A new show of this Welsh-born artist’s mesmerising portraits is worth visiting for one nude alone: a painting of an eyes-closed, long-legged, elegant brunette, inspired by Sleeping Venus

Sylvia Sleigh wouldn’t paint people if she didn’t find them interesting – and by interesting, I mean attractive. She didn’t idealise nudes like the old masters. Instead, the naked bodies she depicted were really, truly beautiful. Many were friends, among them artists and critics. Others were paid models. Scrolling through images of her radical, realist artworks online, I find myself humming along to the REM song: “Shiny happy people …”

It was surely part of the appeal of Johanna Lawrenson, the elegant brunette with enviably long legs who posed for the 1963 painting The Bridge. Few exhibitions are worth visiting for a single artwork alone, but this monumental canvas is special. Sleigh kept it until her death in 2010, at which point it was donated to a not-for-profit theatre company in New York. Now it’s for sale, and before it’s snapped up there’s a rare chance to see it on show at Malarkey, a small space overlooking Russell Square in London.

This outdated system is destroying trust in politics. But there’s still time for Labour to follow Wales and Scotland’s example and introduce PR in the UK

Before a vote is counted, this much we know. More results than ever will involve the winning party getting a disproportionate amount of power, considering the number of votes cast for it; fewer people will get what they voted for. The ever more random roulette wheel of our voting system will produce wildly odd winners and losers.

Our never-fit-for-purpose first-past-the-post system breaks apart under the strain of having five or sometimes six parties bunched together with no more than 11 percentage points between them in the polls.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Stansted passengers disagree that stopping airports serving alcohol before early flights will reduce bad behaviour

For most people, the idea of a pint with breakfast is pretty grim. But at the Wetherspoons in Stansted’s departure lounge on Thursday morning, it appeared to be the beverage of choice.

“It’s a holiday ritual,” said Dee Wood, 60, a waste policy officer, who was enjoying a pint while waiting to board her Alicante-bound morning flight. “It’s like the start of holiday,” said her friend Rachel Almond, 59, a community planner, who was treating herself to a lager. “We don’t get drunk, we just have a pint, say cheers and off we go.”

Candidates from across spectrum report abuse online and in person before local and devolved elections in England, Wales and Scotland

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

Candidates and political parties have described a climate of abuse in this year’s local and devolved elections, including death threats and intimidation while campaigning.

Politicians from a range of parties have reported abuse and harassment in the lead-up to the elections in England, Scotland and Wales, with the Green party describing this year’s campaign as the worst in memory.

Rush-released in the same year as Prince of Thieves blockbuster, this gritty British movie battled winter weather and chronic illness – and it still holds up

Thirty-five years ago, two films about the legend of Robin Hood – stealer from the rich, giver to the poor – met and duelled in cinemas; we all know who won, Kevin Costner’s big-budget blockbuster, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But what about the other one? It was titled simply Robin Hood, directed by John Irvin and starring Patrick Bergin in the title role alongside a pre-Pulp Fiction Uma Thurman as Maid Marian.

“It was very much a stand-alone film with the aim of giving Kevin Costner’s version a good kicking if we could,” says Irvin, now 85. “The studio wanted to go immediately because they wanted to pre-empt the Costner.”

The actor on dealing with disruptive drinkers in his pub, what he’d ask Shakespeare, and being urged by Alec Guinness to withdraw from Stonewall

In more than six decades of acting, what has changed the most? eamonmcc
My first job, in 1961, was at the Belgrade theatre in Coventry, the first British civic theatre built after the second world war, with public funds and a subsequent Arts Council grant. My weekly wage was £8, enough to pay for my flat, which cost three guineas, and to eat well enough. Every city of similar size had a repertory company, presenting a new production every two weeks, and crucially providing employment for tyro actors in need of a prolonged apprenticeship in the company of senior players. You learned what you could and couldn’t do and what you could aspire to. Today, alas, there is not a single rep company in the UK and no comparable system for training new talent.

My Belgrade flat, built to house a member of the disbanded company, now holds the council’s office of outreach and education. What is unchanged since 1961 is the enthusiasm of audiences for lively theatre, classic or newly written. Going to live theatre is still one of the principal amusements in the UK.

The first results in England are expected between midnight and 2am BST; Scottish and Welsh parliament results are due from midday

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

Bethan McKernan is the Guardian’s Wales correspondent

This week the Welsh parliament will grow from 60 to 96 members under a new, more proportional electoral system. Labour is expected to lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution in 1999, with Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth expected to become the new first minister, putting Welsh independence firmly on the agenda.

From devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales to councils and mayoralties in England, find out what happened in your area. The first results are expected at around midnight

• Latest reporting and analysis

Results of elections for councils in England, the Senedd in Wales and the Scottish parliament could transform Great Britain’s political landscape

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

Polls have closed across England, Scotland and Wales for local, mayoral and parliamentary elections, with the first results to be announced within hours.

More than 30 million people across Britain were given the opportunity to vote on Thursday in what is widely seen as the biggest test for Keir Starmer since the 2024 general election. Results across three nations could fundamentally change the political landscape and could have repercussions for the prime minister.

European observers have seen incidents of confusion over ID requirements but problem is not regarded as widespread

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

Instances of voters being turned away from polling stations owing to confusion over photo ID requirements have been recorded by European election observers watching voting in England on Thursday.

While the problem is not regarded as widespread, it has been noted by the delegation from the Council of Europe, which will issue a report on the local elections in England as well as the Scottish and Welsh government elections.