Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer described his party’s victory in the East Midlands mayoral election as a “very significant moment” as he visited Mansfield with new mayor Claire Ward.
The opposition leader attended Forest Town Arena on Saturday (May 4) to cheers from crowds of Labour activists as the party celebrated its landmark victory in Thursday’s mayoral poll.
New mayor Ms Ward beat Conservative candidate Ben Bradley by more than 50,000 votes as she picked up a total vote share of just above 40 per cent.
Mr Bradley – Mansfield’s MP and Nottinghamshire County Council’s leader – said his defeat came on a “difficult” day for his party nationally.
Sir Keir described his party’s win as a “really important victory” and said the East Midlands came out to support his “changed” Labour Party vision.
The Labour leader using Mansfield to celebrate the party’s win is seen as a significant warning to MP Mr Bradley – who will now turn his attention to holding onto the seat he had previously confirmed he would step down from if he was elected as mayor.
It came just hours after election count results confirmed Ms Ward had beaten the Tory MP in the Mansfield-specific count by about 400 votes – meaning the Conservative candidate came second in his own constituency.
During the visit, Sir Keir said Labour had made a “very positive campaign” to secure the East Midlands mayoralty.
“It’s a really important victory,” he told the crowd.
“You fought for this with a very, very positive campaign. I came here myself to campaign with you and was struck by the positivity of the case you were making.
“You were rewarded with the trust and confidence of the voters in the East Midlands – a really, really important area for us.
“The underlying constituencies, the voters across the whole of the East Midlands came out and voted Labour and that is a very significant moment in our history.
“When the history books are written about this period of our political history in the United Kingdom, this will be part of that story – the day you were able to persuade people that we are a changed Labour Party.”
Read more: East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward vows to turn region around amid ‘massive challenges’
Sir Keir also promised a “fundamental change” to the way the Government funds regions such as the East Midlands if his party is to ascend to power in this year’s General Election.
“I believe in devolution, I believe in powers and resources going to our mayors and I think those with skin in the game are the best decision-makers,” he told reporters.
“Therefore, there will be a new arrangement with an incoming Labour government if we are privileged enough to come in to serve where you will see much greater powers [given] to our mayors [and a] much better connection between Government and our mayors.
“Most importantly of all, [we’ll be] working together, cooperating, rather than being in conflict – that will benefit everybody across the East Midlands, whether or not they voted for us.”
‘Sadiq Khan was absolutely the right candidate’ for the London Mayoralty, says Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, following a victory speech in the East Midlands.
The party’s ‘significant victory’ in the East Midlands is ‘the pattern across the country’, he adds.
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— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 4, 2024
It was a message echoed by Ms Ward, who told the crowd: “This is not just about the future of our region – taking power and funding from Westminster to bring it to our region – so we can choose our own priorities.
“It’s also about that journey to making sure the General Election is secured for the people of this country – and in this area, you did that – as we won right across the region yesterday, so thank you.”
In her acceptance speech at the Nottingham Tennis Centre shortly after the result was confirmed on Friday, she added: “Throughout this campaign, I’ve heard your message loud and clear – you are ready for change.
“You’ve not only put your trust in me, but you’ve also put your trust in a changed Labour Party that can now, confidently – and with conviction – say to our proud villages, towns and cities, that we are ready to lead, and we’re ready to deliver.”
As well as securing a close local victory in the Mansfield district, Labour also won the most votes in Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe – all of which were won by the Conservatives in 2019 before Ashfield MP Lee Anderson defected to Reform UK in March.
The party also comfortably won in Nottingham and Derby, alongside Derbyshire districts and boroughs like Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire.
Newark and Sherwood was the only Nottinghamshire district to record a Conservative majority vote – at just above 1,000.
This district includes the Newark constituency of Conservative Robert Jenrick, and Tory Mark Spencer’s Sherwood constituency.
The Tories also won in Derbyshire Dales by a margin of just 74 votes.
Overall turnout for the mayoral election was 27.6 per cent – with roughly 450,000 votes cast in total.
It came on a disappointing day nationally for the Conservatives that saw the party lose hundreds of councillors across the country.
Read more: Tough day for Conservatives in Notts with double Labour win ahead of General Election
The party also lost control of cash-strapped Thurrock Council to Labour following years of controversial financial mismanagement.
Labour also secured victories in the inaugural North East mayoral poll, as well as the first York and North Yorkshire poll – which incorporates the Richmond constituency held by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Tory Ben Houchen did, however, manage to hold onto the Tees Valley mayoralty – offering Mr Sunak a lifeline.
Mr Houchen did not mention the Prime Minister in his acceptance speech and did not wear a blue Conservative rosette.
Results for the mayoral elections in Greater Manchester, London and the West Midlands are being counted and announced throughout Saturday.
Speaking on the national picture, second-placed East Midlands candidate Mr Bradley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We know it’s a difficult national situation. We’re effectively 20 points behind in the polls.
“Inevitably, when you’re behind in the polls… you’ve got to do something as a local candidate to make sure you add value.
“We tried to do that and I think we ran a good campaign. Nationally, there are always lessons to be learnt and you have these hurdles.
“There’s six months, probably, until the General Election. I’ll be cracking on in Mansfield to make sure we do the work there.”
Below are the East Midlands Mayoral results in full:
Frank Adlington-Stringer (Green Party): 50,666
Ben Bradley (Conservatives): 129,332
Alan Graves (Reform UK): 49,201
Matt Relf (Independent): 23,359
Helen Tamblyn-Saville (Liberal Democrats): 15,970
Claire Ward (Labour): 181,040
To see a breakdown of the district-by-district results, visit the East Midlands Combined County Authority page here.
