Misery for Theresa May as Conservatives lose six seats in local council meltdown
2 min read
The Conservatives lost six council seats last night as Labour made major gains in elections across the country.
On a night of misery for Theresa May, her party saw its vote collapse as the public delivered a damning verdict on the performance of her government.
Unusually, no fewer than 14 council seats were up for grabs on a night dubbed 'Super Thursday' by political observers.
The Tories have seen the number they held drop from nine to three, while Labour's total jumped from four to seven.
Remarkably, the Greens also gained two seats - both from the Conservatives. The other Tory seat fell to an independent candidate after their vote collapsed in Golden Valley South, in Herefordshire.
The only piece of good news for the Tories came when they gained a seat from the Lib Dems in Colchester.
The results will be viewed with dismay by Conservative bosses still reeling from losing their Commons majority at the general election.
They also indicate that the so-called 'Corbyn surge' which saw Labour outperform expectations at the election is showing no signs of abating.
Labour chiefs will also be relieved that criticism of the party's apparent U-turn on single market membership after Brexit has had no impact at the ballot box.
There was also good news for Labour in Scotland, where the party gained one council seat from the Conservatives and comfortably held another. In both contests, the SNP's vote share went down.
Party deputy leader Tom Watson made clear his delight on Twitter.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
