The Conservatives and Community Campaign Hart each have 4 and the Liberal Democrats 3.
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Britain’s main opposition Labour council failed in its bid to seize control of key London councils, including the City of Westminster, in England’s local elections.
Local elections often have low turnouts, so, it is unsurprising that the supposed whitewash of the Conservatives never materialised, most voting projections are based on a voter turnout that similar to a general election.
“The results show they are right to be anxious: we came within a whisker of winning Wandsworth for the first time in over 40 years”.
In the previous election in 2014, Labour took 48 seats with experts predicting this would increase in 2018.
The Conservatives gained control of councils in Peterborough, Southend and Basildon.
He said: “Reinstating Rosemary Carroll shows just how desperate the Tories were after telling me they wouldn’t have her back”.
Corbyn supporters blamed the media for exaggerating their party’s chances of taking London boroughs. The Westminister commentariat are only interested in local election results to the extent to they contribute to their national narrative about the standing of party leaders.
“I’ve seen some young, hardworking Tory councillors, so we need to work with them because they are the next generation”. If May is seen to fail on her promise to deliver Brexit, this vote could splinter – handing power to Corbyn without him even having to win back leave voters.
“The Southwest has the unenviable title of being the low-paid capital of Britain”, he said. I think that’s the breadth of recovery that is so significant.
In Wandsworth, where the Conservatives hung on to control, May was in a more buoyant mood.
They took 13 of the 15 seats up for election, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats winning one each.
Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s co-national campaign coordinator has described it as “an election of consolidation” with no particular gains or loses from the two major political parities. She did that past year, and lost her overall majority in the House of Commons.
But Labour admitted “mixed” results despite a tough week for May, who has been plagued by cabinet divisions over Brexit as well as a row over immigration that toppled one of her top ministers.
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There was also encouraging news for the minority Liberal Democrats, which suffered heavy defeats as it paid the price for going into a coalition with the Conservatives in the 2010 general election. It is the first test of the government since the June general election previous year, when the Conservatives lost majority and are forced to rely on the support of allies in Northern Ireland, the DUP.
Sir Vince said: “It’s certainly the beginning of the comeback of the Lib Dems”. Morale is now very high. We have consolidated and built on the advances we made.
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Labour MP Chuka Umunna called for an internal inquiry into the party’s campaign, warning that the results can not leave it confident of success at the next national poll. People have just had enough and want something different.
