Council polls give May Brexit opportunity

THERESA MAY has been urged to pursue a no-compromise Brexit after the Tories saw off Jeremy Corbyn’s challenge with stronger than expected results in local elections.

Conservatives made gains across the country, including London, as Leave supporters backed the Prime Minister and the capital Labour’s failed predicted to materialise. clean sweep in

With the Labour leader facing questions over whether “peak Corbyn” has passed, Tory grandees said Mrs May had a stronger mandate than ever to press on with a clean break from the EU.

The Liberal Democrats, the only major party with an anti-brexit agenda, made the biggest net gains, putting pressure on Labour to rethink its confusing Brexit policies and offer stronger opposition to the Government.

The fact that the Tories’ best showing

was in areas that had backed Leave showed that Brexit was both “an issue and an opportunity”, said Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, who added: “Leave voters have stayed with her and that’s really important.” It gave the Prime Minister two clear years of “normal politics”, he continued, and, predicting “a phenomenal victory in

’ There is no margin for us in delivering a soggy Brexit '

2022” for the Tories, he said Labour would “be in cataclysmic meltdown”.

The Conservatives gained control of four councils thanks largely to a total collapse in support for Ukip, whose general secretary compared his party’s losses to “the Black Death”.

Lord Howard, party leader from 2003 to 2005, said: “The results show that Mrs May needs to do the right thing for the country and I believe that is a clean Brexit… coming out of the customs union and the single market.”

Downing Street refused to be drawn on the significance of Brexit in the local election result, but Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Jeremy Corbyn has been abandoned in many Leave areas. His pledge to stay in the customs union means he is not trusted to deliver Brexit. The Prime Minister’s clear vision for leaving the single market and customs union was a key part of the electoral success.”

Jacob Rees-mogg, the leading Eurosceptic, said the result showed “there is no margin for us in delivering a soggy Brexit”. He added: “This is the electoral evidence we needed. We have picked up the Ukip vote. Our electoral prospects are now entirely tied in with ensuring that Brexit is successful.”

Labour managed to gain control of just two councils nationwide, while losing control of three. Mr Corbyn said he was “disappointed” Labour had not done better. In another blow, Heidi Alexander, the former shadow health secretary, was reportedly preparing to quit last night, triggering a by-election in Lewisham East. Labour gained more than 60 seats overall and the Tories had a net loss of 90.

In Wandsworth, a Tory hold, Mrs May told activists: “This was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed.”