Local elections 2021: Labour suffers crushing defeats in early results from local council wards

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Labour council leaders toppled today as the Conservatives starting building their own ‘Blue Wall’ in the North East and marched further into Labour’s working class heartlands as Sir Keir Starmer’s party continued to struggle.

Conservative Ben Houchen was re-elected as Tees Valley Mayor with a whopping 73 per cent of the vote, up from 40 per cent in the 2017 election, while Labour leaders in Sheffield, Oldham and Harlow were among 120 of its councillors in England to lose seats so far. In contrast, the Tories gained 95 seats and the Lib Dems gained five.

Labour group leaders lost their seats in Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire – the latter being where Labour was expecting a better result, but ended up seeing a Tory hold and majority extension.

The Tories took Northumberland for the first time since the 1970s, which had been under no overall control but was traditionally Labour before that, as well as getting shock new councillors in traditionally Left-wing communities in Sunderland and on Tyneside.

After the Northumberland result came in this morning and the Tories returned an MP for Hartlepool for the first time in 62 years in a landslide vote, supporters took to social media to declare: ‘The Red Wall is now The Blue Wall.’

With just 29 of the 122 councils declaring so far, Boris Johnson described the early election results as ‘very encouraging’ for his party as any Labour revival were already dealt a crushing blow after an awful polling day. 

Labour-run Harlow was turned from red to blue as Essex voters threw out Sir Keir Starmer’s councillors in six of its seven wards while in the south of the county, the Tories won six more seats, increasing its majority over Labour to nine in Thurrock.

In Dudley, Labour won just three seats, down from 11, with the Tories winning all the remaining 23 seats as they also made major inroads in the West Midlands. It was the same picture in Nuneaton and Bedworth, where Labour only won one seat after a number of their councillors were voted out.   

Boris Johnson’s party also chipped away at Labour’s gigantic majority in Sunderland, one of its true strongholds in England, taking 18 seats as Sir Keir Starmer’s party took a battering at the polls yesterday. In the city’s Ryhope ward, a former docker area, the Tories took it with a 38% swing away from Labour.

In Newcastle, Gateshead and Tyneside they also struggled, losing seats to the Tories as well as the Green Party, Lib Dems and Independents, but the areas remained under Labour control with reduced majorities. Newcastle’s Labour leader Nick Forbes admitted the party was facing a bleak night as they lost seats across the North East.  

Sir Keir Starmer was given a bloody nose as:

• Labour lost its Hartlepool seat, which has returned a Tory MP for the first time in decades;
• Tories win 23 of the 26 seats on Dudley Council – up 11 seats since 2016 – as Labour is almost wiped out there;
• The party lost Harlow Council to the Tories, who also gained Northumberland, Redditch and Nuneaton councils;
• Labour held strongholds of Oldham, Newcastle and Sunderland but lost significant numbers of seats, especially to the Tories but also the Green, Lib Dem and independent candidates; 

The Tories are also celebrating after wrestling Harlow Council in Essex from Labour and gaining control of Nuneaton & Bedworth, Redditch and Dudley councils in the West Midlands, all three of which previously had no overall control. 

The Tories won several Labour seats while also cutting the gap in other seats with strong Labour majorities as they saw swings of up to 30 per cent in some contests causing yet more grief for Sir Keir.  

The swing towards the Tories came as  the party delivered a devastating hammer blow to Labour today as the Tories romped to an historic victory in the Hartlepool by-election. 

In Ryhope in Sunderland, the Tories increased their vote share by 30 per cent to beat Labour, while in Newsham, Northumberland, the Tories increased their vote share by 25.7 per cent to take the seat before the council fell. 

Other parties also chipped away at Labour council wards, with the Liberal Democrats boosting their vote by an astonishing 55 per cent to win Pallion in Sunderland from Sir Keir‘s party. Meanwhile, the Green party saw their vote jump by 43.9 per cent as they took West Park in South Tyneside from Labour. 

A Labour source said leader Sir Keir Starmer would ‘take responsibility for these results’. They added: ‘We’ve said all along the North East and the Midlands would be difficult. We also said the places declaring Thursday would be particularly difficult.’

While Nick Forbes, Labour leader of Newcastle City Council, said results were promising in his city but admitted the party was facing a bleak night in other parts of the country, as was proved when the results began to come in. 

The Conservatives won all nine of the seats being contested in Redditch, the first council result of the night, gaining seven seats from Labour.

There was no change of control, with the Conservatives holding 25 seats on the new council and Labour just four, losing both their leader and deputy leader. 

They did however take control of Nuneaton & Bedworth after winning 13 of the first 14 seats declared. 

Harlow also went to the Conservatives for the first time since 2008, with Conservative Harlow MP Robert Halfon sharing his pride at the result. 

He said: ‘Proud of @HarlowTories Councillors. Won 11 seats, including 7 from Labour as well as defeating the Harlow Labour Council leader,’ he tweeted.

‘Harlow Council now under @HarlowTories @Conservatives control for only the second time in the history of our town.’ 

Nuneaton’s Conservative MP Marcus Jones expressed his joy after the Conservatives gained control of Nuneaton and Bedworth Council from Labour.

‘I’m delighted that @NuneatonMatters and @BedworthTories gained a massive 11 seats and will now take control of @NBBCouncil,’ he posted on Twitter.

‘A missive (sic) effort by all concerned. Thank you to everyone that supported the Conservative candidates.’ 

As results started to come in, a Labour source said: ‘We’ve said all along the North East and the Midlands would be difficult.

‘We also said the places declaring Thursday would be particularly difficult.

‘But the message from voters is clear and we have heard it – Labour has not yet changed nearly enough for voters to place their trust in us.

‘We understand that. We are listening. And we will now redouble our efforts.

