Politics Uncovered newsletter: North Yorkshire not the West Midlands should really concern Tories

Departing mayor Andy Street looked crestfallen, while Labour’s Richard Parker was jubilant. The day before, Keir Starmer’s party had briefed out that the Tories would hold on in the West Midlands. They thought the pro-Gaza independent candidate would hoover up too many of Parker’s votes.

As such, this felt like the shock of the elections. Especially coming at the end of a long couple of days, with the delays, the wait and then the drama. However, in reality, with the national picture the way it is and the Tories in a constant state of crisis, Labour should always be competitive in an area that includes Birmingham, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

The result that I think should really worry Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives is the loss of the York and North Yorkshire mayoralty in the Prime Minister’s own backyard. As it’s a new role, this didn’t get as much media as the West Midlands - but should be just as concerning.

This is a true blue area, and as my colleague at the Yorkshire Post Mason Boycott-Owen said “the idea that Labour are even in contention for this is crackers”. While Labour won comfortably in York, they basically matched the Tories in the rural parts of the mayoralty. This shows that come the general election, MPs all over the country will be under threat.

One thing that may give Starmer cause for concern is the resurgence of the Greens. They picked off Labour councillors in areas with high Muslim populations, suggesting that Gaza is still a problem for Labour. The party lost control of Oldham Council and couldn’t get a majority in Burnley, however I want to focus on Bristol.

This is an area the Greens are targeting for their second MP, and the new constituency of Bristol Central now only has Green Party councillors. This will worry the current Bristol West MP Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire, who will be standing later this year. 

The thing that impressed me about the Greens when I visited Bristol last month was the organisation of their campaign. On a rainy April evening, there were around a dozen volunteers targeting people to get out the vote. Adding another 10 councillors will only add to their ammunition. 

Story of the week

Boris Johnson tried to use a magazine as a form of identification to vote in the local elections, but was turned away for breaking voter ID rules that he brought in as Prime Minister. In a way, nothing sums up Boris’ belief that the rules (particularly the laws that he brought in) do not apply to him.

Quote of the week

“The plan is working”: Transport Secretary Mark Harper blithely insists that everything is fine and Rishi Sunak’s plan is working after a disastrous set of local election results, that saw the Tories lose the West Midlands mayoralty and councils across the country to the Lib Dems and Labour.

Coming up next week

The plot against Rishi Sunak? Tory plotters had previously briefed that if the Conservatives lost Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Midlands then they would move against Sunak. Now only Houchen stays in post, after Street lost by around 1,500 votes. Will that spur the plotters on? Suella Braverman sounded decidedly shifty when asked about it on the morning shows …

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