Labour on course for worst election result in London in nearly 50 years

The Greens and Reform are both set to eat into Labour’s London vote, putting Sir Keir Starmer’s party on course for significant losses in the capital
The Labour Party is on course for its worst result in London in more than four decades at the upcoming local elections , a damning new poll has shown.

The Greens and Reform are both set to eat into Labour’s London vote, putting Sir Keir Starmer ’s party on course for significant losses in the capital.

The last time Labour won fewer than 15 London councils was in 1982, 44 years ago, when they won just 12.

Labour sources told The Independent they are expecting a “bloodbath” in Islington, as Green Party sources said they were expecting to take Hackney.

The Conservatives remain ahead on five councils, relative to six at the last election, while the Lib Dems are set to win the most votes on four councils, up one on 2022, the poll shows.

Amid devastating approval ratings and growing questions over the direction of the government, Sir Keir’s party is expected to suffer brutal losses in May, with some polling putting the party on course to lose close to 2,000 council seats nationally.

Modelling by More in Common shows Labour losing 1,597 seats in the best expected scenario and 1,738 seats in the worst case, while the range for Conservative losses is between 692 and 368.

Support for Reform UK is shown as stabilising following big gains in elections last year, with the expected number of new seats ranging from 1,603 to 1,273.

Meanwhile, the Greens could make the biggest gains, in the best-case scenario for the party, with an estimated range of 1,741 and 573 gains.

The Liberal Democrats are expected to gain between 503 and 148 seats.

The elections are considered a moment of particular peril for the prime minister as speculation over his position continues amid the fallout over the Peter Mandelson scandal .

It comes after former Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins said there was a “dismissive approach” on vetting from No 10 and an “atmosphere of pressure” to get Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US over the line.

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