Keir Starmer’s hopes of an electoral breakthrough fell flat yesterday as he failed to make significant gains across the Red Wall.
On a night of mixed fortunes, Labour strengthened its grip on London by snatching the hugely symbolic councils of Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet.
But the party struggled to reclaim its former heartlands in the North and Midlands, which Sir Keir needs to be on course for Downing Street.
Though Labour made gains in the capital, it struggled to reclaim its former Red Wall heartlands
The Labour leader had sought to make the local elections campaign about the Partygate row after Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak received fines from police for attending a gathering in No 10 to celebrate the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday.
But this backfired in the latter days of the campaign as he struggled to answer questions about a lockdown gathering in Durham last year when he was pictured swigging beer.
Sir John Curtice, a professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said Labour’s performance did not ‘indicate a party that is on course for winning a general election’.
The polling expert added: ‘For a party that is trying to regain ground in the so-called Red Wall seats in the Midlands and North of England, this wasn’t quite the progress they wanted.’
Former Tory Cabinet minister Sir Robert Buckland suggested Labour was suffering from ‘Long Corbyn’ as the disastrous legacy of its former leader still lingers.
Local elections results declared across the country as of 10pm last night
Tory sources declared that Labour was ‘seriously underperforming’ in the former heartlands that it ‘needs to regain’. Outside of London, the party did not see voters switching back on the mammoth scale that is required. At a general election, the party needs an extra 127 parliamentary seats to get a majority.
In the local elections, it went backwards in places including Amber Valley, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Sandwell. It also gave ground to the Tories
