Elections 2021: Tory gains as first English councils declare
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image copyrightReuters image captionThere are votes in 143 councils in England with results expected throughout the weekend
Labour is losing ground to the Conservatives in early results across England, in the first big test of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the party.
The first blow for Labour came in Hartlepool, where the Tories won the Westminster seat in a by-election.
Results from local council and mayoral elections also held on Thursday are expected throughout the weekend.
The Tories have taken Northumberland, Dudley, and Nuneaton and Bedworth councils from no overall control.
And Labour has lost Harlow – traditionally seen as an indicator of the national mood – to Boris Johnson’s party.
The prime minister described the early election results as “very encouraging”.
“I think that’s really because we have been focusing, as a government, on our priorities, the people’s priorities, and bouncing back from the pandemic as much as we can and getting through it.”
England is electing 143 councils, 13 mayors and 35 police and crime commissioners.
Who won in my area?
Enter your postcode, or the name of your English council or Scottish or Welsh constituency to find out. Eg ‘W1A 1AA’ or ‘Westminster’
Note: This lookup covers national elections in Scotland and Wales, the Hartlepool by-election, as well as council and mayoral elections in England and Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections in England and Wales. There may be parish council elections or council by-elections where you are. Check your local council website for full details. Last updated: May 7, 2021, 06:26 GMT
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Labour won some key votes, including Doncaster where Ros Jones was re-elected as mayor.
But Steve Reed, the party’s shadow secretary for communities and local government, said the results showed Labour needed to “rebuild the shattered trust” of the nation.
“We have not yet changed the Labour Party enough for people to feel able to go out and trust it with their and their children’s futures, and over the next weeks and months, the job we will have will be to bring the Labour Party back home to Britain,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Results so far
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With the elections being seen as the first test of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, the early defeat in the Hartlepool by-election has reignited a fierce internal debate about the party’s direction.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Sir Keir “needed to be given his chance”.
But Mr McDonnell criticised the leadership for sending candidates out “almost naked, without a policy programme, without a clear view on what sort of society you want to create”.
Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, said the Conservatives’ gain of Northumberland County Council was an illustration of how the party was gaining support in areas which voted for Brexit.
He said there is a debate over whether the party can win back Leave-supporting, working class voters by “ignoring Brexit as it has done for the past 12 months”.
Conservatives gained one seat in Northumberland and Labour lost three, to hand control to the Tories.
The Tories gained 12 seats on Dudley Council, to win control of the West Midlands borough where Labour was previously the largest party.
And in Nuneaton and Bedworth, the Conservatives took 10 seats from Labour to gain control of the council in Warwickshire.
Conservative Party co-chair Amanda Milling denied that the party had given up on winning in metropolitan areas such as London, however.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme “we are one-nation Conservatives” and said the party was making gains in many different parts of the country.
England is seeing a bumper set of local council elections this year, after polls in 2020 were postponed due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Labour party are aiming to remain the largest party in the Senedd, where they have held power since the parliament was founded in 1999.
image copyrightReuters
When will we know the results?
Results for the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd are due later on Friday.
In Scotland, counting starts on Friday, but a final result is not expected until Saturday or Sunday.
Counting in council areas in England has begun and will continue throughout the weekend. The result of the contest for London mayor could become clear on Saturday.
Twelve of the counts for the 39 police and crime commissioners being elected in England will not begin until Monday.
How to follow the results on the BBC
The BBC News website will have all the results as they are announced, with live results, and live pages with the latest reaction and analysis from our correspondents.
The BBC’s Election 2021 results programme will run until 22:00 BST on the BBC News Channel and BBC iPlayer.
It will also be available on BBC Two in the morning and BBC One from 14:30-18:00.
BBC local radio stations will carry results and analysis throughout the day on Friday and into the weekend, with special programmes across the network.
You can find your local station’s schedule here.
