Elections this week a smorgasbord of competitiveness

As well as Labour and the Conservatives, in the English local contests there are the Liberal Democrats, there is Reform UK, there is the Green Party of England and Wales and there are often competitive independents too. In the devolved elections, in Wales there is Plaid Cymru, which would one day like to see an independent Wales, and in Scotland, there are the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish National Party, both of whom would like to see Scotland become independent.