The village of Rickleton, near Sunderland, is a scene of quiet suburban bliss on a warm April morning. But the sound of the leather cricket field on a willow tree was disrupted by a frantic election campaign before the vote, which could pose a danger to Labor leader Keira Starmer.
Labor has ruled Sunderland with iron grip for decades, but recent political upheavals have left it in power. The party has a majority of just six councilors, meaning it could lose full control of the council next month for the first time since its founding in 1974.
Starmer has visited the city twice in recent weeks in a bid to prevent a disaster that could undermine what could be a strong set of local Labor elections in England on May 6.
The seat of the Sunderland City Hall, on the banks of the River Ware, is a building he rents for £ 2.4 million a year. Photo: Christopher Thomond / Guardian
Ricolton is a representative of the Labor struggle outside the big cities. The former mining village, 10 miles west of Sunderland, has been a major Labor stronghold for generations. But last year he broke with tradition and elected a Conservative councilor, one of six voted across the city on the night Labor lost nine seats. This year, the council leader’s own place is for grabbing, and the Tories are looking at what a big scalp would be.
“I think everyone is ready for a change now,” said Linda Delaney, walking her 12-year-old Springer Spaniel, Ollie, on the playing fields where the Harraton stone shaft once stood. Delaney, 69, said she would vote conservative because she thought Labor had taken people for granted and misused local money: “I think they could handle the reality check.”
As she spoke, Boris Johnson reiterated his apology to lawmakers for violating blockade laws in June 2020. The Partygate saga helped Labor lead six points in the national poll and seems to deter some potential Tory voters from noting at all. appear.
Buyers in Sunderland, where conservatives are confident they will take control of the council after the local elections in May. Photo: Christopher Thomond / Guardian
One Labor figure said they had faced many Labor change parties from 2019, which plan to stay at home on May 6 instead of returning to Labor. “There is a big lead in the poll at the national level and we are getting a hearing again, but I still don’t feel that love on earth,” he said.
For Anthony Mullen, the 30-year-old Conservative leader in Sunderland who campaigned in the Barnes area on Wednesday, the prime minister risked derailing what could have been a big night for the party in the North East of England. “She is doing really well. “I’m just worried that something else could happen at the national level,” he said.
Mullen, who previously called for Johnson to resign, said the prime minister’s days were numbered: “I think he’s done. I don’t think he will lead us to the next general election. “
Seventeen of the selected seats in Sunderland are held by Labor. Seven of them are occupied by Labor, who are retiring, bringing with them almost 70 years of experience on the council. “By jumping before being pushed, some of them,” said one labor adviser.
Conservatives, meanwhile, are seeking to build on the gains that the party went from six councilors in 2015 to 19 today. The party won nearly 24,000 votes in the city’s three constituencies in the 2015 general election. In 2019, that nearly doubled to 40,685 votes, reducing the Labor majority to about 3,000 and making Sunderland a key battleground in the next national election. questionnaire.
Three recent by-elections have given Labor hope for survival in Sunderland. The party won a previous seat in Ukip in March and took two seats in neighboring Durham County, including one of the Conservatives last week.
Labor leader Keira Starmer spoke to young people in Southwick during a recent visit to Sunderland. Photo: Tom Wilkinson / PA
Former Labor councilor Ian Kay, who lost his seat four years ago but is running again, said there had been a “big step forward” in recent campaigns: “The last few years have been brutal. The outright unbridled hostility was palpable. I have not received a single negative response this year and many are reporting it. “
After decades of stagnation and failed projects, Sunderland has recently shown signs of progress. New studios for the arts and cultural spaces have opened, including a place for live music at a former fire station; hotels and office blocks have sprung up on the silhouette. It was only last month that the council officially opened its gleaming new headquarters, the town hall, on the banks of the River Ware, a building that rents £ 2.4 million a year. The staggering spending – doubling annual spending on sports and leisure – has angered voters facing the biggest drop in living standards since the mid-1950s.
While Labor still holds 43 of the 75 seats on Sunderland’s council, the loss of six councilors will take the town hall without full control for the first time in 48 years. Paul Edgeworth, an adviser to the Liberal Democrats, said there had been “no talks” with the Tories to form a coalition, but that they would be willing to work together on “key service issues”.
However, there is potential for Partygate to help Labor hold on. Marilyn Henderson, a former physiotherapist at the NHS, said she always voted for Labor, but switched to the Conservatives in 2019 because of the “ruins” of Jeremy Corbyn.
The 75-year-old remaining voter said she would not vote for Starmer’s party this time, but Johnson’s rule violation dissuaded her from voting for the Tories. “So many ridiculous things are happening at the national level,” she said. “It’s really awful and upset so many people.”
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