Keir Starmer makes late pitch to voters turning to Greens and Reform

Labour is braced for record-breaking losses in Thursday’s local elections in England, which could be decisive for Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister. In a message to voters on Thursday, Starmer said Reform’s Nigel Farage and the Greens’ Zack Polanski were “not fit to meet this moment of great global instability” and that only Labour was putting the national interest first. “Today when you put your vote in the ballot box, you face a clear choice,” he said. “Progress and a better future for the community you call home, with a Labour council working with a Labour government. Versus the anger and division offered up by Reform or empty promises from the Greens. “In tough times, you need politicians who will always stand up for you and your family. Time and again Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have shown they are not fit to meet this moment of great global instability. Today I pledge firmly to you: whatever the pressure, Labour will always back you and your family and we will never waver from doing what is in Britain’s national interest.” MPs told the Guardian that any result in which the party lost more than 1,500 council seats would be existential. But polling experts have said significantly worse results are possible – including the University of Oxford’s Stephen Fisher who has predicted the party will lose more than 75% of its seats, or about 1,900. …