Keir ducks claim of Lib-Lab polls pact

Tories accuse opponents of local election ‘stitch-up’

Keir starmer sought to deflect attention from accusations he had formed an electoral pact yesterday by accusing the tories of failing to address the cost of living crisis.

The Labour leader was asked if he was trying to stitch up Boris Johnson by standing aside in local authority seats where the Liberal Democrats may win this week.

Despite figures produced by tory party chairman Oliver Dowden showing that Labour was standing in fewer places than previously in some areas, sir Keir initially dodged the question.

He said that he wouldn’t take anything Mr Dowden said seriously before questioning why he was attacking Labour and the Lib Dems rather than talking about the cost of living.

He then denied that there was an electoral pact, but did not address claims that Labour had chosen to stand back in

‘Denying voters a democratic choice’

seats where the Lib Dems were doing well. in a letter to sir Keir, Mr Dowden said: ‘i note that in the south West, you are standing candidates in 61 per cent of seats compared to 97 per cent in 2018.

‘And in the south east there is a similar pattern with Labour standing candidates in 88 per cent of seats compared to 99 per cent in 2018. in the North of england it appears that the Liberal Democrats are returning the favour.’

He claimed the move was ‘far too sub stantial to be a mere coincidence’, according to the Mail on sunday. He accused the parties of trying to stitch up Mr Johnson ahead of thursday’s polls which could prove difficult for the tories following Partygate.

Tory MPs who have turned against the Prime Minister are biding their time until after the elections to decide whether to push for a vote of no confidence. Mr Johnson is also reeling

from the fallout from the resignation of tory MP Neil Parish, who admitted he watched pornography in the Commons.

Cabinet minister Jacob REESMOGG warned of trouble ahead at thursday’s elections – but said they were often not good predictors of general elections.

He said: ‘i think we’ll do better than we did in the european elections in 2019 [where the tories performed very badly].’ Meanwhile, Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Mr Johnson will ‘absolutely’ still be leader after the elections.

in his letter, Mr Dowden claimed that sir Keir planned to ‘deny the voters a proper democratic choice’ on thursday. if the alleged tactics are replicated at a general election, it could see a return to the Lib-Lab pacts of the 1970s.

Yesterday, the Labour leader told sky News: ‘i wouldn’t take anything Oliver Dowden says particularly seriously.

‘the fact that he is spending his sunday... attacking Labour... why doesn’t he say something about the cost of living crisis for heaven’s sake?

‘there is no pact, everybody knows there is no pact.’ He also claimed Labour was standing more candidates than ever in the local elections.