4 May 2012

Labour triumph as voters turn on government

The Labour Party secures 38 per cent of the national vote and gains more than 800 council seats in UK local elections, as the public turns on the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

Labour also took control of several key councils in the local elections in England and Wales, including Birmingham and Cardiff, in what the party hailed as its best local result since 1997.

The Conservatives lost more than 400 seats, while the Liberal Democrats made over 300 losses.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said his party would “change people’s lives for the better” and that the Conservatives had disappointed the British public.

The results put Labour on 38 per cent of the national share of the vote, with the Conservatives on 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 16 per cent.

In Scotland, the SNP won more seats than Labour, but both parties made gains, while the Lib Dems collapsed. The Liberal Democrats have fewer than 3,000 councillors for the first time since the party was established in 1988.

Results for the London assembly elections so far put Labour in the lead with 44 per cent of the vote, followed by the Conservatives (who won a majority in 2008) on 33 per cent, the Greens on 8 per cent, the Lib Dems at 7 per cent and UKIP at 5 per cent, though final results are not expected until Friday evening.

The results for London’s mayoral elections are also due on Friday evening, with Boris Johnson ahead in the polls. According to the BBC, Nigel Farage has complained that the UKIP candidate for mayor, Lawrence Wedd, was listed on ballot papers as Fresh Choice for London.

Liverpool elected Joe Anderson as its first elected mayor, but Manchester, Nottingham, Coventry and Bradford voted against the introduction of a mayoral system.

“Look at the detailed figures for council elections in England and a pattern emerges that should temper Labour’s excitement…This all suggests that Labour isn’t converting ex-Tory voters in great numbers but that 2010 and 2011 Tory voters are staying at home.”

Read more from Political Editor Gary Gibbon

Labour wins in Wales

Labour regained key councils in Wales, taking Newport and Swansea back from the Liberal Democrats and winning an impressive majority in Cardiff. The Welsh Labour, First Minister Carwyn Jones, credited community campaigning for the success and said Welsh Labour were taking seats from every party.

In the Conservative/Lib Dem battlegrounds, it’s actually the Lib Dems who are doing a little better against the Conservatives than they were in 2008. Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams

Other key councils such as Birmingham, Thurrock, Harlow, Southampton, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Chorley fell to Labour. Ed Miliband congratulated local councillors in Birmingham, saying they had tailored local policies for local people.

He said the election results showed that despite promising change, David Cameron left the British public disappointed. “I’m determined to work tirelessly in the coming years up to the next general election to show we can change this country to work for you,” he said.

More than 4,700 seats have been contested in 128 English councils, with 21 unitary authorities in Wales electing new councillors.

Read more: voters cool on ‘Mayor Boris in every city’

‘Protest vote’ against Conservatives

The prime minister suffered losses in his Oxfordshire constituency, with Labour taking the seats of Witney Central, Witney East and Chipping Norton – the Cotswolds market town home to former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks and to her famous steed Raisa, the horse ridden by David Cameron.

David Cameron said the elections took place against a “difficult national backdrop” and that there are no “easy answers”.

The outgoing Conservative council leader in west Plymouth said the losses in her area were a “protest vote” against the government.

“We have to sit up, we have to listen to the public,” said Vivien Pengelly. “David Cameron will know in the next week or so exactly how I feel – that what he’s done, including the Jeremy Hunt fiasco and all that, he will certainly know from me, how it’s affected us in Plymouth.”

A ‘really sad’ night for Lib Dems

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said he was “really sad” that local councillors’ work had been in vain and acknowledged a “disappointing” night for his party, but added: “I believe that over time, people will come to acknowledge our unique role. We are the only party in government which combines responsibility on the economy with social fairness.”

Although the Lib Dems suffered compared to their 2008 performance, Professor Leighton Vaughan Williams, director of Nottingham Business School’s political forecasting unit, said the party made gains against the Conservatives.

“If anything, there’s a small swing from Conservatives to Lib Dems,” he told Channel 4 News. “In the Conservative/Lib Dem battlegrounds, it’s actually the Lib Dems who are doing a little better against the Conservatives than they were in 2008.”

UKIP perfomance

UKIP gained 14 per cent of their share of the vote where they stood, making inroads into the Conservative vote. “Where UKIP has gone up about 10 per cent, the Conservatives have gone down by about 5 per cent,” Professor Vaughan Williams told Channel 4 News.

However their success is being overplayed, he added: “They have gained 14 per cent of their share of the vote where they stood – not across the country. By my figures they have made just one net gain all night.”

More from Channel 4 News: What the 3 May elections mean for the UK

Gains for Galloway

George Galloway’s Respect party won five seats on Bradford council, including one from its Labour leader. Speaking at his campaign HQ, Mr Galloway said: “By anyone’s calculation it’s been a fantastic night for Respect. We took seats off all three of the mainstream parties.

“We took seats in Bradford West, my constituency, but also outside of Bradford West. And we took the head off the rotten fish that is the Bradford City Council.”