Last week’s elections weren’t just bad for Labour. They were atrocious. It’s far from unusual for the party in government to lose by-elections and local elections in England. In fact, it’s the norm. But the seats being contested were last elected in 2021, amid the vaccine bounce enjoyed by Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. Labour did badly then, on the same day that they lost the Hartlepool by-election, leading Keir Starmer to consider resigning as Labour leader. Under the historic norms of two-party politics, they should have gained seats.

In the end, they lost 186 councillors, winning just 99 seats out of the over 1,600 up for grabs. They managed to hold on to three of the four mayoralties they held going into the elections, but two of those were by less than a percentage point and in the West of England they won just a quarter of the votes cast. And they lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, a previously safe Labour seat with a majority of over 14,000. These elections were a drubbing for Labour.

In the aftermath, arguments have raged both within and outwith Labour over the Government’s current course. MPs in formerly Conservative-held seats and across the Red Wall have been arguing for a doubling down on anti-immigration policies and rhetoric. Others have blamed Rachel Reeves’ decisions to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance and Personal Independence Payments, arguing for the Government to shift to the left.

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Calum Steele: This Central Belt knows best attitude leaves islanders high and dry

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