Across 19 council by-elections, Labour lost four seats and the Tories gained four seats, despite the Conservatives still being in the midst of a leadership election.
Averaged across all 16 seats Labour fielded candidates, Sir Keir’s party lost over 10 percent of their vote share.
The biggest blows wear dealt in South Ribble, North East Derbyshire and Leeds, where Labour lost 21.6%, 21.3% and 20% of their vote share respectively.
Only London and Scotland provided any solace for the beleaguered party, where two by-elections in Ealing and North Lanarkshire saw them put on 0.1% of the vote.
Keir Starmer was dealt a swath of council defeats last night (Image: Getty)
The Tories gained four seats, two from independents in Fylde and Pembrokeshire, and two from Labour in Worthing and North East Derbyshire – the latter with a swing of 15.7%.
Meanwhile the Greens dealt Labour a blow in Leeds by picking up a council seat, as did the LibDems in Southampton.
The Tories also gained a seat from the LibDems in Elmbridge.
Reform UK also put in a good showing, securing nearly 20% of the vote in a seat in Harlow and 24.4% of the vote in the Leeds by-election.
The disastrous night for Labour confirms recent polling which suggests the party has already plummeted in popularity since the election on July 4.
Keir Starmer is less than 100 days into his time in office (Image: Getty)
Responding to last night’s results, Tory chairman Richard Fuller said: “It’s encouraging to see steady progress being made across the country by the Conservatives ahead of Local Elections next year. It’s a testament to the hard work of local Conservative Councillors who serve their local communities and deliver better public services.”
“We will continue to work hard to highlight Labour’s missteps to help our strong local candidates and Councillors.”
A new poll out this morning from Techne reveals that Labour has already dipped below 30% of the vote.
Meanwhile a separate poll of Keir Starmer’s personal popularity revealed it has now reached a record low just days before he marks 100 days in power.
He now enjoys a net favourability rating of -26, with 52% of Brits saying he is doing a bad job.
Labour’s net favourability ratings have similarly fallen from +6 on the day they won power to -21 today.
The party’s popularity is falling faster among older voters, with those over 55 registering a -18 drop in their attitude to Labour.
