Conservatives suffer worst local election results in years – with London and West Midlands mayoral votes still to come
The Conservative Party has suffered its worst electoral defeat in years, losing more than half of its councillors who stood for re-election across England.
Labour hailed a “truly historic” result in Rishi Sunak’s own backyard of York and North Yorkshire, where David Skaith smashed Tory Keane Duncan by almost 15,000 votes.
The region, which was electing a mayor for the first time, covers Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency and is an area Labour has historically struggled to compete in.
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The results as they come in
Speaking at Northallerton Town Football Club, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve had a positive campaign here, and I am very, very proud to stand here as leader of the Labour Party to celebrate this historic victory.
“And it is a historic victory – these are places where we would not have usually had a Labour Party success but we’ve been able to create that success and persuade people to vote for us.”
Sir Keir also renewed his demand that the prime minister call a general election.
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‘This win is not a one-off’ – Starmer
The party also had successes in the North East and East Midlands mayoral votes and in the Blackpool by-election.
There was a sliver of hope for the government, with Lord Ben Houtchen holding on to his role as the mayor of Tees Valley.
Analysis: Labour’s future success is less clear-cut after the local elections
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PM on ‘disappointing’ election results
Appearing alongside Lord Houchen at a victory rally, Rishi Sunak said: “I’ve got a message for the Labour Party too because they know that they have to win here in order to win a general election – they know that.
“They assumed that Tees Valley would stroll back to them – but it didn’t.”
This victory is likely to have quelled talk of rebellion among disenchanted Tory MPs who had threatened to oust the prime minister if the results proved a disaster, but it remains to be seen whether the Tories can hold on to the West Midlands mayoralty.
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Analysis: Local election results
Of the 107 councils that held elections on Thursday, 102 have declared their full results, with the Conservatives losing more than half of the seats it has been defending so far.
Some 468 Tory councillors lost their seats as the party lost control of 12 councils.
Labour won control of eight councils as it gained 173 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 100 seats, the Greens 67, and Reform UK picked up two.
Read more:
The winners and losers
Charts tell story of Conservative collapse
Who is Labour’s new MP in Blackpool South?
However, Labour suffered setbacks in Oldham and Kirklees, where it lost control of the councils after victories for independent candidates opposing its stance on Gaza.
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Sky News elections analyst Professor Michael Thrasher says although the results are bad news for the Tories, they do not put Labour on course for an overall majority in the Commons in a general election.
Further results are expected over the weekend, including key mayoral contests in London and the West Midlands.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan is attempting to secure re-election in London, while Conservative Andy Street is defending his position in the West Midlands.
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Sky News general election projection
Rumours had swirled in London since the polls closed that Mr Khan could have suffered a shock defeat to Conservative Susan Hall, however Sky News understands both parties now believe the incumbent will remain in City Hall.
The results of those elections are expected to arrive at 10pm in London and 2.15pm in the West Midlands.
Lord Ben Houchen’s re-election on Teesside was a crumb of comfort for the Tories. Pic: PA
Other results still to be announced include council elections in the South and West of England where the Liberal Democrats and Greens hope to make progress.
There are also metro mayoral elections yet to declare a winner in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City, North Tyneside, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
The father and brother of Jay Slater, the British teenager missing in Tenerife since Monday, have made emotional pleas for his safe return.
Warren Slater, the 19-year-old’s father, told Sky News he is “just hoping that somebody has helped him off this mountain”.
He added: “That’s all I want, that somebody has helped him get off this mountain. I just want him back and that’s it. He’s my son.”
His voice cracking, Mr Slater said the last few days have been “a nightmare, just a nightmare”.
Struggling to control his emotions, he then walked away from the camera as he repeated: “I just want him back and that’s it.”
Pic: PA
Mr Slater’s brother, Zak Slater, echoed those words, saying: “We don’t know where he is, what’s happened, or anything. I don’t know what to say. We just want him to come home safe.”
He also became emotional as he said: “I just wish he’d come home.”
Warren Slater (L) and Zak Slater
Emergency workers near the village of Masca, Tenerife. Pic: PA
The pair have gone to Tenerife to help search for Jay, who was holidaying with friends before he disappeared. He had been at the NRG music festival with two friends on Sunday.
He was last heard from just after 8am on Monday, when he called his friend Lucy Law to say he was setting off to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus.
It’s not clear whether he realised the journey could take as much as 11 hours.
Ms Law said he told her he was lost, in need of water, and only had 1% charge on his phone.
On Saturday, the sixth day of the search, police, rescue dogs and firefighters reconvened at Rural de Teno Park, the last location logged by Mr Slater’s phone.
Mr Slater is from the Lancashire town of Oswaldtwistle, where specialist officers are continuing to support his family, Lancashire Constabulary said.
The force added it had made “an offer of support to the Guardia Civil to see if they need any additional resources”, which was rejected by Spanish authorities.
