Home of British Army overturns Tory control as Labour wins in Rushmoor and three other key seats

Labour won in the home of the British Army for the first time on Thursday as it clinched four key councils in the local elections.

In a landmark result, Sir Keir Starmer’s party clinched Rushmoor council for the first time, overturning a quarter of a century of Tory control to secure its first-ever majority.

It also scored significant wins in Hartlepool, Thurrock and Redditch, indicating that the Tories are haemorrhaging votes among their traditional supporters.

Rushmoor district includes Aldershot Garrison, a military town which has been considered the spiritual home of the British Army since it was built in 1854.

Labour said its historic victory there proved that the party has moved on since its days under Jeremy Corbyn and was now trusted by voters on defence.

The party scooped nine of the 13 seats being contested on Rushmoor Borough Council, with the Tories winning three and the Liberal Democrats taking the other.

The Conservatives’ share in Rushmoor (38.5 per cent) is now the party’s lowest since 1998 and it is the first time they have lost control since 2000.

Thursday night’s result will prompt alarm in No 10 as it suggests even the safest of Conservative seats will be under threat at the general election.

Labour branded it a “historic” and said the win in the home of the British Army “demonstrates just how much” the party has changed under Sir Keir.

“A Labour gain for Rushmoor is a result Rishi Sunak cannot ignore. It’s time for a general election,” a party spokesman said.

The result suggests the parliamentary constituency of Aldershot, which has been Tory ever since its creation in 1918, could be in play at the election.

Leo Docherty, the Europe minister, is the current MP and won a nearly 17,000 majority over his Labour rival in 2019.

Aldershot is number 216 on the list of Labour target seats, requiring a 17 per cent swing, and winning it would suggest Sir Keir was on course for a landslide.

Reform UK could also play a defining role in the future of a constituency where the UK Independence Party came narrowly in third at the 2015 election.

The result in Rushmoor came on yet another dire night for the Tories which also saw Labour romp home to victory in three other traditionally blue councils.

Hartlepool

Sir Keir was delighted when his party clinched Hartlepool overnight, taking back the town that had become a poster for Boris Johnson’s Red Wall revolution.

Three years ago the former prime minister was triumphant as he visited Hartlepool after routing Labour in a by-election to turn the seat Tory for the first time.

A giant inflatable of Mr Johnson was put up in the town as he celebrated what he called an emphatic mandate for the Tories’ policies.

The Conservatives had scored their largest-ever swing against Labour whilst in government in a by-election at 16 per cent.

Sir Keir recently revealed that he considered resigning in the wake of the result.

In this year’s council elections though Labour won nine of the 12 seats up for grabs, suggesting Hartlepool will turn red again at the next election.

“Winning back Hartlepool council is a groundbreaking moment after the disappointing results we saw here in 2021,” a party spokesman said.

“Making gains here shows that the Party is on track to win a general election and is firmly back in the service of working people.”

Thurrock

At the opposite end of the country, Labour also seized Thurrock in Essex in a further sign that it is on track to secure a 1997-style landslide at the next election.

The party secured its biggest jump in the East of England to take control of the council for the first time since 2013 when Brexit began to dominate British politics.

Thurrock had the fourth highest level of support for Leave in the country at the 2016 referendum, so taking it back represents a significant victory for Sir Keir.

In the early years of his leadership Sir Keir, who called for a second referendum, struggled to convince voters in many Brexit-backing constituencies.

The Tories won Thurrock council in 2023 although the party subsequently lost it to no overall control because of defections.

The area’s seat in Parliament is held by Tory MP Dame Jackie Doyle-Price and has been blue since 2010, though it was Labour under Sir Tony Blair.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “This is exactly the kind of place we need to be winning to gain a majority in a general election.

“The people of Thurrock have sent the Conservatives a message that they want change.”

Redditch

In signs that the Tories are facing a national rout later this year, Labour also secured a morale-boosting victory in a bellwether Midlands seat.

Sir Keir’s party took control of Redditch, near Birmingham, as the Tories suffered their heaviest losses of the night, being reduced to just a fifth of councillors.

The town’s parliamentary constituency is considered a key signpost for general election results, meaning the result is a bad omen for Rishi Sunak.

Ever since its creation in 1997, the party which has won in Redditch has gone on to secure victory in the national election overall.

A Labour spokesman said: “Making gains in this bellwether seat is a clear sign that Labour is set to achieve a sizeable majority in a general election.”