Elections prove PM’s time is now up

ON Thursday, many parts of the UK went to the polls for the local council election which seemed to feel more like a General Election as the results kept coming in overnight from England. For political nerds like myself, it was the highlight of the week.

I think it’s fair to say that this is the first local council election, certainly the most recent one that I can remember, where there was much more media interest in which party will make gains. There had been speculation that the Labour Party would win key Tory seats such as the “jewel in the crown” London Borough of Wandsworth which Labour went on to win along with of Barnet, Westminster and other key seats.

There is no doubt that this local election was in many respects a test of Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party. He has shown that Labour are starting to make incremental gains across the country but it was also a political pulse check for Johnson’s Conservative Party which is in disarray as activists tried to forge a narrative of “don’t blame the local conservatives, it’s the national Conservatives that are getting it wrong– not us by trying to distance ourselves from the national shenanigans that have overshadowed this shambolic Conservative government”.

What was really telling was the spin coming from Conservative HQ which said this election is about local issues and nothing to do with the national picture whatsoever – which just goes to show that they are completely out of touch with the mood of the country or they are in serious denial.

There is no better poll than when the British people go to the ballot box and this time they have sent a clear message to the Tory Government that they want better than the status quo.

While the Labour Party made significant gains the onus is on us to build on that with a core offer to the British people about how we will make their lives better – underpinned by a simple message that your aspirations are our aspirations, your concerns are our concerns.

Together we will get through this and as a party it’s clear that we are getting there.

When I was campaigning in London and Merseyside last week, the key issues that came up time and time again was the cost-ofliving crisis – and the hypocrisy of Boris Johnson and his cohorts who made the rules and didn’t stick to them while the rest of us did.

So, when the Tories say that partygate is no longer an issue, they are very much mistaken and it’s clear that for Johnson the party is going to be over soon.

But if there is one thing to take away from this it’s that the British people will always reject a government that treats them with the contempt – and that was something that often came up on the doorstep.

The Conservatives once prided themselves on being the party of the economy. The next election is for Labour to win but what will be interesting will be the obvious fallout from this election as the Prime Minister attempts to shift the blame and focus from him.

There are rumours that he will undertake a Cabinet reshuffle with mounting speculation that he will offer Liz Truss the Treasury, sending Chancellor Rishi Sunak to the Foreign Office in a bid to stop any rebels mounting a challenge.

But the reality is that Johnson’s time is up. A Cabinet reshuffle won’t cut it and Tory members up and down the country will want blood for this disastrous result. When Conservative MPs start getting emails from Tory members, there are only two possible outcomes – a managed departure for Johnson where he will announce he is stepping down with a new leader announced at the Tory conference, or the 1922 Committee goes into full swing with letters of no confidence going to Sir Graham Brady’s inbox. Either way the game is up.

The Tory fallout from the election is likely to dominate the national narrative for some time and more so if the Sue Gray report finds against the Government, or if Boris Johnson receives another fine.

All this against the backdrop of an increase in interest rates to curb potential rising inflation with no coherent plan or strategy to help families with the cost-of-living crisis.

The next General Election really is for the Labour Party to win – and that means it must have a clear vision to offer people around the country.