LABOUR PARTY leader Starmer said yesterday the Labour Party is on track to win the next general election, after taking control of key councils in the English local elections, including Medway, Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent.
Based on results counted early on Friday morning, the Labour leader said the party was heading for a result that, if repeated across the country at a general election, would give it an eight-point lead over the Conservatives.
Labour insisted this would be enough to win an election, taking into account a projected collapse of the Scottish National Party.
But it fell short of the 10-point lead experts said Starmer would need to feel confident of becoming the next Prime Minister.
The Tories are heading for total losses of about 1,000 councillors
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said: ‘The message I am hearing from people tonight is that they want us to focus on their priorities and they want us to deliver for them. And that’s about halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting waiting times, stopping the boats.’
Greg Hands, the Tory Party Chair, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I’m disappointed for the Conservative councillors who have lost their seats but equally it’s not been a resounding result for Labour under Sir Keir Starmer.’
Sunak’s allies insisted the results were a judgment on his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, rather than the current Prime Minister.
Gavin Barwell, who was chief of staff to Theresa May, said: ‘The problem is not actually the current government, the problem is the damage that Boris Johnson and Liz Truss did to the Conservative brand.’
However, Alan Jarrett, the outgoing Conservative head of Medway council, which Labour won for the first time since it was created in 1998, told Today that Downing Street needed to ‘get a grip’. He added: ‘Excessive housing requirements are unpopular locally. And a big issue, really big issue here, is access to GP provision.’
Among other results, Tamworth, Brentford and North West Leicestershire councils fell from the Conservatives to no overall control, while Labour replaced them as the largest party in Hartlepool and Worcester. Bolton will remain under no overall control, but Labour will become the biggest party.
In Hull, Labour’s attempts to regain the council from the Liberal Democrats failed, with Ed Davey’s party tightening its grip on the authority. The Lib Dems also won Windsor and Maidenhead, bolstering the party’s belief that it can make gains at the next election in the Tories’ southern heartlands.
But some analysts are sceptical the numbers are that good for Labour – given the colossal mountain they face to get Keir Starmer into Downing Street. They say that Starmer will seek a pact with the Liberals.
