From Indie Kylie to gold hotpants Kylie, can’t-get-her-out-of-our heads Kylie to Country Kylie, the star has always been a master of reinvention.
Now, Kylie Minogue has ushered in the era of the Padam-ic, thanks to the summer heartbeat-pounding earworm that set TikTok alight and spent four weeks in the UK Top 10, her highest-charting single in the UK in more than a decade.
Later tonight she will put on her first live full UK concert show for four years – headlining Radio 2 In The Park, which takes place in the city this weekend and started with performances from acts including Busted, James Blunt and Tears For Fears on Saturday. Today’s line-up includes Rick Astley, The Pretenders and Sam Ryder, ahead of Kylie’s much-anticipated headline show.
Minogue herself has said she is “beyond excited” to perform in the city. And so she should be, because Leicester can put on one hell of a party. I know this because it’s my home city, and I was lucky enough to witness the epic celebrations when Leicester City beat those 5,000-1 odds to become Premiere League champions back in 2016. So I know there will be a huge buzz this weekend.
For many of us who spent our childhood or teenage years here, it feels like one massive school reunion. We’ve reverted to our teenage selves, WhatsApp groups pinging with detailed discussions of what times and places to meet and, most importantly: what are you wearing? (I’m thinking gold trousers – the hotpants felt just a little too much).
Secret knitter: ‘I admire how she has handled her fame’
In the run-up to Leicester City pulling off the impossible, the city responded accordingly as victory became more and more likely, with bars and restaurants creating blue cocktails and other club-inspired menu additions.
Now, the city is getting ready for Kylie in similar fashion.
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The anonymous Syston Knitting Banxy, who has been sharing knitted post box toppers around the Leicestershire town since 2019, spent two-and-a-half weeks creating this Padam-era Kylie.
The mysterious knitter is known for recreating famous Leicestershire faces, including characters played by This Is England actor Stephen Graham (who is from Merseyside but lives in the county), and the Attenborough brothers, but also gets stitching to help local fundraising events or to mark other occasions.
“I chose Kylie partly because I identify with her as a woman of similar age, but also because of my admiration of her and how she has handled her fame,” Syston Knitting Banxy told Sky News, remaining undercover.
“She seems so down to Earth and such a beautiful soul. And from a knitting artist’s point of view… that outfit: wow! The finished piece would unmistakably be our Kylie.
“This event is huge for Leicester. I’m so very proud of Leicester and I’m overjoyed that we are being visited by so many people, and by so many stars.
“And if you hear any of us saying, ‘Ay up, me duck’ – rest assured that it’s all good.”
‘Leicester’s got the most amazing music scene’
The show is taking place in Victoria Park, which has hosted shows by Leicester band Kasabian in the past.
And actually, today’s visit won’t be Kylie’s first time – she played a previous weekend show alongside Coldplay and Posh Spice back in 2001. But it isn’t a regular site for gigs.
Leicester musician Frank Benbini, also known as Uncle Frank – and the dummer for Fun Lovin’ Criminals – says that while the city has a thriving music scene, the fact it doesn’t have a big arena that would normally bring such huge acts in is what makes Kylie’s appearance extra special.
“Leicester’s got the most amazing music scene but at the same time we don’t have that kind of facility for like a monstrous act like Kylie Minogue,” says Benbini. “So to have the park open up is just a beautiful thing and hopefully the weather will hold out.
“I know everybody in Leicester has been super excited about it and it’s great as well for the Leicester music scene, which has always been thriving.
“But to be pulling these big acts in our hometown just makes it super exciting… and I think it’s what’s needed in this town.
“It’ll be nice for the city to start thinking possibly about some kind of music venue that can host such big things, or whether or not [Leicester City stadium] King Power can open up and start doing big, big shows there.”
For me, I grew up in Leicester and I grew up with Kylie; from bedroom dance routines to I Should Be So Lucky at the age of five, to listening to Confide In Me on repeat as a teenager, to experiencing the joy of seeing her live for the first time in her Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out Of My Head era.
And then, getting teary while watching her on stage in front of an enormous crowd at Glastonbury in 2019, thinking of everything she had overcome to get to that place; not just the breast cancer diagnosis that forced her to pull out of what, as a female pop star, would have been a history-making headline set back in 2005, but also because there was once a time she was dismissed as bubblegum.
She said herself that Glastonbury, when it finally came, felt like acknowledgement.
Now, here she is at 55, a pop legend, once again reinventing herself and still at the top after almost 40 years in the business – she has topped the UK album charts in five consecutive decades – and doing it live in Leicester.
As a fan of the city and the artist, I feel lucky (lucky, lucky) to be in the crowd to welcome her back.
A woman and three other children managed to escape the property and are being treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said: “At 1.08 this morning (5 May) police were called by the fire service to reports of a serious house fire on Kingsdale Drive, Bradford.
“A woman and three children managed to escape the property and were taken to hospital for treatment. Their injuries are not life-threatening.
“A fourth child was found inside the address and was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene,” police added.
“A scene is currently in place at the address and police are working with the fire investigators to establish the exact cause of the fire.”
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Rishi Sunak has urged Tories to stick with his leadership despite the Conservatives’ shock defeat in the West Midlands mayoral election, which capped a dire few days of results for the party.
The margin of victory was a cruelly tight 1,508 votes, and compounded Conservative disappointment as it followed another loss to Sadiq Khan in London, who secured a record-breaking third term as the capital’s mayor.