Pic: PA
Missing teen’s mum has ‘not slept’
The apprentice bricklayer’s mother, who is also on the island, the largest in the Canary Islands, also made a direct plea to her missing son, saying: “We just need you home.”
Debbie Duncan said she has “not slept” since he disappeared.
Asked how the family was coping with the situation, she said: “We’re not. I’m not coping very well at all. I’ve not slept, I’m exhausted. It’s been awful. I can’t give up on him, I just can’t.”
Read more:
Jay Slater’s last known movements
Missing teen ‘had cut his leg and didn’t know where he was’
Jay Slater and his mother, Debbie Duncan. Pic: Lucy Law
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Asked by the Press Association if her head was spinning from the past few days, she said: “It is, it is.
“People say: ‘Yeah, I understand’ – no, you don’t, you don’t understand.”
Speaking about what message she would have for her son, Ms Duncan added: “We just need you home – we just need him home.”
The Prince of Wales has thanked Taylor Swift for a “great concert” as he shared a photo of the pop superstar taking a selfie with him and his children George and Charlotte.
Watching the US singer perform at Wembley Stadium, the future king was also spotted shaking his arms to Shake It Off as he celebrated his 42nd birthday.
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Prince William ‘shakes it off’ with dance moves at Swift gig
“Thank you Taylor Swift for a great evening,” Prince William wrote on Instagram.
Swift posted her selfie with William, George and Charlotte alongside her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce.
“Happy Bday M8,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “London shows are off to a splendid start.”
Taylor’s version. Pic: Taylor Swift/Instagram
William’s cousin Zara Tindall and her husband Mike Tindall were among the star-studded crowd, which reportedly included Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and model Cara Delevingne.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was also present as he took time off from the campaign trail to attend the first night of the London leg of Swift’s record-breaking Eras tour.
Keir Starmer with wife Victoria. Pic: Keir Starmer/X
Prince William previously shared the stage with Swift and Jon Bon Jovi for a performance of Livin’ On A Prayer for a charity event at Kensington Palace in 2013.
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Prince William performs Bon Jovi hit with Taylor Swift
Swift is performing three gigs at the 90,000-capacity London venue this weekend – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – before returning to the venue for a further five in August.
Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium. Pic: AP
Pic: PA
London has been overtaken with Taylor-mania in recent days, with the city’s iconic Tube map redrawn to celebrate her arrival.
Her hit Shake It Off was also played at the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday.
On Thursday it was revealed that Swift’s fans were expected to boost the London economy by £300m as the capital hosts more Eras Tour shows than any other city in the world, with nearly 640,000 people expected to attend across the eight dates.
UK
Jay Slater: Mother of missing British teen ‘spends eight hours in Tenerife police station’ as officers ‘step up’ search
The mother of Jay Slater, the British teenager missing in Tenerife, says she spent eight hours in a police station on Friday and believes police are “stepping up” their search.
Debbie Duncan told the Guardian she still thinks “something untoward” may have happened to her son.
She flew to the Spanish island on Tuesday, the day after the 19-year-old went missing, to help look for him.
On Saturday, the sixth day of the search, police, rescue dogs and firefighters reconvened at Rural de Teno Park, the last location logged by Mr Slater’s phone.
Ms Duncan told the Guardian police have said the “noise” around the case was affecting their investigation.
It comes after reports somebody logged into Mr Slater‘s Instagram account who was not him.
Rachel Louise Harg set up a GoFundMe page to go towards search efforts and a Facebook page to help find him, which had raised more than £26,000 of its £30,000 target by Saturday afternoon.
She said people who had been “hacking” the social media accounts of Mr Slater’s family were “sick in the head”.
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Tenerife local was last person to see Jay Slater
Ms Duncan said police had told her they were “investigating all leads”.
“They’ve got all the plans, their locations,” she added.
“They have got this map they were showing us, shaded different colours.”
She renewed calls for British police to help with the search, saying there had been a “problem with the language barrier”.
But Spanish police have rejected an offer by Lancashire Constabulary to assist. The force said while the case “falls outside the jurisdiction of UK policing”, it offered to support Spanish police “if they need any additional resources”.
Search and rescue teams on the sixth day of the hunt. Pic: PA
The force added: “They have confirmed that at this time they are satisfied that they have the resources they need, but that offer remains open and they will contact us should that position change.”
Mr Slater is from the Lancashire town of Oswaldtwistle, where specialist officers are continuing to support his family, the force said.
Read more:
Jay Slater’s last known movements
Missing teen ‘had cut his leg and didn’t know where he was’
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The apprentice bricklayer was holidaying with friends on Tenerife before he disappeared, and had been at the NRG music festival on Sunday.
He was last heard from just after 8am on Monday, when he called his friend Lucy Law to say he was setting off on an 11-hour walk to get home after missing a bus.
She said he told her he was lost, in need of water, and only had 1% charge on his phone.
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