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LONDON — The Labour Party will launch a root-and-branch review of its policies as it comes to terms with a devastating set of losses inflicted by the Conservatives.
Labour lost the parliamentary seat of Hartlepool — a traditional stronghold — on a massive swing of 16 percent to the Tories, at the same time as its strength was eroded on the councils of bellwether towns such as Nuneaton and Harlow.
After the Conservatives won the Tees Valley mayoralty by a country mile, they have only to secure the West Midlands mayoralty to complete a hat-trick of flagship electoral successes.
Keir Starmer, the party leader, said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the results and admitted that Labour had “lost the trust of working people”.
He added: “I take full responsibility for the results, and I will take full responsibility for fixing this. We have changed as a party but we haven’t set out a strong enough case to the country.”
Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told the BBC that the party would carry out a policy review, as is normal after most elections, which would be part of an effort “to reconnect with people like those in Hartlepool that we’ve lost touch with.”
Starmer came under fire from across the party. Asked by the BBC if Starmer is in trouble, leftwing Labour MP Clive Lewis, said: “He’s in trouble, we’re all in trouble. It’s not just the Labour Party that’s in trouble, progressives are in trouble.”
Meanwhile, Andrew Adonis, the Blairite former transport secretary who is now a member of the House of Lords, wrote in The Times Red Box that the leader “turns out to be a transitional figure — a nice man and a good human rights lawyer, but without political skills or antennae at the highest level.”
Behind the scenes, accusations flew over tactical decisions made during the campaign. Jenny Chapman, a key adviser to Starmer, was widely blamed for the selection of a Remainer candidate in Brexit-voting Hartlepool, while Nick Brown, Labour’s chief whip, is being held responsible for allowing the by-election to take place on the same day as the local mayoral vote.
The Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen was returned with a thumping 73 percent of the vote and some of his popularity is thought to have rubbed off on the Tories’ Harltepool candidate Jill Mortimer, who largely avoided the media during her campaign.
A Labour Party official said Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, must also accept her share of the blame. “Angela wanted the role as the national campaign coordinator and the responsibility was hers. She needs to do the honorable thing and step away from the role,” the aide said.
Rayner’s allies, in turn, told The Guardian she had wanted the campaign to focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs” but had been held back by the leader’s office.
The one bright spot for Labour was in Wales, where the party increased its tally from 29 to 30 seats and will continue in government. But the win, which is being attributed to the steady and reassuring performance of First Minister Mark Drakeford, may offer little comfort to Starmer.
Starmer is expected to reshuffle his shadow Cabinet in the coming days to make space for well-known figures such as Yvette Cooper and Hilary Benn.
Writing for POLITICO, Will Tanner, director of the Onward think tank and specialist in regional inequality, pointed out there are 31 Labour-held seats from the so-called red wall yet to fall and “political gravity is pulling them towards the Conservatives”.
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