Keir Starmer Braces for Local Election Setbacks as Reform Gains Ground

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Keir Starmer Braces for Local Election Setbacks as Reform Gains Ground

 

Sir Keir Starmer has warned that Labour is heading into a “tough” series of local elections this Thursday, with Nigel Farage’s Reform Party posing a significant threat in Labour’s traditional northern strongholds. Polls suggest that Reform could overturn Labour’s 14,700 majority in the Runcorn & Helsby by-election, a contest triggered by the resignation of former MP Mike Amesbury following his conviction for assaulting a constituent.

 

 

Labour is also battling to hold off potential defeats to Reform in two key mayoral elections: the newly established Hull & East Yorkshire mayoralty and in Doncaster, where Labour’s mayor secured a 10,000-vote majority just four years ago. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are bracing for heavy losses of the 940 council seats they won in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson’s popularity.

 

 

The Liberal Democrats are optimistic about their chances in the south of England, aiming to seize dozens of seats from the Conservatives and possibly control more councils than Kemi Badenoch’s party by the end of the night. The Conservatives are additionally worried about losing the Lincolnshire mayoral race to Reform, a development that underscores the wider threat facing both major parties.

 

 

A senior Conservative strategist highlighted the deep frustration among the electorate, stating that the prevailing mood among voters was now “anyone but the Tories and Labour,” a stark contrast to the general election, when Labour achieved a landslide victory at the Conservatives' expense.

 

Acknowledging the difficult road ahead, Starmer said on Monday, “It’s going to be tough. Most governments after a general election face a tough set of local elections at the first opportunity afterwards, and of course we’ve had to take tough but right decisions.” He nevertheless insisted Labour had “a positive story to tell,” pointing to “record investment put into the NHS” and the increase in the minimum wage.

 

Starmer also went on the attack against Reform, accusing them of wanting to charge patients to use the NHS, voting against workers’ rights, and having a “pro-Putin foreign policy.” He added, “We’ve got a positive case to tell. It’ll be tight, I know that, every vote will count and we are fighting for every vote.”

 

Kemi Badenoch admitted the elections were also a major challenge for the Conservatives, especially amid criticisms over the party’s faltering campaign and lingering leadership speculation. There has been frustration within Conservative ranks, particularly as both Baroness Maclean of Redditch, the party’s head of strategy, and Lee Rowley, Badenoch’s chief of staff, were on holiday as polling day approached. Maclean returned from the Himalayas only this week. Justin Tomlinson, a former minister and MP for North Swindon, was appointed as campaign director for the local elections but faced criticism from activists for reportedly working only three days a week.

 

Defending his role, Tomlinson said he had been brought in as an “experienced campaigner” to provide “support and training” and to “share best practice.” He insisted, “That is exactly what I do.”

 

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Badenoch urged voters to focus on local rather than national issues. “This is not a referendum on national issues, but local ones,” she said. “I’ve been travelling all around the country, and one of the councillors I was with, we were on a doorstep, and he showed a leaflet of Reform saying ‘we’re going to stop the boats’. That’s not what people are voting on on Thursday. We have said that we are going to tackle immigration, but this week’s elections are about who’s going to fix the roads, pick up the bins.”

 

Professor Sir John Curtice, a leading polling expert, said the elections would become a five-way battle, noting that Reform had fielded 1,640 candidates — more than any other party. Speaking on BBC’s Today programme, he said, “Reform are now at 25 per cent in the national opinion polls as opposed to the 15 per cent they got at the last election. So if they can emulate that kind of performance then it may well be that not only do Reform pick up votes but in contrast to the general election start to pick up [significant numbers] of seats.”

 

  Adpated by ASEAN Now from The Times  2025-04-30

 

 

[JonnyF]

2 hours ago, Social Media said:

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Badenoch urged voters to focus on local rather than national issues. “This is not a referendum on national issues, but local ones,” she said.

 

I would argue it's the first opportunity for the British electorate to show Labour just how disgusted they are with them.

 

Great to See Luke Campbell involved with Reform by the way.

 

 

[Bruce1054]

Labour is dead in the water 💦 

[JonnyF]

5 minutes ago, Bruce1054 said:

Labour is dead in the water 💦 

 

Let's hope so. 

[Purdey]

The question is, can Farage be bothered to turn up? 

 

[JonnyF]

3 minutes ago, Purdey said:

The question is, can Farage be bothered to turn up? 

 

 

At least he wasn't asleep in Parliament like this purple haired Labour MP.