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Labour’s 'catastrophic' local election setbacks ‘tip of the iceberg’, former Labour transport minister tells LBC
7 May 2025, 19:53 | Updated: 7 May 2025, 19:54
The ‘catastrophic’ results Labour suffered in last week’s local elections are “the tip of an iceberg,” and the party could “lose a lot more to Reform”, former transport secretary Louise Haigh told LBC.
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Louise Haigh has told LBC’s political correspondent Aggie Chambré that the significant losses the government suffered “have to be the canary down the mine for the Labour government”.
She is one of the more senior voices in the Labour government to raise concerns over the election results, which saw Reform UK make huge gains across England.
Nigel Farage hailed the results as "the end of two-party politics" and "the death of the Conservative Party" as Reform picked up ten councils and more than 600 seats in Thursday's poll.
Labour lost 180 council seats and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election - one of their safest seats.
Ms Haigh has now warned that the results could spell danger for Labour in the future if the threat of Farage’s Reform party are not taken seriously.
She said: “I cannot believe that people at the heart of government are not reeling from the local election results last Thursday.
“I'm confident that they will have been really shaken by the loss of councillors and the slippage from Labour to reform. I think, you know, they were existential for the Tory party, but they have to be the canary down the mine for the Labour government as well.
“Because it really feels like the tip of an iceberg, and that is not the lowest we can get. We could lose a lot more to reform over the coming weeks, months and years.”
Read more: Labour 'is reviewing its winter fuel payment' after Reform surge in local elections
Several Labour MPs have raised concerns over the election results, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to change course to salvage the party’s fortunes.
But Starmer has vowed instead to "go faster and further" on Labour's plans despite a bruising set of election results indicating public disapproval of his government.
“I think the local election results last week were catastrophic for the Labour government,” Ms Haigh said.
She added: “I was really alarmed by the government's response on Friday and the message that they would go further and faster.
“Because what voters need to hear is that they are being listened to and that they are being heard and that they have a government that is fighting, fighting on their side.”
The MP for Sheffield Heeley called for an ‘economic reset’ at the Comprehensive Spending Review expected in the summer of 2025.
Ms Haigh said a review that “lifts taxes, particularly on wealth and assets, and starts spending in those kinds of communities and starts delivering right now and telling them and fighting for them on their side is absolutely necessary.”
“But I am hopeful that they can do it and that they can turn our fortunes around,” she added.
