Sir Keir Starmer needs to win big at the local elections to keep up Labour’s momentum
Politicians are often criticised for empty rhetoric, but Sir Keir Starmer was right when he told activists in Swindon on Thursday, “these [local] elections matter”.
That’s because the May poll will be both the first big ballot box test for Rishi Sunak, and will give a sense of whether the momentum Sir Keir is showing in national polling translates into actual votes.
Politics live: Starmer brands Sunak ‘Mr 1%’ at local election launch
There’s a lot at stake for both sides. As Sir Keir Starmer says on a walkabout in Swindon: “I’m measuring this on the road to the next general election and I want to see the Labour Party making real progress.”
And it is a key staging post for Starmer’s Labour: the party will need to show it is the main beneficiary of lost Tory votes and that means big wins.
If the Conservatives lose 500 of the more than 3,300 seats they are defending across England to Labour, it would be the first time in over two decades that the Tories were not the biggest local party in England – a huge symbolic blow.
But Labour needs to do a lot more than that to prove they are on course for a general election victory.
A net gain of 700 seats would mean Starmer’s Labour is still underperforming in current polling. That sort of win would equate to a national equivalent vote share of around 37%.
To put that into context, in the 1995 locals ahead of the 1997 Labour landslide, Tony Blair achieved 47%.
Arguably, a net gain of more than a thousand seats in these elections would be significant for Labour – a big success.
Sir Keir refuses to put a number on what success would look like, but does say he “wants to get as many of those 1,000 seats as [he] can”, adding: “These local elections are very, very important to us.”
And part of that pathway for Sir Keir is trying to prove to the public that Labour has changed under his leadership.
‘I’m prepared to be ruthless’
His clearest signal of this, beyond the patriotic speeches in front of Union Jacks, was Labour’s decision last week to bar Jeremy Corbyn standing as an MP in the next general election.
Three years ago, Sir Keir described Mr Corbyn as a “friend” – now he’s expelled him as an MP.
“I’m prepared to be ruthless to ensure we have a Labour government,” he tells me, unapologetic over a decision which Mr Corbyn has described as a “shameful attack on democracy”.
“There’s one person that’s responsible for the fact that Jeremy Corbyn will not be a candidate at the next general election and that’s Jeremy Corbyn,” said Sir Keir.
“I have been ruthless in the change in the Labour Party. I do not apologise for that because what matters most to me is that the change that millions of people desperately need across our country comes about.”
But like voters I’ve spoken to in the past few weeks in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, Pendle in Lancashire and now Swindon, the jury is still out on Sir Keir, with voters unsure about what he stands for.
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Sky News asked Jeremy Corbyn whether he’s thinking of standing as an independent MP
Labour may be way out ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, propelled by the own goals of the Johnson and Truss administrations, but what the party lacks is something crucial which Tony Blair had – a sense of excitement and a leader with huge personal appeal.
When I put that to Sir Keir, his only answer is that elections like these give him the opportunity to get around the country to make the case.
That Sir Keir hasn’t nailed it with voters is one of the Conservatives’ biggest hopes in turning around their fortunes in a general election.
If voters are unsure about the Labour leader, and his rival Mr Sunak can show competence and economic improvement as the country goes to the polls in a general election, might they stick with Sunak?
If that’s the Conservative hope, the reality for May’s local elections is that Labour will give the government a bloody nose.
Back at base in Downing Street there are expectations that the results will hurt.
“It’s not going to be good,” one senior figure told Sky News.
‘Big win needed’
There is some consolation that the King’s coronation on 6 May will mean the painful post-election coverage will at least be short-lived.
But even if attention quickly shifts away from the results, these local elections will set the tenor for a political year that already feels like the beginning of the long campaign to what could prove a seismic general election for the country should power pass from the Conservatives to Labour.
Labour wins in Swindon, in parts of the Tees Valley, such as Middlesbrough or in Hartlepool, will be important, as will progress in the Midlands – Dudley, Walsall – and North East Derbyshire, where councils and constituencies have been surrendered to the Tories in recent years.
Will 2024 turn out to be Labour’s 1997 of 1992, the landslide or the narrow defeat?
To keep momentum for the former, Sir Keir needs to win big in May.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today for what is likely to be his last time as US president.
The two leaders are expected to hold talks on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in the Peruvian capital, Lima.
It comes against the backdrop of increasing tension in the US-China relationship with a potential trade war looming under a Trump presidency, several China hawks tapped for US cabinet positions and China’s growing status among global south countries as an emerging leader of an alternative world order.
This week China was focused on events in the southern city of Zhuhai.
First there was a car ramming attack at Zhuhai’s sports stadium which left 25 people dead. A shocking event that was heavily censored in China.
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What happened at Zhuhai sports centre?
Less than an hour’s drive away the country was holding its premier air show.
It was a military enthusiast’s dream, and not even intermittent rain could keep the crowds of tens of thousands of people away from relishing in the roar of jets in the skies above Zhuhai.
