Local elections results – live: Labour win in West Midlands and London as Sunak facing fresh rebellion

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Tory MPs have been warned that they did not get an electoral dubbing because they “were not right wing or extreme enough” as a battle over the party’s future begins.

The defeat of former Tory Mayor Andy Street in the West Midlands late on Saturday night has reopened questions over whether the party “is conservative enough” or should change leader from Rishi Sunak.

But Boris Johnson’s former director of communications Guto Harri joined Mr Street in warning against a “drift to the right.”

Millions of voters in England cast ballots Thursday in an array of local elections, the last big test before a looming U.K. general election that all indicators suggest will see the Labour Party return to power after 14 years in the wilderness.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was barely able to point to any big success for his Conservative Party, confirming that the electoral coalition that gave the party a big win in the 2019 general election has frayed, if not completely dissolved, in the wake of a series of political dramas and the cost of living crisis.

For Labour leader Keir Starmer, the results provided confirmation of what opinion polls have shown for two years — that Labour has recovered from its 2019 low and is on course to win the election comfortably.

Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said he cannot foresee a Labour administration working alongside the SNP in Westminster.

Asked if he “could imagine” the two parties working together if Labour does not win a majority, Mr McFadden told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips “no”.

He said: “Our aim is to win a majority, to govern, to meet the mood for change, and we’re not planning any alliances or pacts with anyone.”

Asked if he would “rule out idea of co-operation with the SNP”, he said: “You can put it to me from now until Christmas and my answer will be the same, we’re going to aim for a majority government, we’re going to meet that mood for change, we’re not planning on any pacts or alliances with anyone and I think - after the results of the last few days - we go into that fight with no complacency, but with a belief and confidence that we’ve seen in the votes that were cast a few days ago.”

Professor Michael Thrasher, the Sky News boffin, caused consternation on Friday by publishing a projection from the local elections that suggested the results would produce a hung parliament if repeated in the general election.

This is where the phrase “just a bit of fun”, a watchword of Peter Snow, the BBC’s former king of the swingometer, comes into play.

Thrasher is right to say that if Labour’s share of the vote was seven percentage points ahead of the Conservatives in a general election, the party would probably fall short of a majority in the House of Commons.

Read more from John Rentoul here:

Mark Harper did not accept cancelling the second phase of HS2 had an impact on the Conservatives’ results in the local elections.

He described outgoing West Midlands Tory mayor Andy Street as a “fantastic mayor”.

But when asked by the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg about the impact of scrapping the northern leg of HS2 on the results, he said: “Well that illustrates I think something really important about the Prime Minister. He is interested in taking difficult decisions that might not be popular with everyone but are in the long-term interests of the country and are the right decision.”

Pressed that this was not in Mr Street’s long-term interests, Mr Harper added: “Well I disagree. Every single penny of the money we saved from cancelling the second phase of HS2 is being reinvested in transport.

“I was in the West Midlands just a few weeks ago with Andy Street for the launch of a £1.75 billion Midlands rail hub, improving the connectivity of Birmingham across the country.”

Voters have no great love for Keir Starmer and they could yet be won around by the prime minister if his MPs stop their sniping, says veteran MP Sir Liam Fox:

The results of the local and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England were supposed to follow a clear narrative – that Labour were on course for a massive Parliamentary majority in a general election and Rishi Sunak’s premiership would be on the rocks with rebel factions waiting to displace him.

The fact that this has not happened begs the question, “why not”?

One of the major factors is the analysis of the results themselves.

Read more here:

The last of the 107 English council election results was announced at Salford early on Sunday afternoon, with Labour winning 18 of the seats being contested, gaining one, the Lib Dems one and Conservatives two, losing one.

The Conservatives lost 397 council seats across England in the council elections, with Labour gaining 232, the Lib Dems 98 and Greens 64.

Labour won a total of 1,158 seats, the Lib Dems 522, Conservatives 515, Greens 181, independents 228, ratepayers and residents 48, the Workers Party of Britain four and Reform UK two.

The Conservatives lost control of 10 councils, with Labour gaining eight and the Lib Dems two.

Labour now control 51 of the 107 councils, the Lib Dems 12, Conservatives six and independents one, with 37 under no overall control.

Andy Burnham has vowed to “make big things happen” after he won a third successive term as the mayor of Greater Manchester with more votes than all his opponents combined.

The Labour candidate won by a landslide with 63.4 per cent of the vote - miles ahead of runner-up Conservative candidate Laura Evans with 10.39 per cent.

Reform gained 7.46 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Greens with 6.92 per cent and Lib Dems with 4.25 per cent.