Behind the UKIP vote lies alienation in many of our communities

There have been times over the last two days when some of the media coverage of the local election results has seemed to be inhabiting a parallel universe. I wonder if the order in which the results were declared had been reversed, with London coming first, whether the tone might have been different?

In any case, here are some facts.

Labour got the highest share of the national vote and gained 6 councils and 338 councillors, while the Tories lost 11 councils and 231 councillors and the Lib Dems lost 2 councils and 307 councillors. Indeed Labour won more seats than the Tories, UKIP, Lib Dems and Greens put together.

UKIP did of course make gains – more of that later – but it still doesn’t control a single council and their share of the vote actually fell compared to last year.

We won control of local authorities all over the country – Amber Valley, Cambridge, Crawley and Bradford – and we did particularly well in London taking Merton, Croydon, Redbridge (never won before) and Hammersmith and Fulham (a spectacular result in what has been a Tory local government heartland). And we topped the poll in key seats – places like Carlisle, Lincoln, Enfield North, Peterborough, Harlow, Hastings, Ipswich, Hornsey and Wood Green, and South Swindon – that we need to take next year in order to get a Labour government.

So far, so good. But there is another truth. And that is the size of the vote for UKIP. One poll says that around half of those who voted for Nigel Farage on Thursday were Tory voters in the 2010 general election, but some of them had voted Labour, and UKIP did take quite a lot of votes in some communities up and down the country on Thursday.

Behind that vote lies alienation in many of our communities. A lot of people feel left behind. Traditional industries have gone, the world has moved on and the deal in which you worked hard, and you and your children did better, has broken down. And some people saw a pace of change in their communities that they were uncomfortable with.‎

It is Labour that has been changing under Ed Miliband to recognise these concerns. We have listened, changed and done the hard work of setting out how we can begin turning things around for the large number of people who no longer feel Britain works for them. And yesterday’s results only highlight the need for us to change more and not less.

Door-knocking over the last 4 weeks there was a good response to what we are saying about tackling the exploitation of zero hour contracts, or giving private tenants a bit more peace of mind with longer-term tenancies or cracking down on the employment agencies that only hire workers from other countries.‎ But many voters have little time for politics and little awareness of the change we want to bring. Our task is to reach these voters with our answers to the challenges they face.

And we also need to point out that UKIP has only one priority – to get out of Europe. As well as being bad for jobs, trade and the economy, how would that help us to see our GP quicker, establish more high quality apprenticeships, build the homes we need so that Generation Rent can realise their dream of owning a home, or create an economy that is sustainable in the long-term rather than built on short-term sand ?

The truth is that the next election always was going to be, and will be, a tough, close fight. Coming back after one term is a pretty difficult task, but we have got to this point – and won all those seats and councils on Thursday – by showing that our politics are a reflection of our values.

The choice next May will be between a complacent David Cameron – who thinks everything is alright – and Ed Miliband who believes that there are fundamental changes we need to make as a country to build a fairer society, including passing down power in England so that people can take more decisions for themselves in their own communities. The feeling that decision-making is too remote is one of the causes of alienation on the doorstep, but with devolved power must come a responsibility to get stuck in and play our part – what I call contributory, as opposed to consumerist, politics.

So now is the time for us to make our case and give the electorate a positive choice that they want to vote for next May.

Hilary Benn is Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government