Leaders feel the heat over partygate and local election results

BORIS Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer are both under pressure following the local elections.

While Labour’s success was overshadowed by a police probe into a lockdown gathering, Boris Johnson is continuing to be blamed for his party’s failure across the country.

Some local Conservative branches were pointing the finger at the Prime Minister, accusing him of affecting their standing due to the parties during lockdown taking place across Whitehall.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross also continued to say Mr Johnson’s actions had clearly impacted voters in Scotland.

Overall, the Conservative party lost 341 councillors and control of 11 councils in England, while in Scotland they lost 62 councillors. In Wales, the party lost control of its only council of Monmouthshire, and lost 86 seats overall.

Despite the brutal results, some within the Tories were more jubilant yesterday as Labour leader Starmer continued to face questions about a police inquiry into a gathering held by his party last year.

On Friday, Durham Police announced they were re-opening an investigation into the event on April 30, 2021, which saw Sir Keir being photographed holding a beer in a room with others.

At the time socialising indoors was banned unless with members of your household or support bubble. However, there was an exception for the purposes of election preparation – which is what Sir Keir said he and his team were doing. They ate an Indian takeaway and had a beer before going back to work, he said. However, since the police said they had received “significant new information” about the gathering and were now re-investigating it, the Labour leader has faced some difficult questions. He originally called for Boris Johnson to resign prior to him receiving a police fine. Diane Abbott, veteran Labour MP, said if Sir Keir is fined for the gathering he should

quit.

The MP for Hackney said: “I think if he actually gets a fixedpenalty notice he really has to consider his position.

“I don’t think he will, I think this is a lot of hype built up by the Tory press, but if he were to get a fixed penalty notice he would have to consider his position.”

Sir Keir visited West Dunbartonshire yesterday as part of a flying visit to Scotland, to celebrate what he described as the party’s biggest success in a decade.

Labour has taken control of the local authority from the SNP, winning an overall majority.