Darshna Soni

Midlands

Communities Editor at Channel 4 News

Journalist. Communities Editor at #C4News. Lending an ear and giving a voice to communities across the UK. DM me if you’ve got a story to tell.

Featured in: Favicon

channel4.com Favicon

lovesalisbury.co.uk

Articles

Campaigners warn seasonal farm workers at risk of exploitation

1 week ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

Since Brexit, tens of thousands of seasonal workers have been given visas to come to the UK to pick fruit. Farms say the seasonal labour worker scheme is vital for the nation’s food supply. But some lawyers and campaigners believe it creates a risk of exploitation. Channel 4 News has spoken to one woman who came here from South America as she prepares for an employment tribunal with her former employer.
Deputy PM on housing, benefit cuts and working class roots

2 weeks ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

It’s been a difficult few weeks for the Labour Party, facing criticism on Gaza, winter fuel and PIP disability benefit payments. As it tries to meet the threat from Reform, it’s been criticised for ‘losing its way’. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was speaking at the UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum in Leeds, where she made housing pledges. We asked her whether her promise to build 1.5m new homes is a realistic one.
Reform out to dismantle UK diversity programmes

4 weeks ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

After making big gains in England’s local elections, Reform UK are out to dismantle Diversity, Equality and Inclusion programmes in the councils where they’ve taken charge. Like Elon Musk’s DOGE in the United States, they’ve pledged to axe council staff – warning local officials “if you are a DEI officer, look for another job”. The party claims such policies, widely set up after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence to combat discrimination, are themselves discriminatory.
New Reform mayor Andrea Jenkyns on why she opposes diversity schemes

1 month ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

Across the country, Reform UK’s newly elected politicians have been taking up their posts after last week’s elections. One of the most notable victors was former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns, who quit the Conservatives to join Nigel Farage’s party at the end of last year. She formally took office as the first executive mayor of Greater Lincolnshire.
Reform wins race for new post of Greater Lincolnshire mayor

1 month ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

Reform has won control of Lincolnshire county council and the new post of Greater Lincolnshire mayor.
Reform aims to snatch victory from Tories in Lincolnshire Mayoral race

1 month ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

Next Thursday, the people of Lincolnshire will elect their first county-wide mayor. Reform UK are hoping to snatch victory in this traditionally Tory shire. But it’s still not clear if their candidate, former Conservative Dame Andrea Jenkyns, is even eligible to run. It could be the most consequential of the local elections taking place across England on the 1st of May.
West Midlands Police Federation boss found to have breached standards

2 months ago | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

Last December this programme reported claims by a former chief inspector that senior officers had failed to act on widespread racism within West Midlands Police. In response, Richard Cooke who chaired the West Midlands branch of the Police Federation, took to social media denouncing her criticisms as “nonsense”.
UK immigration: Asylum claims hit record high - Data Explained

Feb 27, 2025 | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

The number of people claiming asylum in the UK hit a record high last year of more than 108,000. But new Home Office figures show that overall migration levels are down, because of a reduction in work and student visas. And that could leave the health and care sector struggling to fill vacancies.
More refugees expected to become homeless in UK

Feb 26, 2025 | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

For many of those who’ve been housed in hotels by the Home Office, being granted refugee status and allowed to remain in this country is just the start of a new set of problems. Figures due out tomorrow are expected to show a rise in homelessness among refugees who are struggling with having to find a job, a home and a bank account within days.
When Malcolm X visited the West Midlands

Feb 12, 2025 | channel4.com | Darshna Soni

It was a time of high racial tension – when a town in the West Midlands even elected an MP who espoused segregation. That was 60 years ago – and in an extraordinary moment of history, the US civil rights campaigner Malcolm X was so disturbed by the reports – he traveled to Smethwick in the Black Country to see the situation for himself. Days later, he was shot dead after he returned to the United States. Our communities editor Darshna Soni has been to see how Smethwick is marking that day.