Labour’s plunge in popularity since the election has been laid bare in an analysis of council contests.
Keir Starmer’s candidates have won just 53 of the 150 seats up for grabs on local authorities since July 4 – having previously held 75.
Meanwhile, the Tories have boosted their tally by 21 to 44, and Reform have gained five.
The vote share for Labour has dived from the 32.6 per cent it stood at before the general election to 24.5 per cent, according to figures compiled by the ElectionMapsUK site.
The Conservatives have seen an increase from 23.2 per cent to 24.1 per cent, the Lib Dems were up 3.4 percentage points to 18 per cent, and the Greens had improved their position to 10 per cent.
Reform, which had not featured in many council elections previously, was on 6.7 per cent.
The grim figures for Sir Keir come after a torrid first five months since he secured a huge landslide – but on one of the lowest winning vote shares ever.
Anger has been mounting over the extraordinary £40billion tax raid in Rachel Reeves’ first Budget at the end of last month, with farmers protesting at inheritance duties and pensioners furious about losing winter fuel allowance.
In the latest sign of unrest, a Parliamentary petition calling for a fresh general election is nearing 2.8million signatures.
Posted by pub owner Michael Westwood, it complains that Sir Keir has ‘gone back on promises’.
It has been shared by acting legend Michael Caine and fuelled by billionaire Elon Musk on his X social media site.
Petitions can only trigger a debate in the Westminster Hall chamber.
Sir Keir blamed ‘difficult’ decisions in the Budget for the huge backlash he has been facing as he appeared on ITV’s This Morning earlier this week.
He insisted the petition just reminded him that ‘very many people didn’t vote Labour’. ‘I’m not surprised many of them want a rerun,’ he said.
‘That isn’t how our system works. There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in in the first place.
‘So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.’
