Labour was closing in on a London mayoral victory for Sadiq Khan on Saturday, as Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Conservatives do not deserve power “for a moment longer”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is meanwhile braced for the West Midlands mayoral election result, hoping incumbent Andy Street could hold on to power for the Conservatives.
With just four of 14 constituencies declared, London’s Labour incumbent Mr Khan was leading with 350,453 votes to Conservative Susan Hall’s 165,301.
The total turnout in the election is 2,495,621, with fewer than half of the results yet to be declared.
Mr Khan needs to win a simple majority of ballots cast, as the rules for the mayoral race were changed to a first-past-the-post voting system ahead of the latest election.
Labour leader Sir Keir gave his backing to Mr Khan, telling reporters: “He has got two terms of delivery behind him and I am confident that he has got another term of delivery in front of him.”
During a visit to Mansfield, he also issued a fresh challenge to the Prime Minister, saying: “Fourteen years and, I am sorry, I don’t care which political party you support, if you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in Government for a moment longer.”
As Friday’s result declarations closed, the Conservatives had suffered a drubbing in the polls, with a net loss of 371 seats, and lost control of 10 councils.
But Mr Sunak took solace in the Conservative victory in the Tees Valley mayoral contest, which was retained by Lord Houchen.
Overall, Labour won control of eight councils with a net gain of 204 seats, and won three inaugural mayoral races in the East Midlands, the North East and York and North Yorkshire, a region which includes Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency.
