The defection of Solihull's last two Labour Councillors, one to the Conservative administration and the other to the Greens who are notably the main opposition, has made it the only Metropolitan Borough in England with no Labour Councillors.
The only one, that is, for now. There is going to be a lot more of this after Super Thursday, when Labour's municipal base began to collapse, complete with the loss of seats, such as one here in Lanchester, that the party had picked up under Jeremy Corbyn. Had all seats been up everywhere on that day, then that collapse would have happened overnight. As it is, then it will take a bit longer. But under the calamitous Keir Starmer, it has already started.
For many Councillors, especially but not exclusively Labour, the allowance is either their only income apart from the state retirement pension, or it is their only income at all. For example, the basic allowance for a Durham County Councillor is £13,300. Being higher than the income tax threshold, that is more than 43 per cent of the adult population makes. Expect a lot of defections in various directions.
Do you think Starmer will last to the General Election?
ReplyDeleteI hope so. The Right needs to have nowhere to hide from that defeat.
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