Tomorrow's local elections come at an odd time in British politics. Not only is the Tory-Labour duopoly seemingly at an end, but there is "a curious paradox right now" among voters, said the BBC's political editor Chris Mason: one in which "anger confronts an expectation of widespread indifference". 
 
There is a "despondency or misery about the state of Britain that doesn't feel sustainable", tweeted Luke Tryl, the UK director of polling group More in Common. The big winner from this mood shift is likely to be Reform UK, which is expected to pick up hundreds of council seats across England as Nigel Farage's party looks to establish itself as a genuine alternative.

Where are the elections?
Around a third of electors in England are eligible to vote in tomorrow's local elections. In total, 23 councils will be contested, with six mayoral elections also taking place in the West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, North Tyneside, Doncaster and – for the first time – in Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire.

No routine elections are being held in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

What do you need to vote?
Under changes to the law brought in by the last Tory government, voters in England now need to show photo ID, such as a passport or driving licence, to confirm their identity at polling stations. The ID document does not need to be in date, as long as the photo is still clearly recognisable.

What are the polls saying?
Thursday's elections "might not span the whole UK", said Left Foot Forward, but they still offer a "critical litmus test" and "all eyes are on whether Reform's bluster holds up in the ballot box". Politico's latest poll of polls has Farage's party leading nationally on 25%, ahead of Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 21%.

The Tories, who are defending almost two-thirds of the seats that are up for grabs, are "braced for a hammering", said the Financial Times. Reform is "challenging the main right-wing party across many areas" and the Liberal Democrats are "targeting big gains in the South".

As for Labour, this will be Keir Starmer's first major test at the ballot box since last year's general election landslide. With traditionally Labour local councils such as Doncaster and Durham forecast to swing to Reform, the narrative that the far-right populist party is "simply a problem for the Conservatives" looks set to be "shattered", said Conservative Home.

The automatic right to trial by jury could be denied to defendants accused of all but the most serious crimes, under new government plans for England and Wales.

Instead of a 12-person jury, cases could be tried before a judge and two magistrates in a new kind of intermediate court. These would hear cases involving so-called "either way" offences – theft, drug possession, dangerous driving, fraud and some forms of non-serious assault – which currently make up more than 50% of the crown court backlog. 

What did the commentators say?
It's an "idea whose time has probably come", Courts Minister Sarah Sackman told The Times. Jury trial "will always be a cornerstone of British justice for the most serious cases", but "really bold and really radical" measures are now needed.

The crown court backlog is "scandalous", said The Spectator. Almost 80,000 cases are waiting to be heard in England and Wales, leaving defendants and victims in limbo. "Some defendants are already being told that there are no free slots before 2028."

In theory, more jury-less trials could mean more convictions: opting for a jury trial "materially increases the chance of acquittal", said The Spectator. But the Bar Council – which represents barristers in England and Wales – has opposed the idea, saying that "altering the fundamental structure of delivering criminal justice is not a principled response to a crisis which was not, in truth, caused by that structure in the first place".  The Law Society, the professional body for solicitors, echoed these concerns, saying the new courts would "waste money, time and energy".

The Scottish government has already piloted jury-less trials, but only for rape and serious sexual assault cases, and the pilot was scrapped after a "backlash from the highest levels of the legal profession", said The Guardian. 

What next?
Alternative suggestions put forward by lawyers to ease the backlog include "greater use of out-of-court disposals, such as cautions and deferred prosecution agreements," said London's The Standard, as well as "more hearings conducted virtually over video link, and maximum use of judges – including those who have retired but could be brought back into service". 

When Carol and Stephen Baxter were found dead in their armchairs at their West Mersea home by their pregnant daughter, police were "puzzled", said Emily Watkins in The i Paper.

With no signs of foul play, the case was initially a mystery, but as officers began to "dig deeper", it emerged that the situation was more "fraught" than the wealthy couple's "veneer of suburban bliss" first appeared.

Thanks to growing surveillance in almost every aspect of our lives, this "bleakly compelling" documentary about the case was able to draw on a "wealth of resources", said Watkins. Through the Baxters' home-security camera footage, we see daughter Ellena (pictured above) arriving at her parents house and peering through the window when they fail to answer the door, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. "The audio picks up her screams."

When a letter is found purporting to change Carol's will to leave the business to Ellena and close family friend Luke D'Wit, and a toxicology report comes back revealing that the Baxters died of fentanyl overdoses, the case begins to fall into place.

"I found the title of this otherwise meticulous documentary slightly tawdry and, indeed, distracting," said Carol Midgley in The Times. The couple's wealth isn't addressed and it soon becomes clear that the motive behind their murder wasn't financial. D'Wit, a "wolf in sheep's clothing", befriended the Baxters and, over many years, enjoyed "controlling and torturing" them, before poisoning the couple who had "taken him under their wing". "How fiendishly cruel humans can be."

Trump has handed the woke brigade an almighty victory
Annabel Denham in The Telegraph
Donald Trump is "attempting to smash the ideologies of DEI, intersectionality and critical race theory", writes Annabel Denham, but his "bull-in-the-china-shop approach" has had a "counterproductive effect", including "handing electoral victory" to Canada's Liberals. Few voters are "truly worried about gender neutral uniforms for the armed forces" but "we should accept woke has the advantage" now and "find the courage and tenacity" not to "cede more ground".

Why shouldn't men be allowed to perform mammograms?
Emma Clarke in The Independent
Radiographers are "calling for male healthcare workers to be allowed to perform breast screening examinations", and "I'm shocked that there's even a debate", writes Emma Clarke. There should always be "safeguards", but to have a "fixed policy" that excludes men seems "antiquated" and "dangerous". With a 17.5% vacancy rate for mammographers, changing the policy on who can perform screenings could reduce waiting lists and "literally be the difference between life and death".

Britain needs Thomas Skinner
Ben Sixsmith in The Critic
I'm not "the world's most cheerful or optimistic man", writes Ben Sixsmith, so "I struggle to identify with Thomas Skinner", a star of "The Apprentice" who now "explodes with positivity" on social media. He's a "salesman" but that "need not mean that his persona is not largely true to life". In our cynical, resentful world, "his exuberance is refreshing", and Britain "has to smile" if it's "going to return to a better path".