From welfare to warfare: Sunak’s spending shift imperils local services again

Council budgets look a likely target when the Tory government seeks to balance the books and pay for its promises

Talking tough on sicknote culture", stopping the boats and offering billions of pounds extra for defence spending. Ahead of local elections in England and Wales this week, Rishi Sunak has been in campaign overdrive.

With the prime minister suffering the joint-lowest satisfaction rating of any Conservative or Labour leader since 1978, experts are predicting a drubbing for the Tories, with the party expected to lose as many as half the seats it is contesting. The prominent Tory mayors in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, Andy Street and Ben Houchen, could be ejected from power.