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Sir Keir Starmer is celebrating wins in key battlegrounds in the local elections as an indication Labour is on course to win the next general election, but Rishi Sunak remains defiant despite heavy losses.
The prime minister is under pressure as the results being declared showed both Labour and the Lib Dems seizing control of Tory councils across England.
The Labour leader said the “fantastic” results combined with a hoped-for recovery in Scotland would give him a majority in Westminster after a national poll.
With nearly half of authorities having declared, the Conservatives had lost 23 local authorities and more than 360 councillors.
Sir Keir’s party was projected to have won a nine-point lead over the Conservatives if all of Britain had gone to the polls.
Mr Sunak conceded the results were “disappointing” but said he was “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.
The elections watchdog said “regrettably” some people were turned away from polling stations as a result of new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID.
Sunak under pressure to ‘deliver’ on key issues
Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from senior Tories MPs to “deliver” on key issues if the party wants to avoid defeat at the next general election, Kate Devlin reports.
The prime minister had to show voters his party had made improvements in areas including the economy and the NHS before they go to the polls again, they said.
One former cabinet minister, who supported Mr Sunak’s bid to become Tory leader, told the Independent he now had to “deliver on his five priorities”, which including lowering waiting lists and inflation.
Lord Barwell, a Tory peer who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff in No 10, said Mr Sunak had to “deliver improvements on the key issues that matter”, including growing the economy.
Only three councils yet to declare
Just three councils in England remain undeclared now after the New Forest was held by the Conservatives.
Some of the key results
Here are some of the key results so far:
- Swindon (Lab gain from Con)
This is where Sir Keir Starmer launched Labour’s local election campaign and where the party hopes to pick up at least one of the area’s two Conservative-held parliamentary seats at the general election.
Labour needed to win big to take control of the council but the party managed it, gaining 10 seats while the Tories lost 11.
- Surrey Heath (Lib Dem gain from no overall control)
Another Conservative big beast who may be feeling nervous is Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities.
Mr Gove is the MP for Surrey Heath, where the Liberal Democrats gained 14 seats and the Tories lost 10.
- East Staffordshire (Lab gain from Con)
Labour are up 10 seats and the Conservatives down eight. The result will give Labour cheer in a part of the country that will be a key battleground at the next general election.
- East Hertfordshire (Con lose to no overall control)
There was a surge in support here for the Greens, with the party’s total number of seats up 17.
The Greens are now the largest party on the council with 19 seats, three ahead of the Tories on 16 after slumping 23.
- Mid Suffolk (Green gain from no overall control)
The Greens went one better at Mid Suffolk, winning majority control of a council in England for the very first time.
The party made 12 gains and now holds 24 seats, a long way ahead of the Conservatives on six and the Lib Dems on four.
- Windsor & Maidenhead (Lib Dem gain from Con)
In another big setback for the Tories, the party lost 15 seats and overall control, while the Liberal Democrats clocked up 12 gains.
It is the first time since 2007 that Windsor & Maidenhead has had a Lib Dem majority.
Four councils still to declare
There are now just four councils that have not yet declared, including Redcar & Cleveland.
The others are Bedford, where a recount was taking place, Arun and the New Forest.
Redcar recount delays full results until Tuesday
The full council election results will not be known until Tuesday, after Redcar & Cleveland stopped counting with just two results to go.
The council tweeted: “Following a second recount, candidates in the Longbeck Ward have agreed for a third recount to take place on Tuesday 9 May at Redcar and Cleveland House beginning at 10am.’’
Local election results mapped: Does your council have a new ruling party?
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have both made gains after what one Tory MP said had been a “terrible” night for his party.
More than 8,000 seats were contested across 230 councils, with Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough among several cities and regions choosing a new mayor.
Below, you can see the very latest results mapped out county by county to give a sense of the national picture as it stands:
Tories demand Sunak ‘deliver’ on pledges after ‘wake-up call’ local election results
Rishi Sunak is under pressure from senior Conservatives to deliver on his flagship pledges after his own party chair described the disastrous local election results as a “wake-up call”.
The prime minister was dealt a major blow in his first election test as the Tories lost dozens of councils to Labour and the Lib Dems, leading to comparisons with the dire days of the mid-1990s.
His MPs warned that voters now needed to see tangible improvements in the NHS and the economy before next year’s general election if they were to vote for the Tories.
Our political editor Kate Devlin has more:
Labour takes South Derbyshire, winning 23 seats on council
Labour has taken South Derbyshire after winning 23 seats on the council, which has a total of 36, with several results still to come.
Previously both Labour and the Conservatives had 16 seats each on the council, which is based in the former mining town of Swadlincote.
Baggy Shanker, leader of the Labour group on Derby City Council, said he was “absolutely delighted” with his party winning 23 seats.
Despite falling short of an overall majority, Labour is now in primed to organise a minority leadership, with the Conservatives taking 15 seats, losing two.
Mr Shanker said: “Residents in Derby have given the Labour group and Labour Party a clear mandate to govern and to bring our manifesto ideas and our vision forward and get that implemented as soon as we can.
“People are seeing that we’re ready for this change now, locally and nationally, the party is functioning and firing on cylinders, and so bring on the general election and let’s have change for the country as well as Derby.”
Lib Dem leader hails ‘best results in decades'
Sir Ed Davey praised the Liberal Democrats’ performance as the “best result in decades”.
“This has been an historic victory for the Liberal Democrats with our best result in decades,” the party leader said.
“It’s little wonder Rishi Sunak is running scared of a general election because he knows the Liberal Democrats are set to take swathes of seats across the Conservative Party’s former heartlands.
“The message from these elections is clear: people are fed up with being let down and taken for granted by this Conservative government - it is time for a change. Voters have sent a political shockwave to dozens of Conservative MPs right across the blue wall. Our great country deserves so much better than this out-of-touch prime minister and his chaotic and careless Conservative Government.”
The Lib Dems said they had taken control of 12 councils, the highest number the party has gained since 1995.
They pointed to gains of Tory councils including those in the backyards of former Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi, senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove and former prime minister Theresa May.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey pulls a pint of ‘Return of the King’ in the George Inn pub during a visit to Windsor where the Tories lost control of Windsor and Maidenhead Council
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2023-05-05 20:10:04Z
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