Voting was tactical

Congratulations to the Liberal Democrats for winning the council elections in Chichester.

For their success to be repeated in the next General Election, it will require a significant change in language and strategy by the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

Reacting to the Local Election results, he claimed the ‘fantastic’ results showed his Party was well placed to oust the Tories from Government in a General Election, expected next year.

“Make no mistake, we are on course for a Labour majority at the next Election,” he told cheering activists in Medway, Kent, a council Labour had just won from the Tories.

In reality, Labour’s

35 per cent share this year is no better than the party achieved last year, a disappointment for the opposition given its big advance in the opinion polls over the past 12 months.

Honest Labour strategists would have hoped for more.

In much of the country, it was instead the Liberal Democrats who profited most from the Conservative slump.

The third party achieved a projected share of 20 per cent, the highest since it joined the coalition in 2010, and gained more than 400 seats and 12 councils.

These gains reflect growing evidence that voters are sufficiently angry at Tory incumbents to back whichever party looks best placed to defeat them.

This is tactical voting and it would bring many extra seats into play for both Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

Realistically, the only message Sir Keir should be telling Labour, is that they must co-operate with the Liberal Democrats to defeat the Tories.