Reed warns over threat of further electoral slump amid council funding fears

A Labour shadow minister has warned against assumptions that the party’s vote has “hit the bottom” and told colleagues they must speak up for England to a greater extent.

Steve Reed, shadow minister for local government, said Labour must learn more from major councils which had managed to be “credible, relevant and win elections”.

Reed, a former Lambeth council leader, also warned that the party leadership “feels out of touch”.

“I wish the Labour party could speak for England in the same way that you [councillors] speak for your own areas. Losing that connection with people’s identity means that they do not feel that you will ever properly represent their aspirations and their ambitions for their communities, leave alone their families.”

Reed, who was speaking a Progress seminar at Labour’s local government conference, also said the Labour party had failed to recognise “the need for clear leadership” and suggested the PLP could learn from councillors:

Speaking to LabourList after the event, he added: “There’s been a gulf between Labour councillors and Labour’s MPs that’s developed over decades – it’s not unique to the current leadership.  We need to act fast to bridge that gap.”

Reed said he was not predicting further electoral losses but wanted to guard against “complacency” in case existing Labour parliamentary or council seats were regarded as safe.

Meanwhile his colleague Jon Trickett, shadow local government secretary, has warned of “much worse to come” in deprived local authority areas.

He spoke out after Communities and Local Government Secretary Greg Clark announced a £300m cuts relief fund, will be mainly directed towards Conservative-run areas, including his own Oxfordshire council, and was criticised as “buying off” would-be Tory rebels before a Commons vote today.

Some £255m (85 per cent) will go to Tory councils, with just £17m (5.6 per cent) awarded to Labour areas, which have suffered far greater cuts since 2010.

Trickett warned the scheme could only be funded by making cuts elsewhere. He told LabourList: “What we saw was the Tories shamefacedly sharing out the spoils of last year’s election victory. The people who pay the price are the most need in our country.”

Communities secretary Greg Clark set up the fund after Tory councils spoke out about the cuts to their budgets. The critics also included David Cameron’s mother, who signed a petition against planned cuts to children’s services.

Trickett said the relief fund should be directed to where the need is greatest, rather than on the basis of the electoral map: “This is not about urban versus rural, but about poverty and deprivation.”