Prime Minister Boris Johnson is focusing on bins, potholes and council tax, but the Tories are entering the final days before the local elections on Thursday with a fresh scandal adding to the 'partygate' fallout. Conservative MP Neil Parish announced his resignation on Saturday as he admitted twice watching pornography in the House of Commons.
The former member for Tiverton and Honiton in the South West told the BBC he had first looked at tractors online before getting 'into another website that had a very similar name'. The fresh embarrassment came as activists canvas for votes for a Tory party led by a Prime Minister fined by police for breaching his own coronavirus laws.
Polls in 200 local authorities across Britain open on Thursday, in a chance for voters to register their disapproval, or their support. Labour currently run nine of the local councils in Greater Manchester. Stockport and Bolton are in no overall control, with Stockport council under a Labour administration and the Conservatives in power in Bolton as the largest single party.
Votes will be verified and counted - with results revealed - on Friday in Bury, Manchester, Rochdale and Trafford. Overnight results are expected once polls close at 10pm on Thursday in Bolton, Oldham, Salford, Tameside, Stockport and Wigan.
Sir Keir Starmer will also be under pressure, as a failure to make inroads will lead to questions over his ability to deliver Labour back to power. Mr Johnson will hope voters prioritise his perceived successes, such as the vaccine rollout and Brexit, rather than the lockdown breaches and tax hikes amid a cost of living crisis.
In a statement released ahead of the polls, the Prime Minister said: "The elections next Thursday matter. People are voting for councillors and councils who decide how often bins are collected, how many potholes are repaired and how much council tax is paid.
"And I have to tell you that its hardworking Conservative councillors and councils across the country who deliver better local services while managing taxpayers’ money wisely.
"The choice on May 5 is clear. Labour and Lib Dems who fritter away your council tax on deciding which statues to tear down, or Conservatives, delivering value for money and delivering on your local priorities."
The Liberal Democrats were calling for the Government to announce an emergency tax cut in the upcoming Queen's Speech, in an attempt to focus attentions on the dent in pay packets caused by the Tories’ national insurance hike.
Sir Ed Davey, the Lib Dem Leader, said: "This should be a cost-of-living Queen's Speech. After a Budget that did nothing to ease the pressure of rising energy bills, struggling families across the UK cannot wait any longer for the Government to act. People are facing a cost-of-living emergency, and they need an emergency tax cut now."
Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden was accusing Labour of standing down candidates in a secret election 'pact' with the Lib Dems. But it was unclear whether Labour was just focussing its talent and resources on areas it is more likely to win. A Labour spokeswoman said: "We're in the business of winning elections with labour candidates driven by labour values."
Parliament, meanwhile, is facing a reckoning to improve its reputation after the Parish affair. The former senior Tory bowed to pressure to say he would resign after viewing the material in the chamber during what he called a 'moment of madness'.
The 65-year-old select committee chair, who is a farmer by trade, said he first accidentally viewed porn after looking at tractors online before later acting deliberately.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is calling for 'radical' reform to working practices after a series of bullying and sexual misconduct offences involving MPs. Calling for urgent action, Sir Lindsay suggested staff should no longer be employed by the parliamentarians they work for to address a series of 'serious allegations'.
He was considering moving to an outside body employing aides as Parliament's reputation was feared to have hit a new low. Writing in the Observer, Sir Lindsay said: “I believe it is time we reviewed our working practices, and particularly whether it is right that individual MPs are the employers of their staff. Should someone else – or an outside body – employ the staff, as long as the MP has the right to choose them?
"In my opinion, it is time to consider radical action, and review structures and processes that could make a difference. Some serious allegations have been made, and we must address them as a matter of urgency. It is imperative we do the right thing by staff and MPs as well."