‘Labour must now accelerate the programme of change in our party, to win back the trust and faith of working people across Britain.

‘People don’t want to hear excuses. Keir has said he will take responsibility for these results – and he will take responsibility for fixing it and changing the Labour Party for the better.’

Newcastle’s Labour mayor Mr Forbes said: ‘I think Labour has been offering a message of hope throughout this election campaign.

‘But it has been a very strange campaign because of Covid. I have spoken to people on the doorstep in the last few days who haven’t wanted to come out and vote even though they are Labour supporters because they are self-isolating.

‘And of course we have had the national campaign around the vaccinations and at times like this people do tend to rally to the government of the day, whatever colour it is.

‘But there is no doubt there are warning signs for Labour in what starts to look like a difficult set of election results for us here tonight.

‘We need to be the change makers. We need to be the people who are offering hope for the future. We need to be the party that people can trust with future generations’ opportunities.

‘And that message isn’t quite breaking through yet, probably because of Covid and a very difficult year for election campaigning but we must redouble our efforts to get that message across to voters for next year’s elections. 

Meanwhile in Hartlepool, shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon, who led the Opposition party’s campaign to hold the North East town, said it looked clear that Labour had not ‘got over the line’.  

Shadow cabinet minister Thangam Debbonaire also admitted the party’s message had not been cutting through.

‘We’ve got a great team who cannot wait to be able to cut through more and I hear what people are saying, it’s not cutting through, I get that,’ she told BBC’s Question Time.

‘I think that’s a lesson for the Labour Party that we’re going to have to take into account.’

But in a sign of the discontent on the Labour left, MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle appeared to mock the party’s attempts to change its image.

He said: ‘Good to see valueless flag waving and suit wearing working so well … or not?’

The comment seemed to be a reference to a leaked strategy document which suggested Labour must make ‘use of the flag, veterans, dressing smartly’ to win back voters in red wall seats in the party’s former industrial heartlands.

#StarmerOut: Keir Starmer becomes subject of humiliating memes as fury builds over Labour’s loss in Hartlepool by-election and faces more pain at the polls today

Labour leader Keir Starmer became a figure of ridicule this morning as he was subjected to an avalanche of memes urging him to stand down after party stronghold Hartlepool was won by the Tories.

As #StarmerOut began to gain traction on Twitter the 58-year-old was likened to a clown and suggested to be so weak he could be defeated by a feather.

Another teasing image mocked him up as Rick Moranis’s bumbling character in film Honey I Shrunk The Kids, this time titled ‘Honey I shrunk the Labour Party’.

And he was even photoshopped so he replaced Boris Johnson in the humiliating picture of him waving flags stuck on a zipline. 

A more niche ribbing featured the The League of Gentlemen’s Creme Brulee member Les McQueen looking deflated caption as if it was Sir Keir visiting Hartlepool.   

It came hours after Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle took to Twitter on Thursday night to question his party’s attempts to change its image.

He said: ‘Good to see valueless flag waving and suit wearing working so well… or not?’

The comment seemed to be a reference to a leaked strategy document which suggested Labour must make ‘use of the flag, veterans, dressing smartly’ to win back voters in red wall seats in the party’s former industrial heartlands.

Labour’s new strategy was based on extensive focus groups conducted in places from Watford to Grimsby last September alongside UK polls. It was suggested displays of patriotism are needed to reinforce the idea the party has changed and to win back losses in the 2019 election.  

Mr Russel-Moyle became the first Labour MP to publicly question Sir Keir and his strategy. 

The Brighton MP was an ally of previous leader Jeremy Corbyn before joining the shadow frontbench under Sir Keir. 

He stepped down as the shadow minister for air quality and the natural environment last July.  

His resignation came weeks after he apologised to author JK Rowling for writing an article where he accused her of ‘using her own sexual assault as justification for discriminating’ against trans people.

In 2018, he hit headlines after he was suspended from the Commons for picking up the ceremonial mace in protest at a Brexit vote being deferred.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle reacted furiously after the Government whip formally postponed the vote – because then-PM Theresa May was facing a humiliating defeat.

The mace is the symbol of the authority of the House and during sittings is placed on the table next to the despatch box in front of the Speaker.

In 2019, Russell-Moyle joined thirteen other Labour MPs on Westminster Bridge, next to the Houses of Parliament, in a protest against Brexit under the banner ‘Love Socialism Hate Brexit’.

Hartlepool is expected to be the first major result announced after a raft of elections across the UK, with Boris Johnson hopeful of snatching the seat from Labour which has held the constituency since its inception in the 1970s. 

The Tories were increasingly confident of victory in Hartlepool – and saw it as a result which would steady Mr Johnson’s premiership after a tumultuous few weeks littered with various rows.

The defeat for Sir Keir piled the pressure on his leadership and reignite questions over whether he can reverse Labour’s fortunes ahead of the 2024 general election.

Labour sources were downbeat about the party’s chances in council elections in England as they said they expected some ‘grim’ results this morning.

Early declarations in some council seats in the north east of England suggested Labour was struggling.

Sir Keir was said to be preparing a brutal reshuffle of his shadow cabinet within days, with shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth tipped for demotion.

He was sounding out high-profile figures, including former work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper, about a possible return to the Labour frontbench.

Frontbenchers regarded as strong media performers such as shadow schools minister Wes Streeting are being tipped for promotion.

Sir Keir has said he will ‘carry the can’ if the local election results go badly, but he is expected to try to revitalise his top team amid concerns many of them have been under-performing.

Another being lined up for the sack is thought to be shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz, with a reshuffle pencilled in for the next week.

In a sign that Sir Keir was expecting a difficult set of results, a Labour source said: ‘These were always going to be tough elections for Labour. Keir has always been honest about the mountain we must climb to rebuild trust to win the next general election.’