“People across the country have had enough of Conservative chaos and decline and voted for change with Labour. Our fantastic new mayor Richard Parker stands ready to deliver a fresh start for the West Midlands,” Sir Keir said.
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7:02
‘Devastated’ Andy Street refuses to blame Sunak after West Midlands defeat
However, in an effort to win back those who had deserted his party over Labour’s stance on Gaza, he added: “I say directly to those who may have voted Labour in the past but felt that on this occasion that they couldn’t that across the West Midlands we are a proud and diverse community.
“I have heard you. I have listened. And I am determined to meet your concerns and to gain your respect and trust again in the future.”
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Labour suffered losses to independents and George Galloway’s Worker’s Party of Britain in areas with large Islamic populations as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas.
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3:02
Starmer speaks at East Midlands victory rally
But the party virtually swept the mayoral elections board across England, winning in Liverpool, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and in Greater Manchester, where Andy Burnham returned to power.
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The Tees Valley was the only remaining splash of blue left on the mayoral election map, where Lord Ben Houchen managed to cling to power despite a huge 14.1-point swing to Labour.
Lord Houchen’s victory was also mired by allegations he had sought to distance himself from Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party at large during his campaign.
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7:05
Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor
Losing Mr Street, who is widely respected in the Tory Party and had an impressive track record of bringing investment into the West Midlands, is a body blow to the prime minister.
Despite the drubbing, Mr Sunak urged his party to stick with his leadership and his plan for government.
In a statement, he said: “It’s been disappointing of course to lose dedicated Conservative councillors and Andy Street in the West Midlands, with his track record of providing great public services and attracting significant investment to the area, but that has redoubled my resolve to continue to make progress on our plan.
“So we will continue working as hard as ever to take the fight to Labour and deliver a brighter future for our country.”
However, Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, was quick to lay the blame for Tory losses firmly at the door of Number 10.
But she said ousting Mr Sunak “won’t work”, adding: “The hole to dig us out of is the PM’s, and it’s time for him to start shovelling.”
She urged him to adopt “strong leadership, not managerialism” on tax, migration, small boats, and law and order.
But Mr Street took a different view, encouraging the party not to veer to the right.
Asked if he is worried the party is drifting to the right and over-emphasising the threat from Reform UK while “ignoring other voters”, the outgoing mayor told Sky News: “I would definitely not advise that drift.
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“The psychology here is really very straightforward, isn’t it? This is the youngest, most diverse, one of the most urban places in Britain, and we’ve done, many would say, extremely well over a consistent period,” Mr Street said.
“The message is clear: winning from that centre ground is what happens.”
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1:13
‘We will give this region a fresh start’ – Labour’s Richard Parker
Results are in from 106 of the 107 councils in England that held elections on 2 May, and Labour has won 1,140 seats, an increase of more than 200.
The Liberal Democrats beat the Tories into second place, winning 521 seats, up nearly 100.
The Tories were just behind on 513 seats, down nearly 400.
Tory incumbent Andy Street has suffered a shock defeat to Labour in the West Midlands mayoral election after a partial recount was ordered.
Labour’s Richard Parker beat Mr Street by just 1,508 votes – 0.25% – to deliver a major blow to Rishi Sunak in the key electoral battleground after a hammering in the local elections.
With the race neck-and-neck, in the end it came down to the results in one borough – Labour-supporting Sandwell.
“This is the most important thing I will ever do,” Mr Parker said in his acceptance speech.
“I promise you that I will deliver jobs,” he added.
He told Sky News he would take buses “back into public control” and deliver the “largest programme of social housing we’ve had in this region for more than 40 years”.
And he thanked his predecessor, who he said had “led this region through a number of great challenges and you deserve great credit for that”.
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Mr Street told Sky News he was “personally devastated”, had “put my all into this”, and “genuinely believed we were making real progress across the region”.
He said it was “my campaign, totally”, adding: “I’m not going to try to push responsibility anywhere else. There’ll be no sloping shoulders from me.”
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He wished his successor “all strength and wisdom”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “phenomenal result” and “beyond our expectations”.
He added: “People across the country have had enough of Conservative chaos and decline and voted for change with Labour.
“My changed Labour Party is back in the service of working people, and stands ready to govern.”
Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator, said it was a “significant victory”.
She added: “Right across the country people have voted for change and the message is clear – it’s time for a general election and a Labour government to get our country’s future back.”
These results will increase pressure on the prime minister, who had been hoping for a repeat of the success enjoyed by Conservative Ben Houchen who held on as the mayor of Tees Valley.
Sam Coates, Sky News’s deputy political editor, said he had seen messages from Conservative MPs’ WhatsApp group.
One from former cabinet minister Simon Clarke, whom Coates said “wants Rishi Sunak to leave”, said: “These results are awful and should be a massive wake-up call.
“If we fight the same campaign in a few months [in the general election] we’ll get the same outcome or rather worse.
“Reform UK standing more candidates will cause greater damage.”
The loss of either the Teesside or West Midlands mayoralties would give Tory rebels who want to change leader a “huge amount of fuel”, former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said in the Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
Mr Street, who was seeking a third term in office, sought to distance himself from the Conservative brand during his campaign and instead ran on a personal platform.
Sky News recently revealed that Mr Street was sending out election literature with an endorsement from former prime minister Boris Johnson which urged people to “forget about the government”.
His campaign website also made no mention of Mr Sunak on its homepage and was coloured in green rather than Conservative blue.