Local elections results – live: Labour win in West Midlands and London as Sunak facing fresh rebellion
Labour’s Sadiq Khan secures third term as Mayor of London, beating Conservative Susan Hall
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Your support makes all the difference.Rishi Sunak is facing fresh Conservative unrest after Labour claimed victory in the West Midlands mayoral election, beating Andy Street in a tight race.
The newly elected mayor, Richard Parker, secured a majority against his Conservative opponent who has served two terms and held office since 2017.
The result is the latest in a string of Labour mayoral and council wins nationwide as the Conservatives suffered historic blows. “I don’t think he’s out of the woods,” a former minister told the Financial Times, referring to Mr Sunak’s position.
Meanwhile, Labour’s Sadiq Khan secured a third term as Mayor of London beating Conservative Susan Hall.
Mr Sunak also suffered terrible losses in council elections as the Conservatives lost more than 400 councillors and control of ten councils.
State of play
Total no of councils - Lab 50 (+8) | Lib Dem: 12 (+ 2)| Con: 6 (-10) | Ind & Others: 1 (+1) | Greens: 0 | NOC: 36 (-1)
Councillors - Lab 1,140 (+185) | Lib Dem: 521 (+104) | Con: 513 (-473) | Ind & Others: 228 (+93) | Green: 181 (+74) | RA 48 (+11) | Workers Party of Britain 4 (+4) | Reform 2 (+2)
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Manchester mayor wins more votes than rivals combined
Andy Burnham has vowed to “make big things happen” after he won a third successive term as the mayor of Greater Manchester with more votes than all his opponents combined.
The Labour candidate won by a landslide with 63.4 per cent of the vote, miles ahead of runner-up Conservative candidate Laura Evans with 10.39 per cent.
Reform gained 7.46 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Greens with 6.92 per cent and Lib Dems with 4.25 per cent.
“I’m overwhelmed and humbled that so many people have again given me their support,” Mr Burnham said after securing victory.
“I’m always conscious that people who perhaps will usually vote for other parties at a general election have lent me their support.”
No, the local elections don’t point to a hung parliament – but Sunak could still make it happen
Professor Michael Thrasher, the Sky News boffin, caused consternation on Friday by publishing a projection from the local elections that suggested the results would produce a hung parliament if repeated in the general election.
This is where the phrase “just a bit of fun”, a watchword of Peter Snow, the BBC’s former king of the swingometer, comes into play.
Thrasher is right to say that if Labour’s share of the vote was seven percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in a general election, the party would probably fall short of a majority in the House of Commons.
Read the full article from John Rentoul here:
No, the local elections don’t point to a hung parliament – but it could still happen
Could the prime minister copy Gordon Brown, who came back from the depths of unpopularity to deny the opposition a majority in 2010?
Labour’s youngest councillor, 18, wins seat week before A-Level exams
One of the youngest councillors elected in the UK has won her seat just a week before she’s due to take her A-level exams.
Daisy Blakemore-Creedon, 18, was elected to Peterborough City Council after beating the sitting Tory councillor Andy Coles in the Fletton & Woodston ward.
The Labour candidate said she was “overwhelmed” by the local support when she gained 940 votes to beat her opponent by 282 ballots.
Just one day after her victory, she told The Independent that she had thrown herself into her new role and had already begun to carry out her new duties - despite having to sit exams next week.
“I wasn’t expecting to win as it was quite a short campaign so I was feeling very overwhelmed when it happened,” she said.
Athena Stavrou reports.
Labour’s youngest councillor, 18, wins seat week before A-Level exams
The teenager ousted the sitting Tory councillor as she was elected to Peterborough City Council
Rishi Sunak says he has ‘redoubled my resolve’ ahead of general election
Despite grumbling from some rebel voices, Rishi Sunak appeared resolute that his leadership was still right for the party and the country.
In a statement, he said: “It’s been disappointing of course to lose dedicated Conservative councillors and Andy Street in the West Midlands, with his track record of providing great public services and attracting significant investment to the area, but that has redoubled my resolve to continue to make progress on our plan.
“So we will continue working as hard as ever to take the fight to Labour and deliver a brighter future for our country.”
Voices: Catastrophic Tory election results show the writing is on the wall for Sunak
As the prime minister himself dramatically put it the other day, they will need the biggest comeback in history to turn things around in the course of the next few months, writes Sean O’Grady:
Catastrophic election results show writing is on the wall for Sunak | Sean O’Grady
As the prime minister himself dramatically put it the other day, they will need the biggest comeback in history to turn things around in the course of the next few months, writes Sean O’Grady
ICYMI: Moment Britain First London mayoral candidate interrupts Sadiq Khan’s victory speech
This was the moment that Britain First’s mayoral candidate Nick Scanlon interrupted newly re-elected mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s victory speech after winning a historic third term.
‘Khan killed London’ the candidate shouted while walking around the stage behind the mayor, who won 43.8% of all votes cast, before being warned that security would remove people who disrupted the speeches.
Mr. Khan secured just over 1,088,000 votes to be re-elected London Mayor, followed by his conservative rival Susan Hall, who secured just under 813,000 votes.
Concerns of rebellion against Sunak
Rishi Sunak is facing renewed Tory unrest after his party suffered defeat in mayoral and council elections.
The West Midlands contest, which the Tories were on course to win, was seen as a potential lifeline in an otherwise disastrous set of results for the Conservatives. The newly elected mayor, Richard Parker, secured a majority against Andy Street by a thin margin.
The results were a big setback for Mr Sunak ahead of this year’s general elections.
“I don’t think he’s out of the woods,” one former cabinet minister told the Financial Times, referring to Mr Sunak.
“People saying the rebellion is over are being rather premature. I think the loss of Street as well as Hall will cause a lot of people to consider whether it’s sensible to remain on the current course.”
Labour leader calls West Midlands victory ‘phenomenal’
Labour leader Keir Starmer hailed the result in the West Midlands as “phenomenal” and “beyond our expectations” as the party notched up a string of wins by high-profile incumbents as well as scoring a clean sweep of unexpected victories.
“People across the country have had enough of Conservative chaos and decline and voted for change with Labour. Our fantastic new mayor Richard Parker stands ready to deliver a fresh start for the West Midlands,” Sir Keir said.
It came after his party dominated mayoral elections across England - winning in Liverpool, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and in Greater Manchester.
London Mayoral Election 2024: Results in full
Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been re-elected for a historic third term as Mayor of London.
The result follows what has been a long and fractious campaign filled with blunders and accusations of islamophobia and racism.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan secured just over 1,088,000 (43.8%) votes to be re-elected London Mayor, a majority of some 275,000 over Conservative rival Susan Hall, who secured just under 813,000 (32.7%) votes.
Here are the results for each constituency in full:
London Mayoral Election 2024: Results in full
Sadiq Khan secured just over 1,088,000 votes to be re-elected London Mayor, a majority of some 275,000 over Conservative rival Susan Hall
Braverman fires salvo at Sunak over Torry losses
Former home secretary Suella Braverman has laid the blame for Tory mayoral election losses at the door of Downing Street.
She said ousting prime minister Rishi Sunak as party leader “won’t work”, but wrote in the Telegraph: “The hole to dig us out of is the PM’s, and it’s time for him to start shovelling.”
Outgoing West Midlands mayor Andy Street has urged the Conservative leader not to stray rightwards, and to stick to a moderate path in order to win votes in the future.
“I would definitely not advise that drift,” he told Sky News. “The message is clear: winning from that centre ground is what happens.”
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