Farage and Ukip the true election winners
JEREMY Corbyn was last night accused of destroying Labour as a national political force after party warfare erupted in the wake of humiliating local election results.
The Labour leader was condemned as “not credible” by one of his own shadow cabinet colleagues on a day of bitter recriminations.
Moderate MPs were dismayed as Mr Corbyn and his allies attempted to gloss over the poll results as better than expected. The Labour leader claimed the party had “hung on” despite a net loss of council seats across England.
Labour sources branded a trouncing for their party in the Scottish parliamentary elections as a disaster, slipping to third place behind the Tories.
The polls brought gains for Ukip across the country and some disappointment for Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who lost her overall SNP majority in the Edinburgh parliament.
It marked a massive turnaround in Tory fortunes north of the border after decades in the wilderness.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, the new opposition leader in Scotland, said the result had shattered SNP hopes of a second independence referendum.
Miss Davidson said: “No mandate, no majority, no cause – the SNP must now let Scotland move on.”
David Cameron yesterday said Labour under Mr Corbyn’s hard- Left rule had lost touch with its own traditional voters.
“The Labour Party have lost touch with the hard- working people they are supposed to represent,” he said on a visit to Peterborough to celebrate the Tories winning overall control of the local council.
“They are so obsessed with their Left- wing causes and unworkable economic policies, they’ve forgotten that people want jobs, people want livelihoods, people want lower taxes, people want homes they live in and can afford to own – the things that we are now delivering.”
Mr Cameron hailed the “remarkable” result for the Tories in Scotland. He said: “Frankly, it is something of a realignment in Scottish politics.”
Mr Cameron joked: “Local election day for sitting Prime Ministers is supposed to be a day of dread.
“It’s meant to be a day when you are sitting there waiting for someone to knock on the door like the condemned man waiting for the hangman. That wasn’t what it was like last night.” Labour insiders were distraught at their party’s failure to make any advance in Scotland.
Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said: “I don’t think that the public see the UK Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn at the moment as being a credible party of future government in 2020.
“That’s something, after this week’s results, we should reflect on,
the leadership of the party should reflect on and find a way of finding a strategy and a narrative that changes the perception of the UK Labour Party across the United Kingdom so that we can go on and have a real shot at winning in 2020.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale admitted to being “heartbroken” at her party coming third.
Mr Corbyn attempted to put a brave face on the results and rejected suggestions he should quit.
He said: “I’m carrying on. Don’t worry about that. I’m fine. I’m very happy. All across England last night we were getting predictions that we were going to lose councils. We didn’t. We hung on and we grew support in a lot of places.”
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson admitted the results were “disappointing” but pleaded for Mr Corbyn to be given more time.
He said: “There are some crumbs of comfort, that the pundits said we would lose every seat in Scotland and we managed to retain a few and even make a gain.”
One senior source on the moderate wing of the party said: “There has been a lot of expectation management going on by the leadership but frankly these results are awful.
Disaster
“We have gone backwards in England and falling behind the Tories in Scotland is an absolute disaster.
“Winning back Scotland was supposed to be a Corbyn priority. A new leader should be winning seats not losing them. Even Michael Foot won more than 1,000 council seats.”
The source admitted there was no appetite for a coup against Mr Corbyn and claimed rumours of a plot had been whipped up by the leader’s allies to rally his hard- core support.
John Ferrett, leader of the Labour group on Portsmouth Council, denounced Mr Corbyn as “incompetent” and “incapable of giving the leadership we need”.
And backbencher David Winnick urged him to quit, saying: “The party faces a crisis and the onus is on Jeremy. He should decide whether his leadership is helping or hindering the party. I think all the evidence shows that it is not helping.”
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said Labour was losing support because the party had been taken over by a “hard- Left caucus”.
He told talkRADIO: “Corbyn is an absolutely priceless asset for the long- term development of Ukip. Corbyn must stay. I’ll launch the campaign. I’ll even send a cheque.”