News Associates trainees produce 2026 local election coverage

News Associates trainees produced round-the-clock coverage of the 2026 local elections in London for our in-house publications, The Londoners.  

55 trainees across all our NCTJ-accredited courses – full-time, part-time, remote and undergraduate – attended 32 counts and reported from our Twickenham newsroom overnight on Thursday, all the way through to Saturday.  

A collage of four phtoos: two trainees at counts and trainees with tutors in our newsroom.

They created live blogs, short-form interviews, graphics, and social media posts of the results, reactions, and analysis of the 2026 local elections for all our Londoners sites – South West Londoner, South East Londoner, North West Londoner and North East Londoner. 

Part-time trainee Antonia Vlad, who was reporting from Waltham Forest, said: “Covering the local elections exceeded my expectations, it was the coolest thing I’ve done in my journalistic career so far.

“An incredible learning opportunity and a great way to gain first-hand reporting experience.”

 

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A particular highlight was an interview for our Londoners TikTok account produced by fast-track trainee Holly Wyche.

She interviewed Green Party councillor Zvikomborero Chihoro after securing a seat on Lambeth Council.

@londonersnews Zvikomborero Chihoro celebrated his win in Brixton Rush Common after securing a seat on Lambeth Council alongside two fellow Green Party candidates. #LondondersVote2026 #lambeth #greenparty ♬ original sound – LondonersNews

Holly said: “Honestly it was such a special experience.

“Being thrown in the deep end, interviewing candidates alongside seasoned political reporters was terrifying but something I won’t forget.

“I managed to interview Jeremy Corbyn’s former speech writer and interview candidates right after they won, during one of the biggest moments of their life. It was a marathon but tested everything I’d learnt so far.”

 

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Part-time trainee Puntid Tantivangphaisal worked with the editorial team to create coverage from our newsroom.

Puntid said: “It was a valuable opportunity to get a taste of covering breaking news, particularly an event as significant as the elections.

“I helped with subbing copy and wrote a piece on the newly-elected Newham mayor with guidance from one of the tutors.

“While it was initially challenging to keep up with developments and structure information effectively, the experience highlighted the importance of working under pressure and writing succinctly.”

@londonersnews In a surprise overnight result for Merton, the Lib Dems have failed to overtake Labour as predicted, reports Londoners News journalist Bertie Carter-Semenczuk #Merton #LondonersVote2026 #LocalElections #Labour #LibDems ♬ original sound – LondonersNews

Undergraduate trainee Taaseen Choudhury reported on the London Borough of Islington for our North West Londoner website.

He said: “From covering the general election and the London mayoral election with News Associates, this year’s local council and mayor elections in London was most exciting to cover.

“Being on the editorial desk and tracking counts and seats gained, lost and held this year was interesting with the diverse new parties involved.”

News Associates course leader Tom Holmes said: “I am delighted with the fact that so many trainees were able to get a hands-on experience of covering a local election, both from the office and from counts and the work they produced was stellar.

“These kinds of opportunities to do real, practical journalism across a variety of mediums are what our training is all about and it was brilliant to hear so many of them grasped this opportunity with both hands.”

News Associates course director Graham Moody said: “Our trainees thoroughly enjoyed their time producing live multimedia content across the elections, providing them with a great experience of real-live breaking news reporting.

“The Londoners sites and social media looked fantastic both in the build up to and during the election. They are a very useful tool that enable trainees to establish a wide portfolio of work that is unrivalled when they go into the job market.

“Course leader Tom Holmes and journalism tutor Kiro Evans spearheaded the election coverage and worked tirelessly to ensure we had more reporters than anyone else at counts across London and that all trainees had a clear and concise plan for what was expected of them.”

Our trainees cover live events like the 2024 general election and the death of Queen Elizabeth II during their time at News Associates to put their journalism training to use as soon as possible.