Labour candidates made major gains in Thursday’s local elections, even winning in the prime minister Rishi Sunak’s “backyard” of North Yorkshire, where he is an MP..
The Conservatives suffered heavy losses throughout England.
Sir Keir Starmer has been urging Sunak to call a general election and could continue to press for one, following the key by-election win in Blackpool South this morning, with a 26% swing.
With five councils still to declare their results, Labour has so far won key councils and regional mayors in England, with the Tories losing 10 councils and more than 400 councillors.
Labour won councils in Hartlepool, Redditch, Milton Keynes and Thurrock, but lost Oldham to no overall control, where two councillors quit the party over Gaza earlier this year.
Sunak said the losses were disappointing but mayoral contests like Tees Valley were a “key battleground.”
The Conservatives have lost control of Gloucester City Council, which is now under no overall control.
But it was Boris Johnson Boris who made the headlines after he forgot to take voter ID to his local polling station.
The former PM, whose government introduced the rules, returned later to vote when he had collected it.
On Thursday, Londoners also chose between 13 candidates for the mayor of London, with votes being counted on Saturday.
