Labor’s crushing defeat in the by-elections and their losses in council elections across England have left Sir Keir Starmer faced with questions about his leadership – and the future of the party.
With the latest results to come less than 18 months after Plowing worst electoral defeat in 84 years, there are now calls from the left and right of the party for an urgent change of leadership.
Here, Sky News digs into the data behind Labor’s performance so far in this year’s election in five key locations – and examines the reasons the party lost votes.
UK elections live: follow the latest results and reactions to the ‘Super Thursday’ vote count
Hartlepool
By winning Hartlepool’s by-election, the Tories took a seat that had been under Labor control since its inception in the 1970s.
Conservative candidate Jill Mortimer’s victory scored a rare win for a ruling party and delivered another brick in Labor’s “red wall” to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Ms Mortimer defeated Labor candidate Dr Paul Williams by 6,940 votes to deliver an overall victory for the Tories.
Almost 70% of Hartlepool voters supported leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum.
Professor Election Analyst Will Jennings, University of Southampton, said 2021 results showed the Tories “were making bigger gains and Labor feeling the most pain in areas that voted strongly for Brexit “.
“The Conservatives are vacuuming the voters on the holiday,” Professor Jennings said.
“This is the playground where the Conservatives are doing very well.
“The results we have seen …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-05-05 14:12:00
