Wandsworth: Labour gains but Tories hang on to crown jewel
A much-touted Labour attempt to wrestle control of Wandsworth – controlled by the Tories since 1978 – was foiled after the Conservatives successfully concentrated resources in key strongholds amid a significantly increased turnout.
However, Labour came close on a night when it gained seven seats on a flagship Tory council that has been known for its low council tax and outsourcing of local services.
The final results left the Tories on 33 seats, Labour on 26 and one held by Malcolm Grimston, a former Conservative-turned-independent who had the largest personal vote of the night (4,002).
Even before the results started to come in, London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, sought to manage expectations when he arrived at the count in south London, where his party had needed to take 12 Tory seats to win outright control.
“Of course we may not win councils but I think winning councillors who are Labour is a fantastic achievement,” he said, when it was put to him by reporters that he and other Labour figures had “talked up” the possibility of winning Wandsworth.
While Labour did make gains at the expense of the Tories, the latter fended off the challenge by increasing its vote to retain control of all seats in wards such as Fairfield, Thamesfield and Southfields.
Ravi Govindia, the Tory leader of the council, said: “The strategy was to take the message to every household, to every door, to every resident and convince them that this was a council that had not run out of steam.”
Another story of the night was the irrelevance of explicitly anti-Brexit parties, despite 75% support for remain in the area during the 2016 referendum on membership of the EU.
Both the Liberal Democrats and Renew, a new party seeking to carve out ground in the centre, failed to make any inroads in the Toriy or Labour vote in what was entirely a two-horse race. Ben Quinn
Status quo prevails on night of no real victors
By early morning Labour had gained seats but failed to make the advances it had hoped for in London. The Conservatives lost seats but were relieved to cling on to key councils. Brandon Lewis, the Conservative party chairman, said his party had a “reasonable night, a good night”. Jeremy Corbyn celebrated seizing Plymouth council and said he was "delighted" by the result. One pollster estimated that a general election matching these results would see Labour with a similar number of seats to the 262 it scored in 2017, while the Tories would lose 12.
Tories lose control of Trafford stronghold
Surprise success for two Green candidates against Conservative incumbents helped Labour become the biggest party in the Manchester council, one of its biggest successes of the night. "I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Andrew Western, the leader of the Labour group on Trafford council. “This is far beyond our expectations."
Labour's Barnet defeat blamed on antisemitism row
Hoping for a 1.6% swing and one additional seat to win Barnet from no overall control, Labour instead saw the council move into the Conservative column. Party activists in the area - which has a significant Jewish population - blamed the antisemitism row that has engulfed the capital. Defeated Labour councillor Adam Langleben called for Jeremy Corbyn to apologise to Jewish activists, adding: "We as Jewish Labour activists were told we were endorsing anti-semitism."
Modest success for Lib Dems in remain areas
The party celebrated as it took control of Richmond by gaining 22 seats and had some other good results. Ed Davey, the party’s home affairs spokesman, said: "It’s building a hugely important platform for future victories.” But elsewhere Vince Cable’s party showed no signs of enjoying the sort of recovery that would see it turn into a strong force at Westminster.
Catastrophic night for 'Black Death' Ukip
Ukip's vote collapsed and by Friday morning it held just two seats, 44 down on four years ago. General secretary Paul Oakley tried to put a brave face on things by comparing the party to the Black Death. "It's not all over at all," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Think of the Black Death in the Middle Ages. It comes along and it causes disruption and then it goes dormant, and that's exactly what we are going to do. Our time isn't finished because Brexit is being betrayed." Dan Sabbagh and Andrew Sparrow
Trafford: Greens take Tory seats to make Labour biggest party
Labour became the biggest party in Trafford, winning four seats from the Tories to take their total to 30. After a surprise double win by the Green party in the Altrincham ward, the Conservative party was left with 29 seats, down from 33.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said Andrew Western, the leader of the Labour group on Trafford council. “This is far beyond our expectations. We hoped to tip the council into no overall control tonight, but to have become the largest party at the same time is a fantastic bonus.”
He added that, as the picture for Labour across the country was mixed, the result in Trafford was “a damning indictment of the local Conservatives”.
