The recent local elections in England have resulted in significant losses for the Conservative Party, with the party losing nearly half of the seats they contested, equating to over 400 councillors and 10 councils. This marks one of their worst performances in a decade. On the other hand, the Labour Party has made considerable gains, securing victory in 169 new council seats and winning all three newly-created regional mayor roles in the East Midlands, North East, and York and North Yorkshire.

One notable election result was Kim McGuinness’s win in the North East mayoral election. McGuinness, previously the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, obtained 185,051 votes, defeating the former Labour member and incumbent Mayor of North of Tyne, Jamie Driscoll, who ran as an independent candidate. The Labour Party’s decision to exclude Driscoll as a candidate had attracted criticism and accusations of sidelining left-wing voices within the party.

Despite their losses, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Conservative leadership have played down the notion that these results predict a defeat in the next general election. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt emphasised the need for the Conservative Party to continue their efforts in regions like Teesside, highlighted by Lord Ben Houchen’s re-election as Tees Valley mayor.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hailed the election outcome as a historic success for his party, which made inroads into areas traditionally seen as Conservative strongholds.

As more election results are anticipated, these outcomes are being closely watched to gauge public support and the potential direction for the next general election.