about the modern condition and its harsh edges with Adolescence that MPs were debating it in parliament – she channels something I haven’t seen since those days. Her range of gorgeous guileless expressions.

Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat; John Swinney declares victory for SNP in Scotland

• 2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votes

We’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.

For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:

We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling highs, that this will be a difficult set of elections for us. But we will continue to rebuild and to show the public that we have changed, to demonstrate that only this new Conservative party is a credible alternative.

People are deeply disappointed with a Labour government that has been too timid to fix the country, but they are also appalled by the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics. While those on the extremes of the right and the left want to burn everything down, Liberal Democrats want to fix what’s broken. Every Liberal Democrat local champion elected today will fight tirelessly for the communities they serve.

I’ve travelled across England and Wales and I’m hearing the same everywhere I go – confidence that we will win more councillors than ever before. The news from the doorstep is that we will be taking seats from not just Labour but the Tories and Lib Dems too, from all across the country. Voters are responding to the fact that Greens are the only party taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously, with real plans to cut bills, reduce rents and provide genuinely affordable homes, as well as tackling the climate and nature crisis.

Throughout this election, we have heard a clear appetite for change. People want a government that will stand up for Wales and focus relentlessly on the key issues affecting their lives. People have told us they have been inspired by Rhun ap Iorwerth’s leadership and driven by a desire for a positive alternative to Reform UK’s chaos and division.

Party has success in Labour and Tory heartland areas but one pollster says results suggest Reform may have peaked

• Elections 2026 – live updates

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

Nigel Farage hailed sweeping election wins for Reform UK as a “historic shift in British politics” on a day when the populist party made gains at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives.

Reform made advances in heartland areas of both parties, clocking up substantial early results in the English local elections by taking control of Essex county council, Havering, its first London local authority, and Sunderland city council.

Greens leader celebrates victory over Labour for Zoë Garbett, his party’s first ever elected mayor

• Election 2026 live: latest news updates

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

Zack Polanski has declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried” as his Green party won its first ever mayoral election and gained councillors across England.

As Labour losses piled up across the country and the Conservatives endured another disappointing set of results, Polanski sought to present his party as emerging from the results as the most viable option for opponents of Reform.

Plaid Cymru set to take power in Wales and SNP to retain it in Scotland, but Reform made big gains in both nations

• Election 2026 live: latest news updates

• Full results from England, Scotland and Wales

The polls had been terrible, the predictions dire and even one of his predecessors as Labour leader, Ed Miliband, had reportedly told Keir Starmer he should set a timetable for his resignation if the results were as bad as they looked.

But for the prime minister, as polling stations closed in Wales, Scotland and many parts of England, there would be no consideration of such a course. “To all the Labour members and volunteers who have supported local campaigns across the country: thank you,” he posted on X late on Thursday. “Together we will build a stronger and fairer Britain.”