Councillors in Labour-controlled areas have warned they could lose to Reform in the upcoming local elections in England because voters are “fed up” with an increasingly “unpopular” national Government.
As dozens of local authorities prepare to head to the polls on 7 May, alongside elections for the Welsh and Scottish parliaments, Labour has been mired in public infighting over the Government’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Millions of documents released by US authorities recently have shone a light on the extent of their friendship and given rise to allegations that Mandelson leaked confidential government policies to the disgraced financier.
One councillor in Bradford told The i Paper the scandal would have an impact on the election results, but another in Calderdale said calls for a new prime minister were a “distraction” that would do little to improve the party’s standing with voters.
Labour’s Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar, became the most senior party figure to call for Sir Keir Starmer to quit, citing concern that the fall-out would harm his chances of unseating the SNP in May’s Holyrood elections.
But on Tuesday the defiant Prime Minister insisted he will “never walk away” after his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, reportedly Mandelson’s chief backer, resigned.
Mohammed Amran, a Labour councillor in Bradford, said voters’ unhappiness with the national Government and the Mandelson scandal are going to have a “massive impact” on local election results in the area.
Bradford has 47 Labour councillors out of 90, holding a very slim majority.
He said Labour could lose control of the council and the results are going to be “very tight”.
“It’s going to be chaos,” he said. “Labour’s going to lose seats, I think. Even the Greens are going to lose seats. I think Reform are going to be winners.”
He said people are “fed up” with the Government and “existing politicians”.
“People just have no trust in the Government,” he said. “People are just upset. People want complete change.”
Local leaders are concerned that Reform may gain from the Greens splitting the vote with Labour (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)Amran said voters are frustrated by the Government’s U-turns on policy decisions and tax rises, adding: “It’s just been tax, tax, tax.”
The working class and business community feel particularly hard done by, he added.
After 14 years of the Conservatives nationally, he said people had expected more from Labour but believe key promises made during the 2024 general election have not been delivered.
Amran said Reform’s local campaign strategy has sought to tap into public frustration with the national Government rather than focusing on local issues.
Jonathan Timbers, a Labour councillor in Calderdale, said the party could lose control of the council, adding: “It’s a risk in many places.”
He said Reform was the biggest threat and the results “will be tight”.
With the Green Party of England and Wales also eyeing up wards like his, he said any split in the progressive vote between Labour and the Greens could help Reform win more seats and gain control of the council.
Timbers said the Greens’ campaigning leaflets are focused on national issues and they are trying to “win on what they hope is the unpopularity of the Labour Government”.
Labour took control of Calderdale Council in 2019 for the first time in 20 years. Over the last two decades, the authority had alternated between Conservative victories and no overall control.
Timbers said polling showing a decline in Starmer’s popularity was a “concern” but dismissed calls for a new party leader as a “distraction” from what really matters to voters: policies and their delivery.
“Simply changing the leader of the party won’t change people’s experience of living in Great Britain,” he said.
Councillors in Calderdale councillors have been trying to keep campaigning focused on local issues that are within their control (Photo: Mike Kemp/Getty)More than half of voters think Labour should replace Starmer as leader, according to a recent poll by BMG Research for The i Paper.
Timbers believes Labour is delivering on a “raft” of different policies but it will take time for them to have an impact on people’s lives. He pointed to examples like the bill to nationalise railway companies, improvements to bus services, the expansion of free school meals, cuts to immigration and the end of the two-child benefit cap.
However, he said Labour is struggling to communicate its achievements to voters and he was “disappointed” in the way the Chancellor handled cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
He called on the Government to implement wealth taxes and block a proposed wind farm and massive energy park near Wuthering Heights, which have alarmed residents.
The former will be built on peat bog, which captures carbon, and locals are concerned about the impact on the historic area, known for its association with Emily Bronte’s novel of the same name.
Another Labour councillor in Calderdale, who spoke anonymously, said voters are concerned about issues such as the “cost of living crisis”, a planned incinerator, speeding and traffic.
He said councillors have been trying to keep campaigning focused on local issues that are within their control.
He added that there have been good national policies but “trying to get them across with everything else that’s going on is the challenge”.
Leonie Cooper, a Labour councillor in the London borough of Wandsworth, was more optimistic about the party’s prospects.
She said many residents in her area will “differentiate between a vote to elect a local councillor and a vote for an MP”.
“I can go on the doorstep, and people might have views about the national Government,” she said. “But when you’re talking to them about things the council have done over the past four years, they are very enthusiastic.”
A long-time Conservative-run council that boasted the lowest council tax rate in the country, Labour gained control of Wandsworth at the last round of London local elections in 2022.
Cooper said that while the Epstein scandal has rarely come up on the doorstep, she has faced dismay over the Labour Government’s actions on winter fuel, initial hesitance to scrap the two-child benefit cap and stance on the war in Gaza.
However, she added that one resident insisted they will still be voting Labour at the upcoming local elections – despite expressing anger at the party’s record in Westminster.
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