A Labour local elections blame game is already under way today as Keir Starmer makes a desperate final plea to voters.
The PM has urged Brits not to follow the ‘politics of anger’ as he braces for disastrous results in England, Scotland and Wales tomorrow.
He also joined a ‘phone banking’ session at Labour HQ this morning, trying to persuade waverers.
But even amid the frantic campaigning, Welsh Labour chief Baroness Morgan complained that the premier ‘comes up as an issue on the doorstep’.
She admitted the party could lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution because the public wants to ‘pick a fight’ with Sir Keir.
Former home secretary Lord Blunkett added to the feeling of despair, telling Times Radio that it was ‘really bad on the doorstep’ when he was campaigning, with people moving ‘swiftly from legitimate criticism to just downright abuse’.
Downing Street is scrambling to put together a survival strategy should fears of a meltdown be realised in results on Friday and Saturday.
Close ally Pat McFadden was deployed to broadcast studios this morning to make clear Sir Keir will fight any leadership challenge.
Keir Starmer joined a ‘phone banking’ session at Labour HQ this morning, trying to persuade waverers
Even as frantic campaigning campaigning continues, Welsh Labour chief Baroness Morgan complained that the premier ‘comes up as an issue on the doorstep’
There is chatter about the PM delivering a big ‘vision’ speech and ditching manifesto red lines. The King’s Speech has also been scheduled for next week in a ‘reset’ moment.
However, the mood in Labour is highly febrile and rivals such as Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting are circling.
Almost 25,000 candidates are fighting to be elected to more than 5,000 seats on 136 councils across England.
Labour is defending around half of those wards, with Reform and the Greens likely to rack up big gains.
In Scotland, all 129 seats are up for election in Holyrood, while voters in Wales will choose a set of 96 members of the Senedd. Reform and Plaid are fighting it out for control of the Welsh Parliament.
Sir Keir tried to strike a bullish note as he joined a tightly-controlled rally in south London last night. With his personal ratings hovering near record lows he has largely stayed off the campaign trail in the main battlegrounds.
‘As you can see, we’ve got a fantastic Labour team working every single day in London and across the country, campaigning with fantastic councillors and candidates and with a very positive message,’ Sir Keir said.
‘Of course, it’s going to be a challenge, but it is really important we go in fighting for every vote, which has to be earned, in relation to this.’
Writing in the Mirror, Sir Keir said: ‘On Thursday, when you go to put your vote in the ballot box, there’s a clear choice on that piece of paper.
‘Unity or division. Progress versus the politics of anger. The right plan for our country up against easy answers that will lead us nowhere.’
Asked whether Plaid or Reform will take control of the Senedd, Lady Morgan told the Telegraph: ‘I’m certainly hoping that they won’t do that.
‘But there is a danger that that could happen, and I don’t want to see that happening.
‘I do hope people will reflect on what this election is really about – and it isn’t a time, I think, to pick a fight with Starmer. There’s a general election, that’s the time to do that.’
She added: ‘Of course there are times when (Starmer) comes up as an issue on the doorstep … If people want to make a protest, I think my real fear is that they could make a protest and then regret that protest, because what they’ll see is their public services crumble over the next few years.’
In interviews this morning, Work and Pensions Secretary Mr McFadden was asked if Sir Keir would fight any challenge to his leadership.
‘Yes, and I hope there isn’t, because I don’t think it would be the answer to our problems,’ he told Sky News.
‘We’d be saying to the public, “just hold on for a few months while we go over here and sort something out”. That is not what the public wants to hear.
‘I hope we do well tomorrow. But even if we don’t, the day after our job is to wake up, continue with doing our job and serve the country.’
Mr McFadden said: ‘The Prime Minister was elected for a five-year term, and he should serve out that term. His job is to lead the country through uncertain times, and that’s the job I know he wakes up in the morning and wants to do.’
Asked whether Sir Keir is ready to face down any challenges to his leadership, the senior Cabinet minister said: ‘Yes, he is feeling that. He’s remarkably resolute, and he knows that to turn inward at this moment, or to turn inward after Thursday would be a mistake.
‘He said he would put the country first when he fought the election a couple of years ago, and he will continue to put the country first.’
Keir Starmer has urged Brits not to follow the ‘politics of anger’ as he braces for disastrous results in local elections tomorrow
Nigel Farage spent last night in Merthyr Tydfil, where he said Wales had become a ‘basket case’ after being led by Labour for more than two decades
Kemi Badenoch told Tory campaigners in Solihull yesterday that Sir Keir was already fighting a ‘shadow leadership contest’
Kemi Badenoch told Tory campaigners in Solihull yesterday that Sir Keir was already fighting a ‘shadow leadership contest’, with Labour backers ‘talking about what their party should stand for two years into Government’.
She also said: ‘The Conservative Party is on the side of people who want to get on, people who are saving up to buy a home, mums and dads who are trying to build a better life for their children.
‘These are our people and we are fighting for them at this election – here in Solihull, all over Scotland and Wales, in London, in Essex, in Swindon, in Sunderland, in Norfolk, in Plymouth, everywhere the people have a vote.’
Nigel Farage spent last night in Merthyr Tydfil, where he said Wales had become a ‘basket case’ after being led by Labour for more than two decades.
‘The party that has been able, frankly, to take Wales for granted for over 100 years on Thursday will deservedly get smashed to smithereens by the electorate,’ he said.
Mr Farage, whose party’s election campaign slogan is ‘Vote Reform, get Starmer out’, added: ‘Getting rid of Starmer will begin the descending spiral of this Government.
‘The realisation that our economy is broken, that the country is, frankly, bankrupt, and will precipitate an earlier general election.
‘And I still believe that a general election next year is likely.’
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has been under increasing pressure over his party’s response to the anti-Semitic attack in Golders Green, but the party is still widely expected to perform well.
In a video message to his party’s backers, filmed in the South Wales Senedd seat of Caerdydd Penarth and posted to X, Mr Polanski said: ‘This is a vital moment that will change Wales forever.’
Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth told his supporters the Welsh election was ‘going down to the wire’.
