Boris heads to the polls with dog Dilyn to cast his vote in local elections
Dilyn #Dilyn
Boris Johnson arrived at his polling station bright and early this morning to vote in the local elections with his dog Dilyn.
The prime minister appeared in good spirits as he smiled and waved to the cameras outside Methodist Central Hall in Westminster, despite bleak predictions that the Tories could suffer their worst losses in 20 years.
He showed his party colours with a light blue tie and shirt.
He then headed off on foot, surrounded by staff and with black Range Rovers dotted along his route home.
One member of the public looked perplexed at the commotion and shouted ‘is that Simon Cowell’, according to an Evening Standard reporter on the scene.
As the PM headed to St James’ Park, an excited Dilyn leapt up and licked a photographer attempting to get a picture.
The prime minister is not the only person to bring his dog to the polling station – the tradition has been around for, well, not quite as long as the UK’s parliament, but quite a long time anyway.
While local elections allow voters to decide who runs services in their area, the results are also a major test of how party leaders are faring nationally.
Today is the first time the public will make their views known at the ballot box since the cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine and partygate scandal.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer used his election rallying call to highlight the ‘constant drip-drip of sleaze and scandal’ in Mr Johnson’s administration.
After being fined for breaking his own Covid rules, the prime minister’s party was hit with a string of controversies, including former Wakefield MP Imran Nasir Ahmad Khan being found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage boy and veteran MP Neil Parish quitting after admitting he watched pornography in the Commons.
Tory chiefs are bracing for a rough night, with flagship councils such as Wandsworth, Westminster and Barnet at risk of falling to Labour.
Amid signs Conservative candidates have been distancing themselves from the party’s Westminster leadership, the PM urged people to look at the performance of their local authorities.
In Southampton last night, Mr Johnson told reporters he was ‘absolutely confident that we have the right agenda for the country’.
‘I have a big mandate to deliver,’ he said.
Asked if he would still be there at the next election, due to be held in 2024 at the latest, Mr Johnson said: ‘Of course. And I’m also very confident we will succeed at the next election.’
Top Tories have also insisted that Boris Johnson is fit to lead, with education minister Michelle Donelan calling him an ‘asset, not a liability’ in an interview with Sky News.
However, asked whether Mr Johnson’s future as leader could be under threat if the Tories suffer a heavy defeat, environment Secretary George Eustice acknowledged that ‘all prime ministers will always be very conscious of the mood in their parliamentary party’.
Labour is urging people to use the local elections to send a message to the leaders in Westminster.
Sir Keir said the government had broken the Covid regulations they had put in place ‘over and over again’ and said the Tory ‘failure’ to tackle the cost of living crisis had been a ‘disgrace’, along with the Chancellor’s decision to hike national insurance last month.
Writing in the Daily Mirror he said: ‘The British public shouldn’t have to put up with a Government that refuses to take seriously the very real issues facing you and your family.’
There have been Tory calls for Durham Police to look into whether the opposition leader broke Covid rules while campaigning before the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.
But Sir Keir said it was a ‘smear’ to suggest he breached the regulations while having ‘a takeaway and a beer while I was working late at night’.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said voters on Thursday have a chance to ‘send Boris Johnson a message he can’t ignore’.
‘The Conservatives have failed to deal with the cost of living crisis, voted to pollute our rivers and abandoned our ambulance services,’ he said.
‘Whether it’s Somerset or Stockport, Winchester or Wimbledon, St Albans or South Cambridgeshire, I’ve spoken to lifelong Conservative voters who feel utterly taken for granted by a law-breaking Prime Minister and a tax-hiking Chancellor.’
The Lib Dems are hopeful of causing an upset in Hull by dislodging it from Labour’s control, while also vying for victory against the Tories in places such as Wokingham and Sutton.
In England, more than 4,000 councillors in 146 councils are standing for election in major cities including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and all 32 London boroughs.
All 32 councils in Scotland and all 22 in Wales are also holding elections, with polls open between 7am and 10pm.
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