It’s been an eventful day – and there are still many more local election results to go. After a long night in Runcorn, and a full recount, Nigel Farage’s Reform party clinched the win in what had been a Labour safe seat by just six votes – securing a fifth parliamentarian and their first female MP. While the Reform lot could hardly contain their glee, the Labour team struggled to disguise their dejection. Now Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made his first statement on the result, admitting to reporters that ‘the results are disappointing’ for the reds. Talk about an understatement…
Going on the PM insisted:
I could stand here and say to you ‘opposition parties always do well in elections like this. It was very close in Runcorn. Etcetera, etcetera.’ What I want to say is my response is: we get it. We were elected in last year to bring about change. That’s what people desperately want. We started that work… But the message from these results, I think, is go further, go faster. That chimes with what I want to do. And that’s what I take out of this.
But while almost all of Starmer’s MPs managed to drop by Runcorn and Helsby to campaign in the run-up to the vote, Sir Keir himself never seemed able to make the time. ‘Nigel Farage, I’m afraid, says you’re a coward for not campaigning in Runcorn. Are you a coward?’ GB News’ Christopher Hope quizzed Starmer. The PM couldn’t seem to quite find the words to answer that one. Awkward…
Watch the clip here:
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