The Conservative former council leader Sean Anstee said elections in Trafford were often tight. “Clearly, as the only Conservative-majority council in Greater Manchester, surrounded by a number of Labour councils, we’ve seen significant opposition activity into the borough over the last six months or so.”
Anstee said there was also a significant increase in turnout in wards that had changed hands. “A number of voters who ordinarily perhaps haven’t voted, turned out,” he said. “We’ll need to reflect on the reasons why they turned out in the way that they did and why they voted in the way that they did.”
While it didn’t surprise many to see the Conservatives lose overall control of Trafford council, it had not been predicted the Greens would land the final blow.
Geraldine Coggins, one of two Green candidates to take seats from the Tories in Altrincham, said while their campaign went below the media’s radar, they were not surprised to have won. “I spoke to a number of people in their 80s who said they had always voted Conservative but were going to vote Green for the first time in their lives, and a number of Labour members who said they were going to vote Green this time. There was a lot of momentum,” she said. Frances Perraudin
Swindon: Labour disappointed in bellwether contest
Labour suffered a major blow in Swindon, where it failed to force the Tories out of power despite a well-resourced campaign and a string of visits from Jeremy Corbyn and other senior figures.
Corbyn’s party gained one ward from the Lib Dems but none from the Tories, who hung on to control of the Wiltshire council by one seat.
The Labour group leader, Jim Grant, said he was bitterly disappointed. “We need to sit down and analyse the figures. Turnout was up all round. We got as many votes as we thought we would need to win.
“Clearly the Conservatives were able to increase their vote. How, I don’t know. It may be the collapse of the Ukip vote and that has gone back to the Tories.
“But we are still in the game here. The majority is reduced to one. Next year, one last haul and hopefully we will break the Tory monopoly on control. Jeremy [Corbyn] has inspired our activist base and that is why we have got so many votes.”
At general elections, Swindon is seen at a bellwether – whoever holds the two seats wins power at Westminster. Labour was hoping a good showing in Wiltshire would be a sign that it could make inroads across the south of England.
The Tory group leader, David Renard, said: “We got our positive message across. Labour ran a very negative campaign here. They have thrown a lot of resource, brought in a lot of people and spent a lot of money trying to take up to six of our seats. They failed to take every one. We have shown the Labour party is a long way from forming a government and on the doorstep there is a lot of anti-Jeremy Corbyn feeling.”
Robert Buckland, the Tory South Swindon MP and solicitor general, added: “Labour, for all their kitchen-sink approach to this election, just aren’t ready. This is a town that for generations was a Labour town. They’ve had generations to prove themselves and they were rejected. Labour were expecting to take control or for there to be no overall control. They failed.” Steve Morris
Kensington and Chelsea: no upset despite Grenfell factor
Kensington and Chelsea’s Conservative-run council has faced a year of relentless criticism for its handling of the Grenfell Tower fire, resulting in the resignation of council leader and contributing to the departure of many long-serving councillors.
But the disaster did not stop the London borough’s voters rewarding the Tory administration with another overwhelming majority in Thursday’s election.
The council has been controlled by the Conservatives since it was formed in 1964 and Labour went into this year’s election in a distant second place. But last June’s catastrophe, combined with the unexpected victory of Emma Dent Coad in the Kensington parliamentary constituency during the general election, had raised hopes of an upset.
This did not come to pass. Instead the Tories finished on 36 councillors, with Labour gaining just one extra ward to win 13 councillors. The Liberal Democrats took the final seat.
Labour gained votes in the wards near the burned-out remains of Grenfell but it struggled to main any inroads in the wealthier parts of the borough, even in wards they had been confident of taking from the Conservatives.
“We have piled up votes in Labour-held wards,” said the Labour group leader, Robert Atkinson, saying his party’s gains would be limited because the Conservatives had managed to “frighten out” their vote across the west London borough.
The Conservative leader, Elizabeth Campbell, used her victory speech to declare her party had a lot of work to do following last summer’s disaster.
“We all recognise we still need to rebuild trust,” she said. “We must be and we will be open to all voices of our communities.
“We all live in the shadow of Grenfell. Grenfell was,Grenfell is, and Grenfell will be our first priority.”
The Kensington and Chelsea results also served as a cursory warning for individuals tempted to set up a new political party. Advance Together, which had been compared to the French President Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche movement, ran candidates in most wards but came consistently last. Jim Waterson
