Rishi Sunak Humiliated As Labour Wins Mayoral Race In His Own Constituency
Rishi Sunak has been left humiliated after Labour won the mayor’s race in his own backyard.
David Skaith was elected the new mayor of York and North Yorkshire, which takes in the prime minister’s Richmond constituency.
He won with 66,761 votes, comfortably ahead of Tory Keane Duncan in second with 51,967 votes.
The result was another major blow for Sunak on what is turning out to be another set of terrible local elections.
A Labour spokesperson said: “This is a truly historic result in York and North Yorkshire. Keir Starmer’s Labour party is now winning in Rishi Sunak’s backyard.
“The prime minister’s own constituents have taken a look at the two parties and chosen Labour.”
In a further boost for Labour, Claire Ward defeated Tory MP Ben Bradley to become the new East Midlands mayor.
The region covers several key Westminster seats including Mansfield, Bolsover, South Derbyshire and Bassetlaw, suggesting Labour is on course for victory at the general election as well.
A Labour source said the East Midlands was “the beating heart of the general election battleground”.
Labour also won the North East mayoral election, where Kim McGuinness defeated Jamie Driscoll, the former Labour mayor for the area who quit the party after being left off the list of potential candidates this time round.
In a rare piece of good news for Sunak, the Conservatives have managed to hold on the mayoralty in Tees Valley, where Ben Houchen was re-elected.
But it has been a bad night for Sunak overall, with the party well on course to lose hundreds of council seats across England.
Sunak conceded on Friday morning the results looked to be “obviously disappointing”.
Keir Starmer said Labour had taken a “giant step” towards forming the next government, with the party seizing control of key Tory councils including Hartlepool, Rushmoor and Redditch.
Labour also easily won the Blackpool South by-election, as the Tory vote collapsed by 32%.