China’s fighter jet fleet
One of the main drawcards was China’s newest stealth fighter the J-35A. It will join the country’s J-20 in service for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
A J-35A stealth aircraft flies during the exhibition. Pic: Reuters
The J-10C was China’s aerobatics star of the show. There were daily displays of its prowess in sky-high manoeuvres and formations that impressed onlookers, leaving a streak of colours across the cloudy rain-clogged sky.
China’s aerobatic team
China’s military modernsiation programme is continuing apace
It boasts the largest navy in the world and the largest armed forces by active-duty personnel.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Airforce is developing fast too.
Dr Nicole Leveringhaus, a China security expert from King’s College London, says: “China started with very little. It was devastated by wars on many fronts in the 30s and 40s. Its defence industry was depleted. In 70-plus years it’s built itself up and now we’re seeing the results.
“It’s an impressive feat to go from a bloated land-based peasant guerrilla army to what it has to today.”
Chinese pride and nationalism on display
Enjoying the air show spectacle, military fan Liu Liansong said: “I think the air show is great. It is a firm manifestation of the air force’s development from scratch. We as Chinese people feel very proud.”
Inside the air show
The air show included massive exhibition halls of military hardware, from drones to robotics, firearms and mock missiles. Merely getting from one end of the venue to the other through densely packed crowds was a mission.
Russia in the air
The other crowd puller this week was Russia’s aerobatic air force unit, performing daily theatrics at dizzying speeds.
It is another sign of the deepening ties between China and Russia.
Russia’s aerobatic team shows off for the crowd
One Russian tourist and recreational pilot, Yulia, told Sky News: “Both sides are looking for good communication in business, aviation and in many spheres including tourism.”
The secretary of Russia’s security council and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu also visited the air show, viewing both Chinese and Russian-made jets.
In Beijing, secretary Shoigu was quoted by Russian state media as saying: “I see the most important task as countering the policy of ‘dual containment’ of Russia and China pursued by the United States and its satellites.”
One of Russia’s jets up close
The West is increasingly frustrated by China’s support of Russia. The US has sanctioned two Chinese companies, accusing them of being involved in the production of Russian aerial drones used on the battlefield.
China insists it is not supplying weapons to Russia.
One of the companies, Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co, had a small stand in one of the exhibition halls. Its representatives declined Sky News’ request for an interview.
Tariff war brewing
Despite the raw military might on display in Zhuhai, in China there is uncertainty and unease about what an impending Donald Trump presidency will mean for global trade.
President-elect Trump has threatened blanket tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese products exported to the US.
This would be a serious blow to China’s target GDP growth and comes at a time when the country’s economy faces deep-set challenges.
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At the other end of the country, in Beijing analysts are weighing up the impact of possible tariffs and the Chinese government’s options to respond.
Senior Asia analyst Chim Lee, from The Economist Intelligence Unit, is not optimistic that a US-China agreement to minimise the damage can be reached.
Senior Asia analyst Chim Lee
“I think both sides have recognised that the era of making deals is passed,” Mr Lee said.
“We’re going to see China starting with some targeted measures, tariffs it feels more comfortable to impose,” he explained. “But there are also areas where China is starting to be a bit more aggressive.”
This action could include export controls on China’s production of critical minerals and retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture exports.
Trade competition, military posturing and complicated geo-political alliances have set the stage for a challenging next phase in US-China relations.
New pictures show the moment of impact as an Israeli missile hit a Beirut apartment block and exploded.
The block was one of five buildings destroyed by airstrikes on Friday alone.
Israel launched airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut in a fourth consecutive day of intense attacks.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press photographer captured a sequence of images showing an Israeli bomb approaching and hitting a multi-storey apartment building in Beirut’s Tayouneh area.
Richard Weir, a senior crisis, conflict and arms researcher at Human Rights Watch, reviewed the close-up photos to determine what type of weapon was used.
“The bomb and components visible in the photographs, including the strake, wire harness cover, and tail fin section, are consistent with a Mk-84 series 2,000-pound class general purpose bomb equipped with Boeing’s joint directed attack munition tail kit,” he told AP.
Pics: AP
Smoke covers a building that collapses following the strike. Pic: AP
Deadly strikes as bombardment stepped up
Israel stepped up its bombardment this week – an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in US-led diplomacy towards a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked munitions warehouses, a headquarters and other Hezbollah infrastructure. It issued a warning on social media identifying buildings ahead of the strikes.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike killed five members of the same family in a home in Ain Qana in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon’s state media said.
The report said a mother, father and their three children were killed but didn’t provide their ages.
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Three other Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 32 in different parts of Tyre province on Friday, also in south Lebanon, the report said.
Video footage also showed a building being struck and turning into a cloud of rubble and debris that billowed into Horsh Beirut, the city’s main park.
Residents check the site of the airstrike in Tayouneh, Beirut. Pic: AP
More than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – most of them since mid-September.
About 27% of those killed were women and children, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon from September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.
Friday’s strikes come as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister has asked Iran to help secure a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The prime minister appeared to urge Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.
Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.
On Thursday, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister and a member of its security cabinet, said that prospects for a ceasefire with Lebanon were the most promising since the conflict began.
The Washington Post reported Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushing to advance a Lebanon ceasefire to deliver an early foreign policy win to his ally, US President-elect Donald Trump.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
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