LAST UPDATE | 5 May 2023
THE LABOUR PARTY in the UK has gained an additional 510 seats in local elections, while the Conservatives have lost 763, with results available from 200 out of 230 councils.
The Liberal Democrats have gained another 338 seats and the Greens have picked up 173 more seats.
The Conservatives have lost 41 councils, with Labour gaining 19, the Lib Dems gaining nine and the Greens gaining one.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer celebrated what he described as “fantastic” council results indicating Labour is on course to win the next general election, as Prime Minister and Tory leader Rishi Sunak voiced his “disappointment” at heavy losses.
Starmer told jubilant supporters that Labour is progressing towards a majority in Westminster as initial local election results in England saw his party seize battlegrounds from the Conservatives.
Labour snatched control of several authorities off the Tories, including Kent council for the first time since 1998 – with the outgoing Conservative council leader telling No 10 to “get their act together” on multiple fronts.
Sunak vowed to push on with his agenda after reassuring staff in Conservative campaign headquarters, and insisted he is “not detecting any massive groundswell of movement towards the Labour Party or excitement for its agenda”.
But the Tories will be concerned as the party suffered losses in the north, south and midlands of England as the prospect of a general election next year looms.
To the cheers of Labour activists in Medway, Starmer said: “You didn’t just get it over the line, you blew the doors off.”
He said there have been “fantastic results across the country” in “places we need to win”, citing victories in Plymouth, Stoke and Middlesbrough.
“Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next general election,” he said.
Starmer said Labour has made a “positive case” on how it would help people with the cost-of-living crisis as Sunak “said nothing”.
The Labour leader said: “We’ve changed our party. We’ve won the trust, the confidence, of voters, and now we can go on to change our country. Change is possible. A better Britain is possible.”
Government minister and local MP Johnny Mercer said Labour gaining control of Plymouth, where the Tories had run a minority administration, was “terrible” – before the opposition seized another battleground with Stoke-on-Trent.
In central London, Sunak is understood to have thanked staff for their efforts, insisted the results were always going to be tough but that the state of play has improved since he took over six months ago after the leaderships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Sunak cited his priorities as halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists and “stopping the boats”, adding: “That’s what people want us to do. That’s what I’m going to keep hard at doing.”
The Conservatives lost control of Welwyn Hatfield – in Energy Secretary Grant Shapps’ constituency
On the eve of the coronation, the Lib Dems won control in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead from the Conservatives.
Stoke-on-Trent North Tory MP Jonathan Gullis told Sky News councillors have “suffered because, at the end of 2022, the Conservative Party as a brand was certainly damaged”.
In Tamworth – the seat of scandal-hit former Tory whip Chris Pincher – Labour has made seven gains, pushing it from Conservative into no overall control.
But Labour’s attempts to regain Hull from the Lib Dems have failed, with Sir Ed Davey’s party tightening its grip on the authority.
Liberal Democrat leader Davey said it has been a “groundbreaking night” for his party.
“We are exceeding all expectations. We have delivered a hammer blow to the Conservative Party in the blue wall ahead of next year’s general election,” he said.
Chris Cooke won Labour’s battle to become mayor of Middlesbrough, defeating the independent incumbent Andy Preston with a swing of almost 20%.
The Greens have won their first outright majority on a UK council in what it hopes cements a “coming of age” moment as a mainstream party.
Mid Suffolk fell from a minority Conservative administration to sole control of the Greens as they made inroads elsewhere during the results today.
The left-wing environmentalists have controlled local authorities in minority and coalition administrations before, but this is the first time they will have outright control.
Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay told the PA news agency: “For the first time anywhere outside Australia we’ve seen the Greens take the majority control of a council.
“It’s enormous because what we’ve seen over the last four sets of election since 2019 is the Green party really coming of age as a mainstream party in this country.”
Ramsay said the Greens have been part of around 20 local administrations in the past but capturing overall control is a “really significant” moment that “paves the way for success at the general election.”
Ramsay said: “Getting more greens elected will hold other parties’ feet to the fire and will raise the issues that need to be challenged in terms of the climate emergency but also cost of living and growing inequality.”
But the elections have been branded a “dark day for British democracy” by campaigners opposed to the introduction of photo ID who claimed thousands of people were denied their right to vote.
Reports from all over England of people turned away from polling stations because
— Unlock Democracy (@UnlockDemocracy) May 4, 2023
1)they didn't know they needed photo voter ID
2)they knew but took the wrong photo ID
3)they thought a photo of valid ID was ok
Email info@unlockdemocracy.org.uk if you experienced problems voting
The contests were the first to be fought under new rules requiring voters to carry photographic ID and the elections watchdog said some people were turned away from polling stations.
An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “We already know from our research that the ID requirement posed a greater challenge for some groups in society and that some people were regrettably unable to vote as a result.
“It will be essential to understand the extent of this impact, and the reasons behind it, before a final view can be taken on how the policy has worked in practice and what can be learned for future elections.”
Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy, which is leading a coalition of groups opposed to the policy including the Electoral Reform Society, Fair Vote UK and Open Britain, said: “Today has been a dark day for British democracy.
“Reports from all over the country confirm our very worst fears of the impact of the disastrous policy which has been made worse by the shambolic way it has been introduced.”
Association of Electoral Administrators chief executive Peter Stanyon said there have been “many anecdotal reports” of people being unable to vote but “it is still too early to gauge how introducing voter ID has gone”.
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