Next Thursday\u2019s elections will be a significant test for the leadership of both major parties: a midterm election for a government that has been in power for 12 years and a set of elections that represented a high watermark for Labour when last contested four years ago. While polls indicate that voters have been turned off the Conservatives following recent scandals, voters aren\u2019t exactly excited about Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour Party either, so getting voters to bother to turnout will be key to both.<\/p>\n
For Keir Starmer, he needs proof that under his leadership, Labour is back to its winning ways and making progress in towns in the South, Scotland and the Red Wall.<\/p>\n
For the Prime Minister, a bad set of results will go far beyond the Red Wall.<\/p>\n
The real test will be the results in areas where Tories won Westminster constituencies back in 2005 or 2010. Many of those MPs will expect a longer career in parliament and may question the value of keeping Boris as PM if their seats are now at risk. Party managers will therefore be keeping an eye on results in Milton Keynes, Swindon and the Vale of Glamorgan, all of which will see polling in their patches on May 5th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Another factor when analysing the success of the parties will be the results when they were last contested. In Scotland and Wales, the Conservatives will be defending seats from Theresa May\u2019s pre-2017-manifesto-zenith, while in London, Labour are defending their best result since 1971 as the last elections came after Theresa May\u2019s government\u2019s ratings slumped in 2018.<\/p>\n Yet the picture will be partial as voting is not taking place for councillors everywhere. The government will not be tested in its more traditional heartlands, with no elections across swathes of the Tory Shires.<\/p>\n Outcomes will rely heavily on turnout, which is always far smaller than at a general election. Headland spent some time with Lord Hayward, the Conservative peer and election expert and he points to four key battles in particular, and what they will tell us about the results:<\/p>\n Next Thursday\u2019s elections will be a significant test for the leadership of both major parties: a midterm election for a government that has been in power for 12 years and a set of elections that represented a high watermark for Labour when last contested four years ago. While polls indicate that voters have been turned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6663,"menu_order":0,"template":"","services":[29],"sectors":[],"class_list":["post-5661","insight","type-insight","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","services-public-affairs-and-policy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n