“We’re going in the right direction but we have to now, at pace, go much, much, much faster.”
Only a tiny fraction of results have been counted so far, with more than 120 councils yet to even start thumbing through ballots – and counts running right up until Sunday night.
The Welsh and Scottish Parliaments have not yet started counting their votes either. Nor have the key mayoral elections in West Midlands and Tees Valley.
So what has happened so far and why is it being characterised as such a bad night for Labour? Here’s what you need to know.
1. Humiliated Keir Starmer is promising to ‘accelerate’ the break from Corbyn
Keir Starmer risks a new split with the Labour left after vowing to “accelerate” the change away from the days of Jeremy Corbyn.
A Labour source said: “We’ve said all along the North East and the Midlands would be 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.”
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?”
Andrew Scattergood of Momentum, the group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn, said: “This result is a disaster. In 2017, we won over 50% of the vote in Hartlepool.
“A transformative socialist message has won in Hartlepool before, and it would have won again.
“Starmer’s strategy of isolating the left and replacing meaningful policy with empty buzzwords has comprehensively failed. If he doesn’t change direction, not only will he be out of a job – but the Labour Party may be out of Government forever.”
2. Hartlepool has gone blue for the first time in its history
Now onto the actual results.
Keir Starmer has suffered a brutal defeat in the Hartlepool by-election, following a grim night of results for Labour.
Tory candidate Jill Mortimer easily overturned Labour’s 3,595 from the 2019 general election – extending it to a 6,940 majority of her own and increasing the Tory vote by 23%. It represents as 16% swing from Labour to the Tories.
Ms Mortimer secured 15,529 votes, defeating Labour candidate Dr Paul Williams – an ardent Remain campaigner standing in the heavily Brexit-backing seat. He got 8,589 – on a strong turnout of 42.55%
Polls and pundits had long predicted the defeat – which came after Labour only held on to the seat in 2019 because the Brexit Party split the right-wing vote.
But the massive scale of the defeat shocked party insiders. In her victory speech, Ms Mortimer said: “Labour have taken the people of Hartlepool for granted for too long. I heard it on the doorstep time and time again. And they’ve had enough.”
3. Labour lost seats across the first English councils to declare
Labour lost seats on seven of the first dozen councils to declare – and gained on just two.
This included losing a whopping 10 seats in traditional bellwether Nuneaton and Bedworth – which the Tories won from No Overall Control, gaining 11 seats.
The Tories snatched Harlow in Essex from Labour after seven seats changed hands.
Labour’s vote share plunged 7% and the Tories rose 7% in the Doncaster mayor election while Labour lost nine seats in its heartland of Sunderland. It’s now retains control of the north east council by under a dozen seats.
There’s more woe ahead, as there could now be a proper challenge to win Batley and Spen which is due for a by-election if Labour MP Tracy Brabin becomes West Yorkshire mayor.
4. The Tories are having a great night, gaining three councils out of 13
Harlow was solidly Labour-controlled and was tipped to go into no overall control on a good night for the Tories. Instead it swung all the way to blue control after seven seats changed hands.
Nuneaton and Bedworth was once a bellwether in general elections but the Tories snatched it out of no overall control.
And Northumberland was taken by the Tories out of no overall control too.
The Tories seized Redditch from Labour in 2018, so on a good night Keir Starmer’s party would want to make in-roads there. Yet the Conservatives well and truly cemented their lead, gaining seven seats while Labour lost another seven.
Of the 12 initial councils to declare, the Tories didn’t lose net council seats on a single one.
5. Decent early results for Greens and Lib Dems
With only 13 of 143 councils declared at the time of writing this sentence, it’s far too early to say much about the smaller parties.
But initial results look promising for the Greens, who picked up five extra seats across the 13 councils – a significant increase for the left-wing party.
The Lib Dems had won 33 seats at the time of writing, a net gain of four.
