he Prime Minister admitted it had been a “tough night” at the local elections as the Conservatives lost 481 council seats in England and saw London strongholds Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet fall to Labour.
The prime minister said he took full responsibility for the results as Sir Keir Starmer’s party prevailed in a series of areas long held by the Tories in the capital.
But the Tories managed to capture Harrow from Labour – which suffered a big blow as Lutfur Rahman dramatically won the mayoral race in Tower Hamlets.
Reacting to the results during a visit to a school in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency, Mr Johnson told reporters: “It is mid-term. It’s certainly a mixed set of results.
“We had a tough night in some parts of the country but on the other hand in other parts of the country you are still seeing Conservatives going forward and making quite remarkable gains in places that haven’t voted Conservative for a long time, if ever.”
Wandsworth had been a Tory stronghold for 44 years and was seen as the ‘jewel in the crown’ for the party, while Barnet and Westminster had never been held by Labour. London Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed the Wandsworth win as a “historic, joyous night for Labour”.
However, while Sir Keir Starmer’s party gained ground in the capital there was a mixed picture elsewhere with the loss of Hull to the Liberal Democrats but success in the new Cumberland authority.
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Wes Streeting hits out at ‘desperate’ Tories as he defends Sir Keir over Covid probe
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called the Conservatives “desperate” for accusing Sir Keir Starmer of breaching lockdown rules.
Durham Police announced on Friday that an investigation into allegations Sir Keir broke Covid rules during last year’s lockdown, had been launched.
Asked if Sir Keir should resign if he is fined for breaking the rules, Mr Streeting told Sky News: “I really don’t think it’s going to come to that because the police have looked at this before. I don’t see any reason why they would draw any other conclusions to the one they drew when they were last asked to look at this.”
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Counting resumes in Northern Ireland
Counting has resumed in Northern Ireland where Sinn Feinn is predicted to becoem the larges party in Stormont.
Speaking on Friday, president fo the party, Mary Lou McDonald said: “Today is a good day — it’s about change, it’s about progress and partnership.
“We want to thank everyone for voting and being part of a democratic process in what, we believe, is the election of a generation. We are here to serve everyone.”
Wes Streeting: Labour has made huge strides forward
Labour’s shadow health secretary praised his party’s local election performance but warned the Opposition cannto become “complacement”.
Speaking to Sky News on Labour’s electoral gains, he said: “That is remarkable progress with two years of Keir Starmer being leader of the Labour party,” he said.
“Of course there is more to do. We don’t want to sound the least bit complacent about that but I think that’s what the next period of Keir’s leadership in opposition is about.
“It’s about building on the progress that’s made and turning the hostilities to the Conservatives in government, a desire to see them out of government which is what I think these results show, into a hunger, an appetite for a Labour government.”
Boris Johnson remains an asset, says Nadhim Zahawi
Boris Johnson remains an electoral asset to the Conservative Party, a Cabinet minister has insisted, despite the Tories suffering a net loss of almost 400 seats in local elections.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi urged Tory MPs not to move against the Prime Minister.
He told Sky News: “He is an asset, absolutely … If you look at the way that Boris cuts through in places like Nuneaton, places like Newcastle-under-Lyme, other parts of the country as well – Harrow in London.”
In a message to Tory colleagues, he said: “People don’t like to vote for split parties, for teams that are divided.
“We are strongest when we are united, we’ve got a Queen’s Speech next week where we will demonstrate to the nation that the second half of this Parliament is all about dealing with repairing the economy, recovering from Covid, the backlog of the NHS and national security – here at home, safer streets – and, of course, abroad.
“All of these things we have a plan for.
“We are stronger when we are united and that would be my message to all my colleagues.”
Sinn Fein braced for historic win
So far, Sinn Feinn has won 18 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly with countng set to resume later today.
The DUP has won 12 seats with a further 44 left to declare.
The Alliance party has won eight, the Ulster Unionist Party four, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party two.
Tories lose over 467 seats
The Tory party has now lost 467 council seats with just two more councils in England left to declare their results.
Labour has gainrd 129 seats, the Lib Dems 222, and Greens an additional 76.
Sinn Fein on course for historic victory in NI Assembly election
Sinn Fein is on course for a historic victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, after receiving the most first-preference votes.
With counting for the 90 Stormont seats continuing, the republican party had won 16 seats, well ahead of the Alliance on seven, the DUP on six, the Ulster Unionists on three and the SDLP on one.
Sinn Fein looks set to emerge with the most seats after it received 250,388 first preferences, compared with 184,002 for the DUP and 116,681 for the Alliance Party.
This means that it received 29% of first preference votes, compared with 21.3% for the DUP, 13.5% for Alliance, 11.2% for the Ulster Unionists and 9.1% for the SDLP.
Naomi Long’s Alliance Party looks set to be the other main winner from the election, with a surge of support for the cross-community party likely to make it the third largest at Stormont, ahead of the UUP and SDLP, who have both had disappointing results.
However, the counting process was slow, with just over a third of the 90 seats filled shortly before 10pm on Friday.
Bromley Tories regret at national results
Bromley Conservative Leader Colin Smith admitted it had not been an ideal set of results despite winning in his ward of Bickley.
He said: “Today’s result in Bickley is tinged with an element of regret it must be said. We’ve lost some outstanding councillors around parts of the ward.
“Nothing can be done about that now, we move forward with our big programme over the next four years and it starts today.”
Delays in the Croydon mayoral result
Tory suffer huge losses and wiped out in Wales
The number of Tory council seat losses is now at 482 across the UK.
The Conservatives have lost control of the only council they had majority control of in Wales.
Monmouthshire, in south-east Wales, has been led by the party since 2017 but Labour now has the most seats.
The Welsh Tories were expecting losses, but not nearly all the gains they made in the last council elections five years ago.
Their leader, Andrew RT Davies, blames the issues that have plagued Boris Johnson’s government in Westminster – the cost of living crisis and partygate.
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