Unpopular Starmer is a hindrance on the doorstep, Labour mayors admit as they fear local elections wipeout

The widespread unpopularity of Sir Keir Starmer and his government – largely fueled by the “psychodrama” in Westminster – is hitting Labor hard on the doorstep, three regional mayors have warned, as they brace for big losses in next month’s local elections.

Liverpool city district mayor Steve Rotheram, London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and West Midlands mayor Richard Parker issued a stern warning to the prime minister, saying public dissatisfaction with the government was distracting from local issues and hindering the party’s slim chances of success.

They say Labour’s repeated U-turns, failure to communicate successes and the ongoing scandal over Peter Mandelson’s botched security clearance have been cited as key factors alienating voters.

The party has been told to prepare for “existential” consequences on May 7, and the embattled prime minister, already bruised and expected to face a vote this week for a parliamentary inquiry into what he knew about the Mandelson saga, is expected to face further pressure to resign.

Leading pollster Sir John Curtice issued a sombre warning to Sir Keir, saying Labor was “heading for a terrible outcome” as it tries to hold on to council houses in the heart of England, with the prime minister’s unpopularity being the driving force behind it.

Sir John said Independent: “The Labor Party is on 19 per cent in the opinion polls. They are getting half the support they last got in 2022, when two-thirds of the seats are contested. Starmer is not very popular in the polls.”

“Labour and the Conservatives are heading towards terrible consequences. They can be bad, they can be very bad, they can be existential.”

All-out elections will be held in the boroughs of Sefton and St Helens in the Liverpool City Region. Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK election slogan was “get Starmer out”, has set his sights on a Labor majority in the district, one of the party’s most loyal.

Mr. Rotheram won the largest vote share among the nation’s metropolitan mayors when he was re-elected in 2024 with 68 percent of the vote. Independent U-turns by Sir Keir’s government “overshadow the good things”.

“There’s definitely a feeling that the number of ‘own goals’ and U-turns the party has made reflects very badly on everything else,” he said.

“All of this overshadows all the good things. So I think there’s a problem with that and we need to address it. In some people’s minds it’s almost like a referendum on what’s going on at the national level, but it’s not really.”

He added: “I think the way we approach this election needs to be on a hyper-local, really granular level, knocking on every door and explaining that this is not an election about national issues right now.” “Who will run your city hall?

“Once we get beyond those who don’t support the likes of Keir Starmer, when we get beyond that and explain the type of town hall Labor is proposing, we will have a much fairer hearing.”

Meanwhile, Richard Parker, the Labor mayor of the West Midlands, where many votes will be held, including the general election in Birmingham, said Labour’s main problem was communication.

He believes the party has failed to support voters in what it has done since its landslide general election victory in 2024, citing the removal of the two-child benefit limit as an example of its achievements.

“The issue of frustration with the national government rather than the Prime Minister is on the doorstep,” Mr Parker said. Independent.

“We could and need to do better, but we’ve also done some great things, but we’ve got to be a lot better at telling people about them,” he added.

In London, Labor is heading for its worst local result in more than four decades; both the Greens and Reform are poised to eat into their share of the vote.

A new MRP survey conducted by YouGov for Sky News, covering the 32 districts that make up the capital and PolicyIt shows Labor on track to win its highest vote share in 15 councils – six votes fewer than in 2022 and the lowest since 1982.

Sir Sadiq this week warned that Westminster politics, particularly the ongoing Mandelson crisis, was affecting the party’s campaign.

he said Finance Times He was “really disappointed” that the scandal had diverted attention from the party’s local achievements.

“I’d rather talk about that than get defensive about the whole Mandelson saga.

“I’m afraid that instead of saying to voters, ‘Listen, this is the difference a Labor mayor and a Labor council working with a Labor government can make’ people may decide to punish the government’s shortcomings.”

Sir Keir is expected to face a leadership challenge after local election results in May, and some of the party’s exasperated MPs have spoken of the damage Sir Keir’s reputation is doing to Labour’s chances in May.

Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash this week called on the government to “get a grip on the situation” as he became the first Labor MP to call for Sir Keir to address the Madelson saga.

“I’m completely fed up with this psychodrama in Westminster, with this government’s own goals coming from the heart,” he said.

“Meanwhile, we have fantastic Labor councillors, pollsters and activists across the country working hard and serving their constituencies like mine in Hartlepool, facing local elections in the shadow of this absolute chaos.”