By Daniel Hordon, Daniel Rahman and Ben Mills
Report and analysis of the results of the 2018 local elections.
The results of yesterday’s local elections have been announced with 104 of 150 councils already having declared their results. While the local elections were expected to ask as the most significant indicator of party popularity since the General Election last year, no party came out on top this morning with the Conservatives and Labour both making some losses and gains.
Labour had targeted many Conservative councils including Westminster and Wandsworth which the party failed to take control of however they were successful in taking control of Plymouth council. Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has said that the party are “quietly satisfied” with the results, while Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the party, has described the results as “solid”. Speaking to BBC News, Watson said: "The national polls said we were neck and neck with the Conservatives. We've done slightly better than that. We've won in places we were written off - places like Plymouth.” However, Theresa May has also spoken out in reference to Labour’s inability to secure Wandsworth, saying: "Labour thought they could take control - this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed,". The party also achieved a sea of red in Manchester, taking the council of Trafford from the Conservatives to become the main party in the city, and generally has appeared to do best in areas with a high proportion of young people and those who voted to remain in the EU. It also appears the ongoing anti-Semitism row may have impacted Labour’s support in wards with large Jewish communities.
The Conservatives may be relieved after last night’s result. Many in the party braced for losses however they lost no councillors overall. They managed to secure a London Council in Barnet, while also benefiting massively from the collapse of the UKIP vote, taking Basildon and Peterborough councils from no control. However, the party have also lost their key northern council of Trafford. International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has said the results were on the “higher end” of expectations and the Conservative Chairman Brandon Lewis has told Sky News that “it’s been a good night for us”. BBC projections suggest that the Conservatives’ share of the national vote has decreased by 3 points since the 2017 local elections, but Mr Lewis also said “eight years into a government, Labour was losing 4000 councillors, whereas at the moment are holding councils and in some areas making positive inroads”. Greeting crowds of supporters in Wandsworth, which, despite intensive campaigning, Labour failed to secure from the Conservatives, Theresa May promised that “we will continue to work hard for local people and we will build on this success for the future”.
The biggest story of the night is the disastrous result for UKIP. Currently, they have lost 97 councillors and have lost their presence in local councils. Following the 2016 EU Membership referendum, UKIP has failed to secure a parliamentary seat and has seen a similar disappointing result last night. The party has struggled to gain traction following its leadership crisis and now only has a significant presence in the European Parliament. The party’s General Secretary,Paul Oakley, has compared the party to the Black Death and said “It comes along and it causes disruption and then it goes dormant” and that “Our time isn't finished because Brexit is being betrayed."
It was also a night of gains for the Liberal Democrats who made some gains despite a disastrous General Election last year. The party made gains in some London Boroughs which voted remain, securing the public perception of the Lib Dems being the party of remain.
The Greens made some advances with the party’s co-leader Caroline Lucas claiming that the party is now the “fourth party” in England. In a tweet Lucas said, “We’re winning in new places across England - and we’re now, without doubt, one of the big four parties here.” It comes after the party suffered a drop in vote share at last year’s General Election which saw the 2 main parties gain 82% of the vote.
More results are still expected to be confirmed with some wards yet to start counting despite the majority deciding to count overnight. Sunderland was the first council to declare its result with the city aiming to be the first to declare in all elections having raced Newcastle last year.
Polling day did not come without controversy, however, due to the trailing of a new system in some wards which required voters to present ID before being able to vote. The scheme was designed to bring an end to voter impersonation and was planned to be ruled out further in future elections. Yesterday it was reported that many voters had been turned away from polling stations due to a lack of ID and confusion over which evidence needed to be provided as well as reports that some polling station staff were being intimidated by angry voters.
Although official statistics regarding turnout are not yet published, it is estimated the figure will be low; council elections in 2016 reported a turnout of just 33% compared to the 2017 general election figure of 66.8%.
No council elections took place for Northumberland this year, however Labour held all of it's councils in Tyne and Wear, with little change in the number of seats for any of the main parties. The final results saw Labour gain 2 seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each losing 1 - the Lib Dems did, however, make some gains in Sunderland.
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