A Conservative minister admits his party must rebuild “a lot of trust” after losing more than 1,000 councillors in last week’s local elections.
On a bruising day for Rishi Sunak’s administration, the Tories lost control of 48 councils across England as Labour became the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002. In the North East, blows for the Conservatives included losing control in Darlington – though the elections produced a more mixed set of results, with varying outcomes on Teesside and Labour already being dominant further north in Tyne and Wear.
Richard Holden, the MP for North West Durham, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Tories were still “clearly behind” – but insisted that last week’s results would have been far worse had voters gone to the polls towards the end of last year. Speaking on a visit to the Greggs HQ in Longbenton on Wednesday, the roads minister said: “We saw a bit more of a mixed picture here in the North East, with Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar nowhere near as bad for the Conservatives.
