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Tories suffer humiliating defeat in local elections

Fresh backbench revolt sparked against Prime Minister Boris Johnson

THE TORIES suffered a humiliating defeat in local elections today, sparking a fresh backbench revolt against Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Labour made historic gains across London by beating the Tories in their strongholds of Barnet, Westminster and Wandsworth.

The Tories had controlled Westminster since the authority was set up in 1964 and held Wandsworth for 44 years, while Barnet had mostly been under majority Tory control since 1964, with the Tories always being the biggest party.

The serious losses prompted senior Conservative backbencher Tobias Ellwood to call on his fellow MPs to assess whether Mr Johnson is still fit to be party leader.

The former defence minister called on “every single Conservative MP to make that assessment and then to act accordingly.”

Labour successes in London, as well as in winning Southampton and the new Cumberland unitary authority, couldn’t mask their own setbacks, most notably losing control of Hull after more than a decade in power.

Labour’s results fall short of those achieved by Jeremy Corbyn in 2018.

New analysis by Sky News suggests that if replicated in a general election, it would mean a hung Parliament with the Tories remaining the largest party but falling 48 seats short of an overall majority.

The analysis of 1,700 wards predicts the Tories would have 278 seats, just seven more than Labour on 271.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hailed his party’s victories as “a big turning point for us.

“We’ve changed Labour and now we’re seeing the results of that.”

But Mish Rahman, member of Labour’s NEC and Momentum’s executive, said: ”These local elections were a golden opportunity for Labour.

“We’re delighted by gains in London, where Momentum members played a key role on the ground and as candidates.

“But these first results from the rest of England are distinctly underwhelming.

“While millions looked for an alternative to Tory ruin, they largely opted for the Lib Dems and Greens.

“Labour actually went backwards from Corbyn’s 2018 performance, a result which should bury Keir Starmer’s deeply flawed idea that punching left is a vote-winner.

“Instead, we should look to places like Preston, where a Labour administration is delivering a radical economic alternative — and getting rewarded at the ballot box.”

Communist Party general secretary Rob Griffiths said: “Many ex-Labour supporters have not forgotten nor forgiven Labour’s efforts to sabotage their democratic vote to leave the EU.

“What we need is a reinvigorated labour movement that leads mass campaigning for higher incomes, progressive taxation, public investment and public ownership of energy and public transport.”

Theresa May’s former chief of staff Lord Barwell described the Tory results as “catastrophic” in London and a “wake-up call.”

But Tory Party chairman Oliver Dowden downplayed Conservative losses, telling BBC Breakfast: “Of course we’ve had some difficult results and you can see that in London.”

The picture north of the border was no better for the Tories as they slumped further behind behind the Scottish National Party and Labour as results came in on Friday.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats seem to be making gains at the expense of the Tories, while support for the SNP appears to be consolidating.

The earliest declarations in six of Scotland’s 32 local authorities showed the Tories had lost 21 councillors, with dozens more set to follow suit.

Pre-election polls in Northern Ireland indicated that Sinn Fein was set to win an historic victory by becoming the first Irish nationalist party to win the most seats in an election to the regional assembly since the state's creation in 1921.

Final results for both the Stormont and Wales elections are not expected until late Friday or early Saturday.

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