UK election results LIVE: 'Coward' Starmer 'scapegoating everyone' after humiliation
| Date | 09 May 2021 |
| Published date | 09 May 2021 |
| Publication title | Express, The/The Express on Sunday: Web Edition Articles (London, England) |
"Instead today he’s scapegoating everyone apart from himself.
"This isn’t leadership it’s a cowardly avoidance of responsibility."
Due to this devastating election performance, Sir Keir has come under fire from within his own party for failing to set out a clear plan to attract voters to the opposition.
The Tories won Hartlepool on Friday, a Labour stronghold since 1974.
Losing the seat is a major blow Sir Keir who becomes one of the first Labour leaders to lose their first by-election.
Elections have also taken place for 13 regional mayors, 39 police and crime commissioners and 143 English councils.
However due to the coronavirus pandemic counting is expected to take longer than usual, with most results coming in between Friday and Monday.
In Scotland, the SNP sought the mandate for another independence referendum.
After days of vote counting, the SNP came away with 64 out of a possible 129 seats which saw the SNP fall one seat short of a majority.
Welsh 16 and 17-year-olds were able to vote for the first time for the Senedd election.
Labour has remained the dominant party in Wales having gained 30 seats - exactly half of the Welsh Parliament - although the Conservatives and Welsh nationalists also gained seats with the Tories scooping up 16, Plaid Cymru netting 13 and the Lib Dems only one.
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10.11am update: BBC Breakfast row: Chris Mason brilliantly picks apart SNP's independence demands
A BBC Breakfast interview with the SNP this morning saw host Chris Mason clash with an MSP over independence plans after Nicola Sturgeon pledged to press ahead with plans for a second referendum.
Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press ahead with plans for a second independence referendum in the wake of this week's elections. However, BBC Breakfast host Chris Mason rebuked this plan on TV this morning during an interview with SNP MSP Neil Gray.
He said that not only would Boris Johnson not grant a referendum but that the SNP will struggle to convince people that independence "is better than what they have right now".
The BBC Breakfast host and political correspondent for BBC News said: "Let's look at the specifics of the here and now.
"According to the tax authorities, a third of a million people in Scotland were on furlough at the end of January this year. That is a scheme run by the government in Westminster."
9.45am update: McDonnell explodes at Starmer for being influenced by Mandelson - Labour war erupts
John McDonnell unleashed a furious attack on Starmer for allowing New Labour figure Peter Mandelson to influence the Labour Party.
Former Shadow Chancellor and Corbyn loyalist John McDonnell lambasted Sir Keir Starmer for allowing Labour to be too influenced by Peter Mandelson.
In a furious tirade on BBC Andrew Marr show earlier Mr McDonnell unleashed a volley of criticism at Sir Keir following Labour's disastrous election results. He demanded "commitment to solidarity" and urged Starmer to bin Mandelson's advice.
The former shadow chancellor said: “He did say he would build on the policy framework we set out and he hasn’t!
“You can’t send candidates naked into the field like that without any policy. I don’t get into who’s best in any position or anything like that."
9.38am update: Sophy Ridge bursts out laughing after Labour frontbencher claims election shows 'progress'
Sky News' Sophy Ridge burst out laughing after a senior Labour frontbencher claimed that this week's election results showed the party was making "progress".
Labour frontbencher Ian Murray was ridiculed by Sky News political host Sophy Ridge after he suggested that this week's election results showed "progress" for the party.
Ms Ridge reeled off a list of humiliating election losses for Labour, as infighting erupts inside the party. She told Mr Murray that the party "doesn't have a grip on what is going on here" after a set of catastrophic results across the country.
The Labour MP told Sky News: "We are making progress but it's not fast enough.
"Nobody is taking away the significance of the losses but we have a lot of speeding up to do."
Ms Ridge responded: "Sorry you said you had good election results in some parts of the country but you are down seven councils in England. In what world is this making progress?
"Other than Wales where are you making progress? Overall you are going backwards!"
9.15am update: Diane Abbott rages at Keir Starmer for sacking Angela Rayner 'It's baffling!'
Diane Abbott hit out at Keir Starmer for sacking Angela Rayner from her role as chairman of the Labour Party.
