(Alliance News) - UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Friday celebrated "fantastic" council results as showing the Labour party is on course to win the next general election, while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak remained defiant despite heavy losses.
The Labour leader told jubilant supporters they are progressing towards a majority in Westminster as initial local election results on Friday saw his party seize battlegrounds from the Tories.
The Liberal Democrats also made gains as the Tories lost control of 10 councils across England after voters went to the polls on Thursday.
Labour snatched Medway off the Tories and will run the Kent council for the first time since 1998, with the outgoing Conservative council leader telling No 10 to "get their act together" on multiple fronts.
And in the latest blow to the Conservatives, they lost control of Welwyn Hatfield – in Energy Secretary Grant Shapps' constituency – where both the Lib Dems and Labour made gains.
Sunak vowed to push on with his agenda after reassuring staff in Conservative Campaign Headquarters, and insisted he is "not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda".
But the Tories will be concerned as the party suffered losses in the North, South and Midlands as the prospect of a general election in 2024 looms.
To the cheers of Labour activists in Medway, Starmer said: "You didn't just get it over the line, you blew the doors off."
He said there have been "fantastic results across the country" in "places we need to win", citing victories in Plymouth, Stoke and Middlesbrough.
"Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election," he said.
Starmer said Labour has made a "positive case" on how it would help people with the cost-of-living crisis as Sunak "said nothing".
The Labour leader said: "We've changed our party. We've won the trust, the confidence, of voters, and now we can go on to change our country. Change is possible. A better Britain is possible."
Polling expert John Curtice told the PA news agency the "jury is still out" on whether Labour as a party has made progress and said it is not experiencing the level of success seen ahead of Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.
"Labour are going to have their biggest lead over the Conservatives in terms of votes than at any point since 2010 but it's going to be as much to do with the Conservatives being down as much as it is Labour being up," he said.
UK government minister and local MP Johnny Mercer said Labour gaining control of Plymouth, where the Tories had run a minority administration, was "terrible" – before the opposition seized another battleground with Stoke-on-Trent.
In central London, Sunak is understood to have thanked staff for their efforts, insisted the results were always going to be tough but that the state of play has improved since he took over six months ago after the leaderships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
He went on to tell broadcasters it was "hard to draw firm conclusions" from the initial results, with a little over a quarter of councils having declared.
The prime minister said: "It's always disappointing to lose hardworking Conservative councillors; they're friends, they're colleagues and I'm so grateful to them for everything they've done.
"But in terms of the results, it's still early. We've just had a quarter of the results in, but what I am going to carry on doing is delivering on the people's priorities."
Sunak cited his priorities as halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists and "stopping the boats", adding: "That's what people want us to do. That's what I'm going to keep hard at doing."
The prime minister said the Tories are "making progress in key electoral battlegrounds like Peterborough, Bassetlaw, Sandwell".
The inroads for the Tories are debatable. In Sandwell, they have gained two of 24 seats, while Labour has gained four and held 18 more.
In Hertsmere, where Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is MP, the Tories have lost control of the council, with 13 councillors voted out, while Labour has gained seven and the Lib Dems six.
Tamworth, Brentwood, North West Leicestershire and East Lindsey have fallen from Tory administrations to no overall control.
Elsewhere, the Conservatives have lost control of South Kesteven in Lincolnshire, where the party had 36 of the 56 seats before polling day.
West Lindsey remains under no overall control but the Lib Dems have replaced the Tories as the largest party.
In Boston, the Tories have lost 10 councillors in the Lincolnshire town they had run as a minority, with independents now taking the majority of seats.
Labour has replaced the Tories as the largest party in Hartlepool and Worcester.
On the eve of the coronation, the Lib Dems won control in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead from the Conservatives.
Veterans minister Mercer conceded it had been a "terrible night" in Plymouth, which he blamed on local factors including the council's decision to fell dozens of trees in the city centre as he defended Sunak as the "strong leader this country needs".
Stoke-on-Trent North Tory MP Jonathan Gullis told Sky News councillors have "suffered because, at the end of 2022, the Conservative Party as a brand was certainly damaged".
Conservative councillor Alan Jarrett, who will no longer lead Medway after Labour seized control, said Downing Street must "get their act together on a number of fronts".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the party leaders must "get a grip of the economy", be clearer about housing targets and improve access to GPs.
In Tamworth – the seat of scandal-hit former Tory whip Chris Pincher – Labour has made seven gains, pushing it from Conservative into no overall control.
But Labour's attempts to regain Hull from the Lib Dems have failed, with Ed Davey's party tightening its grip on the authority.
With full results from 64 of the 230 councils where elections were held:
– The Tories have lost 10 councils and suffered a net loss of 195 councillors.
– Labour has gained control of three councils and added 143 councillors.
– The Liberal Democrats have gained one council and 60 councillors.
– The Green Party has gained 13 councillors.
Labour expects to have its best local election results since 1997, with an equivalent vote share lead of at least 8% over the Tories, which could result in a majority Labour government if repeated in a Westminster contest.
Chris Cooke won Labour's battle to become mayor of Middlesbrough, defeating the independent incumbent Andy Preston with a swing of almost 20%.
Liberal Democrat leader Davey said it has been a "groundbreaking night" for his party.
"We are exceeding all expectations. We have delivered a hammer blow to the Conservative Party in the blue wall ahead of next year's general election," he said.
But the elections have been branded a "dark day for British democracy" by campaigners opposed to the introduction of photo ID who claimed thousands of people were denied their right to vote.
The contests were the first to be fought under new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID and the elections watchdog said some people were turned away from polling stations.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: "We already know from our research that the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society and that some people were regrettably unable to vote as a result.
"It will be essential to understand the extent of this impact, and the reasons behind it, before a final view can be taken on how the policy has worked in practice and what can be learned for future elections."
Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, which is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the policy including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and Open Britain, said: "Today has been a dark day for British democracy.
"Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced."
Association of Electoral Administrators Chief Executive Peter Stanyon said there have been "many anecdotal reports" of people being unable to vote but "it is still too early to gauge how introducing voter ID has gone".
By Sam Blewett, David Hughes and Martina Bet, PA Political Staff
source: PA
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
