Labour’s first test since taking power in double electoral challenge
Voters will go to the polls on Thursday as Labour faces its first electoral test since taking power last year.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party faces a twin challenge of localelections across England and a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, a seat Labour won convincingly in 2024 but that is expected to go down to the wire in a contest with Reform UK.
In a final message to voters ahead of the polls opening at 7am, Labour chairwoman Ellie Reeves insisted the Government’s plan was “already starting to deliver”.
She said: “As voters head to the polls today, there’s a clear choice between Labour with a plan for change to deliver the security working people deserve and renewal for our country, or more of the same chaos voters rejected last year with the Tories and Reform.”
Labour has sought to cast Thursday’s contest as a test not for Sir Keir but for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner saying the elections were “predominantly… the Tories trying to retain seats that are in the shires”.
Mrs Badenoch has conceded that the scale of the Conservative victory when these councils were last up for election in 2021 means losses are likely.
But in her final message to voters, she said: “If you want a great council, don’t just hope for it, vote for it.
“Vote Conservative because Conservative councils deliver better services for lower taxes across the board.”
Experts have suggested the Tories could lose around 500 seats, with gains for the Liberal Democrats and, especially, Reform.
