Keir Starmer is facing a rocky few days as the party’s results from the local elections start to come in. Labour has lost Hartlepool with the Tories taking the seat with a majority of 6,940. While many Labour campaigners were braced for defeat, the margin by which the Conservatives have won has taken both pollsters and those on the ground by surprise. The problem for Starmer is that although it will be a few days before we have the whole picture, it appears to be a sign of things to come.
The party is losing votes on both sides. As well as Tory gains from Labour in Northumberland, Labour has also been losing votes to the Greens and Lib Dems. Corbynites have been quick to go on the offensive and a blame game is underway before most of the results are yet to come in.
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