{"id":944188,"date":"2026-05-07T16:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944188\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:47:11","slug":"eastenders-airs-hugely-unexpected-walford-election-twist-in-early-iplayer-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/944188\/","title":{"rendered":"EastEnders airs hugely unexpected Walford election twist in early iPlayer release"},"content":{"rendered":"

EastEnders<\/a> spoilers follow for Thursday\u2019s episode (7 May), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn\u2019t yet aired on TV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

EastEnders has aired a major twist as Walford goes to the polls on election day<\/a>, with Elaine Peacock and Ian Beale vying to be the community\u2019s next councillor. Warring Elaine and Ian have recently made peace, but in the final days of the campaign, Ian was persuaded by his scheming girlfriend Bea Pollard to release a smear video against Elaine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elaine was initially obvious to the damning video, which was doing the rounds on social media, but she was furious when she eventually watched the clip and she even slapped Ian in the Square.<\/p>\n

\"bea<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong>Best streaming services<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

As Bea continued campaigning for Ian<\/a> on election day in today\u2019s episode, Ian released another video, apologising for his involvement in the smear on Elaine\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

With voting under way, there was controversy as Kathy was seen putting a cross by Elaine\u2019s name, therefore voting against her own son! She gleefully told Harvey what she\u2019d done, saying that Ian was a nightmare when he was previously a councillor, and together they tried to dissuade Peter from campaigning for his dad.<\/p>\n

Ian felt bad about the defamatory video and attempted to make amends with Elaine, but she and Linda were still angry with him.<\/p>\n

As the voting continued, Ian pulled Elaine to the side and apologised profusely again, and the pair even posed for a photo together \u2013 but Elaine refused to accept his olive branch and made it clear how deeply hurt she was.<\/p>\n

The votes were later counted, and it was announced that Ian had won the election. As he stepped up to make a speech, Elaine congratulated him, and Ian looked guilty about the way the campaign was won.<\/p>\n

\"ian<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: EastEnders confirms when Nigel’s funeral takes place in new advanced spoilers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Elaine returned to Peacock Palace, but was surprised when Ian followed her back, desperate to reach out to her<\/a>. When Elaine continued to push him away, a blazing row broke out \u2013 then Ian unexpectedly kissed her.<\/p>\n

Elaine kissed Ian back, before Ian said he had to return to the community centre to celebrate his win, and both of them were left confused about what had just happened.<\/p>\n

Could this mark the start of a new romance between these fierce rivals?<\/p>\n

EastEnders<\/strong> airs on Mondays – Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Sir David Attenborough, is here! <\/strong>Buy Sir David Attenborough in newsagents or online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EastEnders spoilers follow for Thursday\u2019s episode (7 May), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[215877,1380,263653,1331,77,258961,1330,263652,216282,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-944188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-collection-latest-news","9":"tag-content-type-news","10":"tag-contentid-09888795-ab27-4e9f-9138-3548c22ce4aa","11":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-issyndicated-false","14":"tag-locale-gb","15":"tag-shorttitle-eastenders-airs-hugely-unexpected-walford-election-twist","16":"tag-subsection-eastenders","17":"tag-tv","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116534317426566443","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}