The Conservative Party suffered its worst election defeat in years, losing more than half of its councilors standing across England.
Labor hailed a ‘truly historic’ result in Rishi Sunak’s own backyard of York and North Yorkshire, where David Skaith crushed Tory Keane Duncan by almost 15,000 votes.
The region, which was electing a mayor for the first time, covers Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency and is an area in which Labor has historically struggled to compete.
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Speaking at Northallerton Town Football Club, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve had a positive campaign here, and I’m very, very proud to be here as leader of the The Labor Party to celebrate this historic victory.
“And it’s a historic victory. These are places where we normally wouldn’t have had Labor success, but we were able to create that success and persuade people to vote for us.”
Sir Keir also renewed his demand that the Prime Minister call a general election.
The party also enjoyed success in mayoral elections in the North East and East Midlands and in parliamentary elections. Blackpool by-election.
There was a glimmer of hope for the government, with Lord Ben Houtchen retaining his role as mayor of Tees Valley.
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Appearing alongside Lord Houchen at a victory rally, Rishi Sunak said: “I also have a message for the Labor Party because they know they have to win here to win a general election – they do. know.
“They thought Tees Valley would come back to them – but that’s not the case.”
The victory likely calmed rumors of rebellion among disenchanted Tory MPs who had threatened to oust the Prime Minister if the results proved disastrous, but it remains to be seen whether the Tories can retain the West Midlands mayoralty.
Of the 107 councils which held elections on Thursday102 declared their results in full, with the Conservatives losing more than half of the seats they had so far defended.
Some 468 Conservative councilors lost their seats, with the party losing control of 12 councils.
Labor took control of eight councils winning 173 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 100 seats, the Greens 67 and the British Reform Party won two.
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However, Labor suffered setbacks in Oldham and Kirklees, where it lost control of councils after the victory of independent candidates opposed to its stance on Gaza.
Professor Michael Thrasher, elections analyst at Sky News, says that while the results are bad news for the Conservatives, They don’t put Labor on track for an overall majority to the Commons during a general election.
Further results are expected over the weekend, including for key London and West Midlands mayoral elections.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking re-election in London, while Conservative Andy Street is defending his position in the West Midlands.
Rumors had been circulating in London since the poll closed that Mr Khan could have suffered a shock defeat to Conservative Susan Hall. However, according to Sky News, both parties now believe the outgoing president will stay at City Hall.
The results of these elections are expected to arrive at 10pm in London and 2.15pm in the West Midlands.
Other results are still to be announced, including municipal elections in the south and west of England, where the Liberal Democrats and Greens hope to make progress.
There are also Metropolitan Mayoral elections yet to be declared a winner in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City, North Tyneside, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Sky news