Labour Surges Ahead in Local Elections, Conservatives Suffering Major Setbacks
With almost half of the councils declared after Thursday’s local elections, the Conservatives appear to be facing significant losses to Labour.
With 45 out of 107 councils in England declared, Labour has won 379 seats, a gain of 62 and more than twice the number won by the Conservatives.
The Tories so far have won 136 seats, representing a loss of 153, according to the BBC’s election tracker. Labour has won 24 councils—a gain of four—and the Conservatives have won just three, a loss of three.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats are sitting in second place overall, having won 141 council seats and five councils.
Counting and the announcement of results is expected to continue throughout the weekend.
Elections expert professor Sir John Curtice told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme that while it is still early days, “we’re probably looking at certainly one of the worst—if not the worst—Conservative performances in local government elections for the last 40 years.”
“The Conservatives were defending a high base line. Losses did seem inevitable, but so far, they are basically losing half of the seats they are trying to defend. If that continues, they may end up losing 500 or so seats,” the pollster said.
Most of the council seats up for election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s popularity.
Hartlepool Returns to Labour
Gains for Labour included Hartlepool, where it regained control of the council for the first time since 2019. Labour had lost the Hartlepool constituency in the parliamentary by-election to the Conservatives three years ago.
The Worcestershire council of Redditch–an important battleground at the General Election–saw Labour pick up nine seats and gain overall control of the council, while the Conservatives saw their number of seats drop by 11.
There were some victories for the Conservatives. Despite Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy touring Harlow before polls opened, Labour fell short of an overall majority, leaving the council in the control of the Conservatives.
Lord Ben Houchen was re-elected as Tees Valley mayor, albeit with a reduced majority over Labour.
Tory Chairman Urges MPs to ‘Wait Through Weekend’
Conservative Party Chairman Richard Holden said that it had been a “tough night” but the party’s performance was “typical for a Government in midterm.”
Mr. Holden said that results were a reflection of local issues and he was confident Conservative MPs would not try to remove Rishi Sunak as prime minister over the results.
He told Sky News: “Parliamentary colleagues need to look at this and see … and wait through the weekend as well.”
Voters across England and Wales also had the chance to choose their police and crime commissioners. Counting is underway in the countries’ 33 force areas.
So far, Labour have won Avon & Somerset and Cumbria, both gains from the Tories.
Labour Gain for Blackpool South By-Election
Wednesday also saw a parliamentary by-election in Blackpool South which was triggered by the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton following a lobbying scandal.
Labour’s Chris Webb won the seat on Thursday, which Sir Keir hailed a “seismic win,” with the party securing a 26.33 percent swing—the third-biggest swing from the Conservatives to the Labour Party at a by-election since World War II.
Sir Keir said: “That wasn’t just a little message, that wasn’t just a murmur, that was a shout from Blackpool.
“We want change, and Blackpool speaks for the whole country. It says we have had enough now after 14 years of failure, 14 years of decline.”
Mr. Holden said the Blackpool South loss took place in “particularly difficult” circumstances following the lobbying scandal.
Reform ‘Helped’ Labour
The Tories narrowly avoided coming third in the Blackpool South by-election, finishing just 117 votes ahead of Reform UK, formerly The Brexit Party founded by Nigel Farage.
So far, Reform UK has gained no councils or council seats, but Mr. Holden suggested Conservative votes had been siphoned off by the right-wing party, admitting that votes for Reform will “help Labour.”
Reform UK leader Richard Tice said his party had “rapidly become the real opposition to Labour, whether it’s in the North, the Midlands, we know it’s the case in Wales.”
In Sunderland, Reform pushed the Conservatives into third place in 16 of the 25 council seats available, while Labour made a net gain of six to increase its majority.
Labour Loses Control of Oldham Over Gaza Strip Backlash
Labour lost control of Oldham Council, leaving the Greater Manchester local assembly in a position where no party has overall control.
Results suggest Labour’s position on the Israel-Hamas war may have contributed to the loss, as independent candidates, several of whom campaigned in support of Gaza, gained five seats.
Does this recasting of the penultimate paragraph make it clear?
Labour had been criticised for the perceived failure to call for a Gaza ceasefire sooner. The issue resulted in multiple defections from the Labour Party since October, including the loss of 11 councillors in Burnley in November.
PA Media contributed to this report.
