Scottish Labour's leaders cannot keep blaming Westminster for the collapse at the ballot box, says VINCE MILLS
Labour has made a modest advance on 2014 results that were good enough for many to predict a Labour victory at the following year’s general election and there was some Tory defensive consolidation, often out of the collapse of Ukip.
The local government election results declared by midday today revealed a political map of England little changed over the last 10 months since Labour’s surge at the general election.
That picture is of a deep two-party polarisation, with Labour strengthening in the big cities and making some inroads elsewhere, but the Tories stubbornly holding on in places with an anti-Labour rather than pro-government message in these lower turnout elections.
Every Starmer boast about removing asylum-seekers probably wins Reform another seat while Labour loses more voters to Lib Dems, Greens and nationalists than to the far right — the disaster facing Labour is the leadership’s fault, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT
Research shows Farage mainly gets rebel voters from the Tory base and Labour loses voters to the Greens and Lib Dems — but this doesn’t mean the danger from the right isn’t real, explains historian KEITH FLETT
VINCE MILLS gathers some sobering facts that would inevitably be major obstacles to any such initiative



