Labour wins at local level show party still strong

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

Labour has made significant gains in some of Thursday’s local council elections, taking back a number of councils across the country.

Labour won 51% of the vote in Liverpool, winning the council back from the Lib Dems.

In Barking, Labour won all 51 council seats, while the BNP – who previously held eleven council seats – were able to return none.

In Hackney, Labour won a landslide over the Lib Dems, 50 seats to 3.

In Islington, Labour won twelve new councillors, and defeated the Lib Dems comprehensively, by 35-13.

Enfield was won back from the Tories, and Coventry, Doncaster, Hartlepool, Oxford and St Helens were all won from no overall control. Camden was also won back from a Tory/Lib Dem coalition.

Across the country, Labour gained 249 new seats, while the Tories lost 78 and the Lib Dems lost 62.

Nathan Yeowell, head of the Labour group at the Local Government Association, said:

“The fightback has to begin at the grassroots level and in local councils. This is a platform from where we can fight back if there is a Tory administration and prove we are a viable alternative capable of providing services and protecting the needy and vulnerable who might be put at risk by cuts.”