Almost 5,000 local council seats across more than 130 councils are up for grabs as Britons go to the polls on Thursday in the biggest challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership yet.
Officials from the prime minister’s own Labour party have spent the lead-up to the elections complaining about his failures, and saying that voters are bringing these issues up on the doorstep.
Now, trade union leaders, who traditionally back Labour, have also turned on Starmer.
The leader of one of the 11 unions formally affiliated with Labour toldThe Daily Telegraph that the PM “needs to go,” because “the change and progress that was promised before the general election just hasn’t materialised,” and “people are frustrated.”
Another said that the job of “rebuilding trust” has been made “so much harder because of Keir Starmer.”
Alongside the council elections, voters across Scotland and Wales will also elect members of their national parliaments. If polls are right, Labour is set to make major losses in both of these, too, with some reports saying that Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie, who has represented Dumbarton since 1999, could lose her seat.
Reform’s Nigel Farage is, of course, delighted. He said on Thursday morning “It’s time to Get Starmer Out,” repeating the party’s campaign slogan. His party is predicted to make major gains.
Parties further to the Left, such as the Greens, are also expected to do well out of Labour’s decline under Starmer.
Results should begin trickling in on Friday morning, with the full picture likely to be known on Saturday.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
