The Golders Green area in north London has suddenly found itself at the centre of British politics.
Two Jewish men were stabbed in the area just over a week ago, in what is now being investigated as an Islamist terrorist crime. The arrested perpetrator has previously been investigated for both violent acts and mental illness.
The incident has put the spotlight on the situation of British Jews and violence linked to anti-Semitism and the conflict in the Middle East.
The local MP, Labour's justice minister Sarah Sackman, was booed when she returned to pay tribute to the victims and her government is being heavily criticised for not doing enough.
Criticism of the Greens
The leader of the British Green Party, Zach Polanski, has also been dragged into the controversy and forced to apologise after sharing accusations that the police used excessive force during their response to the stabbing.
43-year-old Polanski is the latest rising figure in British politics, but has been heavily attacked from both the right and the left ahead of Thursday's British local elections.
Polanski and the Greens have otherwise been preparing for a successful election, especially in several London municipalities, largely due to the deep crisis for the traditional major parties that have governed Britain for over 100 years.
Starmer forced to leave?
On the left and centre, the social democratic Labour Party is battling disillusioned supporters who believe the government has acted too weakly towards the United States and Israel. The confidence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also been severely damaged by the scandal surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, despite his close ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Labour is expected to lose well over a thousand council seats in the election. The extent of the setback could be decisive in whether Starmer can stay in office.
On the right, after several years of internal battles, the Conservative Party has lost large numbers of voters to the Brexiteer and populist Nigel Farage, whose far-right Reform party primarily promises a tougher crackdown on immigration.
Want to move new arrivals
That the battle is between the Greens and Farage is clearly visible in Reform's recent promise in the run-up to the local elections.
If the party gains power in the next parliamentary elections – scheduled for 2029 – it promises to move all reception centers for new arrivals away from municipalities where they themselves govern and instead place them in municipalities led by the Greens.
To guarantee democratic support for all parts of our mass deportation system, Reform's legal policy spokesman Zia Yusuf said this weekend.
In parallel with Thursday's local elections, votes are also being cast for the regional governments in Scotland and Wales.
Thursday's British elections concern just over 5,000 seats in various forms of municipalities and local assemblies around England, as well as all members of the regional parliaments in Scotland and Wales.
In the English elections, the far-right Reform party is expected to win the most seats, followed by the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Reform is also competing with the separatist party Plaid Cymru to become the largest party in the Welsh parliament, while the separatist SNP is expected to be the largest party in Scotland.
The polling stations are open between 8 am and 11 pm local time in Sweden.