The former Shadow Home Secretary criticised Sir Keir Starmer after deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner was sacked on Saturday from her role as chairman and national campaign coordinator.
It comes after the Opposition outfit lost the Hartlepool by-election - with the North East town voting for a Tory MP for the first time in 60 years - and incurring a net loss of six councils and more than 200 seats in the local elections as voters in its traditional heartlands deserted the party.
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News, Ms Abbott said: "I think it's baffling why he sacked Angela Rayner.
8.38am update: Michael Gove refuses to rule out blocking second Scottish independence referendum
Michael Gove this morning refused several times to rule out blocking any SNP attempt to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence.
The cabinet minister told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that most Scots did not want a "protracted debate on the constitution" as the country emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.
He added that he was "not interested in going down that blind alley" when asked again about Indyref2.
When asked if there were any circumstances in which Boris Johnson would grant a second vote, he replied: "It's not an issue for the moment."
8.23am update: Keir Starmer must listen to voters, not Labour factions - Peter Mandelson
New Labour architect Peter Mandelson has urged Keir Starmer to listen to voters, not party factions after Labour's election drubbing.
The former cabinet minister wrote in the FT: "Having taken the wrong path after the 2010 defeat, Starmer has clearly begun Labour’s course correction but he wants to change the party without disturbing the coalition he originally created to win the leadership.
"The problem is that many of his supporters, and many of the fellow travellers who hitched themselves to the party when Corbyn was leader, say they want change while leaving everything the same.
"This goes to the heart of Starmer’s dilemma. He can have change or he can have unity but not both. If Starmer wants to lead Labour into government, he has little real choice."
7.47am update: 'RIP London!' Sadiq Khan re-election sparks backlash - calls to tackle knife crime plague
Sadiq Khan re-election as Mayor of London has prompted backlash from angry Londoners.
Mr Khan has been repeatedly criticised for crime rates across the capital, most recently by journalist Dan Wootton in a stinging column for Mail Online.
He summed up the views of many, writing: "The quality of life in the world's greatest city has been decimated these past five years and it's impossible to cry foul any longer when it's referred to as Lawless London."
7.23am update: Keir Starmer using Angela Rayner as "scapegoat" for election failures
Keir Starmer has been accused of making his deputy Angela Rayner the scapegoat for Labour's election meltdown.
Despite taking "full responsbility" for Labour's drubbing, he sacked her as party chairman and campaign co-ordinator yesterday.
Labour last night said Ms Rayner, who remains the party's directly elected deputy leader, would "continue to play a senior role in Keir's team".
But in a sign she was taking the blame for last week's results, a party source said Labour had to "change how we run our campaigns in the future".
Ms Rayner declined to comment last night, but former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell told the Mail On Sunday that her sacking was a "cowardly avoidance of responsibility".
He added: "He's scapegoating everyone apart from himself."
06:29am update: 'Poor communicator' Starmer not making enough progress - COMMENT
In a comment made by The Observer on Labour’s performance in last week’s elections, the editorial warned 'Labour could have further to fall'
It read: "It is early days, but Starmer has not made enough progress in edging Labour back to electability.
"Starmer appears to be a poor communicator who lacks an instinctive touch; the same can be said for too many of his top team."
05:27am update: Burnham bookies favourite to replace Starmer after results humiliation
Andy Burnham is being touted to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader amid the disastrous election results on Super Thursday.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, dubbed "King of the North", was re-elected in a major landslide victory on Saturday, gaining 67.3 percent of the votes. The bookies have now placed Mr Burnham ahead of shadow cabinet minister Lisa Nandy with 6/1 odds on the Greater Manchester Mayor.
Asked on Sky News whether he wanted to lead the Labour Party, Mr Burnham said: “I’ve been elected as mayor of Greater Manchester – that is where my focus is.
“In the distant future, if the party were ever to feel it needed me, well I’m here and they should get in touch.”
05:24am update: 131 of 143 councils declared
Most of the results have been declared now across the UK.
More than 300 seats have been lost for Labour, putting massive dents in the "red wall".
The Conservatives have gained 237 seats over this election and now control 57 councils - a net gain of 11.
Labout have control of 44 councils are have a net loss of control of seven authorities.
04:05am update: Labour gain Metro Mayor position for West of England from Tories
Labour have gained the Metro Mayor...
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