Speaking after voting at a polling station in Islington, Mr Corbyn was confident about his party’s performance.
Advertisement
The pro-independence Scottish National Party Friday secured a third term in government with an historic third consecutive victory in the county’s parliamentary elections. The only party pushing for a so-called Brexit, the U.K. Independence Party, made gains at Labour’s expense but is set to do no better than expectations.
Elections are being held in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies, and 124 local authorities scattered across England. Though the Jewish community has recently tended Conservative rather than Labour, the numbers gathered by the London Jewish Chronicle on the eve of this election seem to show a staggeringly low 8.5% voting for Labour.
Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has tried to seize on the anti-Semitism controversy engulfing Labour in a bid to boost his chances after trailing in the polls.
The party’s council seat losses in England overnight were not as significant as expected with Labour holding onto control of several councils in the south considered to be under threat.
Goldsmith, a wealthy environmentalist, described Khan as “dangerous” and accused his opponent of giving “platforms, oxygen and even cover” to Islamic extremists -a charge repeated by Prime Minister David Cameron and other senior Conservatives.
Corbyn acknowledged that the party had “a lot of building to do” in Scotland, but was pleased with results in England.
Sturgeon said the result was “a vote of confidence in the record in government of the SNP and a vote of trust in the SNP”.
Murray, hilariously marked as hostile in the leadership’s little list of enemies despite defending Corbyn in TV studios for the past year, is keeping his powder dry. It didn’t begin with an MP called Naz Shah who was suspended from the party on April 27, but the ideological chasm, which has rapidly deepened, was precipitated by revelations of her anti-Semitism.
Voters in Wales have been choosing all 60 members of the Welsh National Assembly, where Labour was the largest party following the last election and UKIP is aiming to make major gains.
The Sheffield Brightside by-election saw a swing to Labour of six per cent, while Ogmore in Wales saw Labour hold with no swing at all. In the 2015 election, Ms Shah stood as the Labour candidate against Mr Galloway and beat him by more than 11,000 votes. “Our work to renew the Scottish Labour party so that it is fit to serve the people of Scotland, continues”, she said.
“So I think overall we’re very, very far from complacent, we realise this is a mountain we’ve got to climb, but I think the fightback has started”.
She claimed dissenting MPs were never plotting to launch a leadership coup after the European Union referendum on June 23, but refused to endorse Mr Corbyn’s stewardship of the party.
“It’s going to take time for Jeremy to set out his stall”, Mr Watson told BBC Television.
Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox told the BBC: “Jeremy and the leadership need to take responsibility for what’s been a poor night for us”.
She added: “We have tonight made history”.
“I remember when I was knocking on doors in 2011 I had people poking me and jabbing me in the face saying “Iraq, economic policies – you left us”.
Advertisement
“I would just say gently to the Government that those who live by the gutter die in the gutter”.
