Olivia Dean nominated and Lily Allen snubbed in Mercury Prize list

Olivia Dean's campaign to collect every major music award in existence continues, with a nomination for this year's Mercury Prize.The star is among the favourites to win the £25,000 prize, which recognises outstanding albums, after her second record, The Art of Loving, won album of the year at both the Brits and the Mobo Awards.Sir Paul McCartney also receives his first ever Mercury nomination, aged 84, for the nostalgia-laden The Boys of Dungeon Lane, while Suede, Jade, Raye and Nia Archives are also in contention.But there was a surprise omission for Lily Allen, whose scathing break-up album, West End Girl, was one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the last 12 months.The record examines the collapse of her marriage to actor David Harbour in unvarnished detail. Reviews praised its candour and musical invention, calling Allen's work "breathtaking and heartbreaking", external and "a brutal, tell-all masterpiece", external.Artists submit themselves for the prize, making it impossible to determine whether Allen was snubbed or simply not in contention - but she was previously nominated for her 2018 album No Shame. Other notable omissions include Harry Styles’ Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally and Gorillaz’ sweeping meditation on grief, The Mountain. Dean is also a former nominee, for her 2023 debut album Messy, and returns thanks to the sumptuously singable soul songs on The Art of Loving.Two former winners - Suede and Dave - receive nominations, while Florence + The Machine picks up a fourth citation for her thunderous new album, Everybody Scream.The presence of so many stalwarts largely squeezes out fresh talent, but the mysterious Irish newcomer Dove Ellis stands out as a potential winner, for the otherworldly beauty of his debut album, Blizzard.The shortlisted albums are selected by a panel of 12 jurists, including 6 Music broadcaster Afrodeutsche, musician Jamie Cullum, and The Times' music critic Will Hodgkinson.They'll select an overall winner during the prize ceremony at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on 22 October.Last year's prize went to hometown hero Sam Fender. Other previous winners include Pulp's Different Class (1996), Dizzee Rascal's Boy In Da Corner (2003), Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid (2008), Wolf Alice's Visions of a Life (2018) and Ezra Collective's Where I'm Meant To Be (2023).Here's all you need to know about the 12 albums selected for the 2026 prize.