'Bad but no disaster', Labour claims
Friday, 2 May 2008 12:00 AM
Labour has admitted the party suffered a bad night at the polls in yesterday's local elections, but has refused to accept the polls amounted to a disaster.
The party's losses have been compounded by Conservative inroads in traditional Labour heartlands.
The Tory capture of Nuneaton and Bedworth, as well as Harlow and Bury, suggested the government's inability to rein in the 10p tax band row had compelled supporters to stay at home.
Gordon Brown will wake up on Friday having faced his first election test as Labour leader - and lost.
Stay-away Labour voters played into both Tory and Liberal Democrat hands, with Nick Clegg's party slightly up on councillors with about 100 or the 152 local authorities declared.
Speaking to politics.co.uk, a Lib Dem spokesman said the elections had displayed the "power of local politics" and given the party a "good night".
"Everyone thought we were going down," he continued, attributing the majority of the party's losses, particularly on the south coast, to a "resurgent" Tory party.
Speaking on his video blog, webcameron, David Cameron said the Tories had done "very well".
The party's chair Caroline Spelman told Sky News the Tories were winning voters "all across Britain".
Appearing on the same channel, former acting Lib Dem leader Vince Cable, referring to research suggesting Labour's vote share was small than the Lib Dems, added: "The important thing is that we've beaten Labour into third place."
A Labour spokesman, speaking to politics.co.uk, admitted: "It has been a hard night for the party.
"We now need to take stock and reflect."
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