Local elections 2024 ends in full – see what the outcomes are in your space
Rishi Sunak has suffered a bruising night with early local elections results showing the Tories losing over 100 council seats.
Initial results around 6am appeared to show grim forecasts the Conservatives could lose 500 seats – half of those the party is defending – are on course to become reality, piling pressure on the PM.
The Conservatives also suffered a brutal defeat in the Blackpool South by-election with Labour securing the third biggest by-election swing from the Tories since the Second World War. Keir Starmer hailed his party’s “historic swing” in Blackpool as a “seismic win”. The Labour leader said: “This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change.”
As the local elections results began to trickle in during the early hours of Friday morning, Labour also made key gains in battleground councils across England. They included Thurrock in Essex and Rushmoor in Hampshire – an area under Tory control for 24 years. In a key personal victory for Keir Starmer – who almost resigned in 2021 after losing the Hartlepool by-election – Labour also won control of Hartlepool council.
A Labour spokeswoman said: “Winning back Hartlepool council is a groundbreaking moment after the disappointing results we saw here in 2021. Keir Starmer pledged to change the Labour Party after that result and today’s win shows that this changed Labour Party is ready to deliver the change that communities like Hartlepool are crying out for.
“Making gains here shows that the party is on track to win a general election and is firmly back in the service of working people.” In the last major test of public opinion before the general election, the Tories also appeared to be on course to lose over 500 council seats – half the number the party was defending.
More than 2,600 council seats were up for grabs across 107 local authorities in England, as well as 11 key mayoral battles where heavyweights like London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham seek re-election.
Declarations in the mayoral fights are not expected until Friday afternoon or Saturday, with the Tories nervously waiting for the results in Tees Valley and the West Midlands. No10 fears the PM could be vulnerable to a challenge by Tory MPs if the party loses the seats.
The Green Party also made several “spectacular gains” in the early hours of the morning, including in Newcastle, the polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said. He told the BBC the party “may be heading for their best performance yet in English local elections”, adding: “British politics isn’t just a battle between Labour and the Conservatives.”
