At the start of a long weekend of election results, the first outcomes have been every bit as dire for the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak as analysts had predicted. Here is the state of play.
Labour wins mayoralty covering PM’s constituency
Labour’s David Skaith has won the first York and North Yorkshire mayoral race, an area that includes Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond. Skaith won with 35.1% of the vote – beating the Tory candidate, Keane Duncan, by almost 15,000 votes. Duncan came second with 27.3% of the vote. Reform UK did not put up a candidate. Keir Starmer said the result was a “historic victory” for Labour in “the heart of Tory territory”.
Tory Ben Houchen re-elected as Tees Valley mayor
Ben Houchen has won the Tees Valley mayoral election, offering the Conservatives a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy election. Houchen, the incumbent, won 81,930 votes (53.6%) against 63,141 (41.3%) for Labour’s Chris McEwan and 7,679 (5%) for the Liberal Democrats’ Simon Thorley. The turnout was 30%. Labour secured a swing of 16.5 percentage points from the 2021 vote, and the party pointed out this was greater than the 12-point switch it would need to sweep the Tees Valley constituencies in a general election.
Labour’s Claire Ward becomes first East Midlands mayor
Claire Ward has been elected the first mayor of the East Midlands, beating the Conservative Ben Bradley by more than 50,000 votes. The former Watford MP had 181,040 votes (40.27%), with Bradley, who is MP for Mansfield and leader of Nottinghamshire county council, on 129,332. A Labour source described the region as “the beating heart of the general election battleground”, suggesting the party’s win there is one of the biggest signs yet it could be on track for national victory.
Labour’s McGuinness beats Driscoll for North East mayoralty
Labour’s Kim McGuinness has won the NorthEast mayoralty, defeating the formerly of Labour-turned-independent Jamie Driscoll. McGuinness won 185,051 votes (41.3%) to Driscoll’s 126,652 (28.2%). Driscoll resigned from Labour after being blocked from standing for the post after he appeared on stage with the veteran leftwing film-maker Ken Loach.
Labour has won the Blackpool South byelection with a 26-point swing
The “red wall” seat was retaken by Labour after the third largest ever Tory-to-Labour swing. Almost as ominously for the Conservatives, they managed to beat Reform UK by only 117 votes. Keir Starmer described this as a “seismic win” and a “truly historic result”. The byelection was triggered after Scott Benton stood down in March over a lobbying scandal.
The Conservative party is on course to lose up to 500 council seats
The Conservatives have already shed more than 450 council seats on a night of heavy losses for the party. The political scientist Prof Sir John Curtice said the party was “basically losing half the seats they’re trying to defend”. If that continued, he added, they could end up losing about 500 seats. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the party seemed to be on course for “one of the worst, if not the worst, Conservative performance in local government elections for the last 40 years”.
Sunak ‘completely focused on the job’
In his first comment on the results, Sunak said: “It is disappointing to lose good hardworking Conservative councillors,” adding: “I’m focused completely on the job at hand. That’s delivering for people across the country.” Richard Holden, the Conservative party chair, said that although the results had not been great for the Tories, there was no chance of Sunak being replaced. Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “The prime minister is going to go on and lead the Conservative party into the general election, there’s no doubt about that.” Asked for his response to the results so far, Holden said: “Not a great set of results but coming off, I think it would be fair to say, a very high watermark in 2021.” Andrea Jenkyns, one of two Tory MPs who have publicly said Sunak should be replaced, has accepted that a confidence vote in him is now unlikely. A ConservativeHome poll found that 63% of Tory members did not think Sunak should resign.
Greens dominate Bristol
The Green party fell narrowly short of an overall majority in Bristol, but the party is celebrating a thumping victory over Labour, taking 34 of the 70 seats and leaving Starmer’s party trailing a distant second with 21, after losing two. Party officials said they believed they were on track to finish with more than 800 members on more than 170 councils, and they have councillors for the first time in Newcastle, Sefton, Redditch and Bolton. The Lib Dems won eight seats in Bristol after gaining three and the Conservatives won seven after losing seven.
Labour has gained control of eight councils
The Labour party has gained more than 160 councillors, and taken Rushmoor and Redditch from the Conservatives. It has also taken Norwich, Hartlepool and Thurrock, all from no overall control. The Conservatives have lost control of 10 councils. The full results are available here.
Labour has lost control of Oldham council
Gains by independents meant Labour lost its small majority on Oldham council, in an area with a large Muslim population. Arooj Shah, the Labour leader of Oldham council, rejected suggestions that Starmer’s response to the Israel-Gaza war was to blame. Shah said there had been “divisive, toxic politics” in Oldham for the last five years and problems in the town were ultimately linked to Tory austerity.
The Liberal Democrats have gained seats and two councils
The Lib Dems have reached 500 seats, ahead of the Tories who have at least 460. The party retained control of Winchester after winning eight of the first 10 seats to declare. Daisy Cooper, the party’s deputy leader, said: “The Liberal Democrats are on the up with gaining councillors across the country, from Hampshire to Stockport. The Liberal Democrats’ winning streak continues and we are ready to beat Conservative MPs and finally get this chaotic government out of office.” Liberal Democrats gained overall control of Tunbridge Wells as the Conservatives lost four seats in their former stronghold. Sir Ed Davey campaigned in the area and his party now has 22 of the 39 seats, with Conservatives on seven, and Labour and independents five each. The Liberal Democrats took Dorset from the Conservatives after gaining 15 seats. The party now has 42 of the 82 seats on the council, with Conservatives on 30 after losing 13. There are four independents, four Greens and two Labour councillors. Dorset is the first Lib Dem council gain from the Conservatives in this election.
Labour has failed to take control of Harlow
Harlow, a bellwether seat in the general election, had been targeted by the party in the local election with visits by Starmer and Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, on Wednesday. Starmer said Labour needed to win “in places like Harlow”. The Tories went into the local elections with 21 of the seats on the council, and Labour holding the other 12. The Tories now have 17 seats and Labour 16.
Electoral Commission says ‘no major problems’ with voter ID
Unlike Boris Johnson, the vast majority of voters turned up to vote with the required photo ID. Vijay Rangarajan, the chief executive of the Electoral Commission, claimed the new requirement did not create “any major problems”. He said: “A few people turned up without it. They went home and got it, much like Mr Johnson did. An awful lot of people had brought it. We think the campaigns that we and many others have done to raise awareness had worked.”